After another week of the weather doldrums, the scurs and Weather Eye continue to receive fan mail. Is Old Man Winter sleepy or is he about to make winter great again? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of snow. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy on Thursday with a good chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the low teens. Mostly cloudy on Friday with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the low teens. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in mid20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Mostly sunny Sunday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Monday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows around 10 above. Sunny on Tuesday with highs in the upper teens and lows around 5 above. On the 21st we begin gaining daylight at over 2 minutes per day. On the 22nd we’ll see 9 hours and 30 minutes of daylight. On the 24th, we slowly begin to climb out of what is typically the coldest stretch of average daily temperatures for the winter. The normal high for January 22nd is 21 and the normal low is 4. The scurs are finding it easier to keep their wood stove stoked in weather such as last week.
After some significant precipitation the first week of January, we’ve been fortunate to avoid much of the heavier weather well to our south. While tornadoes are unlikely in January, they have happened in December as we found last year. As mentioned in last week’s column we may be heading into a little more active pattern this week. Not long after I sent the column, I happened to listen to climatologist Pete Boulay, and he was saying much the same thing. Imagine that. Also included in some of Pete’s comments was the fact that frost depth is not particularly deep. Indeed we’ve found that to be the case at the ranch, especially in areas where snow has sat for extended periods of time. It’s been challenging when moving snow that’s more of a nuisance than a problem. The tendency is to use the bucket rather than the snow blower for light snow accumulations. For flatlanders it’s not the problem it can be for those of us who live on more sloped building sites. The only time you’re not nervous is when you finish the job.
More positive vibes from Pete Boulay included being optimistic about the drought we’ve been in for the past several months. We basically were very close to normal for precip in November and actually slightly above normal for the month of December. The aforementioned shallow frost depth could allow us to take advantage of at least a percentage of that moisture as the snow melts. That becomes more likely the longer we can go without increasing that frost depth substantially as we approach spring. The most recent frost depth reported at the SROC was 8”. A rain followed by some well above normal temperatures could be a game changer and allow spring to be an earlier rather than later possibility.
The sheep continue to winter well with the milder temperatures and lower recent precipitation. Being outdoors most of the time is a plus when it comes to the flock health. Fresh, clean air is good for everyone, including the sheep. Starting to see some ewes bagging, so it’s probably a matter of 10 days or so before we see some hit the ground. Here again, the slowdown
in precipitation is something we hope continues. It’s nice to have the lambs inside a building for a while during the winter months, and while the cold can be an issue, damp conditions are a bigger threat when it comes to things like pneumonia. If the lambs get up off the deck and nurse in a dry pen, it’s amazing how much cold they can take, especially Cheviots. The colostrum provides them with antibodies that protect them from disease organisms very well. Wet conditions foster an environment for disease organisms, particularly pathogenic bacteria. Keeping the animals well bedded and dry is a crucial management tool.
The earlier weather did cause its share of headaches. Keeping the snow and ice from accumulating in the hay feeders was a pain. When it builds up, the panels don’t slide as easily and the ewes have to push harder to get at the hay. With these white-faced ewes, one can see where the feeders are rubbing the hair off their faces, so a clean out needs to happen. That’s fine if it stops snowing, but when it keeps at it like it did in December, it takes a lot of the fun out of it. Likewise with the feed troughs. We feed grain during night chores, so spending a lot of time digging the trough legs free isn’t high on the list. When the weather was ugly in particular, it was hustle to get chores done. When it warmed up recently, it was time to bust the troughs loose again. If the weather decided to get ugly, it would be a lot easier to move snow. It took a session with the pickaxe, but I was able to pop them loose after a workout. I was surprised that I didn’t whack the troughs or my leg while I was at it. I could’ve been a miner.
Mrs. Cheviot continues her mastery of the knee scooter. It has taken some of the burden off of me when she’s able to help herself more and do some of the day-today indoor tasks. Physical therapy is ongoing at this point, and it seems to be helping gain some of her dexterity back. Driving is not an option just yet, but it probably won’t be long before that becomes reality again. Having a vehicle parked in an attached garage won’t hurt, although the ice that seems to be attracted to the ranch like a magnet may slow her return to the chore scene anytime soon. Wondering if they make knee skates.
Poppy continues the growing up process. She’s slowly getting better about jumping on guests, but still has some work to do. Her propensity to dismantle, dismember, and decapitate her squeaky toys continues. If there’s a sewn seam or any appendage on a toy, within a matter of several minutes to an hour, the toy is ripped open, or she tears a leg, an arm, or the head off it. So far, her victims include a duck, an alligator, a cow and a fish. After becoming annoyed with fishing balls out from under the furniture, we bought her a fabric chuck it Frisbee. She loved it. However, it took less than 15 minutes before she tore a stitched seam loose, strewing bright orange threads all over the house. They were also found in the yard once they passed through Poppy. On Sunday, Unkie Gregory and Auntie Mar Mar brought her a plush Gumby squeaky toy. It looked like it had potential. She played with it an hour. In that time, she opened a hole on one of Gumby’s arms, revealing the stuffing inside. Another one bites the dust.
See you next week...real good then.