The woes continue for the scurs and their Weather Eye. More parts on backorder at AMC, although a call in to George Romney has him personally involved. Will he intervene or will his presidential aspirations get the best of him? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Thursday, sunny with a slight chance of evening showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny on Friday with an increasing chance of evening rain. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a good chance of evening showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. The sun will set at 8:30 p.m. CDT on the 12th. Property taxes will be due on the 17th. The normal high for May 17th is 69 and the normal low is 48. The scurs will be searching under the couch cushions for property tax money. Gotta keep the Politburo happy.
Our struggles continue to get enough warmth and rainfall to make progress in the fields. There has been some slow, subtle progress, however. There are fields of corn that can be rowed from the pickup. However, the early week observations indicate a full stand hasn’t yet emerged in many of them. Gaps exist and, while the corn is generally there, it hasn’t filled in yet. In some cases, the seed was/is in dry soil. While those plants may emerge, their contribution may be limited versus what they otherwise might’ve been. Our GDU accumulation for corn planted in mid-April stood at 131 through this past Monday. Enough to get corn out of the ground, but not much more than that. There are definitely some differences in hybrid emergence scores evident as well as residue cover. All in all, it has taken its sweet time and understandably so.
Soybeans are also taking their time emerging. One thing to point out in both crops is the integrity of the seed once it’s been planted has never come into question. The standing joke that seed should be stored in a cool, dry place is in play. Soybeans even more so than corn don’t like wet feet, so there is that one positive from the light rain we had last week was that moisture met moisture in a rain that took the better part of a day to generate much more than a quarter inch. In addition to helping some of the seeds in dry soil, it should keep the herbicides active. The cool weather alone has done a lot in that department. And if rainfall is short later in the season, the cool temperatures now may be a positive if we must live from rain to rain.
Apple blossom time at the ranch, but they, too, have been slow, with some crabapples being the primary flowers available for pollinators when they appear. The Haralson tree that bore so heavily last year has no detectable blooms on it. Not unusual, but probably should’ve thinned the apples some in my nonexistent spare time. The other trees have plenty of flower buds, so hopefully they’ll pick up the slack. The pears flowered heavily again, so at least there’s that. No danger of frost picking them off just yet either, so have to be happy about it. The pears have been a hit and, while there’s been a steep learning curve, they’ve become something to look forward to.
Speaking of things to look forward to, this past week was certainly one of those in the bird watching department. It saw a white-crowned sparrow on the 5th followed by an orchard oriole the same day. On the 8th a rose-breasted grosbeak appeared along with a Baltimore oriole. It’s the time of year we anxiously await, especially after enduring those days in February hauling buckets of warm water to the lambing barn. Still no hummingbirds at the ranch, although they have been spotted primarily in municipalities and more wooded areas. The ranch, while becoming more sheltered, is still in the middle of the wide-open spaces where the wind can get a rip at it. When the hummers are here, they’ll be able to feed on the potted red salvia Ruby gave Mrs. Cheviot for Mother’s Day.
Ruby has enjoyed being outside on the weekends. She has a full plate. Tire biting, barking at and following a lawnmower are a full-time job. This past weekend meant taking the cages off the hydrangea and burning bushes that were new additions last year. Rather than trying to trim around them afterwards with the weedeater, using a hand clipper to keep from injuring them seemed prudent. The bushes wintered so well it would’ve been a shame to mess them up. Much of this handwork was done on my hands and knees. That’s Ruby’s cue to crawl under your arm and give you some dog kisses. I also decided the dandelions around the air conditioner were too much competition for the violas, so took the weed stabber to weed them out. Ruby, of course, arrived and trampled most of the violas. As always, more dog help than a person should be allowed to have.
Watched the white tomcat Sunday as I was moving some things around. He awoke from his slumber atop the round bale and began looking intently below it. Something rustling in the long orchardgrass had his attention. Suddenly he pounced and after disappearing, he emerged with a striped gopher. Wow, maybe he isn’t totally worthless after all! One minor detail: He had the struggling, very much alive gopher by the tail. Hmmm…how’s that gonna work? The cat saw me and ran off into the barn with his prey. A few minutes later, I decided to see what had transpired. I saw the white cat scratching at his bloodied ear. Apparently, the gopher tried to take a hunk out of it and won that round. My advice to the cat was to keep trying. You can’t get good at anything without doing it. He promptly went back on the top of the round bale and fell fast asleep. My sage advice worked to perfection.
See you next week…real good then.