The thing about January and February on the farm is that there is never much to report. Our routine becomes much more, well, routine at this time of year. Farm chores in the morning, a quick change out of filthy farm clothes followed by office work, throw something together for lunch, back to answering emails and OH LOOK! it’s time to change back into farm clothes for evening chores. It could be monotonous if it weren’t for the animals and their personalities.
Don’t misunderstand me- I welcome the slower pace that comes in winter. Soon enough we will be kidding and lambing,the farmers markets will start up again, summer visitors will arrive and our lives will once again be just this side of chaos.
Speaking of lambing and kidding, it’s time for y’all to start thinking about naming conventions for this year’s lamb and kid crop. Long-time readers know that we chose a naming convention every year for the new babies. There are a few good reasons for this but my favorite one is that it’s a lot of of fun. Last year we named the baby goats after fonts and the lamberoo after states.
We will be taking naming convention nominations on this post. Because I’m feeling lazy, I’m going to copy and paste what I wrote last year about what kinds of names we are looking for. Here’s what you need to know: The category needs to be something with lots of naming possibilities. Candy was great cause there are umpteen jillion kinds. Think broad. Characters from fiction? Good. Characters from Dickens? Fine. Characters from Salinger novels? Not so much.
We have already used Candy, Herbs and Spices, Presidents, Nannies from movies and fiction, States, Fonts and Islands. I am actually still a little bit in love with state names and could easily be talked into continuing on with that convention until we get them all. Last year’s lamb crop was pretty paltry and we only got as far as Delaware.
Come up with a convention for the lambs and one for the kids. Remember, we only have three bred nanny goats this year, so I’m expecting five kids, maybe six. We have LOADS of bred ewes so the convention we chose for lambs has to give us lots of options. Most of our ewes should twin and one might even triplet!
We will winnow the list down in a couple of weeks and have y’all vote. Put your thinking caps on! The first one to suggest the conventions we go with gets to name the first lamb or kid in that category.
I keep forgetting to tell you that I dropped my camera on New Year’s Day. It already needed to go into the shop but after the fall it was really, really broken. It’s fixable but it takes forever to get it to and from Nikon so I was really bummed. After struggling with it for days I finally gave in and ordered a new camera.
The timing was horrible- January is always our slowest month for sales- but I just couldn’t be without a camera for the next six weeks. I bought another Nikon that works with my lens so it wasn’t insanely expensive. But I still hated having to buy it.
Until I used today and completely fell in love with it.
I really enjoyed taking pictures today and feel like I’ve broken out of my creative rut.
A couple of quick housekeeping things. Erin has put up a Follow the Fleece for our Fall 2009 Shareholders. Wondering when you will receive your yarn? Click here to watch the progress.
For those of you coming to our Fort Worth Stock Show Meet-ups January 21st-24th, I’ll be posting a bunch of here in the next couple of days with our schedule, locations, etc. I’ve gotten some emails from North Texas readers wondering if they can join us and the answer is a huge YES!
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i was going to suggest trees- saw it on here already. the Tex-Mex idea is GREAT! flower names but in latin?
how about after types of grains…
buckwheat, barley, amaranth, couscous, millet, quinoa, teff, bulgar, spelt, kamut…
Shades of White – marshmallow, snowball, ecru, great possibilities
Greek & Roman Gods – Zeus, Prometheus
Biblical characters – Moses, Paul
Pharmaceuticals – Tylenol, Lipitor
Elements in the Periodic Table
body parts – could get interesting
Numbers – in another language each, based upon birth order
Those pictures are incredible!!!
types of wine or cocktails?
Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Chiante (etc)
or
baybreeze, daquiri, pina colada?
My daughter thinks famous designers (Armani, Calvin or Klein, Jordash etc) for a little group, some alpaca friends did musical terms (stanza, sonata, trebel etc) last year and it was a hoot.
Good Luck!
y
puppy tongue – what great photos- they are luminous.
So does Cini like the puppy? It looks like he might even let him play? Does Cini do that ? (he’s so busy striking noble poses, I don’t know if he deigns to play)
Fragrance/perfume names–that way it could cover both males and females. “Aramis”, “Brut” would be great for males! “Chanel”…
Okay, my second kick at the can here — I hope that’s okay.
In addition to what I suggested above (mountains, knitting stitches), how about words for hello and for thank you in other languages?
hello: hoi, hola, namaste, ciao, aloha, ohayo, malo, etc
thank you: arigato, gracias, danke, merci, obrigado, toda, etc
OH! What about dances? waltz, chacha, samba, jive, etc
I love the new pictures!
Hmmn, as for name ideas, I love the idea of colors, but maybe the more unique colors, like Cerulean, Vermillion, Bittersweet, Violet, etc.
Also, you could do Norse Gods/Goddesses ( I see you used Greek/Roman for the new handpainted- awesome!),
Texas counties! There are *lots* to choose from. A friend decided to use this convention for a littler of puppies, but only 2 were born. Two cute names though: Hondo and Murphy.
I love the idea of using fonts, but I love even more the cheese, although there are some really fabulous ideas. I’m stuck on cheese. Although here’s one: tools and parts. Bolt, Grommet, Hammer, Bit, Bearing..no, just not as cute as cheese I’m afraid. Spinning wheel brands or models? Victoria (Louet), Rose (majacraft), Traditional for the females, upright for the males. Ya, that’s intentional.
Some wensleydale, Gromit? Or maybe some port salut?
Naming Convention: Gems, ie. Diamond, Ruby, Tourmaline, Sapphire, Garnet, Opal, etc.
I haven’t read through everyone’s suggestions yet, so I hope I’m not duplicating anyone….
For the kids, I want to suggest naming them after famous designers. A kid named “Dolce” and another named “Gabana” could be pretty cute!
love the new pics
For the lambs, I think colleges/universities would be fun. We are Purdue fans here, so of course I’d name one “Boilermaker”
I think it’s been proposed before, but I’m still into the idea of naming them after constellations. So many cool names.
And I love the lighting you captured in those photos!
Another idea (which I may have proposed before, forgive me!): either towns or counties in Massachusetts, to honor your previous MV home.
Did I miss it or is she completely blowing us off with the camera ID?
Love all the pics, good and bad, but these really are sweet. Thanks for spending the $$ and time.
No suggestions for names that haven’t already been suggested and many better than the ones I thought of.
I just read my post. I hope you realize I was messing about the being blown off about the camera ID. Sorry if it came out too cross. End of a long week before the beginning of a very long weekend
Naming ideas: sheep breeds, old biblical names (I especially like Isachar), constellations, Greek mythology figures, super heroes/villains…
Your pictures are fantastic!
We named our first flock of Romney and Lincolns after trees: Gum, Fig, Buckeye, Filbert, Nut
LOL! I’m going to do a whole post about it this afternoon.
Ugh…up/down all night with a sick doggie. Thinking of naming conventions until I was finally able to fall asleep.
Sauces:
roux
veloute
bechamel
remoulade
mornay
hollandaise
Breakfast cereal (or words from cereal names): flake, grapenut, krispie, oatmeal, grits, crunch
Spices/herbs: allspice, basil, cumin, dill…
Maybe wines/grapes?: chardonnay, sauvignon, grigio, riesling, concord, globe
Famous sitcom character names (either first or last names): Archie Bunker [All in the Family], Andy/Opie/Bea [from Andy Griffith], Samantha [from Bewitched], Frasier, Jerry [Seinfeld]… whatever your favorite shows are. Actually, for the goats, since you need just a handful of names, you could do all the characters’ names (first or last) from one show that you like[d] – all 6 Friends characters, the whole Brady Bunch, the Happy Days gang, etc.
I’m coming late to this but for some reason that’s what I was thinking about as I cleaned up the kitchen this morning.
Wildflowers? Or would Sweet William mean that this has already been used?
Colors? But perhaps Periwinkle wouldn’t work for a baby boy?
Children’s books? 3 baby girls named Betsy, Tacy and Tib? Boy twins? Encyclopedia and Brown?
I’m giggling now and the cat is looking at me strangely.
Native American trees — Bayberry, Chinkapin, Hickory, Sassafras …
Foods native to the Americas? Pumpkin, Pecan, Popcorn, Cranberry, Chili Peppers, Potatoes (aww, little Tater Tot), Posole, Tomato, and not least, Vanilla and Chocolate. There are lots more.
Artificial fibers? Orlon, Rayon, little Acetate and the twins, Polly and Esther. He he he.
My cat’s litter was named after grasses:
Rye, Bahia, Fescue, Pampas -
Great thinkers: Galileo, Kepler, Socrates, Plato, …
Annuals: Cosmos, Daisy, Violet, Dahlia, Poppy, Sweet Pea, Petunia, …
how presidents and first ladies
Lyndon
Carter
Hoover
Bess
Ford
Lady Bird
Garfield
Wilson
are just a few
How about Minor planets. There are tons, so you can choose just your favorites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_notable_asteroids
Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Iris, Aurora, etc…
This is also kind of cool – named winds:
http://ggweather.com/winds.html
For the kids (since it will be a short list)
The Fates:
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (Clotho was the spinner, Lachesis was the drawer of lots, and Atropos represented the inevitable end to life. This notion that human fate was spun around a person at birth by divine Spinners – in other words, the Fates)
Destiny
Fate
Kismet
Karma
I’m not sure what naming convention you would call it, but this link is cool-http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/mythology/3fables/love/pygmalion.htm
Long time lurker but I had to post to have the option of naming kids and lambs!
Kids – types of sushi and nigiri – otoro, temaki, ika, tako, tamago, unagi – perhaps spelling will be tricky?
Lambs – I like the bodies of water suggestions, what about choosing names that all mean the same thing in different languages? Like happy? Felicity, Sachiko, Bonnie….
Famous classical composers would be fun!
How about nuts? Here are some possibilities:
Almond
Brazil
Cashew or Chestnut (I think Cashew is cuter tho)
Filbert
Hazelnut (or just Hazel)
Kola
Macadamia
Peanut, Pistachio or Pignoli (all are cute!)
Walnut
I’m sure there are others (albeit obscure) if you need to fill out the alphabet. What do y’all think?
Please give Lucy a nice belly rub from me! So glad she’s on the mend!
~Betsey
I think types of cheese is a great idea. I’m planning to get my first dog this summer, and I want to name him Cheddar, it’s just so adorable!. Some other good cheese names:
Asiago
Blue
Boursin
Brie (the name of my friend Amber’s goat)
Camembert (or Cammie or Bert, for short)
Chevre (ha ha, I just couldn’t resist)
Colby
Feta
Fontina
Gorgonzola
Gouda (good for the best behaved of the bunch!)
Gruyere
Havarti
Marscapone
Monterrey (or just Monte, the name of Brie’s mother)
Munster (definitely appropriate for the most mischievous)
Pecorino (could be good for the runt of the litter)
Ricotta
Roquefort (Rocky would be a good nickname)
Wensleydale (or Wensley, for short)
It’s funny, 2 of my favorite cheeses are Mozzarella and Provolone, but I don’t think they sound as good as the others.
Let me know what you think! (Esp. these names vs. the nuts I proposed in my last comment)
~Betsey
Three suggestions for naming lambs and kids:
Counties in Virginia (best to start learning them, eh?)
Cities in Virginia
Rivers in Virginia
Goats – Mark Twain: Becky, Tom, Huck, Injin’ Joe, Aunt Polly…
Sheep – Dickens: Pip, Dorritt, Ebinezer, Mrs. Cratchett…..
First Ladies
Wineries – lots of them have 2 words, so pick the best one
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