Thursday, October 6

You Still Have Time To Name That Sheep!


Yellow 21---But Not For Much Longer

Wow! I am absolutely overwhelmed by the incredible response to the First Ever Farmgirl Fare Name That Sheep Contest. I had no idea how many people out there want a sheep to call their very own. And it is really wonderful to hear from all of you new visitors. Welcome! Yellow 21 (who was kind enough to pose for these new photos just moments ago) is thrilled by all the attention, and The Secret Panel Of Judges is having a great time sifting through the dozens and dozens of entries. You have certainly come up with some interesting, innovative, often hysterical, and, well, truly unique names!

Because we want to give careful consideration to each and every entry (and because we are also sort of swamped by farm duties after being away), it is going to be a few days before The Big Winner is announced.

In the meantime, new entries (or comments stating why other suggested names should not be chosen) are still welcome. And as per your request, I also have a little more information for you about our girl--as well as these up-to-the-minute photos.



A Good Sheep Knows To Stay Alert When Out In The Field



Yellow 21 And Her Mother, Doll Face

Yellow 21 was born sometime between 9:00pm Sunday, March 23rd and 2:00am Monday, March 24th in 2003 to Doll Face (one of my oldest and favorite ewes). At 9:00pm I knew Doll Face was fairly close to giving birth, and so I put her in a bonding pen for the night. When I went down to check on her at 2:00am, she was busy taking care of her healthy, newborn twins.

Doll Face's father was a black Border Leicester named The Count, and her mother was a Finn cross named Ulla (after Ulla Procope, a Finnish potter; at that time all sheep were being named after early 20th century female potters).

Yellow 21's father was a large, friendly Hampshire ram named Big Boy.

In late February of this year, Yellow 21 gave birth to the first lamb of the season, an adorable girl named Babs (or Babsie).

And a few miscellaneous comments:

The original contest photos of Yellow 21 were fairly dark because I took them in the barn. I am wondering if the people who suggested names such as Cocoa and Chocolat are thinking she is a brown sheep. She is actually (dirty) white with a dark greyish face. My apologies for any confusion. (And your entries will still be considered no matter what color you thought she was.)

If you really, really want to win this sheep, you might want to read through the entries again, as I noticed some people voted for names that had already been suggested (Alisha, this would be you). Or you can stick with your original vote and realize that you may only win half a sheep. I know I didn't list the past and present names of all my sheep, but I will quickly mention that I already have a sheep named Mary (she is Doll Face's triplet sister), and one of the sheep in my original flock was a wonderful Rambouillet named Gertie (short for Gertrude). Oh, and
Molly Doodle absolutely refuses to allow a sheep to be named after her.

And just one last thing. You know those obnoxious recipe contests where they claim complete ownership of your recipe even if you don't win? Yep, well, I'm doing that. This means I can use any of your entries to name any of my sheep without even giving you credit (which of course you know I would never do) and without giving you the actual sheep (which I may or may not do).

Good luck, and I sure hope everyone is having as much fun as I am naming that sheep!

Click here to read the contest rules and the dozens of names already submitted.

33 comments:

  1. I am not playing because I want her to come to live at my house !

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  2. Welcome home, Susan. I can't wait to see the results.
    Are we allowed to, uh, support the judges with food? Because, you know, they work so hard...

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  3. Hrm.... yeah, I noticed too that the reason for A and B names had not yet been said... but then this is Farmgirl... and you remember the "soon" right? LOL. Glad to see you back safe and sound Susan!

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  4. Ok, I'm on the A/B bandwagon...you must tell us!

    Please note my very apologetic 2nd entry in the contest.

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  5. I vote for Ewe-Genie - and welcome home!!

    Annie

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  6. OMG Pick Me!! :p

    OOoo, and welcome back, and what's with the A & B ban?!

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  7. Even though Ewe-Genie is an excellent choice, I think the new sheep should be called Rover. Or Spot. Or maybe Rex. Note that none of those are A&B names.

    -Elizabeth

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  8. I'm sticking with Tallulah! It's just got such a nice ring to it.

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  9. No, really, "Muffaletta" will be best for her.

    In addition to the well known sandwich, the name suggests the Cypriot Moufflon, a sheep so honored that it appears as the main image on their paper money, as well as in their ancient mosaics.

    And it sounds wooly too.

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  10. Lmho! She isn't a brownie sheep... No Chocolat, no cocao, not even cappucino. Well, she does look chirpy to me, still a chirpy chirpy sheep then. Or should we name her Gotcha! http://bakemyday.blogspot.com/

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  11. Well,I 'm very, very sad "my" Chocolat Sheep isn"t brown at all.
    Well, not really..it gave me a great laugh!! But I still stick to the name: First because now
    she has a story to tell : Why a white , but dirty sheep is called chocolat....
    And second...there is also white chocolat..So , in ever which state she is in, she always fits with her name...Great, isn't it?
    So, chocolat it will be, for me!

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  12. Good morning!

    Oh, Cara, what have you started? Your "juicy reason" comment about the no A & B names being allowed had me LOL, but I'm afraid the actual reason for the ban is very, very boring, and now everyone is expecting something thrilling. I meant to write this yesterday so you (or anyone else) didn't spontaneously combust from curiosity during the night, but well, I didn't. Hope everyone survived.

    And here, because you asked (begged, pleaded, and cajoled) is the reason for not allowing entries starting with the letters A & B:

    So that it would be easier to remember which lambs were born when, last year we decided to give all the female lambs born that year names starting with 'A.' And this year we gave them 'B' names. (Not that they have actually all been named yet; I told you it can take a while to get a name around here).

    Soooo. . . . that's it. Sorry it wasn't a juicy reason. I was planning to write a post about names called "S Is For Sheep" and include this A & B/alphabet info, but I couldn't let you suffer needlessly for one more second so have spilled the boring beans.

    Ha! Too bad I just wrote all that. Joe just walked in and said I should have simply told you the A & B names are all ewesed up! Well, it made me laugh, and that's what counts, right? : )

    As far as the contest itself, things are definitely heating up. We've had some very interesting late entries.

    A few quick comments:

    Leigh,
    Joe says he has the Fed Ex box for The Doodle Monster all ready (and yes, whe did snub me when we got home, but now she's stuck to me like glue). I don't know if they make a box big enough for a sheep. Too bad, as I have the perfect one for you. : )

    Nic,
    Oh my! Blatant offer of bribery! LOL, I love it! Okay, what was your entry again? Oh, wait. Who cares--you win! (JUST KIDDING EVERYBODY. I have to wait for the bribe to arrive first.)

    Hi Heather,
    Well, one night of waiting (plus, I guess, a week since the contest started) wasn't too bad for me. : )

    Alisha,
    Yes, got your 2nd entry. Still LOL. : )

    Hi Annie,
    Ewe-Genie. Interesting. . .

    Elizabeth,
    Two things. One, sorry, but my favorite dog was named Rex. Two, are you feeling okay? (Rover?) : )

    Jeff,
    Nice try with the email cheating thing. You and I both know Dan can't type with those hooves. (Now, we're not playing favorites here--yet--but just wanted to let you know some of your entries are getting lots of laughs from one of The Secret Judges.)

    Baking Soda & Larein,
    Yep. Not brown. Sorry. I do have one still unnamed brown sheep, though. . . And Larein, quick thinking & pretzel logic on the white chocolate rationalization! : )

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  13. I just don't understand it. Everyone seems to object when I suggest Rover as a name. One of my friends recently had her first born son and they had chosen a name before he was born but when he arrived, they decided it just wasn't right. I suggested Rover right away. And you know what? She just laughed!!

    -Elizabeth

    P.S. "ewesed up" :-D good one!!

    P.P.S. Yes, thank you, I feel fine. No really. I do. Quite fine. Although it's difficult to type with this bizarre jacket that has the wraparound sleeves.

    P.P.P.S. The real reason for suggesting Rover: I don't remember the name of the movie but it was a charming story of some children who found a baby in a field. The children decided to adopt the baby and their first task was to name it. One of the children kept saying "I want to name it Rover!" It stuck with me ever since.

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  14. I had to go back and read all the entries from the original post and in doing so, I've come to these conclusions:
    favorite suggestion: Frida
    2nd favorite: Snorff
    least favorite: Cher (I keep imagining her whipping around a long mop of black hair... bleh!)
    I also felt the Pecorino name was worth remembering for a later sheep.

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  15. In Britain, ejm, Rover is unfortunately a popular brand of fairly ugly car.
    It would be like calling a son "volvo"

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  16. Hi Elizabeth,
    Now that was hysterical.

    Hi Grommie,
    Good comments all! : )

    Hi Sam,
    Thanks, 'cause we really needed a good reason not to choose Rover. : )

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  17. You really cannot call a sheep cheesy! Pecorone, maybe, if she is really big. Or Pecoraccia if she is very bad.
    I like Gialloventuno still, but I could also go with Strepitosa.

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  18. I can't wait to see what is her chosen name! I had so much fun reading the suggested names.

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  19. I aim to please, Susan....

    -Elizabeth

    P.S. UK car or not, I still think you should call it Rover.... (hhehehehehehehe)

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  20. harriett. (did i spell that correctly?)

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  21. Hi Everyone,
    My apologies for not personally responding to all of the comments you've left, especially the (extremely entertaining) ones under the Name That Sheep Contest original post.

    Not to worry, all of your entries have been received. And a warm welcome, welcome, welcome to all the new commenters! It's wonderful to hear from you.

    Hi Judith,
    Good points and ideas all! The judges are taking what you said under careful consideration (especially the cheesy sheep part). : )

    Hi Boo,
    I can't wait to see what it is, either! The Secret Panel of Judges is totally overwhelmed (and thrilled) by all of the entries. Having too much fun reading them all--especially the bashing of other peoples' entries. : )

    Hi Elizabeth,
    Give it up with the Rover thing already. Just try to let it go. : )

    Hi K.
    Welcome to the farm! Your choice of Harriett has been officially noted. : )

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  22. While my husband would certainly call her "Natasha" (he has that thing for Eastern girl names), I would propose "Biquette" (bickett) which is the French familiar word for a she-goat. I KNOW she is not a goat but the name sounds good anyway :))

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  23. but my friend is called Stella and she doesn't look anything like Guinevere (previously known as Yellow21)

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  24. I wasn't sure where to put my name for the sheep so I posted it on the other page with the lovely fog picture. Then I clicked on the link. I would like to suggest Sealy-like the mattress company in honor of those adorable commercials.

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  25. Yellow 21 looks more like Mrs. MacTavish to me. Maybe it is just the photos but she looks too serious to be addressed by a first name.

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  26. Ah, I was in bed last night and thought of 2 more color-appropriate names for Yellow21 :)

    Since she's kind of got a light faded brown color going on it dawned on me :

    Kahlua

    (I would have suggested Bailey but alas, no a or b names)

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  27. Can I still get in another late entry? How about larb? It sounds almost sheepish; it'll sound good when the other sheep come by to ask, "can Larb come out to play?"; while it's made with most meat, i've not seen it done with lamb so it's not cruelly self-referential; everyone loves larb; and any food that can get someone singing this song by the 14th post in the thread really deserves a critter named after it.

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  28. I would just like to point out that "Muffaletta" has a host of brilliant nickname possibilities: Muffy, Letty, Etta, Falalalala, Uffalie, and so on, some admittedly catchier than others.
    And for formal occasions, she can use the full "Muffaletta Sandwich", which you must agree is widely adored and, uh, well-rounded.
    And it's so wooly sounding.

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  29. I want to start by saying that I don't want a sheep, but I like to name things, so I am throwing a name in the hat, but NOT entering the contest.

    There is only one name that is suitable from my standpoint. Babaganoush. It's about the right color and more importantly it starts with Baa baa, so the sheep will always know you are speaking to it. Baba isn't a bad nickname, come to think of it.

    Seriously, if you name the sheep Babaganoush, please do not send me a sheep - Houston is crowded enough as it is.

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  30. I have a second entry, borrowed from Wallace and Grommit - Shorn. Shorn is a fine name for a sheep, simple and meaningful. The way it ought to be. So, it either has to be Babaganoush or Shorn. Also, I've reconsidered my stipulation about not wanting a sheep - after reading the rules of the contest:), and I decided that I would not mind owning a long-distance sheep at all. Count me in!

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  31. I fear that Judith, though a far greater expert on the Italian language than I, left the false impression that pecorino means "cheesy" in Italian. Pecorino is simply the word for cheese made from ewe's milk, as the Italian word for sheep is pecora. Hope that clears up any misunderstandings.

    Our lovely sheep will be happy to simply go by her adorable and fitting surname, Pepato, if you find the name to cheesy (although in her heart she will know her full name).

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  32. Hello!
    Just a quick note to those of you I haven't responded to here--your entries and comments have all been noted. Thanks for playing!

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  33. Buttered Rummie, she looks as cozy as a buttered rum!

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December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

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