The scurs had a letdown from the Weather Eye with showers and cool temps raining on everyone’s parade. Are we due to rebound to more summer-like weather or does Mother Nature have a cold, cold heart? Starting Wednesday, mostly clear with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny becoming mostly cloudy on Friday with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Saturday, cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly cloudy for Sunday with a modest chance of lingering forenoon showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Partly sunny Tuesday with possible showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. On May 22nd we’ll reach just over 15 hours of daylight. The last time that happened was last July 19th. The normal high for May 22nd is 71 and the normal low is 50. The scurs are rested and ready following a long rain delay. Now if they could only remember what it was they were going to do.
And what a long delay it was. Very little fieldwork has been accomplished since the forenoon of May 8th. Rainfall totals from the 8th through the 15th totaled 2.85” at the ranch and 2.92” at the Mall for Men in Bugtussle. Along with the extended wet spell, cloudy skies and cooler temperatures, it made matters worse. Lately it seems that if there’s even a minor chance of precipitation, it finds a way to rain. Looking at the forecast though, it appears there may be another narrow planting window this week. It should give those who were close to finishing up corn a chance and those who had started soybeans an opportunity to make a bigger dent in that planting. Corn planted those last several days in April is up and off to a good start in spite of the pale color. Soybeans planted in early May were just cracking as of Monday.
At the ranch it was time to get some mowing done Mother’s Day, although it was cool and damp yet in the late forenoon. A new breeding ram made it to our place from WI and it was chilly standing around visiting after we unloaded him. Crawling under a blankie once back inside felt good and the nap that followed was even better. I was awakened to the sound of a lawnmower below the hill and after looking outside, it appeared the sun was peeking through. Time for a little lunch and to get the final prep on Howard the orange mower. Everything ran smoothly and even though the grass was uneven in height, the mower left enough tracks to allow one to see where you’d been.
Mowing around the round bales I was curious if there was still any frost underneath them yet. Monday night I needed to move one so poked around with a rod where the bale had been afterwards. It only went in the ground about an inch or two! However, I remained unconvinced so grabbed a shovel and dug down to see what was preventing the rod from going any deeper. Sure enough, I’d placed the bales where we’d put down inch and a quarter rock years ago. If I hadn’t double checked I probably would’ve been telling everyone there was still frost under the bales yet. Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story! No fake news here.
The backyard became a regular bird circus last week with the arrival of numerous orioles, more hummingbirds and several dozen goldfinches all in perpetual motion. The orioles blew through a jar of jelly within a day of the first one and the goldfinches polished off the last of the thistle seed in short order. Fortunately I had some gift cards and a discount coupon I donated to the cause. Once the female orioles (both the Baltimore and orchard orioles) arrived Sunday, the pace of jelly consumption tapered off rapidly. Some other notables likely passing through Sunday included pine siskins and a male indigo bunting. A house wren has been here since the 11th so now it can officially be summer anytime. The resident chipmunk is already thinking about stashing food. It stuffed its cheeks so full of corn it looked like it had a goiter. I mean I keep thinkin' that that goiter's gonna start talkin' to me..
Around the yard the serviceberries (Saskatoon berries) were the first woody vegetation to flower. They’re just covered with blossoms so the robins should be happy. The fruit trees, wild plums and flowering crabs have made slow progress towards blooming. On Monday the plum blossoms were edging closer to opening giving the trees an almost beige appearance. If the weather performs as forecast with warmer temperatures and sunshine, they’ll just explode. Likewise with the rest of the flowering trees in the yard. Getting an up close and personal look at them while mowing, they should erupt with a burst of color. They won’t last long, but at least the flowers appear to be intact. After the cold and snow in April, I wasn’t so sure that would be the case.
Ruby has been enjoying the spring lately. The mud has been contained to a small area and with the yard greening up, she can mosey around just about anywhere. She generally doesn’t wander into the tall grass and that helps keep the ticks to a minimum. To keep the lawn from becoming tall grass of course, mowing it needs to happen. That also provides entertainment for Ruby in the form of barking, growling and tire biting. In addition, she follows the mower around the yard. She’s slowed down a hair but still answers the bell. After finishing up mowing and heading into the house for some nourishment, Ruby disappeared from the living room. As Border Collies will do, she was tired and needed her space. She likes to hide in the bedroom or the closet. Not a bad idea some days.
See you next week…real good then.