Monday, October 30

Daily Farm Photo: 10/30/06

Ram! Bam! Look Out, Ma'am!


What A Guy

Many of you know that it can take a while to get a name around here. And when someone does finally get a name, it is pretty much guaranteed that not everyone will think it is as wonderful as I do.

Back in September we drove up to a friend's farm to pick out a new Suffolk ram lamb to breed with our flock. After we had him loaded up and were getting ready leave, my friend turned to me and delivered these parting words with great seriousness:

"Just don't give him a ridiculous name like you gave the last one."

"Leopold? What was wrong with that?"

"No. What was the one before him?"

"Rammy."

"No. What else did you call him?"

"Big Boy?"

"All I remember is you started calling him some goofy name while you were still here, and after you left we couldn't stop laughing. Heck, we still laugh about it and that was years ago." (For some reason this dear friend finds humor in pretty much everything I do and say, including chasing around baby pigs with my camera.)

So as soon as we got back to the house, I dashed off an email to my laughing pal letting her know that we had arrived safely and that 'Stud Muffin'--whose unloading from the truck had attracted the undivided attention of the entire flock (and Dan)--was settling in just fine.

Once we had stopped laughing, we began to put a lot of thought into our new ram's real new name. The thing was, Stud Muffin had started to stick. It was cute (you know I love cute), and he did look like a stud as he strutted around his pen for the girls. Plus the "muffin" part even gave it a baking slant. But knowing that if I named him Stud Muffin my friend (who will be reading this) would never, ever, ever let me live it down, we wisely chose something else.

Some of you may remember Jeff from the Name That Sheep Contest I held last October. Jeff (who keeps his household in hysterics while his partner Joe keeps them in a dizzying array of yummy stuff) was an avid, determined, giggle-fit-inducing player. When his first choice for a name ("Cashew, as in Cash Ewe hee hee hee!") wasn't a winner, he didn't take offense. He simply continued to play his own version of the contest, changing it to Name That Everything (And Please Name It Jeff!). For over a year now he has been leaving not-so-subtle hints and suggestions in comments on numerous Farmgirl Fare posts. At one point he said he would consider having a piece of farm equipment named after him, "like a tractor or a garden cart." And, in a moment of desperation, he was willing to settle for a tree called Jeff.

Well, Jeff, sometimes persistence pays off. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you:

Mr. Studly Do-Right Jefferson!
(Who goes by Studly Jeff)


And Do-Right he has certainly done. On October 10th we put Studly Jeff in with the flock.There were 32 ewes to cover (that's farm speak for knock up), and two weeks later he'd pretty much nailed them all. What can I say? Studly Jeff has only One Task on the farm--and he's done a bang up job at it. (Now he's going back and double checking his work.)

Of course five months from now, I will no doubt be hoping that he'd spread things out just a little bit more. Fifty or so lambs born in a couple of weeks? Oh my. We'll have to double (or triple) up at The Bonding Suite Inn. This is definitely going to be interesting--and no doubt crazy. But it'll certainly be better than last spring's three month long lambing season (due to Leopold getting overheated during late summer). There's nothing like 21 nights in a row of reluctantly climbing out of a warm and cozy bed at two in the morning, piling on turtleneck, winter coveralls, heavy jacket, hat, scarf, gloves, and boots, then stumbling down to the barn in the freezing cold, clutching a towel and a bottle of iodine, only to find that nothing is going on. (Then repeating these steps in reverse and trying to fall back to sleep for a couple of hours.)

I have a feeling, though, that getting back to sleep this next lambing season won't be a problem, as I probably won't be getting to go to bed in the first place. Hmmmm. Maybe I should make up a little hay bed and just plan on living in the barn for a while. There would be plenty of wool to keep me warm. And I bet Cary would love to finally get to spend an entire night curled up next to her mother.

A year of Daily Photos ago:

The Tail End Of This Year's Fabulous Fall Colors

22 comments:

  1. awww!! He looks like a stud muffin though, but from what I've read from Jeff, I'm sure he'll be proud to own it!! p.s pink piggy is soooo adorable!!!

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  2. I forgot to tell you Susan I made your mexican monkey cake yesterday and it is so yummy!! It's almost all gone today!!! Great recipe.

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  3. You don't know how much I would love to visit - and help! - during lambing. And Violet too, when she's older.

    Great post!

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  4. very funny! Congratulations Jeff!

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  5. Too funny! My first Suffolk ram was named "Bumble" after the Bumble (snow monster) in Rudolph-the-Red-Nosed-Reindeer. He gladly lived up to the name. Congrats, Jeff, on your namesake!

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  6. Hahahahahahahahahaaaaaa!!!! FG, I'm doubled over laughing at your ram-naming hi-jinx! Hilarious! The new name is perfect, and I know Jeff is proud as can be.

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  7. Dear Farmgirl Susan,

    I LOVE YOU!

    OMG you have no idea how exciting this is! Woo! I am somebody! You know you have to pet him every day for me and tell him Jeff (his human studmuffin counterpart) sends his love.

    We're moving in. Please prepare the spare bedroom...

    :) I'm so happy!!!! Persistence, I tell you....

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  8. p.s. - that "moment of desperation"? I prefer to think of it as ultimate flexibility, thank you very much.

    =:o

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  9. Now everyone who reads this post is going to offer up their name so they can be as famous as human Jeff, but with all those baby lamb-buns in the oven, you may need all the names you can get. I have really frizzy hair, so you might want to consider Curly Barb. Mind you, if you have the names all covered, I'll take the tree that Jeff missed out on!

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  10. Oh no Susan... what have you done!!

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  11. Does this mean Jeff's attempts at new names will end?!?! A tradition comes to a close. I also wonder, since his namesake will have created such a demand on the farm in 5 months, is he, Jeff, responsible to help out?

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  12. Well, Jeff, we here in the chicken house are very happy for you. Now that you have had this ego boost, perhaps you can slack up on the chicken-baiting and mockery which Whitey and I have endured with our customary feathered refinement and grace, you big sheep!

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  13. Brilliant and so funny hope Jeff is happy with his name sake.

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  14. Dear Lindy and Whitey -

    I hereby declare today "Love the Chickenz" Day. So come and give me a big hug!

    Oh....that pesky "no arms" issue....sorry.

    How 'bout a peck on the cheek? Hahahahaha!

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  15. Your constant up and down during lambing season got me thinking...What if you set up a security camera in the barn?

    A friend of mine got one for her baby so she could see him at night or while he was napping from anywhere in the house. It connects to their TVs and they can just turn the TV on and check on him. It even has night vision!!

    You could just go to the TV and check on the flock instead of actually going outside!

    Just a thought!

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  16. I grew up on a farm, and I really appreciate your posts. However, we didn't have sheep. We did dairy and pork until I was 8, then went to feedlot beef and pork.

    I want a sheep!

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  17. Jeff from MD has quite the sense of humor. I hope your Jeff has the same and doesn't get mean. =)

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  18. Well, Jeff, we thought you'd be too busy being the center of all that sheepish admiration.... never would have guessed that you'd want to be a chick(en) magnet, too!

    We may not have arms, but we can wing it!

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  19. What a lovely, funny tale. I am grinning from ear to ear. My husband and I always wrangle over the names of every new animal addition to the family.

    THat big boy is a stud muffin!

    Pax. Kimberly

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  20. I love the names you give all your animals. My husband and I are the same way about naming all our pets (mind you we only have three but it took us several days of hashing at a time to get them names). The names aren't as cute as the ones you come up with though!

    Stay warm and keep enjoying those fall colors!

    and Grats to Jeff for his patience, see, it really does pay off, eventually! *chuckles*

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  21. Thanks, Kimberly! I do work out regularly, you know.

    *flex*

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  22. LOL Just when I think you're a NICE girl ya get all crazy with the sex talk on here! LOL

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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.

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