Fencelines (269)
The Weather Eye was in “the zone” last week and the scurs breathed a sigh of relief. Will the scurs continue to enjoy success with it or be forced to put it back in the Gremlin after next week? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with an increasing chance for rain. Highs in the low 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Cloudy on Thursday with rain likely. Highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Friday, partly sunny with a good chance for snow and or rain. Highs near 50 with lows near the freezing mark. Mostly sunny Saturday with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Sunday, mostly cloudy with an increasing chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny Monday with a moderate chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Tuesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. The normal high for April 15th is 57 and the normal high is 35. We continue to gain daylight at roughly 3 minutes per day. The scurs are rummaging through their couch so they can pay their taxes. They should get a penny refund from the two dimes they found.
Temperatures continued to be relatively moderate with the exception of the 80 degree high recorded on the 2nd and 43 for a high on Friday. That’s spring in Minnesota for you. Soil conditions are dry, although they remain cool with temps in the top 2” averaging in the mid-40’s at the SROC in Waseca last week. This is evident when looking at the soils in the fields or the garden for that matter. About the only weeds germinated thus far are lambsquarters and giant ragweed. Anhydrous ammonia has been applied and some dry fertilizer has been spread as well. Someone asked me if the way to tell if it’s fit to plant was to drop your drawers and plop your rump on the ground. I responded that I sure see a lot of guys doing it so it must be.
It has been a bit of a see saw ride so far this spring. Some get very excited when temperatures warm only to become sullen when they suddenly plummet again. No two springs are alike and it is still early. Looking back at old columns, I saw that in 2012 I planted radishes and peas on March 18th and they were up by the 23rd! Rhubarb was a foot tall that year by that time. This year, I decided to put some peas and radishes in on the 31st. Five days later, no sign that anything was coming up yet. The rhubarb was just breaking dormancy on the 31st with some plants about an inch tall this year on April 5th. Conclusion: This is not 2012.
Phenologically speaking, things are progressing slowly as well. One might’ve thought that we’d be hearing more of the chorus frogs in the pond area. Alas, the first we’ve heard from them was back on April 2nd. To date, we have yet to hear the nearly deafening noise coming from the wetland on a warm still night. There is a slow changing of the guard around the yard. A brown creeper was checking the trees out for bugs. They show up almost every spring and if you blink, you miss them. As suspected, the robins have been finding a plentiful supply of earthworms on the south facing slope. There were plenty found in the garden also. The lawn and pasture are greening up slowly although there is already enough grass on six acres to supply the three ewes without lambs.
The last of the ewes has lambed at the ranch and not a moment too soon. Of course, it had to be a yearling that decided to not accept the lamb right away. Aside from that and a few too many bottle lambs, it has otherwise been one of the most problem-free years of lambing we have had. No real difficult births along with lambs that got up off the deck quickly, often despite the coldest weather of the winter when they were born. This is one of the reasons we raise Cheviots.
Fudgie got a long overdue brushing and celebrated by “helping” pick up sticks. She really did seem happy though and her coat for a 12-year-old dog is just beautiful, almost glowing in the sun. Somehow the sticks tend to move out of the piles they were raked into however. One thing about Border Collies, they are always right on top of things, literally. Trying to bust up some root masses from last year’s planters I had to shoo Ruby away so I didn’t take her front paws off with the shovel. She’s much safer barking at the apple trees while watching The Wizard of Oz. Oh well, since we’re done moving ewes with lambs the dogs have to have something to do. Keeps them off the streets or at least out of the road I guess.
Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer made a visit last week and we discussed the cosmos amongst other things. April is an interesting month in the heavens. Some may wonder why we missed the lunar eclipse last week. It was primarily because it really wasn’t a full eclipse here. By the time most were up looking at it, the moon was already below the horizon. Venus continues its yellow “mini-moon” status, low in the western sky at 10 p.m. Jupiter is overhead in the southern sky at that same hour. Saturn rises in the east about midnight, becoming earlier each night so it rises by about 9:30 by the end of the month. The Big Dipper is nearly upside down, hopefully dumping out some needed precipitation in a timely fashion. The noted Swedish astronomer and I concurred that stargazing goes much faster when it’s cloudy out.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs weathered another week of cool temperatures and the ensuing hate mail. Will they abandon the Weather Eye or continue to rely on its fine forecasting capability? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a good chance for thunderstorms as the day wears on. Highs near 70 with lows in the mid-40’s. Thursday, mostly sunny and cooler with highs in the upper 50’s and lows around 30. Mostly sunny and cooler for Friday. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows around 30. Saturday, mostly sunny. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly sunny for Easter Sunday with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorm, Highs in the upper 50’s with lows around 40. Mostly cloudy and slightly cooler for Tuesday with a slight chance of a lingering morning shower. Highs in the low 50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. The normal high for April 4th is 51 and the normal low is 31. On April 7th we see over 13 hours of daylight once again for the first time since last September 5th. The scurs are contemplating putting their snow shovel in storage. Somehow they know better.
The Full Moon for April falls on the 4th and goes by several names. Typically it is called the Full Pink Moon for the ground phlox that are commonly some of the first spring wildflowers in the woods. It also goes by the Full Sprouting Grass Moon and the Full Egg Moon. The Ojibwe called this the Broken Snowshoe Moon and the Sioux, the Moon of Greening Grass. At the ranch we’re always hopeful it’s the Moon of Greening Grass and not just another Muddy Border Collie Moon. Always nice to wean the lambs and move the ewes to pasture as early as possible.
Potential early fieldwork conditions suffered a setback with the snow and sleet from last week. However for those who were bound and determined to fret about how dry it was getting, with the 5” of snow and sleet a couple days later, we garnered over .8” of liquid equivalent precip. Runoff was virtually nil and with Monday afternoon's warmth, lawns and pastures began to green up almost before your eyes. There is still frost in the ground in places however as Betsy’s dad pointed out. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as once the ice came off area lakes, temperatures haven’t exactly set the world on fire. Last Friday temperatures did not get above freezing and low temps that morning were a chilly 15. Brrrrr!
The birds continue their subtle spring transition. There are still plenty of woodpeckers and a pair of nuthatches is frequently seen at the feeders. Juncos persist as well, having all but disappeared earlier when the weather was warm during mid-March. Pheasants are in the garden area and use the corridor area to sneak between the CRP parcels and get to a source of water. In the wind, ducks circle the pond and have to make a few approaches on their descent to a greatly diminished water surface. It is dry from a hydrological standpoint with these shallow wetlands making that abundantly clear. Haven’t been down to the wetland to inspect the wood duck houses since they were cleaned, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see some eggs already. Unfortunately the last time eggs were found this early, the nest was abandoned and the eggs were all frozen.
The lambs continue to grow by leaps and bounds. They were so happy to get out of the barn after being cooped up for several days. It was as if they were shot out of a cannon once the door was finally raised. The crusted snow presented a new experience for them to tear through and slide on. The frozen ground made for a fast track as well, giving them extra traction for their jumping and running. Several have mentioned they’ve stopped to watch them run. The only thing we’d request is people pull into the driveway to watch. The traffic moves at a breakneck pace sometimes on that road so it’s a lot safer.
Gardening is in the back of my mind and every time I start considering putting in an early season crop such as radishes, it’s snowed or the ground stays frozen. That will soon change and when it does, will have enough early garden crops to plant. Probably won’t get the potatoes planted on Good Friday but it won’t be the first time. Many times one would have to shovel through the snow and use a pick axe just to get them in the frozen ground!
With the snow nearly gone, the dogs are beginning to shed in earnest. One can tell when the indoor dog hair tumbleweeds start to appear along the baseboards that it’s time to get out the brush. Once outside brushing Fudgie and Ruby out, the clumps of hair are nice for the birds that use the hair for their nests too such as the chipping sparrows. We frequently find their nests lined with combinations of wool and Fudgie fur. One thing about it, the tiny baby birds never look cold.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were proud of the Weather Eye’s prowess once again with snowfall arriving on Sunday right on cue. Too bad Tuesday’s high didn’t make 50 as was advertised. Oh well, what’s 14 or 15 degrees? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance for sleet and/or snow. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the mid 20’s. Mostly cloudy Thursday and cooler. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the mid-teens. Friday, mostly sunny but cooler. Highs around the freezing mark with lows in the mid-teens. Mostly sunny on Saturday and warmer (finally) with a slight chance of rain or snow in the evening hours. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Sunday, warmer under mostly sunny skies. Highs near 50 with lows around freezing. Warmer again for both Monday and Tuesday. Mostly sunny with highs in the mid-50’s and lows around the freezing mark. The normal high for the last day of March is 48 and the normal low is 29. Through the magic of government meddling and interference, the sun will rise again before 7 a.m., the same as it did back on February 24th. The scurs are trying to figure out how to bottle some of that magic.
We had some nice days last week although the snow on Sunday night into Monday certainly brought us back to reality. It is March after all and while it didn’t land precisely on a state basketball tournament it was only off by a day. Still, it was good to see some moisture show up. At the ranch as of Monday night, we have only recorded .6” of precip for the month. At the SROC in Waseca, .97” has been tallied for the month through the 23rd. Normal for March there is 2.49” so we have continued the dry trend in place for much of the winter. Some small grain was rumored to be sown as the timing was favorable. There has been some concern expressed about alfalfa winterkill although it’s difficult to say how much has actually broken dormancy yet. The snow is beneficial at this point, protecting the plants from subfreezing temperatures and wind, as well as providing some much needed moisture for the first cutting.
While it’s a nuisance, the snow as mentioned does supply moisture. Snow is somewhat unique in that evaporation is slow when temperatures remain cool as they have been. The frost is also out of the soil in many spots allowing it to very gradually infiltrate the soil. The snow at the ranch contained .57” of liquid equivalent precip and it was .81” the SROC. The frost was officially out there on March 18th under bare soil. As is usually the case, ice-out dates on area lakes are pretty close to that. For instance, the ice left St. Olaf Lake early Friday the 20th and Beaver Lake followed suit the next morning.
More signs that spring has sprung come in the form of male cardinals singing each morning. We can hear one singing at neighbor David’s although on Sunday morning after battening down the hatches minutes before the snow began to fall, one was under the feeder at the ranch. A striped gopher was seen in the yard on St. Patrick’s Day, one of the earliest we’ve observed in recent memory. A mole has begun to move across the yard making me wonder where I put the traps. Moles are only periodic problems so the traps seem to be easily forgotten until they’re needed. Larger groups of grackles, cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds continue to appear, noisily announcing their arrival then vanishing as quickly as they appeared. Robin numbers are also increasing even though the snow may delay some of them. It’s a little tough to pull worms up through the snow and even when the ground wasn’t covered, frozen soil in the morning is not real conducive to earthworms moving above ground. There are still lots of crabapples and American cranberries at the ranch. We’ve seen plenty of robins helping themselves so not to worry.
The last of the major pruning was accomplished over the weekend. Getting all the obnoxious branches out of the way so that mowing would be easier was nice. Pruning the apples up so that harvest is easier and the apple trees are more productive is truly a feather in one’s cap. The Fireside tree was a major workout with lots of sapwood needing to be hacked off of it. Fudgie and Ruby can’t get enough of that. In true Border Collie fashion, when the straight branches fall out of the tree after being cut, they stare at each branch, daring it to make a move. Must work because the branches don’t so much as flinch. Hauling branches to the brush pile, the sheep decided it might be a good idea to test the gate watching patrol since neither dog was in sight. A quick yell and the dogs showed up on a dead run, convincing the ewes it was in their best interest to go back to gnawing on the hay in their manger. Much safer that way.
As mentioned above, it’s getting towards time to sow small grains. As was the case on many farms in the day in the area where I grew up, it was an annual event to take the oats out of the bin to the elevator to be cleaned and in many cases bagged to be ready when conditions became fit. This frequently meant a trip in the ’58 International A120 truck and ride on the hydraulic hoist when the pickup was dumped. If we kids were real good, we might get to share a bottle of orange pop. That probably didn’t happen too frequently when we were honking the horn or playing with the knobs inside the pickup as Dad was talking to the someone in the elevator office prior to the truck being unloaded.
The varieties were generally on the earlier side to help get around the heat and crown rust problem. We used shorter statured multiline blends such as the E70’s and E73’s out of IA that offered a heterogeneous reaction to rust. Later when I got to choose we grew varieties such as Noble. The Case drill we borrowed from the neighbor had a grass seed attachment that allowed alfalfa to be underseeded as the oats were being sowed. In those days, a light dragging usually followed. Like most small grain, oats were a rather fickle crop to grow. Too much nitrogen and they’d go flat. Too much heat during pollination and/or grain fill and they’d be light. One old farmer trick to help boost test weight was to mix a small amount of wheat in with the seed oats. Could never figure out how they got the two crops separated once the oats were hauled back to the elevator though. Thanks Dale G. for helping to jog my memory!
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs had quite a run last week with the Weather Eye from the ’74 Gremlin making all the right moves. Will our mid-May high temps continue or will we get back to reality? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a slight chance of rain and/or snow overnight. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows around the freezing mark. Thursday, partly sunny with a slight chance for rain and/or snow. Highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Saturday, mostly sunny and cooler. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the low 20’s. Mostly sunny becoming cloudy on Sunday and continued cool with a slight chance of rain and/or snow. Highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows near freezing. Partly cloudy Tuesday and warmer. Highs near 50 with lows around 30. The vernal equinox occurs on the 20th, marking the first day of spring. The normal high for the 20th is 42 and the normal low is 24. The scurs expect to hear from angry chickens when all those eggs are standing on end.
Well, the warm spell was fun while it lasted. We deserved it though after the cold temperatures we endured in February, didn’t we? With strong, warm breezes, field surfaces dried quickly and frost left fields in many places. While there was essentially no field work done, it’s encouraging that the fields aren’t snow covered so that when warmer temperatures return, it shouldn’t take long for fields to become fit. It did allow farmers to get equipment out of the shed and actually work on it without having to roll around in the mud for the most part. It’s like playing with the lead compared to some years. Last year for example.
At the ranch we too are ahead of schedule. The electric fence is up and charged marking one of the earliest dates for us that this has happened. After docking tails, giving shots and tagging, we moved seven more pens of ewes with lambs to the loafing area. Fudgie and Ruby were pressed into service and it took about a half hour to get that all done. The lambs were taking advantage of their new found space Sunday afternoon, racing back and forth from the lot back to the barn. The frost must be out now on the south side of the barn too as the walk-in door closes again. No longer need to use the tarp strap to keep it from flapping in the breeze.
The weekend also made a great time for tree pruning. I left the Fireside tree as it will take some time but I got the rest of the apple trees in ship-shape. The activity also replenished the apple wood supply for grilling. It was a good time in general to assess the eye gougers, glasses snatcher and melon mashers on some of the other trees as well. Few things annoy me more when mowing lawn than getting snapped in the face by branches or sliced up by some thorny branches I didn’t see coming. Again, I had more dog help than a person should be allowed to have. The fascination of two Border Collies with sticks, watching the loppers and biting tires still continues to amaze.
The bird migration has been on too with the recent warmth. Saw our first robins on the 12th as well as a bluebird and killdeers. On Saturday the 14th, red-wing blackbird flocks were evident and we had a few goldfinches showing a hint of yellow at the feeders. There were some house finches too which we hadn’t seen for some time. They’re one of my favorites as the memory of their faithful visits to my mom’s window feeder is still fresh in my mind. Sandhill cranes were heard on Saturday night at chore time. Sunday brought a large group of white-fronted geese through the area. They were heading south. Could it be an omen?
Was saddened by the recent loss of a dear friend and former co-worker, namely Bud Tollefson. When we first came to town some 30 years ago, Bud was one of the first people to welcome me at the elevator and make us feel at home. He knew that I had recently lost my dad and went out of his way to make me feel comfortable. I can recall many times coming home from work, my sides aching from something Bud had said or done. It was only the beginning.
I remember one Saturday he had invited me over to look at his oak trees as something was eating the leaves. He and Kathryn invited me in for breakfast and afterwards we proceeded to look at the trees. When I examined the leaves, I don’t recall what kind of caterpillar it was but when I told him “Bud, you have worms,” Bud let out one of those laughs as only he could. We had a large pumpkin patch one fall and Bud volunteered to help pick them. The visual of Bud riding in the garden cart while hollering at the top of his lungs as we drove past the living room window still makes Mrs. Cheviot laugh. I went ice fishing with Bud a few times back when St. Olaf Lake was famous for its cigar stub-sized perch. Most people went out there to kill time. Bud and I were no exception. When one of the old local diehards came over to inspect our holes, he looked at them and said in derision, “Humph! Cork’s too big.” That set Bud and I off into a laughing frenzy. When we’d get skunked after that we had a built in excuse: “Cork’s too big.”
Bud fixed many of the things I had broken and sharpened tools that I had dulled. Wouldn’t take a dime for it. I worked with Bud for only about three years before I took another job. Even after that, Bud always had a smile and a laugh when we fondly recalled some of the “good old days.” And even when he was starting to slip he was still “in there.” Mention that I’d driven the “company truck” to church and it would still bring a smile to his face if not elicit a laugh. Bud was one of my favorite people. He showed me how to laugh again after a tragic loss and the generosity with his time will never be forgotten. Words will never be able to express my gratitude, but as Bud was fond of saying around his family, this will have to be “good enough.”
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs tuned the Weather Eye in and in fact, are looking at changing the thermostat again after being warmer than normal. No complaints or hate mail so here goes: Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly sunny on Thursday with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Friday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny and cooler on Saturday. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Sunday, sunny, with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny on Monday. Highs again in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Partly cloudy and slightly cooler on Tuesday the 17th with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. The normal high for St. Patrick’s Day is 40 and the normal low is 23. We will go over 12 hours of daylight on the 18th for the first time since last September 25th. The scurs will try to avoid spilling any green beer on the Weather Eye in hopes that our good warm weather fortunes continue.
What a difference a week makes! Last week if you’ll remember (you’d probably rather forget) we were seeing overnight lows below zero and highs only in the teens some days, not to mention the wind including Tuesday’s blizzard that wasn’t. As of this writing, most recently we were seeing highs in the 50’s and lows just below freezing, with the promise of warmer temps in the near-term. Welcome to Minnesota! The frost is receding in some places and given the forecast, it won’t take long without snow cover for it to be completely gone. It will take a few days however for fields to get into any kind of shape allowing traffic for spring manure applications or other field operations. The mud in the yard from last fall’s manure hauling at the ranch serves as a reminder that it was pretty greasy before freeze-up. Plus there has been some additional moisture added to the top few inches of soil since then with the snow that melted off and on over the winter. No need to get in a hurry just yet.
It is nice to see warmer temperatures on many fronts at the ranch though. The lambing barn was filled to capacity. When one has 15 pens with ewes and lambs crammed in a 16’ x 28’ building, that is the definition of full. It was so cold however that we didn’t dare move some of the newborns to the large barn. Tags, tails and shots were done Friday afternoon, so that happened Saturday forenoon. The lambs were off to the races and the ewes were glad to be out of their cramped quarters. We also got the creep feeder established so the youngsters could get on solid feed more quickly, hopefully meaning earlier weaning dates and ewes on pasture. The two best things though: No more climbing over pens to access pens and no more hauling warm water from the house. (And the crowd goes wild!)
Even the pasture seems to have a greenish tinge to it where the snow left along the fenceline. It won’t take long and the ewes that haven’t lambed yet will be after anything remotely resembling green grass. There was still some snow on the electric fence yet so that will need to melt before charging it again. It shouldn’t take too much longer and it should be one of the earliest dates in recent memory we have let the ewes with lambs out in the small lot in front of the main barn. That always makes for the annual gawker slowdown as people slow down to get a glimpse of the new lamb crop. Don’t blink. They grow pretty fast.
There are also subtle changes happening in the bird population here at the ranch and elsewhere. A bald eagle was seen soaring overhead as I awakened from a cat nap and gazed out the window over the weekend. House sparrows have already built nests in the barn and are no longer monopolizing the birdfeeders. Apparently they have other things on their mind. Along those lines, the wood duck houses were cleaned out and refilled with fresh cedar shavings over the weekend. The wetland is low and lack of snow melt won’t help that situation. Geese were heard overhead on Monday morning making me wonder how far behind the robins might be. That evening I received a call from the male half of the kindly neighbors to inform me that robins had been spotted in their yard. No earthworms yet although it shouldn’t take long. In the meantime there are plenty of crabapples and American cranberry (viburnum) fruit so they won’t starve.
Leonard Nimoy passed away last week at age 83 marking the loss of another actor from the fabled ‘60s TV show Star Trek. At first as a lad, Star Trek was a scary show even on a black and white TV set. Some of the characters and special effects at the time were more frightening than those on Lost in Space. With time though, the show grew on you. As Spock, Nimoy became a favorite of many Trekkies. Spock was a pointy-eared, green-blooded Vulcan, portraying a character whose function was to provide timely logic and stability in contrast to the emotional and irrational human crew. Bones in particular was always at odds with Spock and his intellect. As kids in college we spent many hours watching Star Trek. The reruns were favorites for years on the local stations and we’d watch it any chance we could. It certainly sparked in many of us an interest in the stars and the evolving space program. It also inspired us to give “Spock bites” and repeat phrases such as “Illogical, captain.” And of course, who can forget the Vulcan salute, “Live long and prosper.” Not bad words to live by.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs received much hate mail last week after below normal temperatures for January continued to plague us. Fortunately they were able to burn it to stay warm. Will the Weather Eye bail them out this week or will readers continue to supplement the scurs’ heating bill? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper single digits and lows around 10 below zero. Rebounding for Thursday under sunny skies with highs in the low teens and lows around 10 above with temps rising overnight. Mostly sunny for Friday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper teens. Slightly cooler for Saturday under partly sunny skies. Highs in the low 30’s with lows near 20. Sunday, mostly sunny and warmer. Highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Continued sunny and pleasant for Monday. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Partly cloudy and seasonal for Tuesday with highs in the mid to upper 30’s and lows in the mid 20’s. The normal high for March 8th is 36 and the normal low is 27. On March 8th, we will experience 11 hours and 30 minutes of daylight for the first time since back on October 5th. On the 8th, the scurs will be setting their clocks ahead an hour under protest of the nanny state’s infamous Daylight Wasting Time.
The Full Moon for the month falls on the 5th and goes by several names, the most common of which is the Full Worm Moon. Reputedly the ground actually thaws out and worm castings begin to be seen. It also goes by the Full Crow Moon as the tribes of the Northeast made note of the crows calling this time of year as a signal that winter was over. It also is known as the Full Crust Moon for the freezing and thawing making the snow crusty and the Full Sap Moon for the sap running and being collected from the maple trees. Early settlers also knew this as the Lenten Moon, the last moon of winter. The Ojibwe knew this as the Snow Crust Moon and the Sioux as the Moon When Buffalo Cows Drop Their Calves. At the ranch, it’s the Moon When Ewes Drop Their Lambs. Smaller ruminants but the principle remains the same.
In February, the weather continued to frustrate those who wanted to see some warmer temperatures. In other words, all of us. The first half of the month was tolerable, but after Valentine’s Day the wheels came off. Ice conditions on area lakes continued to thicken and there were reports of up to 30” of ice before the mass exodus of fish houses this past weekend. The frost depth at the SROC measured 25” on March 1st. Their average daily temperature for the month of February was colder than what was recorded for this past January by 7.3 degrees. It was also below average by 9.5 degrees for the month. The most recent NOAA 30-day outlook is calling for lower-than-normal temperatures for March and the near-term forecasts seem to bear that out. Still, there is little snow cover and the moisture profile is not at capacity in the top 5’ anyway. That was noted last fall when we saw many area shallow wetlands lower than normal. In other words, we still have a chance to see an earlier spring than perhaps the last two years at this point. Think warm thoughts.
As expected, the lamb population exploded since last week. Fourteen ewes came in and three of those were at chore time ahead of Tuesday’s predicted storm. Not unusual for ewes to drop their lambs when the pressure begins to fall as it did. Almost needed a catcher’s mitt to keep up as fast as they were coming. The rapid increase means more chores of course. What was taking 20 minutes for the two of us suddenly balloons to over an hour per session. As cold as it’s been, there has been a lot of warm water hauled from the house to the barns in 5-gallon pails. It helps keep the buckets thawed and sheep actually like drinking lukewarm water. As the saying goes, a ewe that drinks well milks well and under stressful conditions, we want to enhance the odds of that happening. A person begins to feel like a beast of burden after a while though. A dozen buckets a day takes its toll. Thankfully we aren’t wading through snowdrifts like we were last year at this time.
Ruby and Fudgie truly enjoy lambing season. In addition to their gate watching duties, it’s their time to shine. When we move the ewes with lambs to the main barn, one of us grabs the lamb or lambs and the plan is that the ewe will follow due to scent and sound recognition. Ideally. The dogs are at the ready should the ewe decide to go astray. Sometimes it appears they’re being counterproductive. When that happens, a quick “stop” command is like hitting the reset button so the ewe stays on track. The ewe is outnumbered so she has few options. Both Border Collies also both love getting into the feed sack containing afterbirth outside the lambing barn. They’re persistent even after they’ve been scolded countless times for it. It doesn’t amuse either Mrs. Cheviot or me very much as you’re never sure where or when they might yack up a frozen treat they fished out of the bag. Dogs will be dogs I guess.
It may become spring someday if the horned larks are any indication. I started noticing them along the roadsides last week, although after they got here, they had to be questioning their decision to return. Little Jerry the rooster pheasant has been slinking around the yard, trying to conceal himself in the brush. Usually he’s pretty good at it, although his tracks in the snow are a dead giveaway of his whereabouts on a given day. Any inkling of a transition at the birdfeeders however is very subtle. A lone goldfinch appears sporadically and that’s about the only deviation from the winter bird pattern so far. Still, one has to be satisfied with the nice group of birds we’ve had to observe at the ranch this winter. I’ve never heard any birdwatcher claim to dislike seeing cardinals on a snowy day.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were wise not to mothball those long johns just yet and with the help of the Weather Eye, they made the right call. Will their reliance on the Weather Eye prove justified for another week? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the low teens and lows slightly below zero. Mostly sunny and cooler for Thursday with highs in the upper single digits and lows slightly below zero. Friday, sunny and warmer. Highs in the upper teens and lows around 5 above. Mostly cloudy and warmer on Saturday with an increasing chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the low teens. Sunday, continued warmer with a good chance of snow for the first day of March. Partly cloudy with highs in the mid-20’s with lows around 10. Sunny on Monday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Then mostly sunny and warmer for Tuesday. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the mid-teens. February 26th puts us back over 11 hours of daylight for the first time since October 15th. The sun will set at 6 p.m. on February 27th. The normal high for March 1st is 33 and the normal low is 16. The scurs have more free time on their hands since they skipped watching the Oscars, again.
When one looks at the temperature and precip records for February, all one will likely say is it was dry and cold barring a resurgence of 80-degree temps and a sudden deluge before the weekend. Temperatures have trended well below normal since the 12th. As a result the frost depth has actually increased at the SROC as the month has progressed, going from 20” on the 16th to 25” on the 23rd. Can usually tell when the frost gets to about 2’ at the ranch because the frame on the walk-in door at the ranch begins to heave and it won’t close. Not until the frost goes out again anyway.
Bird activity has been steady with the cold we’ve had. We have an active group of woodpeckers and nuthatches. They’ve adapted well to the horizontal suet feeders. Fortunately the starlings and sparrows have not. The Roller Feeder has kept the squirrels at bay and while the house sparrows have increased their activity, it’s still hard for them to kick as much feed out on the ground due to the smaller size of the feeder. The cardinals continue to be pleasant additions. We see them almost every day, although by the sound of things, they live at neighbor David’s if their singing in the early morning is any indication.
Watching the squirrels in the yard is a favorite pastime not only for Ruby and Fudgie but for me as well. While some are less taken with them I’ve always been amazed by these hardy little creatures. In Sunday’s wind, they were busy climbing the tree, grabbing their kernel of corn and getting to the leeward side of the tree to get out of the elements. They’ve eaten a fair amount of corn too over the course of the winter. At approximately two ears a day since November with roughly 480 kernels per ear average that’s about the equivalent of a bushel and peck’s worth of shell corn. I’m fairly positive they’ve “planted” a lot in the yard too. One could probably spray the lawn with glyphosate and produce a pretty good corn crop.
Lambing progress has moved slowly as of this writing. That will change. Only four ewes have lambed thus far and they are lined up like planes on a runway. The six lambs on the ground so far are healthy even though the weather hasn’t exactly been cooperative. There are some cold days when one wonders how they can take it. The lambs look a little hunched up and possibly cold. The next thing you know they’re bouncing off their mothers and using them as playground equipment.
Got to see the Gopher women’s basketball team’s last home game of the year and it didn’t disappoint. An old high school friend had invited us to join him and his wife so we had decided this would be a nice break. Mrs. Cheviot had at the last minute changed her mind and with the ewes getting ever closer to lambing, she stayed behind. I went ahead anyway and Phil was able to find another taker for her ticket. The game was the stuff legends are made of. Zahui had 27 points and 27 boards, Kelley pumped in 23 and local heroine Carlie Wagner added 21 in a double-overtime victory. What was probably most interesting to me though was how the game was a catalyst for a day with an old friend.
Phil and I had been friends throughout high school. We had been in FFA, band and choir together and had done our level best to have a good time. When we graduated high school, we went our separate ways. Phil went to Augsburg where he met his wife Janine. I went to the U, where I wasn’t serious about much of anything other than agriculture. Phil and I saw each other at class reunions but hadn’t had an opportunity to do much socially until getting together with another friend a few years ago. Saturday it was as if the friendship hadn’t skipped a beat. Driving to their house, having a scrumptious late breakfast they’d prepared and attending the game made for reminiscing as well as catching up. Meeting their dogs was an honor too as I have a well-known soft spot for furry friends. Also got to meet their friend David who was the lucky recipient of the spare ticket. I couldn’t tell if he was furry or not because he kept his hat on. By the time the day was over, it was time to go home and it had been a “10”. One set of twins was all that had been born so Mrs. Cheviot hadn’t been inundated with ewes coming in and I was able to get home in time to help finish the chores.
Later that night as I was flipping through the channels I found the 2007 Led Zeppelin Celebration Day concert. Couldn’t help but think how there were probably some similarities between the band members and the bond that Phil and I along with several others had. We were all musically talented and while we certainly weren’t in the class of a Zeppelin, it didn’t stop us from playing together and enjoying each other’s company. As Jimmy Page cavorted with his Les Paul, Robert Plant wailed and moaned, John Paul Jones kept pace on the keyboards and along with John Bonham’s son Jason on drums, there were parallels. Each performed their part seemingly effortlessly. After the last bows were taken and they walked off stage, you could sense they still got along, and that was all that mattered until the next time.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were afraid word of the accuracy of the Weather Eye would start to get around after another week of unwanted cold temperatures. Will people still be talking after this week or just muttering under their frozen breath? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the low single digits and lows near –10. Mostly sunny Thursday with a slight chance of overnight snow. Highs near 5 and lows falling just below zero. Friday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the low teens. Partly sunny on Saturday with highs in the upper teens and lows near zero. Sunday, mostly sunny with highs in the low teens and lows around 5. Mostly cloudy on Monday with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the upper teens and lows in the upper single digits. Tuesday, mostly sunny and warmer. Highs in the low 20’s and lows in the low teens. The normal high for February 24th is 31 and the normal low is 13. The sun will rise on the 24th before 7 a.m. for the first time since last November 7th. The scurs are not putting their long johns in mothballs just yet.
Weather has been trending below normal over the past week as evidenced by the normal highs and lows. Little accumulating snowfall has resulted in addition, although the fluffy stuff that fell Monday was just enough to disguise some of the slippery spots around the yard. Definitely “greasy skid stuff” as Steve Cannon so fondly called it. The winds have howled as well, with Saturday being a good day to stay inside or at very least out of the wind. I am thankful we have planted as many trees as we have over the last several decades at the ranch. Speaking of that, The Waseca SWCD is hosting a “Tree Day” on Wednesday February 18th from 9-5 at the Waseca SWCD office. This is a great opportunity to obtain trees affordably as well as gain valuable information about establishing windbreaks and other wildlife plantings. Remember, the best time to plant trees was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.
Sheep shearing was accomplished on Saturday on what proved to be the coldest day of the week. Our neighborhood sheep shearer and his sidekick were there with bells on. After we got the sheep back in the barn we commenced to shearing and everyone stayed warm with all the activity. Shortly after 1 p.m. we had the job completed and the sheep looked very smooth, and happy to be rid of their heavy blanket of wool. Mrs. Cheviot had a splendid hot meal prepared so we could come in out of the cold, shed our stinky barn clothes and dig in. Nowadays with this hurry up, go here, go there rush everyone in, it’s nice to sit down to a home cooked meal and relax after a workout like that.
As we’ve mentioned in years past, it may seem cruel to take the wool off the sheep at this time of the year, but there are many reasons for it. With the relatively warm winter we’ve had, the ewes have been sleeping outside a lot. With all that wool, they’re too warm to be comfortable inside. That being the case they really don’t care if it’s snowing either. If one leaves the wool on them, they carry that moisture back into the lambing barn, setting up conditions conducive to pneumonia. Shearing now before lambing makes it more likely the ewe will lamb inside the building. It also helps keep external parasites in check. In addition, the lambs can access the ewe’s udder more easily and the ewe gives off more heat, keeping their babies warm. Indeed, after shearing, the water buckets in the lambing pens rarely freeze. And the lambing barn is a great little spot to get in out of the elements briefly to warm up just as it was when I was growing up. One takes advantage of those brief moments to make sure all is well in the lambing jugs. And yes, we do pick the little ones up for closer examination, much to the ewes’ dismay.
On the 19th the Chinese New Year rolls around and it fittingly happens to be the Year of the Sheep. As found on an Internet site, characteristics of people born in the Year of the Sheep are tender, polite, filial, clever, and kind-hearted. They have special sensitivity to art and beauty, faith in a certain religion and a special fondness for quiet living. They are wise, gentle and compassionate and can cope with business cautiously and circumspectly. In their daily life, they try to be economical. Famous people born in the Year of the Sheep include Michelangelo, Mark Twain, Thomas Alva Edison, Rudolph Valentino, Pierre Trudeau, Barbara Walters, Orville Wright, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Amy Lee, Bruce Willis, Claire Danes, Jamie Lynn Spears and Matt LeBlanc.
I was actually born in the Year of the Dog. And it sorta fits, just like any of those sayings on fortune cookies do. I like dogs and usually they like me. Over the years I’ve had occasion to become acquainted with hundreds of them. Oddly enough, there is no Year of the Cat in the Chinese Zodiac. There is however in the Vietnamese Zodiac. The reason behind this is the domestic cat was not introduced to China from India until well after their zodiac was established. My take on all this: I like Chinese and Vietnamese food or at least food prepared by people whom I suspect are Chinese or Vietnamese.
Ruby has been watching the Westminster Dog Show starting with the agility trials over the weekend. In addition to making hockey easier for us to watch, high definition television must make dog shows appear sharper and more definitive for a small red and white Border Collie to observe. When the show is on, she frequently approaches the screen growling and barking at whatever breed happens to be making its way around the show ring. The Puli or Pulik as a group are particularly draw her ire. There is no discrimination though. She dislikes all breeds.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs had the Weather Eye dialed in to perfection last week. Will that accuracy continue into mid-month? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with highs in the mid-20’s and lows just below 0. Cold sunshine for Thursday with highs near 10 and lows again around 5. Friday, partly sunny and warmer. Highs in the low 20’s with lows around 0. Partly sunny and much colder for Saturday. Highs in the mid-single digits above 0 with lows around 5 below. Sunday, mostly cloudy with temperatures rebounding and a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Cloudy and warmer on Monday with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny on Tuesday and cooler. Highs in the mid-teens with lows around 5. The normal high for Valentine’s Day is 27 and the normal low is 9. We’ll see over 10 hours and 30 minutes of daylight for the first time since October 25th on February 16th. The scurs can’t wait for their Valentine’s candy to show up after rationing the last of their fruitcake. They’ll have to find something else to chock the wheels on the ‘74 Gremlin now.
Last week brought about more of the roller coaster ride for temperatures. It’s tough to complain very loudly however as this winter has been a breeze compared to last year’s model. Tales of frozen pipes and hauling water buckets through deep snow much of last winter proved that enough was too much. This winter we’ve seen frost depth at the SROC at only 18” as measured most recently on February 9th. On the 5th we also experienced one of the coldest overnight lows of the season at -5 in Waseca and about -14 at the ranch. Only November 28th and January 6th were colder. Still, despite the temperature roller coaster ride, the cold snaps haven’t been prolonged and many days the temps have been well above normal. The snow as a result continues to do its disappearing act. It’s doubtful if anyone will gripe if it decides to leave entirely and take the ice in the dooryards away while it’s at it.
Lambing season officially started off on Thursday of last week at the ranch after a cold overnight. All the ewes came out to eat in the morning, but by afternoon when Mrs. Cheviot arrived home, the black yearling ewe we’d been suspecting would go first had lambed. She had the lamb by herself and in spite of the fact she wasn’t shorn, she lambed inside. More than once we’ve had lambs born outside given that scenario. Frequently that means lambs with tails and ears frozen off. With those erect Cheviot ears though, apparently the windy conditions that day persuaded the ewe to seek shelter. The lamb was smart and had nursed by the time Mrs. Cheviot put them in a pen and checked the ewe for milk. On Sunday already we moved ewe and lamb to the main barn to a large pen. Of course Fudgie and Ruby were at the ready, keeping the ewe on track. The little lamb bounced around in celebration of her new found spacious accommodations.
We’ve fed some “odd” things to the sheep over the years including pumpkins, bread, cereal, carrots and squash. With a relative lack of acreage to grow much grain, we’ve focused on trying to improve the pasture and grow some hay where we can. However, it’s simply not a good idea to try to get by on forages alone especially with gestating ewes. We’ve typically fed corn screenings although this year has found us feeding some hard red spring wheat, harvested where it was underseeded with some hay. How has feeding wheat worked out? Actually quite well so far. Compared to corn, both the dry matter and TDN are very similar. While it is lower in fat, wheat is higher in protein, calcium, phosphorus and almost all the essential amino acids. Best of all, it doesn’t need to be ground or processed when fed to adult sheep. They tend to do their own processing by chewing the grain more completely than cattle do.
Bird watching continues to occupy much of the time we’re around the ranch after work and chores during the limited daylight hours. Upon taking some vegetable peelings out to toss over the fence to the sheep, 8 – 10 hen pheasants erupted from the garden area in the windbreak. The sweet corn leftovers seem to meet with their approval. Earlier in the day, a couple roosters were spotted on the way to Owatonna. It was good to see all of them especially the hens. The open winter has been a plus for pheasants. If we can get through the next six weeks or so without an ice storm, it looks optimistic for the pheasant population locally.
Last Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. It meant it was time to shovel off the patio and fire up the Weber again. Checking the grill out beforehand, it appeared the last time it had been used was at Christmas. The drip pan was still in the middle of the grill. After nearly giving up Auntie Mar Mar for dead, she and Unky Gregory made the pilgrimage to the ranch for an evening of fine dining. Lamb chops were grilled and Mrs. Cheviot had everything else covered including homegrown carrots and a delectable cherry pie for dessert. Mar Mar brought healthful cookies and fresh-baked homemade bread so there was no excuse for anyone to go hungry. Wine flowed, laughter ensued and a good time was had by all. Ruby regaled the guests with her disdain for the TV remote and astonished them with a sampling of her wide vocabulary. Next time they come up, we’ll showcase her talents at playing organized games. Only if we can get Ruby to stop messing around with her ball or on the computer long enough of course. Short attention span, that dog.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were thinking the Weather Eye had lied about the modest chance of snow over the weekend. Maybe they’d best put a little more trust in it as there is still a chunk of winter left. Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a slight chance of snow. Highs near 15 and lows near – 10. Thursday, sunny with highs in the mid-teens and lows around 10. Partly sunny and warmer on Friday with highs around 30 and lows near 20. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a modest chance of snow, again. Highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Sunday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of lingering snow. Highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Partly sunny for Monday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows near 20. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. As we continue to gain nearly 3 minutes of daylight per day, we’ll see over 10 hours of daylight on February 4th, something that hasn’t happened since November 6th. The sun will set after 5:30 on February 6th. The scurs suspect it may be a tad early to put their lawn furniture out just yet.
The Saturday evening snowstorm turned out to be more than first advertised. At the ranch we measured roughly 4” of snow fell although as in many building sites around the area, it seemed like most of it was in large drifts in unusual places. It was fine snow too and with the wind made for some hard drifts. One individual had left for the weekend and when he came back, made a run through one into the garage. He wound up shoveling a large portion of it back out. At the ranch it was tough to move it efficiently. Large pieces of drift were constantly breaking off leaving pieces strewn around the driveway. The good thing about it though was the layer of snow stuck to the ice so one doesn’t go for a digger anymore.
As discussed with Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer, clear, cold nights lately have made for better stargazing. In the evening sky, Venus continues to climb farther off the horizon in the west at sundown. Conversely, Jupiter is getting a little higher each night at chore time in the east, rising around sundown. So where is the Big Dipper right now? In the northern US we are fortunate to be able to see the Big Dipper year round above the horizon. Looking at 9 p.m., Monday night, the Big Dipper is high in the northeast sky and is standing on the end of its handle during the winter months. It is also part of the constellation Ursa Major or the Big Bear, where the handle of the dipper makes up the tail of the bear and the dipper itself part of the hindquarters. The star on the front bottom of the dipper (Merak) and the one on the top leading edge of the dipper (Dubhe) form a line that points nearly directly to the North Star or Polaris. Polaris is the star on the end of the handle on the Little Dipper. It in turn in part of the constellation Ursa Minor or the Little Bear. Generally we have pretty good stargazing at the ranch although it’s best to get away from the yard lights in order to see the Little Dipper. Tough to do much about the nearly full moon though especially when there are high clouds.
More snow must mean more cardinals. Another male has joined the original male and female. Activity in general at the feeders increased with the colder temps and snow. It was a surprise over the weekend to see how much corn was being plucked off the cobs by the birds as opposed to the squirrels. Several blue jays and a red-bellied woodpecker consumed almost as much as the rodents did. And one of the squirrels seems to be dominant or at least takes exception to the attempts of the others to procure any corn while he’s occupying the feeder. That typically results in the squirrels doing a high speed chase and one little red and white Border Collie getting all wound up while watching from the sliding glass door.
Another Super Bowl is in the books. Actually it was another pretty good game. When I first came in from moving snow, Mrs. Cheviot was bemoaning the fact it was a low scoring affair and the Seahawks really hadn’t done much. That changed about the time I sat down to warm up. From that point on it was interesting right up until the last play. The entire weekend provided some good sports activity with Gophers and other teams competing. The live-streaming alternative while not perfect does allow us to watch programming we wouldn’t normally see. It helps keep us off the streets on cold winter evenings anyway.
The former mayor of Waldorf was in recently to see if I’d grabbed the screenings out of his shed and dropped off a current magazine with some interesting tractor trivia. Luckily I had already pulled the screening wagon home through metropolitan Matawan on Saturday. The magazine he left was chock full of tidbits I hadn’t realized. Did you know the first commercially available PTO on a tractor was on the International Harvester 8-16? John Deere replaced the Waterloo Boy with the Model D which remained in production through 1953? It took until 1954 for the number of tractors on US farms to surpass the number of horses and mules? One I knew was the 1st production true live PTO was on a 1946 Cockshutt 30. We had the American version, a Co-op E3 growing up. Pull the lever to engage the PTO. Push in the clutch and the PTO kept running. What will they think of next?
See you next week…real good then.
More...
While happy with the recent warm weather, the scurs are curious about the sudden appearance of 12 deflated footballs in the back of the ’74 Gremlin. Curious because they didn’t know it would hold that many. Will they remain flat or will warmer temps reinflate them? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a chance of rain and snow mix in the overnight. Highs near 40 and lows in the upper 20’s. Colder on Thursday under mostly cloudy skies. Highs near the freezing mark and lows in the mid-teens. Friday, partly sunny becoming cloudy with a slight chance of overnight snow. Highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a modest chance for snow. Highs in the low 30’s and lows around 10. Sunday, partly sunny and much colder with a slight chance of forenoon snow. Highs in the upper teens and lows around 5. Continued colder under sunny skies for Monday. Highs around 10 with lows around 5. Mostly sunny with temperatures rebounding for Tuesday. Highs in the low 20’s and lows around 5. The normal high for February 1st is 24 and the normal low is 5. The scurs will see their shadow meaning there are still 6 more weeks of winter, minimum.
The second full moon for the month will occur on February 3rd and generally goes by the Full Snow Moon as this is the moon when the tribes of the northeast generally experienced the most snow. It also was known as the Full Hunger Moon as the once well-stocked larders going into winter began to run short. It was for this reason the Ojibwe knew this as the Full Sucker Moon. The Sioux were very observant or observative depending on your preference. They knew this as the Raccoon Moon as the raccoons would awaken and begin to move around in the warmer temperatures. At the ranch, it is the Full Shearing Moon or at least we hope it is sometime before the next one.
We’ve sawed off a large chunk of winter. January is about shot and if historic long-term normal temperatures are any indication, we should be on the downhill slide. At any rate, the duration of the cold spells typically becomes shorter and snowfall declines somewhat in February. March will usually bring more snow although December accumulations in the most recent 30 year normal have overtaken March as the snowiest month. The reason for this being that more of our precipitation is falling in March in the form of rain. How much snow have we had this winter? Since November at the ranch we have garnered 21.6”. At the SROC in Waseca, they’ve measured a whopping 25.7”. Normal for November through January at the SROC is roughly 30.3”. Much of our snow has melted and with the possible exception of the most recent thaw thaw, much of the precipitation has stayed on the landscape. This snowmelt is important for the recharge of shallow wetlands, many of which were low going into the winter.
Birdwatching at the ranch seems to hinge on the weather. When it snows the cardinals appear. When it melts, they’re nowhere to be seen. Warm temps have meant suet and sunflower seed consumption are both down. Even the squirrels are not eating both ears of corn on the warm days. It doesn’t stop their circus act as they go up, down and around the trees in the yard in rapid fashion. We did get a glimpse of a female pileated woodpecker Saturday as she tried to get on one of the small horizontal suet feeders. Upon seeing that, we replaced one of the three horizontal feeders with a cage type feeder. No luck we’re aware of as we haven’t seen her since. As fast as pileated woodpeckers can eat suet, we’d probably notice it. The same day, a more subtle change with the appearance of a half dozen goldfinches, the largest group we’ve seen since likely sometime back in August. Perhaps they’ve marked the spot with their GPS and will come back to it if it gets cold again.
The ewes continue their gestation, getting a little plumper each day. Their full fleeces obscure a good view of their udders so it’s anybody’s guess how close they are to lambing just yet. Their feed consumption varies with the temperature too. On the coldest days, they’ll burn through four slabs of hay from a big square bale. When temps are in the 30’s and 40’s, three will generally suffice. Of course there’s always Poofy, one of the ewes that was shown many years ago by the daughter of some friends in WI. Poofy seeks out whoever is feeding grain at night and sticks her head in the bucket. Not just a little; she buries her head in the grain up to her eyeballs while stuffing as much feed in her mouth as possible. Most of the other ewes probably wouldn’t get by with that. This one is special though. She’s old yet always manages to produce nice lambs as have many of her offspring we’ve kept. A true matriarch if ever there was one.
Fudgie and Ruby continue to enjoy the winter for the most part. They’ve supervised Mrs. Cheviot’s Christmas un-decorating of the house and the live tree now provides extra cover for their squirrels. There’s been some early season mud to play in so they need to be wiped down before coming inside. The dogs continue their daily gate watching duties as well, using their eyes to convince the sheep it’s really not worth their time to mess with them. They also use their eyes on us as we’re about to leave for work. And with a Border Collie, there’s no question about what those eyes are saying.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs smiled smugly about their use of Exlax in the Gremlin radiator. Cleaned the Weather Eye out big time. They’ve liked this recent weather so much they’re considering putting aground up copy of the ACA in it next. Someone told them it says if you like your weather, you can keep it. Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a modest chance of snow. Highs near 30 and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny Thursday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the low 20’s. Friday, mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly cloudy Saturday with a slight chance for evening snow showers. Highs around the freezing mark with lows in the low 20’s. Sunday, cloudy with a modest chance for snow. Highs around 30 with lows in the low teens. Cloudy on Monday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Tuesday, cloudy with a modest chance for snow. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows around 10. We’ll experience 9 ½ hours of daylight on the 23rd, the first time since November 19th. The normal high for January 25th is 23 and the normal low is 4. After a trip to Wisconsin, the scurs are thinking they may be able to heat their abode for the remainder of the season with all the foam cheese head hats they found in area dumpsters.
What a welcome change in the weather from the week before. A January thaw was just what the doctor ordered. To be on the safe side, I purchased a couple pair of new long johns at the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo. I am betting it will remain warmer now for the rest of the winter. Short term forecasts are trending that direction and depending on whose longer term forecasts you read, some of those would tend to agree. At choretime Jupiter greets us in the western sky in the mornings and in the evening we’re treated to Venus getting a little higher in the sky each night. Even Mercury was visible beside it marking one of the few times one could actually pick it out.
Birds are responding to the recent changes in the weather also. The cardinals have vanished again now the snow has largely disappeared. Even the bane of the feeders at the ranch, namely the house sparrows have suddenly been decreasing in number. Perhaps it has something to do with the recent feeder changes that were made. They did figure the Roller Feeder out as I suspected they probably would. However, it’s certainly not their favorite as perhaps it takes too long to make a big mess underneath. Apparently they don’t like having to compete with the blue jays and larger woodpeckers on the other feeder either. The red-bellied woodpeckers don’t take any guff off of anyone including the blue jays.
The horizontal suet feeders arrived last week so they were pressed into service. So far so good. The sparrows haven’t touched them and the starlings that showed up were having a tough time flying up to get a beak full. The woodpeckers were quick studies though, with the downies hanging upside down on the new feeders within minutes. One type of suet feeder we’re trying is made of metal so it makes it less attractive to the squirrels. A little tough for the larger woodpeckers to navigate although they got the hang of it after watching the downies. The squirrels on the other hand just sorta burp after filling up on ear corn, then climb farther up the tree where they can nap in the sun. Way too much work as fat as they are to put a lot of effort into messing with the other feeders.
Phone books arrived the other day and was shocked to see what they’ve become. They’re certainly a pale imitation of what they used to be. Mrs. Cheviot isn’t going to be able to sit on one of those to see over the steering wheel. In the Bugtussle phone book, there are now only 4 ½ pages of phone numbers listed. In 2007, there were 9 ½ pages of listings. Granted the font size is small, but it’s likely a sign of the times. Many have dumped their land lines and after some crummy and complete lack of service, there are certainly more of us considering it. Cell phones have certainly been a major factor and I fear the telemarketers will have all but sealed Ma Bell’s fate in the not too distant future.
Some have wondered what happened to the little fat buddies. Not to worry. They’re very much alive and well. While gathering more clandestinely and in an impromptu fashion, we still have our gang signs and secret decoder rings. And of course, there are the meetings themselves. Some have asked what’s accomplished at these discussions. Plenty. Always some old business to hash over and new business as well. This includes arranging humanitarian aid for friends who have become pale and downtrodden. We just try to help out in any way we can. And we discuss interior decorating; especially now that Christmas is on the wane. Betsy’s dad was excitedly looking forward to putting his newfound favorite Christmas ornament on the tree for next season. Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs modest chance of snow turned into more than they bargained for. After the cold temps decided to stick around, the scurs added some Ex-Lax to the radiator on the Gremlin to see if it would warm up faster. Will it be effective? Starting Wednesday, Partly sunny with highs in the upper teens and lows around 10. Mostly sunny Thursday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Friday, mostly sunny and warmer. Highs near the freezing mark with lows around 20. Mostly sunny Saturday and slightly warmer. Highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper teens. Sunday, mostly cloudy. Highs near 30 with lows around 20. Mostly cloudy Monday with highs once again near freezing and lows in the upper teens. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs near 30 and lows in the upper teens. The sun will set after 5 p.m. on January 14th for the first time since last November 3rd. The normal high for January 15th is 22 and the normal low is 4 above. On the 19th we will have gained 30 minutes of daylight since the winter solstice. After the recent cold spell the scurs are thinking the striped gophers hibernating in the lawn may be onto something.
With a week of generally below normal temperatures and some snow, it actually looks like winter. While the fields blew clear of snow, there is plenty in the road ditches. Small fish house villages have sprung up, dotting area lakes and while fishing may be slow, one can bet there are lots of cribbage games being played. We may have dodged a bullet by getting our cold weather out of the way the first half of January. Warmer temps are on the way in the near term. As mentioned last week, typically the coldest temperatures of the winter on average are from January 12th – 20th. Old Man Winter flexed his muscles last week to show us he still means business. While it wasn’t the blizzard of the century, it still managed to dump snow anywhere it would be inconvenient. This storm was a quick hitter though, causing whiteout conditions within a matter of minutes. It made for a potentially dangerous storm from that perspective.
Watching the critters in the yard during the storm provided some entertainment. The wind caught the crest of a male cardinal from behind, causing him to do a face plant in the snow. The squirrels made sure they consumed both ears of corn put out for them, becoming snow covered on their windward side. Once the corn was gone, the last happy customer headed off across the treetops to the safety of a hollow soft maple. The domestic animals behaved similarly. Once their hay was consumed, the Cheviot ewes were more than glad to retreat out of the wind to their barn. And the dogs wasted no time when the storm was at its peak, making their trips outside brief. Much more comfortable inside sleeping on a doggie pillow or couch.
Bird watching continues to be more challenging than some years. Another male cardinal and a mourning dove were new additions this past week but it’s nothing like some of the irruption years when we’d feed a hundred redpolls and pine siskins. The birds have been slow to warm up to the Roller Feeder although it has been so far “squirrel-proof”. Watching several fox squirrels make attempts at getting into it, they’ve all been unsuccessful. Bear in mind, these squirrels are very fat after eating ear corn from their feeder all winter so there’s little incentive to get into the bird feeder in the first place. The nuthatches that had shown interest in the feeder initially were suddenly absent until recently. A downy also used the feeder on Saturday so they’re coming around. A few chickadees or goldfinches might help matters.
The house sparrows haven’t bothered the feeder either but have become a real nuisance at the other feeders as well as hanging around the out buildings. They routinely empty one sunflower feeder while dumping the safflower on the ground. One annoying habit the sparrows have picked up is eating the suet. They aren’t good at hanging upside down to eat though so some horizontal-type suet feeders may help alleviate that problem. We’ll be trying a couple of different types to see what works. .Nothing goes to waste though. The cardinals like the safflower in addition to the chips of corn left behind by the sparrows and squirrels.
Seed catalogs have arrived en masse so it becomes a near daily ritual to look through them. There aren’t a lot of new items to concern ourselves with though. However some of our old favorites are no longer being carried in favor of some products we don’t plant. It always amazes me how some of the new things we’ve tried and turned out to be less than desirable are still being heavily promoted. Who eats that junk anyway? Luckily there’s the internet so if there’s a variety we really want we can probably still find it.
There have been plenty of sporting events on TV during this cold snap to whet our appetite. Still it would be nice to see temperatures warm a tad so that some of the snow could be moved. Never a “gimme” that will happen anytime soon. The ewes are becoming girthier and the calendar continues to tick off days in rapid fire fashion. It may be an earlier than usual start to the lambing season if one of my gazes from the oval office one morning was correct. Shearing can’t be far off. I need a haircut too but am loath to get it cut as there isn’t as much covering my melon as there once was. One can always dream of warmer days and more hair. In the meantime, time flies when you’re having fun.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs managed a less than stellar performance last week as the heater core controlled by the Weather Eye must’ve been plugged. No heat for you! Will they have to wait another year for temps to rebound or is the New Year the beginning of the end for global warming as we now know it? Starting Wednesday, sunny but at least it will be blustery with highs near - 5 and a low around – 15. Thursday, mostly cloudy, blusterier but warmer with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the low teens above zero and lows near – 5. Mostly sunny and colder for Friday with highs near zero and lows near – 10. Temps rebounding somewhat on Saturday under partly sunny skies. Highs near 10 above with lows near – 5. Sunday, mostly sunny mostly sunny with highs in the low teens above zero and lows around zero. Similar temps Monday with a slight chance of ice and snow under mostly cloudy skies. Highs in the low teens above zero and lows around zero. Tuesday, mostly cloudy and warmer with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the mid-teens above zero and lows near 5. Yes, that’s above zero. The normal high for January 10th is 22 and the normal low is 4. After climbing back over 9 hours of daylight on the 4th, the scurs may have to re-learn the power of positive thinking.
The days are slowly becoming longer although until about the 9th of January, sunrise is stuck at 7:48 a.m. The sun continues to set later each day and we are gaining about a minute per day of daylight as a result. That pace picks up of course as the month wears on and within a month, we will have gained over an hour of daylight. The temperature too once we get past the 20th should begin to show signs of warmth if historical averages are any indication. Typically the period from the 13th – 20th represents the coldest days of the winter. What actually happens is anyone’s guess however.
Precipitation continued to lag behind normal as we start the New Year. For 2014, our snowfall has only amounted to 14.3” at the ranch. Compared to records at the SROC in Waseca, about 6.5” below normal. At the SROC itself they are 4.8 below normal as of December 31st. For 2014, their total precip was 35.60 “, about .12” below normal. The dry month of July along with the dry autumn had an impact after the deluge experienced in June. At the ranch the precip total was very similar at 35.03”. Our dry late year pattern continues.
As pointed put by Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer, the recent clear skies in the evenings make for excellent sky watching. Many planets will be on display in January if one is away from light pollution, the moon begins to dim and one can bear the cold long enough to find them. Anti-freeze is allowed. As Dale Niedfeldt from the Steele Co. Astronomical Society wrote in his recent column, Venus is low in the western sky and can be spotted for a half hour to an hour after sunset. Mercury will be very close to it from the 10th through the 15th. Mars is above the southwest horizon in the early evening hours. Jupiter rises in the east around 8 p.m. and a half hour after sunset at the end of the month. Saturn can be spotted in the morning sky an hour or two before sunrise. Some conjunctions include the planet Jupiter and the waning full moon on both the 7th and 8th in the eastern sky.
The end of the year marked the end of an era locally in several respects. The closing of Edna’s hardware store has made an impact. There’s no longer a place to buy assorted home repair products in town along with day to day items we often rely on. It was also the place to look for funeral arrangements on the small board placed in the store window. Now the quarantine has been lifted at the Care Center, it’s time to stop in to visit Edna. I miss those phone calls from her asking me about what the weather was going to do and when. It was one of the reasons I put NOAA weather and radar on my cell phone in the first place.
The closing of the Village Inn at Hartland also meant a major change for us at the Mall for Men. Some who gazed at the large office calendar on my door were curious what was penciled in on the second Tuesday of each month. “What does that say?” I was often asked to which I responded, “Why Rib Day of course!” We motored many Tuesday’s to Hartland for those delicious ribs, served with choice of salad, bread, a vegetable, along with mashed potatoes and gravy. If we were feeling particularly flush we’d have dessert too. A real farmer meal if ever there was one. I suspect it was frequently followed by a real after dinner farmer nap. Thanks Judy!
See you next week…real good then.