Fencelines (269)
The scurs seem to have forgotten that a blanket of snow keeps temperatures below what one would normally think they should be. Will their new shipment of memory pills arrive in time for the next forecast? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of an overnight snow shower. Highs 30 – 35 and lows near 20. Partly cloudy Thursday with a high of 30 and lows of 10 – 15. Mostly sunny for Friday with a high around 30 and lows of 20 -25. Partly cloudy for Saturday with an increasing chance of snow by evening. Highs of 35 with lows around 20. Mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of snow for the daylight and a better chance for the evening hours. Highs near 30 with lows around 15. Partly cloudy becoming mostly sunny for Monday with a slight chance of snow in the morning. Highs around 25 and lows near 20. Mostly sunny on Lincoln’s Birthday with highs of 30 – 35 and lows around 20. The normal high for February 12th is 27 and the normal low is 8. The scurs will be wearing their stovepipe hats in Abe’s honor.
Last week brought an end to the month of January and with it hopefully an end to extended periods of below-zero temperatures. Days are becoming noticeably longer with the sun setting now after 5:30 p.m. and rising before 7:30 a.m. This becomes particularly apparent when one has been bumbling around in the dark during chore time both morning and night. On Lincoln’s Birthday, we’ll have notched an additional hour and 29 minutes of daylight since the winter solstice December 21st. We’re gaining daylight at the rate of about 3 minutes a day and while it isn’t spring yet, one can sense it coming. January left us with sparse snow cover with most of it blowing off the fields. We tallied only 1” of snow at the ranch in January although we did get .41” of welcome moisture in the form of rain. Every little bit helps at this point. February on the other hand has started off with measurable snow on 3 of the first 4 days so at least we’re not looking at dirty, bare fields as we were. It’s nice to see some snow. After all, it’s too early to think about planting a garden or heaven forbid corn just yet.
The arrival of snow meant a return of some feathered friends we hadn’t seen since the December snow left in January. Late Monday afternoon about 5:30, there were 3 male and 3 female cardinals snacking on the cracked corn and safflower we’d put out for them. Initially on Saturday, there was a male and a female. On Sunday another male and female appeared so additional food was placed in the area they seemed to be frequenting. When the new pair was spotted on Monday I couldn’t believe my eyes. The snow must’ve had something to do with their reappearance. The stark contrast of the red males against it in the dwindling minutes of daylight was downright breathtaking.
The snow elsewhere in the dooryard hasn’t necessarily been breathtaking. It has come close to knocking the wind out of both Mrs. Cheviot and me though, courtesy of the nasty spills we’ve taken on the ice hidden beneath it. If you look around there are lots of walking wounded and horror stories of their plight. The purveyors of grit and salt must be doing land office business as a result. Reminds me, we’re nearly out of grit. Time to make a trek to that little store in Hope that carries everything the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo doesn’t. That should spell warmer temps and an end to the ice. Not that I’m superstitious or anything. I just hate it when my lucky rabbit’s foot has to break my fall.
Even the brood ewes don’t like their slick feedlot. They don’t wander out of the barnyard much and tend to stay close to their hay feeders where they don’t have to worry about falling. Of course, being as fat as they are with as much wool as they have, the worst thing that can happen is they might hurt a leg. All that padding is good for something. The increased hours of daylight have meant we’ve had a better opportunity to gauge the progress of their gestation. We may see some lambs on the ground before shearing day on the 16th. Won’t be the first time, probably won’t be the last.
Yes, as was mentioned in last week’s Bugtussle Bugle, I’ve started on my 11th year of writing this column. If you kept the photo of my mug from the front page, your rodent problems should be solved. Carrie Gilbertson pointed out this was the “tin” anniversary year although I’ve never quite figured out what all that nonsense concerning anniversaries was all about. Maybe if it was a Fishing Trip or Goose Hunting anniversary I’d get it. Still, I do feel a little like the Tin Man when cranking out these column inches. In a week’s time, I get a little rusty before shifting into writing mode. I start out slowly, it takes me a little while to get limbered up and I may mutter something that could be mistaken for “oil can” especially when a surprise deadline looms near. In the end I achieve my goal and the mission is accomplished.
Thanks to the loyal column readers without whom there would be little point in writing it. Thanks to Jim and the staff for putting up with my ever increasing demands, even to the “mad paragrapher” who made me realize the passion I still have about writing. Thanks especially to Reed for the spot-on framed caricature that graces the wall above the writing desk in the basement studio. It’s almost as accurate as the scurs’ weather forecasts. And oh yeah, I got the money.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were close once again with their temperatures but missed the rain that fell on Sunday. Will they clean their crystal ball better this time around? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs of 15 and lows near 5 below. Colder and cloudy for Thursday with highs struggling to make it to zero and lows dropping to 10 below overnight. Partly cloudy and warmer for Friday with a slight chance of snow in the evening. Highs of 10 – 15 with lows near 10. Partly cloudy and warmer for Saturday with highs of 25 and lows around 10. Partly cloudy and slightly warmer with highs near 30 and lows around 15. Mostly cloudy with highs of 25 and lows of 15 – 20. Mostly cloudy and warmer again for Tuesday. Highs should reach 35 with lows near 20. The normal high for February 2 is 24 and the normal low is 5. We will experience a few minutes more than 10 hours of daylight on February 4th for the first time since early November 5th. The scurs are just hoping they see their shadow on the 2nd, meaning spring is just around the corner. It usually is, only somewhere farther south.
We continue to struggle accumulating much for precipitation although we did finally manage to garner some measurable snow, 1 inch, finally, at the ranch. It was so fluffy however, there wasn’t enough moisture in it to even make a hundredth of an inch worth of water. It was enough however to cover up the remaining patches of ice, making booby traps in the yards which Mrs. Cheviot discovered too late. When the afternoon winds came up however it was all in the fencelines, ditches and groves once again. Something that was of a concern on Friday was the presence of blowing soil with the lack of snow cover. While it wasn’t long lived it still served as a reminder of how dry it is and how long it is yet until spring is likely to arrive. Luckily the Sunday and Monday night rains came to the rescue, dumping .2” and .08” respectively at the ranch. To our benefit, the rain didn’t run off. While rain in the winter can be a real pain, about the only thing that happened at the ranch was loss of satellite TV reception.
It has remained deceptively slippery on the highways and byways however in spite of the recent warm air temperatures. Watching the weather as is my wont, it only makes sense that when we’ve had zero or below for highs that the road surfaces will refreeze with a vengeance. Apparently for some this is not the case as they continue to tailgate and travel at unsafe speeds. Now, I drive a 4-wheel drive pickup and have for much of my life. I am equipped with tow straps, tow hooks, clevises, chains, etc., to pull people out. However, my inclination when I see people driving like maniacs who end up in the ditch is to (1) smile, (2) wave, (3) utter some vituperation and (4) keep driving. And while you likely won’t get a ticket, there are plenty of friendly tow truck operators who will gladly take your money.
Ruby hasn’t allowed the recent cold or ice to change her daily routine much. She uses her toenails as ice cleats and is ready to go whenever the words “do the chores” are uttered. She’s had some company too as Fudgie has made an extended stay. It’s a big job to roust the brood ewes from their slumber outdoors in the 10-below stillness of a dark morning. Both Border Collies get plenty of exercise running between the house and barn while keeping the sheep eyeballed and intimidated with their ferocious growling. Now if that energy could just be channeled into hauling buckets and bales we’d really have something.
Ruby still responds to “Should we watch the Gophers?” although the way the men’s basketball team played the past couple weeks I’m not exactly sure why. What looked like a program turning the corner now looks more like one that made a wrong turn down a dark alley. The same players who were contributing to their wins have suddenly disappeared in their losing streak. The hockey team however continues to make those hours after chores enjoyable. Even when they’ve lost, there’s been no question about their effort. Perhaps the basketball team could learn something about team play by watching some hockey game film sometime. Or perhaps giving them sticks would help.
Our little feathered friends, the redpolls, continue to delight, their numbers at the birdfeeders swelling to a couple dozen over the past couple weeks. While I’m not sure if the cold made them more numerous, it probably didn’t hurt. More thistle seed has been procured to satisfy their hunger. Several, including a former pygmy goat farmer and his muffin, have also noticed these numerous wayward little finches. The redpolls are towards the south edge of their winter range here but seldom do we see numbers such as we have this winter. As I restocked the thistle feeder, a couple more ears of corn were put in place. The red-bellied woodpeckers were glad to see them as were the super-sized blue jays. There has been a Cooper’s hawk sighting as of late so that has suddenly meant fewer house sparrows and starlings. He’s always seems happy to have them over for lunch.
Speaking of lunch, there was another sighting of an impromptu little fat buddy meeting last Thursday noon, which oddly enough coincided with Artery Clogging Day at the Willows. There were 6 little fat buddies in total, snarling and hurling epithets at one another while waiting for their food. When the plates arrived, it looked like a hungry pack of wolves working over a deer carcass. You wouldn’t want to stick your arm in there or you could lose a limb.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were perplexed when the temperatures dove into the double digits below zero on Sunday night and Monday, then failed to rally on Tuesday as predicted. Will we see light at the end of the tunnel or just the train coming? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs of 10 – 15 and lows near 5 above. Mostly cloudy for Thursday with a modest chance of snow. Highs near 15 and lows around 5 above. Partly cloudy for Friday and colder again with a slight chance of snow. Highs around 10 and lows near 5 below. Partly cloudy on Saturday with highs of 15 - 20 and lows around 10 above. Mostly cloudy and warmer for Sunday. Highs near 30 with lows around 20. Mostly sunny and warmer for Monday with highs of 30 - 35 and lows of 15 – 20. Mostly sunny again for Tuesday with highs again of 30 - 35 and temperatures falling to 10 above for overnight lows. The normal high for January 25th is 23 and the normal low is 4. With the cold temperatures the scurs are starting to think it’s January or something. Oh wait, it still is.
The Full Moon for the month falls on the 26th and is known as the Full Wolf Moon as the wolves would set up shop near the Native American tribes as they were hunkered down for winter. It has also been known as the Old Moon and the Moon After the Yule although this year we’ve already had one of those. The Ojibwe knew this as the Great Spirit Moon and the Sioux called it the Moon of Frost in Teepee. At the ranch it has gone by several names over the years including the Full Ice Scraper Moon, replaced by the Glad the Garage is Heated Moon.
On the winter precipitation front, we continue to boast of a January that through the 20th anyway has produced no measurable snow at the ranch. At least there has been some precipitation, the majority of it falling as rain. Last week saw more rain although it was only a trace amount. Aside from some scattered flurries, snow has been hard to come by. With each thaw we experience, snow has become limited to fencelines, road ditches, groves and other sheltered areas. Frost should have moved deeper very quickly after the most recent cold snap and hourly soil temperature data info from the SROC in Waseca would tend to bear that out. Good time to be sure the well is banked with bales for the remainder of the onslaught otherwise known as winter.
Martin Luther King Day, like Columbus Day, is one of those holidays that really isn’t a holiday for most of us. As a result the daily pattern of human behavior that becomes ingrained expresses itself. It would be fun to know how many people grab the Post Office door or walk out to their mailbox on those holidays only to find that trip was for naught. Invariably I usually forget although this past MLK Day, I found myself grimacing and doing my best James Tiberius Kirk impression: “must…..not…go...to the mailbox.”
Last week saw the completion of the wetland deepening project. It almost didn’t happen except for the efforts of the Steele Co. SWCD and a contractor who was willing to give it shot with an excavator. There was about 16” of frost in the basin area where they were working and as a result there were large blocks of frozen soil to be dealt with. An additional 2’ of soil was removed in an area about one-quarter acre in size. This should allow water to remain during all but the very driest of years. It’s amazing when one starts messing with water how fast it gets the neighborhood’s attention, even if done under the cover of darkness. Within minutes of the excavator moving soil, David’s grandson was bouncing over the soybean stubble trying to get a glimpse of what was transpiring. Moments later, another neighbor text messaged, wondering if I was putting in a hog lagoon. One can’t get by with anything anymore.
Last Saturday meant we needed to travel north in the afternoon for a wedding so I called in the Dubya cavalry to deliver a round bale in the morning head of the cold spell. There was nothing mentioned about the time so after chores, I completed some small projects and went in the house for breakfast. No sooner than I had finished and Ruby began barking, with good reason: there was a round bale headed up the road in our direction. I quickly grabbed my coat and hat and was working on the frozen down gate as the forage delivery service arrived. No need for text messaging when the Border Collie alarm system is working properly. Sometimes the triggering mechanism needs adjustment though when set off by the bodily functions of said neighbors a half-mile away.
Some have lamented that they don't hear much about the little fat buddies anymore. This is their lucky day! The wedding we attended was a veritable little fat buddy reunion tour! I had the honor of riding shotgun with one of my little fat buddies (we’ll call him “Slim”) as we trekked to the church in the Twin Cities. Somehow we managed to be over an hour early which almost caused the father of the bride (also a little fat buddy) to see if we were real or just a figment of his imagination.
As early birds, we decided we should probably leave the wedding party to their toils and head somewhere for a libation. As we walked in the door of the establishment, much to our surprise: more little fat buddies and their spouses! After that, even more little fat buddies at the church and reception at Blaisdell Manor that followed, all regaling one another with tall tales and their rapier wits. Best of all we could count calories just by looking at the stains on Slim’s shirt. Talk about a reunion tour to end all reunion tours. Now if only Led Zeppelin would get back together.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were right on the money until Tuesday rolled around with some higher-than-anticipated temperatures. As the days lengthen, will the cold strengthen or are we out of the woods? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a moderate chance of snow. Highs near 35 and lows around 15. Partly cloudy and slightly cooler Thursday and Friday with highs of 25 – 30 and lows near 15. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with highs again of 25 – 30 with lows cooling down to the low single digits. Partly cloudy and much colder with highs on Sunday of 10 and overnight lows of 5 below. Partly cloudy on Monday with highs between zero and 5 above and lows of zero to 5 below. Temperatures rebound slightly for Tuesday with highs stretching to near 15 and lows of zero to 5 above as we see a possible shift towards some precipitation. The normal high for January 20th is 22 and the normal low is 3. The scurs are bracing for the longer days ahead even though it means less dark in which to sleep. Naps are always a prime alternative.
We finally got on the scoreboard for precipitation in January, although we have yet to record any measurable snowfall. That’s right, at the ranch we collected .13” of rain on the 11th and at the SROC in Waseca, .22” was tallied. Frost depth there was measured at 14” back on the 8th under bare soil. Under cover or snow there would likely be less. Of course that would mean there would actually have to be some snow as much of that left with the rain and warm late-week temperatures. Probably the best part of it was since the rainfall amount was relatively light, virtually none of it ran off. However, snow left packed on the driveways made them into hockey rinks and very treacherous to navigate. It also made some of the ice fishermen who had put their houses out a tad nervous that the ice conditions on the lakes would deteriorate as they’ve done some years. Not to worry as the weekend cold came through with a blast of arctic air that reminded us what wimps we’ve become. It’s supposed to be cold this time of year.
Some have wondered what impact the open fields and cold temps have had on what appeared to be a rather large population of overwintering insects from this past summer. Probably not much yet anyway. In order for it to really trim their numbers it will likely need to get well below normal and stay that way for a few weeks in order for soil temperatures to become cold enough. The good news: If that happens it may be a good deal for killing them off. The bad news: As dry as the soils are, the risk of frozen water lines increases dramatically. Open, dry soils freeze more quickly and deeply than wet soils so careful what you wish for.
We continue to see a substantial number of redpolls at the birdfeeders, primarily on the thistle feeders. Nice to have them as the goldfinches that typically occupy them are virtual no-shows. Was afraid with the warmer temperatures the redpolls might move out but they have remained. When they’re hungry they’re fairly undeterred, remaining in the trees as one walks by. Since they’re finches their song sounds similar to the goldfinches and always makes me grab the bird glasses to see for sure who they are.
The ewes continue to enjoy what for them has been a relatively mild winter. Their 3 – 4 inch-long wool comforters are about a month from shearing and allow them to sleep outside even when temps are in the single digits. The exception of course is when there are windy conditions. While the erect ears on a Cheviot allow them to hear very well, they also catch the wind making the breed exceptionally good at finding places to get out of it. Hence part of the reason for shearing in February. Rather than dump their lambs outside in the snow banks behind the barn where they can get their ears frozen off, the ewes are forced to seek the warmer barn. This makes the whole process more user friendly, particularly for the dummy who has to pen them up.
As more garden seed catalogs continue to pile up it’s time to get the seed ordered. Last year’s drought took its toll on supplies and the prices of the seed reflect that in some cases. For instance, some varieties are sold out already or simply unavailable from the usual distributors. In addition, the muskmelon seed that used to run about $1.95 for generous packets of seed, more than I’d have room to plant, is now over $4 for a packet containing 25 seeds. Do you suppose it’s because Michelle has everybody all fired up about eating more produce, thus creating more demand? More likely to be caused by an increasing number of people throwing the rotten produce at politicians methinks.
Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer paid a visit the other day to inform me of some of the celestial changes. As January continues to roll on, we see some changes in the nighttime sky. Mars will eventually be taking a leave of absence from the western horizon. It will be several moons until it reappears. Venus will be disappearing from view low on the horizon in the early morning eastern sky after mid-month. Jupiter continues to be a little higher overhead in the east each night as chores are wrapping up around 7 p.m. I asked the astronomer if it can be viewed without the chores and he said most definitely. I might have to try that sometime.
See you next week. real good then?
The scurs wasted no time getting some of the cold weather out of the way and heading us into a warmer temperature regime. Will it last? Starting Wednesday, clear skies with a high near 35 and a low around 25. Partly cloudy Thursday becoming mostly cloudy with good chance of rain in the afternoon followed by a rain/snow mix for the late evening. Friday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of a rain/snow mix becoming all snow in the overnight hours. Highs again near 35 and lows falling to 20. Mostly cloudy for Saturday with a modest chance of snow. Highs near 20 and lows around 5. Continued mostly cloudy and colder for Sunday with a continued chance for snow. Highs of 15 and lows again near 10. Mostly sunny for Monday with highs struggling to make 15. Lows of near zero. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday and continued cold with highs of 15 and lows dropping to near zero. The normal high for January 15th is 22 and the normal low is 3. The scurs are glad they spent all that time making wood last fall. It still warms you three times.
We should be heading into what through about January 20th is typically our coldest stretch of the winter. High temperatures generally are in the low 20s and lows hover slightly above zero. We may have caught a break however with the highs this week above freezing. It hasn’t been as warm this winter as last, but few are. Still, temperatures are trending above normal and without long stretches of sustained wind it’s helped on the heating bills. Snowfall thus far in January has been limited to some flurries and that has kept snow removal to a minimum as well. Fields as of this writing are still snow covered and that has been a positive from the soil erosion standpoint. With soils as dry as they were going into the winter, the potential has been there for blowing soil to be a very distinct possibility. While it’s still there, we’ve chewed through December already with nothing major occurring.
The New Year started off on the right foot in the bird watching department at the ranch with two male cardinals making an appearance. We’ve seen one occasionally but never two at one time. They are shyer than the female who religiously appears every day under the feeders, apparently liking the safflower that was added to the black oilseed sunflower. The males were drawn to the brush on the edge of the yard, lending yet more credence to the notion that the nannyberries and other cover still has a ways to go yet before we can count on cardinals. The common redpolls continue to be a pleasant addition to the usual gang. Arriving before the sun is up and before any other feathered guests, they have taken a shine to the thistle feeders, emptying the smaller one out in a matter of a couple days.
The house sparrows continue to be aggravating however and have caused me to move the sparrow trap from the barn to under the feeders where they continue to monopolize them. One has to be watchful however that when other birds are captured accidentally that they are removed. Male house sparrows in particular are vicious and can peck other birds to death quickly if they are allowed to remain in the trap. I fished a chipping sparrow out of the trap on Sunday and let him go in the spruce tree nearby. I left the male house sparrow in it as a decoy in hopes that others would be drawn in the next day. So far trapping has been relatively unrewarding this winter. They have become wise to it and seem content to make a mess in the barn after making a mess around the feeders. If someone ever develops a foolproof method of controlling these rats with wings they will become very rich indeed.
Another Christmas celebration is in the books and I’ve lost track of how many that makes for now. We have one more and that should about do it. Fortunately we didn’t get the live tree put up until later in December so it’s still in really good shape yet. The rest of the house has remained party-ready, so to speak, so it’s not as though the house needs a major overhaul every time someone comes over; we just reload. Eventually though it’ll all need to be taken down and we can get back to weeks having seven days in them rather than being disrupted by holidays in the middle of the week. Actually when you think about it, it’s a long time between holidays now for most of us mere mortals and non-school kids. It’s refreshing to take a day off to relax once in a while and not feel guilty about it.
We’ve been busy with doggie daycare the past week while Mom undergoes some procedures in Rochester. Keeping another Border Collie is nothing new for us as for many years we’ve had two anyway. What one tends to forget however is how active these dogs are and how adding another one multiplies it by a factor of at least two. Fudgie is no exception and being activities director has refreshed my memory. Play ball, do chores, get brushed, help fill bird feeders, do more chores, all while under the strict supervision of two dogs. Plus, they’re always ready to go for a ride to Krause’s, then tear around herding each other when they get back.
What I find particularly amusing is how ingrained some of their habits become. Reputedly, very smart Border Collies can develop the mental capabilities of a 2 or 3-year-old. When Ruby and Fudgie come back in from outdoors they must have their feet wiped off so they don’t track on the floor. Some dogs will run and hide; not these two. Both of them stay on the rug, yet practically climb over the top of each other when they see the foot wiping towel so they can be first. What blows me away is they actually seem to enjoy it, standing there wagging their tail while the moisture is removed from each paw. How many 2 or 3-year-olds do you know who come in from outdoors excited about getting their feet wiped off, let alone standing still and enjoying it? Bizarre creatures, these Border Collies.
See you next week…real good then.
Cousin Eddie fails to show at Bernard Christmas gathering
Written by Jim LutgensAfter leaving the old year behind, the scurs New Year’s resolution is on getting back on track in the new one. Will they get off on the right foot?
Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy in the afternoon with a modest chance of snow. Highs of 15–20 and lows of 5–10. Partly cloudy for Thursday with a high near 15 and lows of zero to 5 above. Clear on Friday with highs back up to 20 and lows around 5 above.
Partly cloudy and warmer on Saturday with highs of 20–25 and lows near 10. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs of 25 and lows of 10–15. Mostly cloudy on Monday with highs of 25 and lows of 15.
Partly sunny and warmer on Tuesday with highs above freezing at 35 and lows of 15. The normal high on January 8 is 22 and the normal low is 4. On the 8, we will also see 9 hours and 7 minutes of daylight, having gained 13 minutes since the winter solstice. The scurs will be getting the patio furniture out before you know it.
At the ranch, December tallied 1.29” of liquid equivalent with 13.35” worth of that falling as snow. At the SROC in Waseca, typical December snowfall is about 14.” We received .55” of liquid precip in November and 1.19” of precip for December of 2011. We recorded 7.5” of snow a year ago at the ranch.
The one noticeable difference is that a much larger proportion of the precip in December last year fell as rain. While that’s still a long way from breaking out of the drought, we are still receiving some moisture. As pointed out before, we generally don’t make much of a dent on recharging the soil profile as the soils are frozen.
And they are frozen. At the SROC as of the 28, there was 11” of frost in the ground on bare soil.
On the bird feeding front, the winter weather and conditions to our north appear to be producing an irruption of sorts. There was one redpoll noted on Friday at the feeders. On Saturday, there were several in the upper branches on the row of ash trees south of the house. By Sunday, the numbers had swelled to around 15 that suddenly descended to the feeders in the crabapple tree.
The last time there was an irruption, they outnumbered the house sparrows and seemed to actually drive them off. Bird activity this past weekend was brisk and it will be interesting to see how many more of the redpolls arrive. For little guys they can really put it away.
The winter sports diet on TV has been superb lately and promises more of the same for much of the long winter nights. The Gophers football team went down to defeat in the last minute but they were competitive after being 13-point underdogs. The football program has been below mediocre for so long it was just refreshing to see them get into a bowl game.
The Viqueens beat the Packers last Sunday, something sure to warm the cockles of any MN sports fan’s heart. Even if Adrian Peterson didn’t quite break the all-time rushing record, it has been interesting to watch him, especially in light of the ACL injury he sustained at the end of last season.
My beloved Gopher hockey team continues to roll, causing Ruby to hide behind the couch as we cheered during the tattooing they gave #1 Boston college. Tubby’s charges take on Michigan State on New Year’s Eve Day and begin what should prove to be an interesting Big Ten season.
Time to get the chores done early so we can watch the Gophers. Ruby cocks her head wondering what the strange connection is between “chores” and “gophers.” Fortunately, they are not called the “squirrels” or she’d go through the sliding glass door.
With the holidays coming in the middle of the week this year, it seems tough to tell what day of the week it actually is. There’s no rhyme of reason to it. Monday seems like Saturday which in some respects is kinda O.K., given Monday’s propensity to suck. The sad part is Wednesdays have felt like Mondays for the past couple weeks.
Eventually, we’ll get back to a normal existence, although we still have a couple Christmas celebrations to go yet as of this writing. No reason to step on a bathroom scale anytime soon. Nothing to see here, move it along.
The Bernard family Christmas was this past weekend. The way things were going I was almost afraid it was going to turn out like Christmas Vacation.
Mrs. Cheviot had booked a wedding she had to decorate for. That meant having to be extra well prepared for both events.
We had people coming in from all over the country and one can never be sure when Cousin Eddie might show up in a beater RV. Luckily, it came off without a hitch. No trees were torched even though I had the chainsaw at the ready just in case. Ruby really doesn’t do a very good Snots impersonation either, hoarding as much attention as everyone would lavish upon her.
Grilled food was ready about when we had guessed it would be even with the cold weather. It still seems amazing how fast a turkey cooks on a grill. An 18 lb. bird took about two and a half hours even in the cold weather. In the oven, that’s about a four hour process. Best of all, it didn’t hiss and collapse when I cut into it.
See you next week…real good then.
A little cooler for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day perhaps than the scurs predicted, but at least no “storms of the century” appeared out of nowhere. Any surprises for this holiday week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy and cool with highs near 10 and lows around 5. Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy on Thursday with a slight chance of evening snow. Highs of 15 and lows of 10. Cloudy and warmer on Friday with a moderate chance of snow. Highs of 20 – 25 and lows of 10 – 15. Cloudy on Saturday with a slight chance of snow during daylight hours. Highs near 20 and lows of 0 to 5 above. Sunday, cloudy and cooler with highs of 10 – 15 and lows of 0 to 5 above. Temperatures rebound for New Year’s Eve with highs near 20 and lows of 5 – 10 above. New Year’s Day, cloudy and cooler with highs of 15 and lows of 0 to 5 above. The normal high for New Year’s Day is 23 and the normal low is 5 above. We will see 8 hours and 59 minutes of daylight, about 5 minutes more than we saw on the winter solstice. The scurs will be blowing their noisemakers and celebrating the New Year. That and they’re done Christmas shopping for another year.
This December 28th means Full Moon time is here once again and this one is aptly named the Full Cold Moon or the Full Long Nights Moon as during this time of year the nights are among the longest. A December Full Moon can be called the Moon Before the Yule although this one seems to fall close to smack dab in the middle of it. The Ojibwe knew this as the Small Spirits Moon and the Sioux had several names, including the Moon of Popping Trees, the Moon When Deer Shed their Antlers and the Moon When Buffalo Fetus’ are Getting Large. At the ranch we call this the Moon When Ruby Bites the Garden Hose, as it must be drained following morning and night chores. Thawing the hose and hauling water in 5-gallon buckets from the house in the meantime is overrated.
The snow last Wednesday caught most of us a little off guard. We were initially expected to be sideswiped but it turned out to be more like getting doored. Although it didn’t rank in the top ten snowstorms, not even close, we’ve become so used to precip of almost any form missing us that it left us in disbelief. People were getting stuck in driveways, cars were going in the ditch and accidents in general abounded. This latest precip doesn’t alleviate the drought. It does continue to head us in the right direction however. There was approximately 6” of snow at the ranch with the snowmelt from the snowboard totaling .3” We have measured exactly the same amount of liquid equivalent precip so far in December 2012 as we did in December 2011 as of this writing at the ranch, 1.19.”
The storm even made a mess in our garage. When the cars dripped off all the snow and salt-related crud on the heated floor we discovered the garage exhaust fan had gone on the blink. This made the humidity rise to an unacceptable level meaning something needed to be done. Luckily when we called the neighborhood electrician, his sidekick Ten Eye Ta-Ta (must be Indian for electrician) showed up within 20 minutes. He had everything back to ship shape in no time flat, even after I suggested he should probably deduct some off the bill for using my ladder.
The yard and driveway at the ranch had to be cleared of snow as well. With no forecast for a thaw in sight, it was easiest to fire up the old Mustang 330 and do battle. Pulling someone out after getting stuck in our driveway was not an option. While it takes some time moving snow with small skid loaders, the maneuverability sometimes makes up for it. Read: I hate shoveling any more than necessary. Besides, I wanted to clean out around the LP tank as one of these days that’ll need filling again. Ruby got to bite the tires on the skidloader so she was happy. The feedlot was cleaned Sunday after church and readied for a round bale which should make the sheep happy. I was just happy once the thing warmed up, my behind stayed warm.
The snow brought more guests back to the feeders once again. A male cardinal appeared on Friday, followed by a female that showed up Saturday. A small bag of safflower seed was purchased for their dining pleasure. Goldfinches also were in evidence, singing “sweeeet!” as they discovered full sunflower feeders after the snow. A large number of American tree sparrows were also interspersed with the ground feeding juncos and house sparrows. The tree sparrows seem to do that here from time to time only to vanish as quickly as they appeared. Where they go, no one knows.
As luck would have it, I recently received what on first glance was a genuine Festivus card. It said that a $500 donation had been made in my name to the Human Fund. It looked authentic. It even said “Money for People” on it. Looking more closely, much to my dismay my name was scrawled over the top of someone else’s that had been whited out. This appeared to be re-gifting if ever there was such a thing. I scrutinized the handwriting with suspicion as in this locale, there seem to be a lot of repeat offenders when it comes to fraudulent gifts, Christmas cards and lottery tickets. Just my luck, all the handwriting experts I knew were already off on Christmas break. I even considered going to the Chief of Police to see if we could get a DNA match from the envelope. Rumor had it he was sitting in a police car someplace that was running. Fortunately, the transgressor came forward before I called the FBI. It was Betsy’s Dad of all people! I don’t understand. I’ve never pulled any stunts like that on him. I’ve always used a new card. Just goes to show one can never be too careful around these parts.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs had a streak going until they forgot the ground was still pretty black to the south of us yet, causing temperatures to remain well above normal. Will they remember to take their memory pills this week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy with a good chance of afternoon and overnight snow. Highs around 30 and lows of 15 – 20. Mostly cloudy and colder on Thursday with a slight chance of snow in the forenoon. Highs near 20 and lows of 5 – 10. 3 cookie-cutter days are next, starting out mostly clear on Friday becoming partly cloudy for Saturday and Sunday. Highs around 20 and lows of 5 – 10. Partly sunny for Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day with highs hovering around 20 with lows near 10. The normal high for December 21st is 24 and the normal low is 7. The winter solstice this year happens to occur on the 21st, bringing us 8 hours and 54 minutes of daylight. The scurs can appreciate the precious extra minutes of sleep before they begin worrying about Christmas shopping. Still plenty of days to think about getting started yet.
Drought continues to weigh on most farmers’ minds, although at this point there isn’t a lot that can be done about it other than to think positive. Along those lines, we officially surpassed the precipitation total for November last week, adding another .41” to the soil moisture coffers at the ranch. In the feedlot, there was actually mud on Saturday night and the pickup cut in close to the barn where the soil surface was bare. The soils are largely thawed yet so anything that has fallen has been absorbed into the soil. We still have to go some to catch last year’s December precip amount at 1.19” however. The forecast for the near term anyway doesn’t give us a great chance of catching that, although anything can happen. Winter is generally not the time of year a drought is broken as soils typically are frozen and as a result, snowmelt runs off. If the volunteer corn that germinated this fall is any indication, we have enough moisture to get a crop started in the top foot of soil. All is not lost yet. Should be lots of time after that to satisfy the most intense worrywart.
Ruby received a lot of attention with the flooring crew here several days in a row last week. She didn’t care much for the loud buzzing from the saw, but once that was over with she liked to assist and give kisses. One of the installers claimed his ears have never been cleaner. She appears ready for Christmas though. Her coat is very shiny and soft following the rain last weekend, even though it made her smell like a wet chicken in the process. A few hours in the kennel and she was good to play the growling game with her ball again.
Not unexpectedly, the bird activity at the feeders last week slowed to a snail’s pace for this time of year. We usually have large numbers of goldfinches by now, but they continue to be few and far between. The usual crew of woodpeckers, nuthatches, blue jays and chickadees is still here of course, but even they are not going through much sunflower seed. Some snow and colder weather may change that. There are also some indications of irruptions farther to the north, birds not normally seen here making their way farther south than in a typical winter. There were a few siskins earlier so we’ll see if more show up.
The sheep made short work of their corn shock last week and went so far as fishing the bundles out of the snow to finish it off. They still traipse off into the pasture and apparently are finding something in the native prairie area to their liking or they wouldn’t stay out there. The remaining two watermelons went over the fence the other night so that kept the brood ewe flock occupied until they nudged the last hunk under the fence. Fortunately the weather continues to help keep the feed bill down somewhat and it’s obvious they’re not hurting when they opt to sleep under the stars rather than in their barn.
In the skies overhead, Jupiter continues to be a party animal, rising about sunset and staying up all night. Unfortunately it has been cloudy so seeing it has been difficult. It has been bright enough though so it has shown through light clouds some nights when most stars do not. Venus will become tougher to see in the morning as the month wears on, rising later and obscured by the onset of the sunrise.
Festivus is drawing nigh and alas, I’m having a tough time getting in the spirit this year. Seems like we just finished with one season while trying to get ready for the next one. Even the Festivus pole remains snug in its crawl space awaiting the feats of strength. My gift-buying zeal of individual gifts for the staff at the newspaper has dwindled. A card with a donation in their name to the Human Fund is in the mail. There isn’t much for snow as of this writing, but at least Mrs. Cheviot strung some lights outside that come on at dusk to remind us ‘tis the season. The house awaits her decorative touch, put temporarily on hold by a long overdue flooring project. Doesn’t make much sense to do a lot of decorating until the dust and commotion from that settles. The floor looks nice and that’s the main thing. It’ll be even nicer once the aftermath from that and a wedding decorating project is cleaned up in the garage so it reverts to its rightful purpose: collecting junk. If I can move the two lawnmowers, Howard and Whitey around it and in front of the car so I can put my truck in, it will truly be another Festivus miracle!
See you next week…real good then!
The scurs were on the right track, predicting Thursday’s rain and the weekend snow perfectly without all the drama from the Twin Cities blow combs. How will this week stack up? Starting Wednesday and Thursday, partly cloudy with highs of 35 and lows of 20 – 25. Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy by afternoon with a moderate chance of snow. Highs 30 – 35 and lows 20 – 25. Mostly cloudy Saturday with a moderate chance of snow possibly mixed with sleet. Highs near 30 and lows around 15. Continued mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow on Sunday. Highs 25 – 30 and lows around 20. Partly cloudy Monday through Tuesday with a slight chance of snow on Tuesday. Highs around 30 and lows near 15. The normal high for December 15th is 26 and the normal low is 9. On the 15th we will see 8 hours and 55 minutes of daylight and on the bright side, will only loss about one more minute before the days start getting longer once again. The scurs are waiting for that last minute to tick off the daylight clock before they consider thinking about and Christmas shopping. We just barely got over Thanksgiving. Patience, grasshopper.
The weather has begun to behave more like winter is setting in. The snowfall was typical of an early season system with lots of moisture per inch of snow. We were also the lucky recipients of more moisture that in all likelihood will soak into the ground as opposed to running off. How much snow did we get? Tough to tell with drizzle falling on the tail end of the snow Sunday but all told about 3” at the ranch. More importantly, it was .27” of moisture when the snow was melted down. While that doesn’t mean the drought is over, it’s more moisture than we had and means we’ve had almost as much precip in December so far as we had the entire month of November.
The snow made travelling treacherous locally as anyone who ventured out Friday night and went north and west discovered. We headed to a Christmas party west of LeCenter and were wondering how slippery it really was as we were following a pack of cars. Suddenly one of the cars ahead of us drifted out of control into the oncoming lane of traffic and luckily managed to pull out of it before anything serious happened. Case closed. Better to get there a few minutes late than a few hours late or not at all. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view, the snowplows had dumped enough salt on some areas of the road to rot out cars for several years to come. Some places they had not and oddly enough, we still managed to get where we wanted to go by slowing down and taking a little extra time.
Snow is made for kids and Border Collies. One could sense the electricity in the air after church as the kids were fidgety and obviously couldn’t wait to get outside to play in it. Little did they know that more was on the way, potentially causing visions of school closings to dance in their heads. Ruby enjoyed that snow as much as any kid. Later that morning as I was grilling, I heard the sound of jaws snapping and heavy dog panting. I laughed and shook my head as I saw Ruby happily jumping and grabbing at the feather-pillow snowflakes as they fell. Might as well do like Ruby and enjoy it I guess. We’ve likely got a few more months of entertainment.
Tube Steak the ram returned from the friend near Chatfield who leases one every fall. They always come back in better condition than when they left and this time was no exception. In recent years, payment for the use of the ram has come in the form of knitted woolen wear from Gary’s own sheep. This year the item was a stocking hat made from natural-colored virgin lamb’s wool. Very soft to the touch as compared to the wool from the adult ewes and a pretty dark brown to boot. Without a doubt it will be warm although I’ll probably never know. Mrs. Cheviot claimed it for herself. Tube Steak seemed happy to be home and to celebrate, he and Sausage spent the entire day jousting in the pen, churning the bedding up so it looked more like a pigpen than a sheep’s living quarters. Boys will be boys.
We battened down the hatches on Saturday when it appeared we were in for inclement weather, closing the large east doorway on the lambing barn. It was buttoned up well with the use of the cordless drill, some plywood and other assorted scrap lumber. The corn shock was also removed from the yard and deposited in the pasture. Our flock of Cheviot ewes wasted no time attacking the bundles that were still nice and green inside. Toss in a few squash that needed to go over the fence and they were occupied much of the afternoon. They are comical to watch, first descending like vultures, digging and pawing their way through the corn stover, then going back to the barnyard to nap for a while, only to repeat the process in another half hour. Eating and napping is not a bad gig if you can get it.
I knew it was too good to last: gardening season 2013 has officially started. The first barrage of the main seed catalogs we like to peruse over the long winter months arrived and word from Souba’s greenhouse was that there were 7000 geranium and Proven Winner cuttings arriving in the next week. Making matters worse was the fact I hadn’t managed to freeze any squash yet and there are still too many carrots and winter radishes in the refrigerators. That’s still better than the news Mrs. Cheviot suddenly got telling her they’d discovered there was a “one” in front of the 7000 cuttings to transplant. At least there are not 17,000 squash in the garage to process. Once I get started, it’ll only seem like it.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs made the most of the warm temps last week and managed to stay entertained. Will winter make a comeback or is it time for the robins to come back? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy becoming cloudy with a slight chance of rain in the evening. Highs of 35 – 40 and lows of 30 – 35. Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain on Thursday. Highs of 45 and lows of 25. Partly cloudy and colder on Friday. Highs 30 – 35 and lows of 20 – 25. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a chance of significant snow in the evening. Highs near 30 and lows of 20 – 25. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a slight chance of snow in the morning. Highs around 35 and lows of 15 – 20. Partly cloudy on Monday and Tuesday with high around 20 and lows near 10. The normal low for December 15th is 26 and the normal low is 9. On December 8th we will be down to 9 hours of daylight. The scurs will be keeping an eye on the calendar hoping the March weather continues.
Our fall drought continues to make folks nervous. The gauge at the Mall for Men tallied a scant .5” for the month of November and the gauge at the ranch wasn’t much better at .55”. To put matters into perspective, during the August through November timeframe at the SROC in Waseca, normal precip totals 13.25”. At the SROC for those same months this year, they have measured 4.41”, making rainfall 8.84” below normal since July. We’ve faired only slightly better at the ranch at 5.6” in those same months. Bad deal, right? While it’s not a good deal, during those same months at the ranch in 2011, we had a total of 2.88” and at the SROC, 2.52”. In other words, we’ve actually had more rain in August through November this year! If and when this drought breaks, it could be sudden like last year, bringing us rain when we had to have it, replenishing our soil profile and causing many to proclaim the drought over. If you’ll also recall, we had little subsoil moisture going into last winter but we managed to get snow melt to count for something as soils were not frozen deeply. Plus soils were (and are) fractured from deep tillage and there were frequently large cracks in the ground where tillage was not performed. This allowed much of the moisture to penetrate rather than running off. It all added up and the rest as they say is history.
In the skies we continue to see Venus in the east as the “morning star” with Jupiter shining brightly in the east after sundown. During morning chores, Jupiter is just going to bed in the west. Last week made for a spectacular conjunction between the Full Moon and Jupiter in the early evening, with Jupiter just above the moon, The Big Dipper seems huge at evening chore time, low in the northern sky right over the main barn. If you’re looking for it and don’t have a barn you may be out of luck. The proximity to the horizon bends the light making it appear larger than when it is more overhead. It’s one of the easiest celestial features to see this time of year as a result.
The small barn was declared officially cleaned on Saturday after the door was jacked up enough to allow entrance for the skidloader. Taking the roll cage off the skidloader is not an option. I don’t know too many dead guys who were glad they’d done it. Sure it could’ve probably been pitched by hand but what’s the fun in that? Sheep pack manure is some dense stuff and generally comes off in large, heavy sheets. It’s not the most pleasant to deal with in the first place, let alone using a pitchfork. There were 2 loads, 1 a standard size load and the last one was monster-sized. Probably should’ve made 2 plus loads out of it but wanting to get done and do chores kept me piling it on. Sheep are like any other livestock in that they enjoy freshly bedded pens and barns. The temperatures on Sunday went a long way towards drying out the condensation on the floor, giving the flock a place in out of the wind to sleep the new straw.
The wetland is back on the radar once again. With all the dry weather this mid-summer and into the fall, the basin/pond area has not held water since late July. We graciously received approval to deepen it from the proper channels so we’re moving ahead with the project. One of the nicest things about it is the fact that water can be diverted from an area that drowns out on the adjoining field into the wetland. There should be more water available to the wetland and deepening it will allow additional capacity while the farmer will no longer lose crop to standing water. That’s the way it should work rather than the lack of cooperation we encounter all too often. Wetlands benefit us all by providing cleaner water in addition to habitat for wildlife.
Sunday we sold a group of three bred ewes to a loyal 4-H’er we’ve been helping. The ewes in the main barn weren’t too bad to deal with as they were already close to the building. The ewes in the pasture were a little more problematic in that they needed to be brought up to the small barn to catch the one we wanted out of a group of 20. Ruby to the rescue. It had been a while since I’d done much for training or used her for herding. No surprises though when we walked out to the pasture. She did what Border Collies have imprinted in their makeup from centuries of herding: made a great out run, circling the ewes and quickly gathering them into a group then headed them back to the barn. While she looks like she might be a China doll, Ruby’s actually pretty durable and built for speed. Being more of a drover than a herding dog is handy most of the time as that’s what we need anyway. Within a matter of minutes we had the ewes by the barn as Ruby backed off as commanded, making them feel more at ease and safe to go in. Seeing Mrs. Cheviot carrying some hay into the barn didn’t hurt but we had to get them there first to find it.
See you next week…real good then.
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Holding out for one last dip in the cement pond
Written by Jim LutgensDusting off the Ruby hair from the keyboard, the scurs have readied themselves for another week of weather prognostications. Will we go back in the deep freeze or get another reprieve? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs of 35 – 40 and lows near 25. Mostly sunny on Thursday with highs of 40 – 45 and lows of 25 – 30. Partly cloudy on Friday. Highs of 40 – 45 and lows above freezing at 35. Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy on Saturday with a slight chance of rain and/or snow. Highs 50 – 55 and lows around 30. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs near 50 and lows around 35. Partly cloudy and continued above normal on Monday. Highs 50 – 55 and lows around 35. Partly cloudy for Tuesday with highs again near 50 and lows falling back to 25. The normal high for December 1 is 32 and the normal low is 16. The scurs are hoping the warm weather holds long enough to get in one more dip in the ceement pond once the ice on it melts.
Mother Nature played a wicked trick on us Thanksgiving Day. It was amazing to be swatting flies and watching boxelder bugs parade around while we grilled on the patio that afternoon. The front ended up taking temperatures from the mid-50s for highs in the afternoon and dropping it down into the teens Friday morning, then down to 8 above the following morning. As we’ve said before, 8 is not a temperature, it’s a shoe size. We should probably get used to it but after being spoiled, it becomes more difficult to accept that it is/was late November and it gets cold.
The holiday itself was uneventful as we hosted my Mom, brother, his wife and mother-in-law. Oh, and Fudgie, my Mom’s Border Collie, of course. A whole turkey on the grill has become nearly routine over the years and luckily this year the bottom didn’t fall out of the blender containing the basting sauce. Much smoother to deal without that sticky mess again. The leg of lamb was an easier addition than I would’ve guessed although with a new grill and rotisserie, it made me nervous operating two grills at once. With brother Roger stepping up to the plate to be a hero though, we were in like porch climbers. The meal was a combined effort with Mrs. Cheviot carrying the bulk of the load inside with generous additions, from all who were in attendance. All in all a bountiful harvest.
After dinner it was time again for the annual running of the pumpkins, where we roll the pumpkins down the hill and laugh as the sheep chase after them. On Thanksgiving Day his year however the pumpkins looked and rolled similarly to deflated basketballs. Low temperatures in the teens will do that to a pumpkin once it warms up again. It still didn’t dampen the ewe’s enthusiasm for gnawing a hole in them to get at the seeds. Luckily we had an abundance of pumpkins, thanks to the generosity of my Mom, Shannon Shoenrock’s uncle and the Dubya’s who enjoy watching the sheep devour them. There were plentiful enough so we could stagger their distribution. They didn’t seem to mind the fact they were hard the following day, the ewes’ sharp incisors making short work of the frozen orange pumpkin flesh.
Bringing the ewes back Saturday from the kindly neighbors’ was among the most uneventful of any year since we’ve pastured sheep there. They were in their pasture a long time this season, since May 15th checking back in the records, making it a shade over 6 months. While I was taking Mom back home, Mrs. Cheviot had gone over to the pasture and slipped some feed in their mangers, shutting the barn door behind them. Ruby got aced out of a job but as windy and cold as it was, it was nice to have them ready to go. Ruby gets plenty of exercise as it is doing chores and playing ball so no worries there. The sheep had done well on the pasture once again, fat and sassy as they filed out of the trailer on their home turf. Fortunately there were still pumpkins left so they wouldn’t feel left out.
Bird activity has been about what one would expect for the colder temperatures sans snow. Plenty of woodpeckers and huge blue jays at the suet as well as nuthatches and chickadees. The goldfinches have continued to live up to their nomadic reputation, coming and going depending on the day. Probably the greatest sighting was Friday morning as the sunlight and light breeze were rattling the hoar frost loose from the trees. 3 rooster pheasants disrupted the ewes’ pumpkin eating frenzy as they attempted to make their way from the CRP across the bottom of the pasture. The early morning sun shone on the roosters’ bronze breasts making them stand out from the dead brown grass in the fenceline. An even prettier sight had to be the 3 hens bringing up the rear, letting us know there are still birds out here and some left for seed.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs had their forecasting shoes on last week and it showed. Some spectacular November weather was in order after a cool start to the month following a cool October. How much longer will our good fortune last?
Starting Wednesday, highs of 65 and lows near 45. For Thanksgiving Day, mostly clear with highs of 55-60 and lows of 30-35. Mostly clear and colder for Black Friday. Highs near 40 and lows of 25-30. Partly cloudy on Saturday with highs again around 40 and lows of 25-30. Sunday, partly cloudy with highs near 45 and lows around 30.
Mostly sunny for Monday with highs once again toying with 50 degrees and lows around 30. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of icy rain. Highs of 30 and lows dropping to 10 above. The normal high for November 22 is 37 and the normal low is 21. The scurs will be busy avoiding the crowds and the rush of Black Friday. There are still more than plenty of shopping days left until Christmas.
The Full Moon for the month of November falls on the 28th and is known as the Full Beaver Moon. It was at this time the trappers would be stocking up with lots of pelts before the waterways froze.
It has also been known as the Full Frosty Moon. The Ojibwe called it the Freezing Moon while the Sioux referred to it as the Moon of Falling Leaves. At the ranch it goes by the Moon When the Ewes Return Home.
Yes, the main barn has been cleaned so the ewes can return home from the kindly neighbor’s pasture. Under Ruby’s watchful eye, we managed to haul 11 large loads out to the field.
It seems like every year it takes a little longer to get motivated to get the job done. Despite the fact there are fewer sheep, there are more pens containing small groups.
This means more messing around moving panels and gates as well as sheep. Ruby is ecstatic by the sheep moving part, but isn’t so keen on the panel and gate moving part. She’s more content to just watch.
My prize farm implement even skipped a beat on me. The 520 New Holland spreader is supposed to have a slow and fast apron speed as well as a neutral and cleanout setting.
For whatever reason, it decided to fall in between someplace and slipped from slow speed into cleanout mode on the second load. Luckily, I caught it quickly so it caused no damage.
Not so luckily, I had committed a cardinal sin. I’d forgotten to put my pitchfork with the authentic Dad’s Good Stuff handle on it in the bucket. Turn around and go back to the yard to retrieve the fork so the pack manure could be dislodged from the beaters.
As luck would have it, this time it was done during some nice weather for a change. With the strong southerly breezes, it dried the barns out well after cleaning too.
Such was not the case two years ago. The LP man stopped by to fill the tank while I was in barn cleaning mode. It was snowing, cold and windy; absolutely miserable.
The apron chains were freezing down on the spreader and matters were not heading in a generally positive direction. When he asked how it was going I think my words were something to the effect of “it’s a laugh a minute out here.”
That’s when one really appreciates just how nice this last weekend was. Watching the sun setting Saturday night, hauling manure on a tractor without a cab suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad job.
Last Friday night, I noticed that millions of tiny spiders hatched in response to the warm temperatures and went through the process of “ballooning.” These spiders crawl onto whatever is handy, a stem of grass, a fence or other object that happens to be higher than they are and emit a strand of silk that carries them on the breeze, dispersing them across the landscape. We as humans get to enjoy their handiwork when the late afternoon sun reveals their gossamer strands left behind on the landscape.
Whatever happened to the little fat buddies? Oh, they’re still around, only more disperse and stealthier than they once were, thanks in large part to years of training at the Mall for Men. Take one of my little fat buddies who stopped at my place to pick up the Gator for servicing, for instance.
He claimed he’d be there by 7 a.m. the next morning, and when I looked out the window the trailer was already gone! Must’ve slipped in under the cover of darkness.
My guess is there was a free breakfast involved someplace and he really didn’t want to miss that. After all, one needs to work at keeping the digestive tract expanded to capacity in order to take full advantage of the holiday season.
See you next week. Real good then.
The scurs were on their game once again, unfortunately. After Saturday, one wished they hadn’t been. Will they be in sync this week? Starting Wednesday and Thursday, partly cloudy with highs near 50 and lows around 30. Friday, slightly cooler under mostly sunny skies with highs of 45 and lows of 35. Back to the 50’s for highs Saturday through Tuesday under partly cloudy skies.. High of 50 and lows of 30 - 35. The normal high for November 15th is 42 and the normal low is 25. On the 19th we will see 9 hours and 30 minutes of daylight, roughly the same as we experience on January 22nd. The scurs are glad they’ll have November 22nd to look forward to first.
Still some anhydrous ammonia going on as of the weekend but not much else going on in the fields. Rainfall totals from the weekend rains were generally light with only 0.2” tallied at the ranch. For the month of November thus far there has only been about a half inch. It’s still dry alright but aside from the drying day of last Saturday, most of the precip that is falling is adding to the available soil moisture. With soils remaining in a thawed state, that will continue to be true. Some have asked where we were on rainfall last year for the fall months and for the most part we’ve actually had more rain this fall than last locally. Last year at the ranch we recorded only .99” in September, .37” in October and .35” in November. This year those totals are 1.95”, 1.47” and .55” so far in November.
This past weekend was truly a demonstration of one of Mother Nature’s mood swings. Saturday was an absolute gem despite the wind. It was a marked improvement over the disappointment of Friday where the wind made it feel a lot colder than it was. How warm was it Saturday? It was 77 degrees at the Waseca airport, 74 at the SROC and about 75 on the official Edna thermometer on our granary. The wind had been southeast making me think about burning the brush piles. However the forecast predicted (correctly) that it was soon to switch to straight south, putting the buildings directly in the line of fire. I thought better of it and opted instead to grind the leaves that had remained damp much of the week. It was so warm I ditched my sweatshirt and mowed in my T-shirt. I smiled when a bumblebee appeared as I wheeled the mower around the well. It was likely the last one before winter sets in for good. Completing the mowing, it was time to tackle the winter radish crop. It was definitely T-shirt weather for that job. By the time they were all dug, it was chore time.
One could sense the weather was starting to turn by late evening when lightning lit up the skies and the hose was shut off on the last of the trees being watered. By Sunday morning, the temperature had fallen into the low 30’s. Climbing into the soccer mom van to go to church, the sliding door was frozen shut. That afternoon staying inside and putzing with various small projects was not difficult to do. Chore time came again, though, and at the kindly neighbors’ the electric fence was grounded out. Around the pasture Ruby and I walked to find the short. The northwest wind tore through my hooded sweatshirt like it was a window screen, making me envious of Ruby’s fur coat. After locating the problem it was time to get back in the van and warm up a bit before heading for home. It was time to find the chore coat to go over my hooded sweatshirt before feeding the group there. I’d officially become a wimp, but at least I was a warm wimp. By Monday morning, at 18 degrees Jack Frost had left his etchings on the glass in the storm door. The swirling winds drove the forenoon flurries, forming miniature drifts on the roof, a foretaste of things to come.
Looks like we should have plenty of food put away for the winter. The winter radish harvest turned out to be one of the big surprises for the season. A couple rows were actually spring types that could be planted in either season. The six rows total yielded a couple two-bushel baskets, two washtubs and another bushel basket full of plants. The sheep were most happy to see another batch of garden refuse make its way over the fence as the tops were removed. When washed and bagged, there were 11 one-gallon bags of radishes as well as two Fleet Farm bags about half full. Good, bad or otherwise, that’s a bunch of radishes. Only fitting that the gardening season should start the season with radishes and end with them I reckon.
While Ruby has been busy shedding for much of the fall it appears that may be to slowing to a halt. There were days I’d peer in the wastebasket and judging by the hair she’d brushed out and swept up, it looked as if Mrs. Cheviot had thrown away another dog. Ruby’s new winter coat is shiny and she looks as sleek as a seal. Parting the fur however reveals a dense undercoat that works like a layer of Thinsulate to keep her toasty when she isn’t on the move which isn’t all that often. When checking the fence the other day she was scouting the opposition, namely the ewes that will need to come home soon. This of course only after the barns are cleaned first. A Border Collie’s work is never done.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were looking for a cloudy, cool damp weekend and by gum we got one. Will we see more of the sun this week? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a high of 45 – 50 and a low near 35. Partly cloudy and warmer on Thursday and Friday with highs of 50 – 55 with lows Thursday night near 35 and around 45 for Friday night. Warmer Saturday with a slight chance of rain during the day with rain likely for the overnight. Highs 60 – 65 and lows of 30 – 35. Brace yourself for Sunday, highs of only 35 and lows falling to 25. Partly cloudy to mostly sunny for Monday and Tuesday with highs of 30 – 35 and lows of 20 - 25. The sun will rise at 7 a.m. on the 8th, the same as it did before the time change back on the 21st of September. The normal high for Veterans’ Day is 44 and the normal low is 29. The scurs will be flying Old Glory proudly regardless of who won the election.
It seems odd to be looking at the calendar while seeing or hearing very little field activity. Sure, there is the occasional drone of an anhydrous ammonia rig or the odd primary tillage operation, but no corn dryers running or combines rolling up and down the fields. There are aeration fans running, but that’s just background noise. Anhydrous ammonia has gone on about as well as most can remember. The rain we received around Bugtussle in early September carried a long way and the rain on October 25th was the icing on the cake. Subsoils remain extremely dry as anyone tiling can attest. This lends credence to the last estimate of soil moisture from the SROC and the rainfall records from many area rain gauges.
In the garden at the ranch, the rains have actually made it too wet to till for fall. The amount of evaporation and transpiration when the weather is cool and the season is at its close is very minimal when the temps remain as cool as they did over the weekend. The frosty temperatures have started to take their toll on the leaf lettuce that was a hit for making BLTs. Unfortunately there aren’t many of the tomatoes we harvested that remain edible at this point, to a human anyway. The sheep on the other hand don’t seem to care. The winter radish tops are also showing signs that Jack Frost has been visiting them with greater frequency. It will soon be time to harvest and find a place to put them. A giveaway program for some may be in order as well. Hopefully the recipients won’t mind their little extra giddy-up.
With fieldwork being largely over with, it has allowed some time to get at some of those tasks that have accumulated with work being hectic, storm damaged and unwanted trees among them. The lamb crop and a few cull ewes were sold on Thursday, freeing up some time and making chores bearable once again. Doing an hour’s of chores following a 10 – 12 hour workday gets old real fast. The bumps and bruises from loading them are well worth it. Saturday meant more hay to stack and after that, cleaning up the trees behind the barn that were sawed down last spring. They’d begun rubbing on the building and since the space is tight between the tree row and barn, not a lot of room to get at them. Getting dried out with leaves still attached they were becoming a fire hazard so it was definitely a job needing doing.
Sunday after church meant more of the same, this time sawing down the bottom half of the spruce tree that the wind stuck into the side of the garage two years ago. Pruning off all the dead limbs on the rest of the spruce trees took a good chunk of the afternoon. After putting the forks on the skid loader, much of that wound up in the huge brush pile south of the house. If you look from Bugtussle and see a glow to the east, you’ll know that I lit it up. Oh, and in between these jobs, the tree watering goes on, with the hose being moved every few hours to help the fruit trees and smaller evergreen trees make it through the winter. Next up: barn cleaning and getting those leaves ground up on a dry afternoon this week.
The birds being attracted to the feeders and yard are changing ever so subtly. On Saturday, there was a bright red male cardinal under the apple trees. There are 5 of the huge blue jays that monopolize the feeders briefly and are then off to parts unknown. Chickadees are remaining loyal to this point anyway and the goldfinch numbers continue to increase ever so slightly, with a dozen now at last count. Some have pointed out the pheasant numbers still appear to be low and that’s definitely the case. I saw a couple roosters in the ditch across the road from our pasture and that’s been about it. Like last winter however, there is ample corn on the ground in the fields again this fall, largely the result of the high winds from the September 5th thunderstorms. Even though the fields have been worked, the pheasants will still have plenty of ears they can access provided the snow doesn’t become too deep or if the fields get iced over.
Was paid another visit by Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer and he left me with all kinds of wonderful information for the early morning and evening skies in November. Thus far they have been nothing short of spectacular for viewing the planets Venus and Jupiter. Jupiter rises about two hours after sunset in early November. By the end of the month it will rise about sunset. On the 10th and 11th, the planet Venus will be very close in the sky to the crescent moon shortly before sunrise. Venus rises in the east about three hours before sunrise. I think this is roughly the same time the noted Swedish astronomer gets up to check on the progress of the road construction by his house.
See you next week…real good then.