The scurs were able to sneak a little dribble of rain in last week’s forecast, but it stayed dry until Monday. Will we see some showers this week or will our trend of being dry-cleaned in August continue? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with highs in the low 70s and lows in the mid 50s. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 50s. Friday, partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70s and lows in the mid 50s. Mostly sunny on Saturday with highs again in the mid 70s and lows in the mid 50s. Sunday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70s with lows near 60. Mostly cloudy for Monday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of rain. Highs near 70 and lows in the mid 50s. The normal high for August 11th is 81 and the normal low is 60. Already upon us, the Perseid meteor showers should peak in the pre-dawn hours of August 10–13th. The scurs will be laying on their blanket under the stars in anticipation.
Another cool week with little rainfall occurring in most of greater Bugtussle and environs. Some of the hand wringers and worry warts are already convinced that we should get out the plow to save some time on this crop. Obviously haven’t heard of global warming. Seriously, corn continues to develop, although perhaps not at a rate we’d like to see, and ditto with the soybeans. Corn planted before the snow was milk stage on Monday and most soybeans are R4 with a few early planted early maturing soybeans approaching R5. Some things we can keep an eye on in the meantime are the soybean aphids that have become more numerous in the past week. This type of weather is exactly what they like and since it hasn’t froze yet, we at least need to pretend the soybeans might actually amount to something.
At the ranch, garden and beds are coming along, producing blooms and biomass anyway. Recent rains have perked everything up, at least giving one the impression that we are having a summer of sorts anyway. Tiger lilies are a vivid orange and nothing messes with them in their space. The blue salvia has especially enjoyed this stretch of weather, their blue flowers reminding me of the blue flax fields I once traversed in North Dakota. The winter radishes have exploded from their cotyledon stage to several true leaves. In particular, the Japanese daikon-type radishes grow rapidly and develop a deep tap root. They are essentially the same thing as the tillage radishes planted on the prevent plant acreages so it’s no surprise that these plants are being used for this purpose.
It has been some beautiful sleeping weather. Even the mosquitoes are losing ground as it has dried out. They still come looking for you, but not squadrons at a time as they did a month ago. There have been some questions about what all the little powder blue butterflies are. Most of what we are seeing are eastern tailed blues. If you look closely at their wings there is a little tail on each hindwing. The adults feed on nectar, especially from plants such as low growing legumes like the white clover in lawns. The females lay eggs on buds of some of the same plants and the larvae feed on the flowers. Adults, primarily males, tend to show up around puddles, wet spots or damp manure piles prior to mating. It is thought that they are looking for protein which may increase their fertility, possibly improving the odds that their genes will be passed to the next generation. Gals, if you find guys face down around mud puddles or manure piles, that may be a clue.
There are actually two partially functioning mechanical lawnmowers at the ranch! Doing some carburetor cleaning on Whitey Jr., the float valve was stuck, hence the reason for very little gas getting through to run the 12-horse behemoth. It made Fudgie and Ruby’s day as they had a big afternoon circling it while we made the rounds in the ditch. Emptying two wasps, a spider and some unidentified bug from Howard’s gas tank, I was convinced I’d solved the engine stalling problem. Starting off on Saturday with confidence we rolled through the main lawn in record time. Moving over across the driveway, the mower suddenly died, again. It died once more and after giving me one last gasoline bath, made it the rest of the way. Took it back into the garage and got out the light to look in the tank. Sure enough, there was a small beetle on the bottom. It must’ve clung to the wall of the tank when I rinsed it. A more thorough rinse job is on tap as well as using the recently purchased funnel with strainer when filling it up. Taking the gas tank off gets old after the first couple times.
Fudgie turned 10 on Tuesday and continues to settle into her new home at the ranch. Actually it’s her birthplace as she was part of the litter that included Jet and Gus. It was when caring for them that Mom fell in love with the wriggling little red and white female Border Collie. Fudgie’s found a favorite spot to lie any time she wants to be in the shade with a breeze. The small porch on our patio fills the bill and must seem like a smaller version of the deck she enjoyed at Mom’s. From our porch she can keep an eye on the sheep grazing on the hillside below the house. It’s also a perfect spot to see what the neighbors might be up to. Fudgie has definitely taken a shine to it as it’s become the first place we look when we can’t find her. Now that the bugs have let up some, can’t say as I blame her. As the little fat buddies all know, it’s always good to have a place to hide.
See you next week…real good then.