The scurs finally thawed the Weather Eye out and not a moment too soon. Will we continue to see a warm glow or are we bound for another round in the deep freeze? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 20’s and lows near 10. Valentine’s Day, cloudy with a moderate chance of snow. Highs near 20 with lows falling to near zero. Partly sunny on Friday with a slight chance of forenoon snow. Highs around 10 above with lows in the mid-single digits below zero. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the low teens and lows near zero. Partly sunny for Sunday with a decent chance of snow. Highs in the low teens with lows in the mid-single digits below zero. Monday, partly sunny with highs around 10 and lows near 10 below. Partly sunny for Tuesday with highs in the low teens and lows back to near zero. We will have reached 10 hours and 30 minutes of daylight again on the 15th, about the same as October 26th. On the 19th we see the Full Moon for the month. The normal high for the 19th is 29 and the normal low is 11. Not that we’ll see temperatures anywhere close to that, but it’s always nice to think we could have. The scurs are just looking forward to all their Valentine’s Day candy. Been a long dry spell.
As mentioned the Full Moon is on the 19th and generally goes by the Full Snow Moon as February was frequently the snowiest month for the tribes in the northeastern US. It was also referred to as the Full Hunger Moon as the deep snow frequently made it difficult to find additional food. The Ojibwe knew this as the Full Sucker Moon as the suckers were running in the streams and rivers. The Sioux called this The Raccoon Moon as many raccoons become active during some of the warmer days in the month. At the ranch it is definitely known as the Moon of the Crabby Shepherd as lambing hits full stride.
Lambing has been a roller coaster ride so far. It started out horribly, gained upward momentum and nosedived again. The most recent one involved a set of twins born outside Saturday morning in -14 degree temperatures. Tearing some hay off the top of a round bale with the pitchfork, I dumped a bunch of snow on the other side of the feeder. When I looked around the corner, I’d dumped snow on a set of chilled twins. We quickly got them inside the barn and warmed them up then got warm milk in them. The ewe only milked on one side, so we were operating without a net. Everything was fine until chores the next morning though. The ewe laid on one of the lambs. Oh well, with the ewe only half functional, perhaps it was for the best. Oh no, let’s turn the clock ahead a couple days. Checking in at noon all was well. We came out for evening chores only to find the remaining lamb had escaped his pen and was done in by another ewe. As the saying goes, let no good deed go unpunished.
Let’s hope things begin to improve soon or this lambing season will be like banging your head against the wall. The only good thing about it will be when the show’s over. At least shearing the brood ewes was a brief bright spot. The weather Sunday finally decided to stop being such a gigantic pain in the butt long enough to allow us to get that done. Even though the ewes were damp from all the snow and ice, the shearer came anyway along with his trusty catcher. We made short work of them once we got rolling in spite of the snow that fell. Some good chow prepared by Mrs. Cheviot followed and best of all, a much deserved nap for Mr. Cheviot. Doing chores alone for a couple sessions during the coldest part of the week had taken its toll.
The cold winter has taken its toll on batteries at the ranch as well. It’s weeded any weak ones out, that’s for sure. The latest casualty was the tractor battery. It had acted a little balky recently even when the tractor had been plugged in. Friday morning it finally just said “no.” After a couple hours on the charger it changed its tune and I got the yard cleaned out. I thought the battery had been installed before the one I’d just replaced in the skidsteer was. Sure enough when I removed it the engraving indicated it was a 2008 model. Definitely got my money’s worth out of that one. I was concerned that since I hadn’t measured it, the case on the new battery might be a tad larger than the one it replaced. My fears were put to rest when it slid right in with no issues. After cleaning the connections I reattached the cables and put the cover back on. I turned the key and barely touched the starter button. The tractor responded quickly and roared to life. Cross another crisis narrowly averted off the list.
I’ve noticed some horned larks along the road now and then lately. Might be a day or two before they think about nesting however. Ahead of one of our recent storms, I was able to install the florists wire with a dangling bell sinker on one of the horizontal suet feeders just to see what the reaction would be. The cold weather has increased demand for high energy bird food dramatically. The last thing I wanted to do was inhibit access to chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers. As hoped the house sparrows continued to avoid it as they’re not adept at maneuvering while in vertical flight. They dislike bumping into things such as the thin wire and alter their course. As expected within a few days of the change the downies warmed up to the feeder as did the rest of the invited guests. It warmed my heart to see them from the oval office window working away at the suet in the subzero cold.
Ruby has had some rough days this winter. Working around the yard with the skidsteer gets her worked up with plenty of growling and barking. Blowing snow with the tractor has the same effect although since she hasn’t been around a snow blower before we leave her inside when operating it. Don’t want her to tangle with one of the augers because she would lose. Just watching from her perch on the couch out the window gets her worked up enough. With the Westminster Dog Show agility trials starting on TV Sunday, she’s had more to get excited about. There was also much barking and growling Monday night when the breed competition was on. Like the human contingent at the ranch, Ruby’s got to be looking forward to winter signaling its end. It’s sure been a laugh a minute.
See you next week…real good then.