The scurs were satisfied with the Weather Eye’s sudden uncanny ability to forecast crummy weather. The crummy weather? Not so much. Is the Weather Eye finally broken in or are we set up for more ugly winter surprises? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 20’s and lows near 10 above. Thursday, mostly sunny and colder with highs near 10 and lows around 5 below. Sunny on Friday with highs in the low teens and lows in the low single digits. Saturday, sunny with highs in the upper teens and lows in the mid-single digits. Sunny for Sunday with highs in the low 20’s and lows near 10 above. Monday, sunny with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Tuesday, partly sunny with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. The normal high for December 10th is 28 and the normal low is 11. The scurs continue recovering up from the weekend’s brutal shoveling bomb session. Some hot toddies soothe the aches and pains as they contemplate Christmas shopping for yet another week.
Very little in the way of fieldwork went on this past week and after last weekend’s snowstorm it may be a while if there was corn left to pick. 7” – 8” of wet heavy snow fell and to make matters worse, sustained winds of 20 – 30 mph with gusts of up to 45 mph were recorded at the Waseca Airport. Application of fertilizer to frozen, snow covered soils is not wise while those with confinement livestock operations may not have any other alternatives if the pits under the barns have reached capacity. One can smell it on the air occasionally and although we may not like it, the cold weather has been good for something. Much of the manure has frozen and until it thaws, the odor remains at least more tolerable. Waivers for surface manure applications must be obtained from the MPCA first so it’s not like operators are indiscriminately dumping it on top to save money and speed up the hauling process.
At the ranch and everywhere else there was a sense of urgency, a frenzy if you will of people putting things away and buttoning up their buildings. It had been a busy day at the office and getting to a stopping point. It was time to bring livestock equipment back from the kindly neighbors’ pasture. From there it was on to load up a used snow blower I’d spoken for. When I got close to home with that I saw neighbors moving trucks, wagons and fertilizer equipment presumably to their winter storage areas. I parked the trailer where it wasn’t likely to be in the way at snow removal time and hooked onto the livestock trailer. It was time to bring the sheep home before they got snowed in.
Luckily I’d shut them in the barn the night before by feeding them inside. You can trick sheep into doing a lot of things for food, just like some people I know. Backed the trailer in and a few of the ewes hopped right in, but as usually happens, they turned around and flew right back out. Restricting their enclosure with a hog panel forced them suddenly to change their minds and after one failed attempt they all jumped in. I quickly slid the door shut and pulled the trailer ahead away from the door. Tossing some tubs and buckets in the pickup, then closing up the doors on the shed, I was out of there in about 45 minutes.
Once home it was time to sort out a few of the bred ewes we’d opted to sell along with the ram that had been with the group. By then it was dark and tough to see. Fortunately there’s a light inside this trailer that actually works, so it wasn’t long and I had them separated. I backed the trailer into the feedlot and let one group out the side door. Then when Mrs. Cheviot arrived home, we ran the last group out the back into the main barn. It was definitely time for all of them to be home. The sheep had been over at the pasture nearly six months. They were starting to look forward to their hay towards the last while the acorns and pumpkins they’d feasted on earlier were long gone. Likewise the ewes at the ranch had gobbled down the last vestiges of the Thanksgiving pumpkins.
Barn cleaning followed on Saturday with the inclement weather upon us. There was still snow left from earlier in the week making it slick on the north facing slope by the barn. Taking the first load out, the tractor and spreader slid sideways, making me grimace as it barely cleared the livestock trailer. It was snowing heavily. On the second load, it made me wonder if I’d make it out or back the next time. What I’d decided was the third and final load for the day confirmed my earlier suspicions. I had to back up and grind my way up the incline to get away from the barn. It was getting tough to see out the windows of the cab and where I’d been with the previous load. When the spreader finally went empty and the last hunk cleared the beaters, the traction was getting shaky even in the field. I shifted to a higher gear and made a run at the slant to get on the driveway. It grabbed on one side, then the other as I alternately hit the brakes finally to scratch and claw my way onto the level. I’d made it, although it ripped up the yard pretty good. Lucky it’s snowing hard I thought. That way the neighbors wouldn’t be able to see the divot.
I unhooked from the spreader, leaving it where it wouldn’t become encased in a snowbank. It was time to do what I dread every season: Put the tractor chains back on. Seemed like I’d just taken them off. Indeed, they were still fairly shiny as I pulled them off their hangers and dragged them over to the tractor. They were shiny with good reason. I was still moving snow the week of April 20th. Looking back over the calendar year, we’ve had measureable snowfall in 7 of the last 12 months. And we’re not talking the fraction of an inch stuff. When it snows it’s been the make everything white, three to four inch variety at the ranch since mid-October.
It’s not my first rodeo, so the chains went on relatively smoothly as the weather continued to deteriorate. There was no way to finish cleaning the barn by choretime. I’d have to hook up to the spreader again. It would take moving some animals and gates around. It would also be dark in less than two hours. Ruby had been out there all day helping. Her fur was caked with ice and snow. I’d had enough fun and games for one day anyway and for sure enough of the weather. Someone remind me, why is it we live here again?
See you next week.