I was asked to post some answers and I obey!

How big cage/perch does your pretty bird have/need? Macaw size/safe perches. He's a big bird! The cage itself is 24" across, both ways. A little bigger works because I can put it in at a diagonal. Also smaller if it only has the bolt at one end of it (the perch in that style is the only one still surviving, but that's concrete and he doesn't like sitting on it.) I want to get him manzanita wood, but I want to be able to pick them out myself to make sure that they didn't crack where the bolts were put in. The local petshop only has them up to the size for conures, which isn't nearly large enough for him. The pretty bird is, BTW, named Pistachio. He's a wonderfully talkative African Grey who wants to eat my fingers and adored my father.

Favorite Herbs? To cook with or smell or for ritual use?

Absolutely favorite die of squee food: Really really really sharp cheddar cheese. So sharp that it bites back. The sharper the better. The best I've ever had was aged for close to a decade and I considered crying when it was gone. I'm also a sucker for homemade baked cheesecake, made from scratch. Fresh from the fridge after it was fresh from the oven. Mmmmmmm.

Would you like things for your classroom? Children's books, stickers, corny teacher store decorations, good job rubber stamps, things like that? I could definitely use more borders. Those are one thing that wasn't left by the teacher I replaced! I picked up some at the dollar store but they don't have much of a selection. Maybe your dollar stores have better selections! Those little 'dot' stickers are good -- the ones that have hundreds and hundreds in a pack and each one is only about the size of a fingertip? I use a lot of those. Stamps ... I'm okay with. There are a couple I want to acquire, but those are very specific things. Books I'm actually pretty good on for the moment. I inherited a lot of things and I tend to stalk used booksales obsessively.

What is the circumference of Queenie's neck? I'll measure tomorrow, though really ... Queenie doesn't need any neck decor, but thank you. The only thing that she tolerates is the collar, and that barely -- she's determined to get rid of the jingling tags, somehow. It's actually kind of funny to watch -- but this is why the evil dog has a collar that snaps together rather than one that buckles. No ends for her to get ahold of, the imp.

ETA: Queenie's neck is an impressive 18 1/4" around. At least, that's the size her collar is set at, which is tight enough to stay on and not so tight that it drives her completely insane. I'm sad. The dollar tree doesn't have any more of the collars like the one she has on, which I love. I'd decided to pick up a couple and stash them away but they're all out.

Pets' favorite types of toys?

Queenie loves Nylabones -- the ones with the larger ends on them, though not the flavored because I'm not going to encourage her to eat them. She also likes mismatched socks and shreds them into little pieces quite happily. Stuffies that she can carry around and gnaw on are popular, too. Stuffies that squeak are less popular with mom, though! Balls are ever popular and she has this amusing ability to play soccer with larger balls. Not such a good indoor/winter toy/game, but very entertaining over the summer. She doesn't like Kongs. They seem to scare her, poor baby.

ETA: She really does love toys that squeak. And despite the 'driving me insane' factor, I keep getting them for her. The most recent acquisition is a rubber sandwich that looks like someone took a bite out of the side of it that I picked up at the dollar store. I had a hard time choosing between the sandwich, the pear, and the ear of corn! So cute!

The cats are overly fond of bouncy balls and my toes. Also things that are catnip scented and shoestrings. Little balls of paper and packing peanuts are also popular. Also barrettes, hair elastics and BPAL imps that they find and can knock onto the floor. Evil brats. Oh, and empty boxes are GREAT fun.

Stach likes anything he can chew apart and Tee loves baby toys -- seriously. The best toys for her that I've found are fun baby toys from yard sales. I tend to favor the large macaw toys for Stach because while he's only an African Grey, he's very smart and devious. One of his longest favorite toys is a long bolt with an assortment of nuts on it and an endnut soldered onto the end so he can't get it off and take off the nuts completely. He twists the nuts down and I turn them all back up and then he turns them down and around we go.

ETA: The chickens don't seem to be interested in toys. Though I have heard that you can hang up a head of cabbage like a pinata and it'll entertain them for hours in the winter when there's less foraging to do and when it's too cold to really be out and wandering around.

Glove/hand size: *holds a hand up* This big. I tend to end up mediums in women's gloves. If you want more specific, I can do some measuring. Wanna see the mittens I'm lusting at? They're here: http://www.theinsideloop.com/Issue4/Patter...ippocampus.html -- I want them more than I can even say, though in a Gwyn-friendly yarn, of course! They are so amazing.

What was your father's name? I'd like to do something in honor of him... Stephen Allen. He was a huge fan of trees and a supporter of the Arbor Day Foundation. The family joke was that he was trying to plant enough trees to solve global deforestation himself. He was endlessly designing and building and planning and creating. I came by it honest, if on a different scale. He was -fascinated- with my knitting and would sit and watch me knit.

I like to babble, sneaky GnomeWitch!