Having dodged much of Old Man Winter’s wrath last week with only brief appearances of Jack Frost, the scurs have dialed the Weather Eye in to April. Is spring finally upon us or will April be our snowiest month as it was in 2018? Starting April Fool’s Day, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers. Highs in the upper mid-50’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Thursday cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly cloudy on Friday with a good chance of rain turning to snow. Highs near 40 with lows in the upper 20’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of evening showers. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Partly sunny on Sunday with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Partly sunny for Tuesday with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. On the 6th we will have reached 13 hours of daylight for the first time since last September 5th. The normal high for April 6th is 52 and the normal low is 31. The scurs have it on good authority that we will see no more snow. April Fools!
No fooling about the Full Moon on the 7th. It has many names, but is primarily known as The Full Pink Moon for the ground phlox that cover the ground in the woodlands during the month. It also goes by The Full Paschal, Egg, Fish, Hare and Sprouting Grass Moon. The Ojibwe called this The Broken Snowshoe Moon or The Frog Moon. The Sioux knew it as The Moon of Greening Grass. At the ranch we hope it is The Moon of Greening Grass as the hay supply won’t last forever.
Very little in the way of field operations underway as rain has fallen frequently the last half of March. At the ranch we wound up with 2.9” of liquid precip with only 1.1” of snow. Likewise in town where 3.1” of liquid precip was measured and just under an inch of snow fell. The good news is with the rain and warmer temperatures the frost is largely out of the ground and the snow in most road ditches is finally gone. The ice was completely off St. Olaf Lake Monday morning. That usually coincides closely to the frost being out on a wholesale basis. So does pocket gopher and striped gopher activity, both of which are evident.
A night crawler was on top of the ground Sunday at the ranch and the western chorus frogs in the wetland were heard that night at bottle lamb feeding time. I’d tried to listen for the frogs earlier, but the ducks and geese were causing such a ruckus I couldn’t hear them. Our rhubarb has come to life as well with one hill being about 4” tall already. The pasture greened up nicely Monday after the rain, beckoning the ewes to nibble on those first blades of tender green grass. Goldfinches are showing more yellow as they come to the feeders. Yet more proof of global climate change. We always hope it changes by this time of year.
Something else we try to change is the living and feeding arrangements for the ewes with lambs. It’s time, and with everything operating day to day due to the coronavirus, it should give us an opportunity. Waiting a day for the mud to subside seemed prudent, so Tuesday is probably the day we’ll get most of the ewes with lambs in the main lot in front of the barn. This presents an opportunity for those who are aware of it to come out and watch the lambs run and play. It’s O.K. if people want to stop by. I know there are some who are going stir crazy looking for things to do. The only thing we ask is that folks pull in the driveway to avoid accidents and stay in the car due to social distancing precautions.
Ruby will be 10 on April 4th. Sometimes she doesn’t act like it while other times she snores loudly during a good, long snooze. She’s still just as goofy as ever and loves attention, especially a good tummy scratching. Most of all as mentioned last week, she loves her ball. She wears one out every year. The Chuck It balls are about the only kind we can make last. While tennis balls are cheaper, we quickly learned they lasted less than a day. Usually it took about 15 minutes for her to tear the covering off and within a few minutes to pop them. Sorta defeats the purpose of having a ball when it doesn’t bounce or roll.
Regardless, she’s been a good little companion, helper and confidant. Helps move ewes with lambs between barns and never judges or criticizes while communicating well. Some people could take lessons. When it’s time to go outside for potty there’s little doubt. She gives you “the look” and nuzzles you to get your attention. If you ask if she wants to go outside, she’ll go stand by the door. We’ll probably try to do something special for her big day. Steak fat or lamb chop fat are her favorites. She usually communicates frequently afterwards however.
One of the grave errors I made prior to some of the Governor’s orders was a failure to schedule a haircut. I’d thought about it, but with things busy in the lambing barn and elsewhere I’d forgotten. The day before I was ready to schedule it, the business closure orders came down. With no one supposed to be cutting hair legally anyway, I was in a quandary. Should I call my sheep shearer? Come to find out he’d hurt his back so that wouldn’t work. Cut it myself with a hand shears? I might end up minus a hunk of an ear. I’ve read several tips for women concerning their hair, but haven’t seen any advice about what men should do with their overgrown locks. One thing I do know: I refuse to wear a man bun! Good thing I have plenty of caps I guess.
See you next week…real good then.