The scurs made the best of a generally nice but cooler week of weather. More seasonal temps again or back to June this week? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs around and lows near 35. Partly cloudy Thursday becoming mostly cloudy by evening with a good chance of showers particularly in the overnight hours. Highs around 60 and lows about 45. Friday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs again near 60 and lows near 50. Mostly cloudy and warmer on Saturday with an increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms into the evening hours. Highs 65 and lows around 50. Sunday, mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy with a chance of lingering showers prior to evening. Highs 60 and lows of 50. Mostly cloudy on Monday and cooler with highs of 55 and lows near 40. Tuesday, partly cloudy with a chance of showers in the afternoon into evening. Highs near 60 with lows around 35. The normal high for April 15th is 57 and the normal low is 35. Sunrise will occur on April 15th and the sun will set on the 16th. There will be over 13 hours and 30 minutes of daylight on the 16th as we continue to gain daylight at about 3 minutes per day. The scurs will be sharpening their pencil to fill in their Form 1040 on the evening of the 16th.
After consulting with Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer, he informed me that Jupiter will be setting about the same as the sun by the end of April. At that point it will disappear from the evening sky until next winter. That might explain why I can no longer see it when I wander out to feed lambs shortly after 10 p.m. That or it’s cloudy out. Venus, however, is still very bright in the western sky, appearing as a “mini-moon.” Mars is overhead at 10 p.m., the reddish orange glow of the planet making it distinctive and easy to pick out. The Big Dipper is nearly straight up at 10 p.m. and upside down. As legend would have it, it reputedly pours out its water in the spring to bring life to the landscape after the long winter break. Only trouble is so far this spring, it must have a hole in it.
Some corn went in the ground this past week and whether that was a good or a bad thing remains to be seen. All data seems to indicate little benefit from planting much before the 21st and recent experience indicates an increased amount of risk from frost and reduced stands due to cold soil conditions. Small grains look absolutely fantastic as well they should with the planting conditions and dates. Temperatures recently have been to small grain’s liking and dry weather has meant that conditions are less favorable to the development of early season disease. Alfalfa continues to thunder along and depending on what the frost does to it, there is a good chance that first cutting could occur about mid-May. This is about two weeks ahead of what we normally would even consider.
Speaking of ahead of schedule, the yard and garden at the ranch continue to defy the calendar date. The rhubarb was bountiful for Easter dinner and there was plenty to send home. Best of all it was hard to tell any had even been picked. There is even some corn up, likely courtesy of one of the squirrels frequenting the ear corn feeder. Some disappointment too though as the radishes are progressing slowly and the sugar pod peas have emerged unevenly. Then what do you expect planted on March 18th? The pear trees planted last year have flowered like mad. One would think those flowers would smell sweet like an apple blossom: They don’t. They smell like the liquid fly bait we use in the fly traps in the barn. Odd but not so odd perhaps when one thinks about it. They flower very early and there are few bees around to pollinate them so they have to rely on other insects. Lo and behold there were lots of flies on the flowers during the warmer days. Let’s just hope the frost didn’t put a damper on the fruit set. Ditto on the apples. With a low of 21 at Waseca Tuesday morning, all bets are off for a while.
In the yard things are slowly changing over from the winter birds to our more permanent summer residents. There are still lots of downies, nuthatches, hairies, blue jays and a smattering of goldfinches occasionally. However the tree swallows are back in force, occupying almost every nesting box. A brown creeper showed up on Saturday, looking like a mobile know on the ash by the patio. The pond area has come to life too as a waterfowl hangout. Weekend observations yielded several pair of wood ducks, a dozen or so blue-winged teal, mallards and Canada geese. The kestrel is now setting on 4 brownish eggs with small splotches of darker reddish-brown on them. The eggs are huge considering this kestrel isn’t much bigger than a robin. The eggs measure a little over an inch long and about an inch in diameter. Seeing the wood ducks and knowing the lone wood duck house was being occupied by a kestrel again, it was time to put another house up on Sunday. It didn’t take long to do and there were still some prospective occupants in the area as of Monday night.
Easter was one of those made for memories. Thanks to the talents of a Mayo doctor, Mom’s eyesight had been recently restored to its previous level. It made the weekend very special as she could see and appreciate the visual part of the ranch more fully. Also one reason we spent more time cleaning up than we otherwise might have! My older brother brought Mom and her Border Collie Fudgie over on Saturday after the showers had passed. He got the dollar tour of the ranch and was on his way back to his castle north of the Twin Cities. Mom was so happy to feed the bottle lambs and they of course were more than happy to eat. Ruby of course was delighted to have Fudgie to play with.
On Easter Sunday we had my sister and nephew as guests along with Auntie Mar Mar. We all contributed something to the feast. I made lamb chops on the grill and luckily no one called the fire department. Mrs. Cheviot made a strawberry pie worthy of Martha Stewart and some gluten-free rhubarb bars that were actually extremely good. Mom made a large batch of her marvelous cherry fruit salad. My sister put together some mean potato salad. Auntie Mar Mar brought her exquisite but lethal bean recipe. They worked their magic too and by late afternoon I was blaming the strange noises on the icemaker again. Ruby kept everyone entertained and was her typical busybody self as there was always something going on she could be involved in. By the time the day was over and it was time for folks to go home, the time had flown by. With Fudgie packed up and good-bye’s said, the house became suddenly quiet as the Suburban rolled down the road. We were back to our normal routine. Ruby was back to hers as well, a red and white blur racing to the barn then back to the house, making sure we were on our way to do chores.
See you next week…real good then.