Without further ado, this year's theme,  suggested by Lisa of New Hampshire,  is COLORS, which, as Lisa pointed out, feels especially appropriate with the release of my hand-dyeing book (Teach Yourself Visually Hand-dyeing, Wiley Publishing) later this spring. 

I thank Lisa for her good idea – she's the lucky winner of a set of Little Lamb note cards and 2 skeins of Foxfire Fiber's  Upland Wool & Alpaca yarn!

There is another very good reason why COLORS makes so much sense for naming lambs this year. But first, I need to share a  little secret: seven of our lambs were born over five weeks ago.  A terrible keeper of secrets I am tickled to now introduce our newest additions – tiny flock of CVM/Romeldale sheep! CVM/Romeldales are among the most colorful and distinctive looking sheep you will find. They also happen to be the most critically rare of all the rare breeds of sheep in the U.S. today (as listed in the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy).

My little CVMs currently reside with shepherd (and breed expert) Chris Spitzer at Yellow Creek Cottage in Ohio, where they were born in January. I am grateful to Chris for guiding my selection of a starter flock, who won't actually be on the ground here until April when they've reached about 12 weeks of age. That puts their arrival right in the middle of lambing season – just to make things more interesting.

Here's a first look – photos sent by Chris when these lambs were only days old. She promises to send more current photos soon, so we can see how they've filled out.

Meet ram lamb (a taupe colored badger-face) #1,

                                                     and ewe lamb #2 (a chocolate brown moorit),

 and ewe lamb #3 (a taupe CVM with badger markings),

                                               and ewe lamb #4,           another chocalate moorit,  

ewe lamb #5 (the most adorable IMO),

             

                                             ewe lamb (a rose-grey moorit)  #6,

 and ram lamb #7 (rose-grey)!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am both to be adding such gorgeous natural colored fiber to my flock while working to preserve this remarkable breed. I will be the first CVM breeder in Massachusetts and the second breeder in the country to be concentrating on one of the CVM breed's most elusive colors: the rare rose-gray. I'll be joining the very good company of fellow New England CVM breeders, Nancy Zeller of Long Ridge Farm, Betsy MacIsaac of Crooked Fence Farm, and Sarah Bowley of the SVF Foundation, who have been all been helpful to me in learning about this breed.

Waiting for these lambs to arrive is a little like waiting for Christmas morning. I simply can't wait to meet them. In the meantime, they are in need of names. 

While we're waiting for the rest of the flock to lamb, it's time for another contest!  We have our theme, now let's name one of the new CVM lambs each week, beginning with ram lamb #1. Post your ideas in the comments section. To keep things interesting and fair, try to avoid repeating names already suggested (if there's a name we love suggested by more than one person, we'll draw to see who wins). Each week's winner will receive a thank you prize for helping to name our new little flock. 

If you would like to know more about CVMs, visit  Yellow Creek Cottage  and the National CVM Conservancy.

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copyright 2009. Barbara Parry. Foxfire Fiber & Designs. All rights reserved.

photos provided by Chris Spitzer.