The scurs and the Weather Eye were thinking perhaps they’d overdone it a tad with the new hotter thermostat that was sticking shut. Will Mother Nature keep bringing the high heat as a result or will she start tossing us some junk? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Sunny on Friday becoming cloudy with a good chance of overnight showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a moderate chance of showers. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny for Sunday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Monday, partly sunny with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Sunny Tuesday with possible showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Friday is June 1st already. The normal high for June 1st is 75 and the normal low is 54. The scurs are making sure their electric bill is paid after giving their AC a workout.
Another week of variety for weather. Hit and miss showers slowed progress in places slowing the last planting and delaying applications of herbicides. The extreme heat over the weekend didn’t do any favors either, increasing the potential for crop injury if herbicides were applied. The good news is that due to the extreme heat, some of the early emerging weeds such as giant ragweed will tend to shut down. The bad news though is that those such as waterhemp are loving it. As the week wore on, soybeans and the few remaining acres of corn were put in the ground. Soybeans are emerging nicely and corn planted after the heavy rains in May have generally good stands. Early planted corn was V3 – V4 and 6” – 8” tall. Some 1st cutting hay is ready to be made although not everyone is ready to make it.
With the heat we bid adieu to all the beautiful blossoms on the crabapple trees at the ranch. They were exceptionally pretty this year not only at the ranch but all across the countryside. There are still some flowering shrubs lending their scent to the air when it’s still. As expected the nannyberries blossomed heavily and the American cranberries (viburnum) were coming. While not as fragrant as the plums, the sweet fragrance attracts lots of bees to the yard. One has to wonder sometimes if the heavy blooms on the trees and shrubs was somehow related to the heavy consumption by migrating birds this spring. There is a rhyme and reason to things beyond our understanding at times.
The pots around the yard are wasting no time taking off in the warm weather. The only problem is they’ve needed watering already due to the heat even though the plants are relatively small yet. The area lawns didn’t shut down although the bluegrass at the ranch shot seed heads already. When that happens the grass gets tougher and usually means a sharper set of blades is in order. Otherwise the mower sort of chews the grass off and works harder in doing so. Usually the heat helps shut down the dandelions and that cuts down on the amount of gunk hanging up on the underside of the deck. Ruby doesn’t care. Her white socks were green once again from another session of lawnmower herding.
There has been mention of the large number of evergreens that have been killed or suffering from the “winter burn”. Actually it might be more like “spring burn” as when the trees needed to be taking up water, the soil was still frozen. Trees that were under some stress to begin with and particularly certain varieties of arborvitae were extremely susceptible. We’ve lost several arborvitae such as the dark green varieties at the ranch over the years. Varieties such as techny arborvitae tolerate the situation much better as per our experience. Not as tall perhaps but at least they survive through winter-spring combinations like this last one.
The first of the mosquitoes and stable flies have arrived. I was bitten by a stable fly during chores Monday night. Later when I was grilling and waiting for the coals to get hot, I decided to fill the oriole feeder. I was scooping the jelly out of the jar when I felt something biting my arm. Sure enough, a mosquito was trying to perform an unsolicited blood draw. I’d already done my blood letting at the clinic earlier in the week. Smack!
I stopped at Wagner’s on Friday late afternoon to get a couple things for the long weekend. As I came up to the cash register a young mother with a couple little boys was ahead of me with a lot of groceries. The boys were well behaved but she seemed flustered as she got everything gathered up for the trip out the door. When I got out to the parking lot she apologized for making me wait. I told her no need for that; I understood completely. While I’d been standing in line catching up on which celebrities had been abducted by aliens, I recalled those trips to the grocery store with my own Mom.
I’m not sure how she was ever brave enough to show her face in town sometimes afterwards. If she left us in the car, there were always things to do like burning flies with the cigarette lighter, playing with all the buttons and knobs as well as honking the horn at people while we were lying flat on the seat. Bringing us in the store with her wasn’t an option. No telling what we might say or do to embarrass her. And leaving us at home unsupervised was no slam dunk either. More time and opportunity to get into mischief. Would likely require turning right around and heading for the clinic anyway. I had a lot of respect for the young lady as she put her groceries in the trunk and buckled the young lads in. Much as my own Mom did, one could see she was giving it her best shot.
See you next week…real good then