After the weekend snowfall the scurs are tempted to head to Misgen’s and see if there are any Gremlins with used Weather Eyes. Will that stop the bleeding or do we need a tourniquet? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of overnight showers. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Saturday, sunny with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the low 30’s. Sunny for Sunday with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the low 30’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Sunny Tuesday with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. The Full Moon for the month will occur on October 24th. The normal high for October 24th is 56 and the normal low is 34. As the change from Daylight Saving Time nears, the scurs are scouring shoppers for their favorite day of the year. Looking for smoke detector batteries? Nah, Halloween candy sales!
As mentioned, the Full Moon for October occurs on the 24th and since it is farther away from the autumnal equinox than the Full Moon in September was, it is known as the Full Hunter’s Moon. It was during this moon that settlers and indigenous peoples alike stocked their larders with game for the long winter months ahead. The Ojibwe called this the Falling Leaves Moon and the Sioux knew it as the Moon of Falling Leaves. At the ranch, we know it as the Grinding Leaves Moon. Running them through the mower beats the tar out of raking them and anything that escapes just blows away.
Very slow progress most of the week up until about Friday into Saturday when conditions were deemed fit enough to pick corn once again. Headlands were a fright however and the sins of the past couple harvests on them are repeating themselves. Corn has not dried appreciably although it remains at a level where it still goes through the dryer in relatively decent fashion. Stalk integrity continues its decline and the past weekend’s snowfall certainly didn’t do it any favors. Soybean combining remained at a virtual standstill, again. Some have been quick to encourage the drying of soybeans. The field conditions will dictate whether or not that will be necessary. At this point most are content to harvest corn until such time as the field conditions and moisture content in the soybeans are satisfactory.
It was interesting to watch the about face in the weather forecast last week. Earlier in the week the NWS had called for potential showers over the upcoming weekend. About Tuesday they yanked it out entirely with no precip forecast the next seven days. Along about Thursday, they changed their tune again and put a slight chance back in. We had a major killing frost in the meantime on the 11th. As the old timers used to say, expect precipitation within 24 – 48 hours of a hard frost. They were right on the money. Notice the old timers didn’t necessarily specify what variety of precipitation!
Waking up and peering out the bedroom window Sunday morning, my brain was still a little fuzzy. Was I dreaming? Had I become Rip Van Winkle, asleep since October only to awaken in January? Or was everything just frosty, giving it the appearance of being snowed on? I rubbed my eyes, put my glasses on and looked again. There was no question about it. It was snow and worse yet, it was still snowing. I had to look at my cell phone to be sure. Yup, it said October 14th alright. I hadn’t overslept by three months although after seeing a winter wonderland outside it was extremely tempting to just go back to bed.
After chores and experiencing the snow firsthand I was concerned about the sheep scrounging up enough to eat in the pasture as it kept coming down. There was still plenty of grass only it was becoming buried deeper under the snow. The group at home was busy covering the far end of the pasture and just about everywhere in between. Should I be a nice guy and move a round bale into their feeder for them to nosh on? Even with a plentiful supply of hay that sounded like a lot of messing around for a nasty mid-October day.
I was relieved as I watched the flock from the nice warm house. The weather didn’t bother the Cheviots. They were working over the low hanging tree boughs that were nearly touching the ground from the weight of the wet snow. Most of the leaves were still attached and they feasted greedily on anything they could reach. Days prior to the snowfall the ewes were picking up any leaves falling in their path. In addition to consuming leaves they enjoy munching small trees off as much as any goat. If you don’t think so, see what happens when they get out after planting some saplings. They’ll be the first thing the sheep eat especially if you paid good money for them.
The snow certainly curtailed any plans of taking the Studebaker out for a weekend run. This entire season has made it difficult to get the car out. Last year we were able to put on over 1600 miles on and this year we’ll be lucky to get in 600. The weather hasn’t done us any favors and likewise our work schedules. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a few more trips in before the weather completely slams the door. Maybe there’ll even be a few leaves left on the trees. If not there are always places to explore, not the least of which is DQ!
The fresh tomato supply is continuing to meet our demands although one can see the writing on the wall. They have been a treat and the BLT’s are a regular part of our table fare this time of year. Garnishing them with cottage cheese, macaroni salad and coleslaw as a side dish ain’t all bad either. They really are a favorite and it’s always a sad day when the last one is consumed or ends up over the fence. On the bright side, getting that first ripe tomato in the next growing season always gives us something to look forward to.
See you next week…real good then.