As predicted by the scurs, with help from the Weather Eye the mud came to life during the day and froze back up at night. Will we see our temperatures trending upward or reverting back to February? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the low 20’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with a slight chance of a rain/snow mix. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the upper 20’s. St. Patrick’s Day, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-40’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Partly sunny for Sunday with a slight chance of evening rain/snow mix. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of a rain/snow mix. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with snow/rain mix. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the upper 20’s. We will have 12 hours of daylight on the 17th with the vernal equinox landing on the 20th this year. The scurs will be pondering how red-green colorblind Irish manage to cope.
Some slow progress towards spring, although this one is acting more like the springtimes I remember as a lad. Just about the time you think it’s going to break, it snows and messes around for a week or two. We’ve tended to become spoiled with springs tending to come earlier and less of our March precipitation falling as snow. At one time March was our snowiest month. Now it has taken a backseat to December. The seasonal snowfall average at the SROC in Waseca is 52.8”. Our snowfall measured so far at the ranch and in town stands at 45” so we are tracking close to normal. Frost depth measured Monday at the SROC was 13” so some warmer days with less snow cover should go a long way towards thawing it entirely. Area lakes are another story with ice depths of 2–2 ½’ being common. Most who have been on the ice have said the fishing stinks but the ice sure is good.
At the ranch our bird population has suddenly taken a turn more towards the winter birds again. The largest group of redpolls we’ve seen since the irruption back in 2009 appeared over the weekend. Monday morning heading in from chores at sunrise there were over 40 of them picking gravel off the driveway. They’ve taken a liking to our hospitality and the thistle seed. Goldfinches still outnumber them on the feeders but the redpolls generally are interspersed on the feeders with them. More subtle hints of yellow showing on the goldfinches, so spring may get here sometime. Rooster pheasants in breeding plumage, probably Little Jerry’s great great grandsons, have set up camp as they do annually in the plum thicket. The male cardinals can be heard not only at the ranch but also in town near the Mall for Men. We still have one that flies into the sliding glass door daily, giving Ruby a job of scaring it back to the trees.
Ruby has a new favorite commercial to bark at: the running of the bulldogs. She missed that one the first several times so we thought we were in the clear. Then without warning, just about when we were ready to nod off after numerous rounds in the lambing barn, she cut loose with a barking tirade. She rarely misses an opportunity to have a hissy when it’s on in addition to barking at other animals such as horses and llamas. And the number of dog food ads featuring none other than more dogs set her off with no warning. Never seen a dog pay as much attention to television as this one. Wonder if she would’ve liked Bart’s Clubhouse?
The night skies are full of wonder this time of year even though we’re usually on a mission to get back in the house. Venus has been an early evening “star” for those who have been wondering what the bright celestial body is in the western sky just after sunset. It will stay an evening star until October. Another planet of note includes Jupiter that rises after midnight and will be a prominent feature in the early morning sky.
As of this writing we’re down to the last two ewes to lamb. It’s a good thing we weren’t taking bets on when they’d lamb or we would’ve lost a bunch of money. One of these days when we go out to the barn we’ll find the lamb we’ve been looking for. The lambs we’ve moved to the loafing barn are really growing. It would be nice if the snow would melt off the fence so we could let them all out outside to rip and tear. It would also introduce them to the electric fence so that becomes imprinted in their brains.
In the meantime, the hay we baled last summer continues to meet their approval. When baling it, it looked pretty nice. Opening bales now for hand feeding it is indeed some very nice hay. The ewes and lambs both love it and there’s very little waste left in the mangers. It won’t last forever though so while not wanting to short anyone, we try to use it wisely. Last summer’s mountain of bales has been reduced to a foothill. Fortunately we have some round bales left to use up. We’ve fed about half of them and the new bale feeders have helped keep the waste to a minimum, even though it was coarse. It’s served its purpose well. The ewes have been about where we like them condition-wise. Too fat and they go down frequently not getting up again. Too thin and the lambs are frequently weak. Just right and everybody’s happy including the shepherd.
See you next week…real good then.