More warmer than normal temps, so the fan mail continues to pour in for the scurs and the Weather Eye. Will Old Man Winter continue to sign the guest book, or will he take up residence soon? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a fair chance of snow. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the low teens. Mostly cloudy on Thursday with a fair chance of evening snow. High in the upper teens with lows around 10. Mostly cloudy on Friday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low single digits. Saturday, mostly cloudy with highs around 10 and lows near 5 below. Mostly cloudy Sunday with highs in the low single digits and lows around 15 below. Monday, mostly cloudy with highs around zero and lows around 10 below. Mostly cloudy on Tuesday with highs in the low single digits and lows around 10 below. On the 29th we’re gaining daylight at 2 minutes and 20 seconds. The normal high for January 29th is 22 and the normal low is 4. The scurs will be lighting their gas oven in an attempt to create some global warming.
By the time this reaches print, mailboxes and bird cages, we will have burned up the month of January. We definitely dodged a bullet both in the temperature and to some extent the precipitation department. Temps have definitely been above normal, averaging 7.4 degrees above normal at the SROC in Waseca through the 19th . As far as snowfall goes, we’re very close to normal. If we catch a major fraction of an inch this week, we’ll be very close. We are significantly above normal, however, when it comes to the liquid precipitation at slightly over 2”. Most of that it largely due to the precipitation that fell as rain during the month. Snowfall also contained more moisture than it typically does in January. Still, as some have pointed out, it has seemed like a long winter. Indeed it has. We started seeing snowfall in mid-November. While that melted off for a few days after Thanksgiving, it returned shortly afterwards. The ground around building sites has had some snow cover ever since the end of November. Despite warmer than normal temps, the stretch of recent cloudy, gloomy, foggy days hasn’t helped. Those things help add up to a long winter.
At the ranch we cranked up the snow blower last weekend after receiving nearly 8” of new snow between the 19th and 20th. The snow contained a large amount of water, so waiting to blow it seemed the prudent thing to do. Mrs. Cheviot had canceled her therapy appointment anyway, meaning we had no reason to be out and about. Saturday, the blower really worked well, peeling the snow down while leaving just enough for decent traction. It cleaned all the Poppy cigars up, pitching them into the road ditch. They did serve a purpose as they formed a clear line along the edge of the driveway, creating a demarcation between that and the lawn. A trip to town on Saturday revealed just how poorly the roads still were, especially on the People’s Republic of Steele Co. side of the line. I came real close earlier on to complimenting them on the job they had done to keep the roads in good condition. Things have reverted back to the norm.
Several have noticed the larger than average doves this winter appearing at and around their bird feeders. These doves are Eurasian collared doves. They are easily distinguished by their larger size and the dark neck band on the backside of their necks. They’ve become
more common over the past decade or so. We’ve had them nesting at the ranch in that timeframe and can hear their almost owl-like call during the daytime. Can these doves be hunted? Absolutely. They are considered an invasive species, and while mourning doves have an established season, the season is open on the Eurasian collared doves. The breast is about double the size of a mourning dove. They are good to eat according to sources.
Mrs. Cheviot’s ongoing therapy sessions continue. This Friday could mark a positive turn, allowing more weight to be placed on her ankle, which would be equally good news for me. Being able to relinquish some of the indoor responsibilities and focusing my attention to more of the business at hand would be a welcome change. It’s been a long couple months. Since she has to stay inside, Poppy and I do our best to provide entertainment outside, including keeping the bird feeders full. There is always something to watch. Lately the pheasants have taken up plucking crab apples out of the trees right outside the living room window. They tend to bumble their way around the tree trying to get at the fruit on the smaller branches. If we make one false move inside the house, however, they’re gone like the wind.
With lambing starting, it makes for long days. The first one hit the ground Monday late afternoon as I was moving a round bale into the feedlot. I’d noticed the ewe inside the lambing barn when Poppy and I filled bird feeders. Thought little of it as the ewe wasn’t straining or pushing and there was no discharge. Sometimes they just want to take naps away from their obnoxious counterparts, only to come out at chore time and eat with a vengeance. Come back in a few hours to start the tractor and she had some discharge. Time to be aware of her actions and react accordingly. Got the bale in the feeders and voila! Lamb up and running. Put a panel across the door, penned them up during chores, checked the ewe for milk, then watched as the lamb hooked on. I suspected it already had. One side of the bag was open, and the teat was wet when I checked. The ewe cleaned by the time I finished chores. If lambs all came that easily, everyone would be raising sheep.
Poppy continues to grow up before our very eyes. At just over 6 months old, she’s still a puppy, but giving us glimpses of what she’ll become as an adult. She has some of the same habits that Ruby had, including watching TV. Poppy’s not as reactive as Ruby was, yet. She’s particularly interested in motion on the screen. She’ll cock her head and occasionally emit a little “oof!” if something catches her attention. Poppy enjoys sleeping in the little “dog hole” on the couch, a depression that Ruby made after curling up on it for many years. It’s the most uncomfortable couch on the planet for humans, but dogs love it. Something that Poppy also enjoys is watching the birds. The movement aspect comes into play as it is nearly constant around the feeders. Something that is very different is the privacy issue. If you left the bathroom door open a crack with Ruby, she’d pry it open and walk right in to see what you were doing. So far, Poppy seems to respect that privacy. Be curious to see how long that lasts. Her foot licking if you’re barefoot and the door is left wide open isn’t my cup of tea.
See you next week...real good then.