Finally some warmer highs from the scurs, courtesy of the Weather Eye. Will the heater finally stay on and not cool down so much at night or will we be reaching for that hooded sweatshirt? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a modest chance of forenoon showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny becoming cloudy with a slight chance of evening thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Monday, sunny with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Mostly cloudy and warmer on Tuesday with increasing chances of developing thundershowers. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the low 60’s. The normal high on the July 8th is 83 and the normal low is 62. The scurs have plans to eat as much as is possible at Farm and City Days to expand their stomachs for all the parade candy.
The Full Moon for the month will occur on the 8th and is most commonly known as the Full Buck Moon as male deer are growing antlers covered with velvet during this timeframe. It is also called the Full Thunder Moon for the numerous thunderstorms common during the month and the Full Hay Moon as much hay is harvested as well. The Sioux knew this as the Moon When Wild Cherries are Ripe and the Ojibwe called it the Full Raspberry Moon. At the ranch we can see some wild raspberries but it will be the Moon When Birds Eat Your Raspberries. And for those wondering what the bright planet near the moon was on July 1st, it was indeed Jupiter. More on the evening sky in upcoming editions.
Finally some high temperatures that have started to move the crop along nicely once again with the promise of more to come. Corn has reached about 5’ tall in early planted fields. At our present pace, give it until about mid-month and we should see tassels. Soybeans have started blooming in earnest with some of the early planted, early maturing varieties being R2 or full bloom. Second cutting hay has been made in some fields with the recent albeit narrow window of opportunity and appears to be of excellent quality. Rainfall for June was plentiful yet not to the point of being excessive in most areas. We measured 5.53” at the ranch and 5.17” in Bugtussle proper. The pattern of rainfall being almost spoon fed continues with only one rainfall event for the month at both locations being over an inch and no rainfall event over 1.6” at either location. This bodes well as we move into July with a relatively full soil moisture profile. Timely rains the last part of July and into August are usually key for us to ring the bell on corn and soybean yields.
This time of year is special as we get to see some of the young animals start appearing. Last Tuesday I was raking hay and a doe and at least one fawn brought traffic on the gravel road to a halt as they tried to decide what the deer might do. A little alter I saw a fawn stick its head out of the corn adjacent to the hayfield, saw me coming towards it then wheeled around and went back in. Then just as I was getting close to finishing there was a doe with not one, not two but three fawns. I’d seen pictures of triplet fawns before but don’t think I’ve ever seen a set of them up close and personal. The interesting thing was the doe appeared to be in great shape. But then she probably should’ve been. The deer made themselves right at home in the hayfield most of the winter, leaving their little calling cards behind from their behinds.
In the yard too we’re entertained seeing the new hatch of young birds coming to the feeders. Some of the young orioles sound like totally lost souls with their mournful call. Others seem to have figured out the buffet and waste no time gorging themselves. Watched a mother downy feed her youngster the other morning. She flew to the feeder, extracted a sunflower seed, wedged it in the tree bark, and cracked it open. Then she clambered down the tree and stuffed the seed in junior’s mouth. She repeated this process several times. I didn’t have time to see if the light bulb would come on in the young bird although apparently it must or there wouldn’t be many of them around. We have several pecking away in the trees seemingly constantly.
We got the new radial tires installed on the Silver Hawk last Thursday. After seeing what a difference they made on other’s collector vehicles, it was only logical to replace the bias-ply tires that had some age and wear on them. Like the bias-ply tires, the radials are wide white sidewalls. While at 2 ¾”, the white sidewalls on them are not quite as wide as the original 3 ¼” width white sidewalls, it was difficult to notice a difference just by looking at them. Taking it for a spin after they were installed, the radials lived up to their billing. It drove like a different automobile. The bumpy stretches of road were less bumpy, causing fewer rattles and squeaks in the interior than their predecessors. The smooth road was even smoother than before, a little like sitting in your living room in your favorite recliner. With more tire surface on the road and no power steering suddenly you can feel the road more too in a positive sense. Since I grew up driving cars back in the day without all of today’s whistles and bells, I always tell people you drove them with your butt and your ears. This car is no exception.
When it came time to the question of what to do with the old tires some were curious what I’d do. I kept them. The two that were rear tires are still in pretty good shape yet so someone may be interested at a swap meet or on a swap page. Both of the two fronts wore excessively on one side, making them unsuitable for further use on a motor vehicle. They may however work on one of our flare boxes as those rims are surprisingly enough also 6.70-15’s. I’m a little bummed they won’t fit on the manure spreader though. Growing up, Dad or someone had apparently got all the life out of a set of white sidewalls they could (the tires were bald) then stuck them on the double beater Schultz tandem axle manure spreader. Needless to say I’m positive we were the envy of the neighborhood. Talk about style points.
See you next week…real good then.