I don't like most of the creatures that live in thatched rooves

spiders, bugs, creepy-crawlies, mice, etc

and thacth is /very/ heavy, I would worry about all that weight held mostly by dry cob and gravity

And the fire risk, and the maintence costs etc etc

Mice will live in any roof, thatch or no thatch.

Tis true :$

<offers cheese>

Is it Cheshire? Cos I can't be doing with none of that crumbly shit.

I have a small board of a variety. Take your pick.

Mmmmmmmm, Catheeedral cheddaaar :P . . .. .. .

Steve, have you got any online pictures of your balls still? One of my mates is into whittling and was interested when I said I knew a man who did ace balls. Also he wanted to know what sort of wood you used and whether you just used knives.

He uses weasels with retractable teeth.

<Pedant>Knives, dear boy, knives!</pedant>

;o)

Oooh good point, that's what I get for typing quickly when having only recently woken up. I shall edit it right away.

And adjusts the speed by twisting their Scrotums?

I still haven't made a webpage of them and my other carvings yet (I must): but there are shots of one (not the best by any means) in my Yahoo briefcase: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/manthorp/lst?.dir=/Carving&.view=l .

In answer to your mate's question, I draw up the designs, model them 1:1 in plasticine, use a Dremel and dozens of bits for roughing out, and do the carving with a mixture of Xcelite Knives, Swann Morten scalpels fine carving tools and a set of cheapy cheapy jewellers screwdrivers sharpened into chisel and gouge ends. I finish by scraping only and waxing with Renaissance Wax.

Bloody hell, that was BP swiftness.

It was done before Madonna had teh old and manky.

Eeeeh, cheers muchly I shall pass all that on.

But then it was the infant Jesus, who probably did magic on her fandangle as he passed through the birth canal, ensuring a rapid return to a firm stomach and vaginal tightness.

Those look incredible. You didn't say what kind of wood you prefer? Also, how big are they?