The scurs have started out the New Year mistrusting the Weather Eye. Will we get out of our below-normal temperature rut or are we in it for the long haul? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the low single digits with lows in the lower teens below zero. Thursday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of snow. Highs near zero with lows near 10 below. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the low single digits above zero and lows near -10. Saturday, partly sunny and warmer (yay!) with highs in the low teens above zero and lows near 5 above. Mostly cloudy Sunday with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows again near 5 above. Monday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 20’s and lows near 5 above. Partly sunny Tuesday with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the low single digits above zero. The normal high for January 8th is 22 and the normal low is 4. The scurs are bracing themselves for what is typically the coldest part of the winter. Seems like it’s off to a good start.
December precip is in the books for another year. We had a surprisingly generous accumulation of snow at 11.7” which is not that far off the pace of normal at the SROC of 13”. Much like the rainfall over the course of the growing season, it tended to come in small amounts. With the temperatures being cold for much of the month, most of what we received is still there. Lately it’s been light, fluffy snow that has stayed put without a lot of blowing and drifting. Let’s hope that trend continues. Moving snow every day is overrated.
The past week’s cold spell wasn’t unprecedented by any means. This one seemed more in line with some of the cold snaps I remember as a kid. Lucky for us we weren’t milking cows, although there were still plenty of animals to be fed and eggs to be picked. The henhouse was always a favorite stopping point. Getting the eggs wasn’t hard and it was usually warm in the chicken coop. Sometimes there’d be a mean hen that was always on target, pecking that patch of bare skin between your glove and jacket when you’d reach under her. Other than that it was pretty mundane. Cleaning the henhouse wasn’t fun during weather such as we’ve had, especially since the Co-Op E3 usually started even when it was brutally cold. The “tractor wouldn’t start” excuse didn’t cut it. Once the manure was pitched and hauled though, the fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies Mom had baked seemed to make it all worth it.
With temperatures dipping into the -20 range on New Year’s Day morning it was only fitting that the furnace would act up. I was awakened about 6:30 by Mrs. Cheviot informing me the furnace was out and something should be done about it. Odd. I wasn’t having any issues with it, even though the temperature had fallen to about 50 degrees in the living room. It was still about 60 where I was sleeping with the floor heat, and under the covers it was a lot warmer than that. Besides, Ruby was curled up right next to me. After some twiddling with the furnace I persuaded it to heat the house back up to the set temperature. Only trouble was when it shut off and went to restart again, only the fan kicked, in blowing cold air. I repeated the steps I had taken before and this time it seemed like it decided perhaps the burner really should kick in after cycling several times. After all that’s what it’s designed to do. Fingers crossed, but it’ll probably involve a visit from the furnace guy. I have a hunch this winter is a long way from over.
More bad news to start the New Year: I broke my favorite pitchfork handle when I whacked the ram over the head to get him out of the hay manger. It snapped like a toothpick. The fact it was -20 probably didn’t help matters. Now the challenge will be to find a handle that has the proper bend to it to fix it. The big box stores all carry replacement handles that are apparently made for tangs that are bent more to begin with. Probably have to check with one of the small local hardware outfits that actually know about such things. It appears one can’t buy forks like the older ones I like anymore and apparently that’s reflected in the replacement handle supply. I think the big box stores keep the replacement handles on hand to convince you that replacing them is futile and you really should buy a new fork. Bull cookies. It’s this kind of thinking that keeps getting us in trouble as a society. Just ask any farmer who’s found an old pitchfork stuck in a tractor or combine tire.
At least the birds have been entertaining. The chickadees set up shop recently, efficiently flying back and forth from the crabapple branches to the feeders. Once they’ve cracked open their sunflower seed it’s back to the feeder for another one. Lots of nuthatches, downies and hairies working not only on sunflower seeds, but helping themselves to the suet as well. Goldfinches are more regular and the blue jays contend with the squirrels for kernels of ear corn. Not sure which is getting fatter, the squirrels or the blue jays. The cardinals continue to visit with the male starting his daily routine of flying into the sliding glass doors. Never fear, as Ruby has associated that noise with us saying “squirrel!” so she now responds immediately by checking it out. We don’t even have to say anything. Handy dogs those Border Collies.
And some more good news: It appears I’ve beaten the alien into submission at least this time around anyway. Lots of people have had this crud so I wasn’t alone. It made it tough to get excited about going outside very much other than to do chores, and who gets excited about that to begin with? Getting some extra sleep was probably the best medicine. At least the time spent under the blankie made me ready to head outside a little more readily even though it was tough to leave its toasty warmth once settled in. Falling asleep to Gunsmoke and waking up when M*A*S*H came on seemed to work out about right.
See you next week…real good then.