The scurs were a little unsure of themselves after most of the area missed out on any accumulation from late week showers. Will they be more confident this week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorms in the daytime with a better chance of evening rain. Highs around 75 and lows near 60. Thursday, partly cloudy with a fair chance of a shower with decreasing chances for the evening. Highs of 80 and lows of 65. Partly cloudy, sticky, icky and warmer on Friday with another slight chance of a shower. Highs near 85 and lows around 70. Partly cloudy on Saturday with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs of 85 and lows around 65. Partly cloudy Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 80 and lows near 60. A good chance for showers and thunderstorms on Monday with highs near 80 and lows around 60. Partly sunny for Tuesday and cooler with a continuing good chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 75 and lows near 65. The normal high for June 15th is 79 and the normal low is 58. We will see 15 hours and 28 minutes of daylight on the 16th and will only gain a few seconds by the Summer Solstice on the 20th. The sun will set at 9 p.m. on the 19th. The scurs have their swim fins ready in case we really do see some substantial rain.
Last week was just what the doctor ordered for corn and soybean development. It also gave area farmers a chance to catch up on their weed control. Even some soybean fields were beginning to be treated with herbicides as the weeds also appreciated the warm, sunny weather. Corn made knee high by the 4th, of June that is in some fields so we are definitely ahead of schedule as of right now. Strong winds over the weekend made herbicide applications difficult for most although the cooler temperatures following the rain from Sunday night are likely to produce more favorable results than spraying in the heat anyway. Spring seeded small grain has pollinated and would benefit from some cooler temperatures and rainfall in much of the area.
The weekend winds meant I could actually mow the lawn during daylight hours for a change. With Mrs. Cheviot finishing her last weekend stint at the greenhouse before it closes, it was a pretty uneventful day other than it was windy and very hot. It didn’t stop Ruby from biting the tires on both lawnmowers as they were driven out of the garage. It had been a long time since the last mowing so it took a while to get it all done. It needs to be done though otherwise the abandoned farmstead look attracts undesirable elements such as woodchucks. Yes they’re fun to shoot but they’ve usually dug holes under a foundation somewhere by then.
Ah, but the garden has been one of my favorite hiding places. I leave the cell phone in the house when I go out there because I’m not going to hear it in the first place. Besides, that’s where the damn things belong this time of year. The garden is pretty much complete now with string beans and cucumbers planted last week all emerging and off to a good start. Even the sweet corn planted on Tuesday night was starting to emerge as of the following Monday morning. The plants that are stealing the show thus far however are the muskmelons. Already beginning to sprawl, they are flowering in response to the ideal growing conditions. Most of the pumpkins and squash too are starting to get good dark green color to them and given an inch of rain, they will explode. Mrs. Cheviot brought home lots of salvia plants and yours truly planted his traditional 4 o’clocks. Both should satisfy the hummingbirds who visit the yard daily.
My other favorite hiding place has been anywhere I can keep an eye on my little fat feathered buddies. The killdeer still has not hatched out her young as of Monday night. She drags her wing and messes with my mind but she also lets me get within about 4 feet. She takes a good photograph too. The kestrels fledged on Tuesday much to our surprise. They apparently developed enough wing strength from Sunday to Tuesday to make it as far as the trees in the fenceline. It was somewhat bittersweet as they were fun to watch develop and that a professional photographer friend had come from 2 ½ hours away to photograph them. The adult kestrels were not very cooperative, hunting from high altitudes and were constantly on the move. He did get one outstanding photo of an adult carrying a mouse back to the trees where the youngsters were waiting so it wasn’t all for naught. It was a fantastic shot, showing what kestrels do best: Hunt.
As mentioned last week, we saw bluebirds and discovered this week that they are indeed nesting. In fact they are nesting in the bluebird house attached to the depth adjustment lever on the old No. 8 International plow in the pasture. It’s just great to have bluebirds back at the ranch once again. In addition, near the garden in a spruce tree probably planted by the red-headed 4-Her, a brown thrasher nest was discovered complete with 4 cream colored eggs with reddish speckles. And, as an added bonus, when fixing fence Monday night, I checked the wood duck nesting box in the wetland. The hen blasted out of the box like she’d been shot out of a cannon as I approached. Not sure how many eggs she may be setting on but there appears to be a full clutch under all that fluffy down. In the background the young kestrels could be heard from their perches in the trees behind me, calling for more food. The parents were Johnny on the spot, answering and hauling edibles into the trees, then back out on the hunt again.
See you next week…real good then.
