Having fine-tuned the Weather Eye, the scurs have set their sights on warmer days ahead. Will Mother Nature cooperate, or are we in for a cold backhand with a wet, sloppy kiss? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, cloudy with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the low 50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Saturday, sunny becoming cloudy with a good chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny on Mother’s Day with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Partly sunny for Tuesday with a continued possibility of rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. The normal high for May 12th is 68 and the normal low is 47. The scurs will be investing in some pretty posies for Mother’s Day. Luckily, dandelions are plentiful right now, and the price is right.
Even though the weather tried its best not to cooperate, area farmers still managed to make some headway after missing the predicted weekend washout. While precipitation in April was frequent (23 days in April had detectable precip at the ranch) the amounts per event were modest relative to much of the Corn Belt. Coupled with a warmup, this made for the best soil conditions of the spring by Monday. In the wee hours of Monday morning one could see lights crawling across the landscape. One could also hear the collective chorus of diesel engines as well as the high-pitched whine from vacuum planters. With conditions holding up through Tuesday, a large portion of the corn was planted locally. Fears about imbibitional chilling appear to be allayed for the time being. Corn has sprouted and while there could be some unevenness in emergence; we’ll cross that bridge when/if we come to it. Some soybeans also made it into the ground and it’s definitely time. No reason to wait if conditions are fit.
Some area hayfields have suffered some winterkill on the alfalfa. Hay supplies are going to be tight again this year, so there are some new fields being established. The ability to utilize mixed hay is one of the beauties of raising sheep or beef cattle. No one will argue that straight alfalfa is tough to beat. However, when one establishes a field of alfalfa and orchardgrass, at least one can feel somewhat confident that at least there will be something there to harvest to at least tide you over until you can establish more hay. Add a little nitrogen if needed and properly harvested, orchardgrass makes some very palatable, acceptable hay. Sixty Cheviots can’t be wrong.
Speaking of Cheviots, the late lambing ewe and lamb are doing well. One has to admit the lamb is a cutie too not to mention being a livewire as Cheviot lambs typically are. Fortunately we had a spare pen in the main barn, so it hasn’t been a major bother. Being the ewe’s only lamb, he has free rein at the snack bar. Plus, there’s plenty of room in the pen for him to hop and nap as well. Several times we’ve been doing chores and have come upon him sleeping. When that happens we make sure he’s O.K. before going any further. Every time so far, when we wake him he groggily gets up, yawns, then makes a big stretch and heads straight for mom, much to her chagrin.
At the ranch this past weekend it was time to get Howard and Whitey prepared for another action-packed adventure in lawn mowing. Howard started right up as if it had just been parked hours earlier. I had moved it on a warm day back in January and it started then too. I blew the dust off the mower, gave it a bath, checked the oil I’d changed oil late last fall, so I greased it and fueled it up. Whitey was a little more problematic. It turned over fine, but ran out of battery after cranking on it a while. Not unexpected after looking in the gas tank and seeing it was nearly empty. The battery charger was employed. After three hours and a gallon of gas later it popped right off too. Whitey is my go-to ditch and windbreak mower. Once it dries up enough so we don’t get stuck, we can proceed. Howard and I proceeded to mow the main lawn. Parts needed it, others not so much. Still, it’s nice to even it all out so areas don’t look like a hay field. Ruby didn’t care. Her white socks were green from an afternoon of following the mower through the fresh cut grass. Have to wash them with liquid Tide I guess.
It was a watershed weekend in the bird department as well. On Saturday I spied the first Harris’s sparrow in the yard. That and thinking I might’ve seen a hummingbird motivated me to put out the hummingbird nectar and oriole jelly feeders. Sunday morning brought a white crowned sparrow, so could the hummers and orioles be far behind? I had my answer shortly before 5 p.m. when I happened to glance and notice the familiar hovering of a hummingbird at the feeder. It left, and within minutes an oriole was atop the feeder, drinking the water out of the ant moat. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for him to figure out where the jelly feeder was. While we still lack abundant leafy cover, at least the feeders are ready. Next up: house wrens. Thought there might’ve been one scolding a cat Sunday night. Still haven’t heard the familiar house wren song yet, however. Once that’s accomplished it can officially be summer. Mark me down as ready.
One of the rites of spring is the rhubarb getting big enough produce a pie. I’d mowed around it in the afternoon and it certainly appeared to be ready. My Spidey senses were tingling and my mouth watered as I thought of that first mouthful of warm rhubarb pie combined with recently-purchased ice cream from Wagner’s. Shortly after that Mrs. Cheviot put her baking shoes on. After procuring the ingredients and combining them, the wonderful aroma of rhubarb pie filled the house. We did the chores and afterwards while the pie was cooling down, I grilled a pork loin and listened to the cardinals sing. The pie looked like something from a Martha Stewart show, almost too nice to eat. After the main course, I cut a couple pieces and plopped some ice cream on top. Tasted every bit as good as it looked. My memory did not deceive me.
See you next week…real good then.