The scurs were devastated when the Weather Eye conspired to cause temps to nosedive this past week. After falling back to earth, do we continue to plummet, or do we rise from the ashes? Starting Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low single digits above zero and lows around 5 below. Partly sunny Friday with highs struggling to get above zero with lows in the low teens below zero. Sunny on Saturday with highs near 5 above and lows around 5 below. Sunday, partly sunny with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy on Monday with a fair chance of ice and snow. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Tuesday, cloudy with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Cloudy on Wednesday with the potential for more ice and snow returning. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. On January 21st, we start amassing daylight at two minutes per day. The normal high for January 21st is 21 and the normal low is 4 above. Having donned their long winter gatkes, the scurs have settled in for a long winter’s nap.
We finally received some significant snowfall or did we? Hard to tell as most of it wound up in groves, road ditches and fence lines. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.6” fell at the ranch and roughly 3.6” in Bugtussle. Lesser amounts were recorded as one travelled west and north. Lack of amount didn’t stop Old Man winter from blowing what did fall around. Saturday wasn’t fit for man nor beast, with visibility limited at times to a couple hundred feet. There was no reason to venture out, so we didn’t. Occasionally a vehicle would go by, but most were convinced it was wise to stay home. I’d run errands the day before as this one had been forecast several days in advance. While it didn’t live up to its billing, that’s OK. There is a lot of snow in IA right now although like here, not as much covering the fields as one might think. As long as it changes gears again to above normal temps and doesn’t keep loading IA up with snow, that should help our prospects for an earlier spring.
As mentioned, we had several days heads up going for us ahead of this last storm. Thursday afternoon I cut short my attendance at the SROC’s Winter Crops Day. I really didn’t want to, but time was of the essence. I needed to move some things around, pry some feeding troughs loose that were frozen down and put the chains on the tractor. I’d hoped to avoid the chains but wasn’t a risk worth taking. Temps were in the single digits as I dragged the heavy chains out of their summer home, struggling to get them secured on the wheels. Wearing clumsy, heavy gloves to stay warm didn’t help matters as getting them to latch was a battle. They were on straight, but they were being more stubborn than usual with the cold afternoon. Taking my gloves off to improve dexterity didn’t help matters as the cold steel and air temperature froze my fingers almost instantly. Finally I wiggled the chains loose enough to get the hooks through the links and clamp them down. Now, the question was, did I want to tangle with the snowblower or leave it until Old Man Winter showed his hand?
I opted just to leave the blower set. It too can be persnickety to put on in the cold. I’d had plenty of fun already and it would be dark by the time the blower was ready to go. The chains were on the tractor so if needed, I could move snow with the bucket. Besides, the brood ewes were getting down there on their round bales. Rather than put the blower on then have to take it back off again for the 3-point bale spear, it just made more sense to see what would happen. Turned out to be the right move as sure enough, the storm wasn’t as bad as first advertised. Sunday afternoon, snow had to be moved and round bales needed to be put in place in the ewe lot. All the motors started so it was a “go”. Even though the temps stayed well below zero, it was a good afternoon to clean out in front of the mailbox, out of the driveway and the feedlot. It made it easier to move the hay feeders to a new spot. That way the ewes could finish the bottoms of the old bales and start on the new ones. About four hours later, everything was done. Temp made it to -2 but I wasn’t cold. Too much action-packed adventure to get cold.
Poppy steadily keeps growing up. She’s becoming better and better at communicating that she needs to go outside for potty breaks. The cues are more consistent and easier to read than they once were. Sometimes she’ll even stand by the door and give you a look. What’s even nicer is she can do it on her own, especially during the daytime when she’ll combine it with her squirrel exercising duties. No need for us to wander aimlessly in the freezing cold while she does her business. She always gets her treat after being a good girl. Sometimes Poppy will play but if she’s been outside for any length of time in the cold, it seems like she’s content to snuggle up beside us and take a nap. She becomes like an overgrown baked potato so it can easily become contagious after chores or a weekend afternoon.
See you next week…real good then.