The scurs got their ducks in a row, although the Saturday rain turned to greasy skid stuff. No matter, it was precip and it should be gone by the time this hits the streets. More importantly, what’s in store for Turkey Day? Starting with Wednesday, mostly clear with highs near 50 and lows around 35. Mostly clear Thanksgiving Day with highs reaching 55 and lows of 40. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of a rain shower. Highs once again of 55 and lows of 35. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a chance of a rain/snow mix in the morning and a chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs around 40 and lows of 25. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs of 35 – 40 and lows of 20 – 25. Monday, mostly sunny with highs of 40 – 45 and lows falling to 10 – 15. Mostly cloudy on Tuesday with highs of 30 – 35 and lows of 15 – 20. The normal high for November 24th is 36 and the normal low is 19. For the 24th we will see 9hours and 21 minutes of daylight. The scurs will be firing up the Weber by the crack of 10 a.m. so the turkey will be nice and golden brown by noon.
As mentioned, we did see some precipitation over the past weekend and even if it was in the form of snow, it still counted. At the ranch, it amounted to .11”, the most precipitation recorded since October 13th. It was enough to get highway crews out spreading car carcinogens (salt) on area roads, although by afternoon most roads were relatively free from snow and ice. Most fieldwork is complete, although there is still some manure being applied and an odd anhydrous rig being spotted here and there. Soils remain dry and we may be at the mercy of the spring rains to recharge our soils before planting season.
Barn cleaning has commenced at the ranch. Saturday was just a tad nasty to sit out on a tractor without a cab, so oil was changed and the heat houser was attached. In other words, you have me to thank for the warm up! At least I didn’t have to put the chains on to get out to the field through the snow like last year. Sunday brought about a nicer day from a precipitation standpoint, so it was time to tear into ‘er. As usually happens, it takes almost as long to get everything ready and move stuff around as it does to actually clean the barns. Everything needs to be hooked up, adjusted and get its annual greasing and lubing, this in addition to noting how bad things are leaking here and there. While I know the equipment probably came greased, it still makes me feel better if it gets done. There was still enough daylight after all that to allow five monster sized loads with probably three more to go in the rest of the large barn. Who knows, if people leave me alone long enough during the early part of the week, one just might be able to sneak in a couple more loads. Just can’t get enough of that barn cleaning I tell ya…
While out with a load of nature’s finest, I spied three pheasants, two roosters and a hen. The roosters came out of the new tree planting and the hen was in some brushy habitat in the fenceline. It was good to see them as there has been some question as to whether pheasants even exist anymore. Not much new in the bird department otherwise, except that the chickadees have been AWOL for a few weeks now. It could be the leghorn-sized blue jays scared them off. It’s probably getting about time to put out some suet soon. The starlings should have found someplace else to eat by now and if they come by here, they face increased odds of eating some lead. After the leaves dropped it became apparent why we have so many squirrels: we have five or six squirrel nests. They haven’t started tackling the ear corn as rapidly as one might expect and are content to clean up under the sunflower feeders instead. Their main function is still to drive Ruby nuts with their treetop acrobatics.
Once barn cleaning has been completed it will be time to work on the Studebaker Lark again. It’s inside the heated garage this winter where it can be worked on in comfort. Parts are accumulating, so hopefully once it’s running, the restoration project can get underway. The most recent addition was a NOS (new old stock) air cleaner found in CT from some Studebaker swap pages. It was a lucky find. As anyone who has restored a car can attest, one of the first parts mice will destroy is the air cleaner body. They love to stuff them full of things like seat cushion material and as a result of their occupation, the mouse pee corrodes the bottom. Sometimes it can be repaired with JB Weld, but some are just plain ruined. To find one still in the box unused, especially for a car as old or as rare as a Studebaker, is a little unusual. However, it fits the mold.
Studebaker was an unusual automobile company. Some looked down their nose at the company because they tended to make products either ahead of their time or behind the times. The Lark fit into a time where the country was in a recession and people were looking for an economical automobile. Cashing in on what the Rambler had started, the Lark took the automobile market by storm in 1959 and put Studebaker into the black for the first time in many years. It apparently got the Big 3’s attention for it wasn’t too long and products such as the Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant, Mercury Comet and Chevy Corvair began hitting the roads hoping to re-capture the market share they had lost. Unfortunately for Studebaker, the Big 3 succeeded. Combined with some bad luck and blunders in management, it marked the beginning of the end for Studebaker. By December 1963, the plant in South Bend, IN was closed and automobile production was moved to Canada. In 1966, the company ceased manufacturing automobiles. I still think it would be a good idea as my bumper sticker says to “Bail Out Studebaker!” It would sure make it easier to get parts.
See you next week…real good then.