After changing to a hotter thermostat, the scurs remain stumped. Still not much heat emanating from the Weather Eye. How much deeper into the 232 six will they have to go before they stop recycling February forecasts? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the mid-teens. Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the mid-teens. Partly sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-single digits. Saturday, partly sunny with highs in the low 30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Mostly cloudy for Sunday with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and snow. Highs in the mid-40’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with possible snow/rain mix. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the low 30’s. On April 6th we’ll experience 13+ hours of daylight for the first time since September 4th. The normal high for April 6th is 52 and the normal low is 31. Somehow the scurs are convinced the three-snows-on-a-robin’s-tail rule no longer applies.
The cold, ugly weather continues to make headlines as frustrations continue to build. Someone suggested a good name for it would be Indian Winter! I have some other names for it that wouldn’t get printed I’m afraid. At any rate, while it is not pleasant it is not unprecedented. We’ve been spoiled as a rule with earlier springs and warmer winters recently. Probably the most frustrating thing is that most of the snow is/was gone. About the only good thing about the cold temperatures is the mud freezes up so if one has to go driving around the dooryard, it’s not leaving ruts. However, no one gets excited about lying on a concrete slab changing cultivator shovels or working on a planter with weather like that. I think most are in agreement that when it decides to change, it’ll change quickly.
There is some concern about the birds that have returned having a tough time finding food. It could be an issue with some of the ground feeding birds if their food sources get covered for too long over too wide an area. Hopefully they’ll be able to move to areas without snow cover quickly enough so it doesn’t become an issue. Most of the robins continue relying heavily on the crabapple and berry supply. Soils that are frozen in the mornings aren’t conducive to much earthworm and nightcrawler activity. One of the more pleasant surprises has been the spotting of numerous meadowlarks over the past week. I’m hopeful some stay around here but the cat population will need to be thinned first.
The brood ewes with lambs remain confined to the barn, another casualty of the stubborn weather. There’s still plenty of snow on the electric fence in places and with cold temperatures forecast, there’s no sign they’ll be out where people can see them soon. When they do see them, they’ll probably be disappointed as the oldest lambs are pretty big already. They’re blowing through the creep feed rapidly now and devour the hay faster. We’ve mentioned it before but am glad we put up as much hay as we did. The grass in the pastures is dragging its feet like everything else.
I did get the last eating-apple tree pruned before the temperatures plummeted over the weekend. It took a couple sessions after work but I got ‘er done. The Fireside tree has been somewhat fickle the past couple years and hasn’t been bearing as it once did. That and it dropped most of its fruit suddenly last summer, with the remaining apples appearing to be affected by scab and some apple maggot. There’s also a red cedar south of the yard I’ve been meaning to get rid of. While I’m on a mission, might as well even though the trees are somewhat tolerant to cedar apple rust; best not to take chances sometimes.
Gardening has been one of the furthest things from my mind. I haven’t even peeked at the rhubarb recently. Figuring that with the cold temperatures ahead removing any residue covering the tender buds might be a mistake. There was one other small plant noted while cleaning some sticks and debris off the patio. I’d planted a pot of miniature daffodils last spring after it had dried down just to see if it would make it. It did and had lots of small buds ready to take bloom once the temperatures warm up. Was just happy to see it had survived. It’ll be interesting to see if the buds take it or not.
Ruby has actually been enjoying the frozen soil in the mornings. It means she can do her business unabated and not be left inside at choretime due to the quagmire by the barn. It has also meant that anytime we’re pruning trees, cleaning up sticks, or moving things around the yard, she can be out there where the action is. She gets more exercise and potty time along with taking more naps in the sun. Ruby turns 8 on the 4th and shows very little sign of slowing down aside from that. Just like her owner.
See you next week…real good then.