Fencelines

[Dotch]

Rockin' in the USA...

The scurs were all over the board last week temperature-wise but had a good grip on the snowfall, although after shoveling 5” – 8” of Monday and Tuesday’s partly cloudy, you may not agree. This week looks like more of the same with more Alberta Clipper action and below normal temperatures. Wednesday, look for cloudy skies, with a high of 15 and a low near 5. Possible evening snow. Cloudy Thursday, same temps with a chance of snow. Friday, cloudy again, high of 20 – 25 and low around 10. Chance of snow. Saturday, partly cloudy, high near 20 and low of 5. Chance of snow in the evening. Partly cloudy once again on Sunday, chance of snow with a high near 20 and low of 5. Mostly cloudy Monday with a chance of snow. High of 15 and lows near 0. Partly cloudy Tuesday with 15 for a high and 0 for a low. The normal high for December 12th is 28 and the normal low is 10. Believe it or not, after this week, there’s only one more week of the days getting shorter. The scurs will celebrate the snow by playing White Christmas and watching It’s a Wonderful Life nonstop until after holidays.

Snow continues to accumulate, with roughly 3” being recorded this past week at the official ranch gauge. Dry snow, amounting to only .05” of liquid equivalent. While it looks nice snow also causes some concern on area lakes. Looking from the road, they’re frozen over alright, but one can’t tell where there may have been waterfowl keeping a stretch open, where the lake froze last due to the wind or where there may be current from springs, etc. Most are reporting 6” – 8” in most spots but there are almost nightly reports of people going through so proceed with caution.

The snow also will help keep our winter weather on the cool side. The white cover on the landscape is reflective and doesn’t absorb heat. A late corn harvest with many fields still un-worked may also have an impact, particularly as we look to the south in Iowa. Good for erosion control and snow catch but not so good for an early spring warm up as the breezes that warm us will have to blow across a cooler soil surface.

The Full Moon this month will occur on the 12th. It is known as the Full Cold Moon (well, duh!) or the Long Night’s Moon. The Ojibwe knew this as the Small Spirits Moon and the Sioux call this the Moon of the Popping Trees or the Moon When Deer Shed Antlers. We cut down the ash tree that popped in our front yard a few years ago but did notice what appeared to be a buck recently sans antlers. Must’ve loaned them to the Grinch’s dog Max.

At the Mall for Men, lots of time to start Christmas shopping yet so we continue to discuss our television viewing habits. Surprisingly there were several who watched Dancing With the Stars. The reason? Most were watching intently for wardrobe malfunctions, and sure enough, someone’s boot (or was it their shoe?) fell off. With all the goodies gracing our training table, one of the little fat buddies has been talking about starting a series of our own. Instead of the Biggest Loser, with all the holiday goodies to eat, he figured The Biggest Gainer might be more appropriate.

The economy has also been a hot topic and we’re doing our part to keep the economy going. We’re consummate supply side economists, consuming plenty of bars and cookies, helping to decrease the sugar and wheat supply, thus keeping those farmers in business. They in turn eat lots of the turkey, ham and bacon produced here, which amounts to free trade. While solving our economic woes, we somehow got on the subject of the bail out for the Big 3 automakers. No biggy. I get a bale out for the sheep every morning!

Goldfinch numbers at the feeders continue to swell, over 40 at, around or under the feeders on Saturday afternoon. Trouble is they keep bringing more of their little fat buddies with them. There were more house finches this week, somewhere around 10, about the same number of pine siskins, a dozen American tree sparrows and in the late afternoon, 13 mourning doves. Add juncos, blue jays, white-breasted nuthatches, red-bellied, hairy and downy woodpeckers to the mix over the course of the day and there is always action. If anyone has a chickadee to spare would gladly trade a goldfinch or two.

Can always tell when there’s been a Lion’s pancake feed in town and who was in attendance. Just like at the ranch, open their closets and take a whiff; they’ll smell like a pancake. After slaving over the grill at the most recent benefit, fed Lucy and Gus their obligatory leftover pancakes and French toast when I returned home. I then repaired to the living room couch, announcing I was shot and not in the mood to do much of anything other than perhaps take a nap.

Was about this time Mrs. Cheviot decided to spring into action and decorate for Christmas. Shouldn’t be too loud I thought to myself, as I closed my eyes, while visions of almond bark pretzels danced in my head. Suddenly things proceeded to crack! boom! bam!! all around me in the living room. This was more than I could stand and after a half hour of the racket, escaped to the solitude of my confuser and started writing copy for next week. If this looks like it was written in someone’s sleep now you know why.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Takin' care of business...

After a warm weekend, the scurs are thinking last week was downright balmy compared to what’s in store for this week. Starting on Wednesday, skies will be partly cloudy with a high near 15 and a low from 0 to 5 above. Cloudy Thursday with snow expected. High of 20 and low of 5 above. Partly cloudy Friday, with highs of 10 to 15 and a low near 0. Saturday, partly cloudy with flurries, high of 10 and low of – 10. Mostly sunny on Sunday, high around 0 and low of – 10. Monday brings in another chance of snow under partly cloudy skies. High of 20 and low of 15. Cloudy Tuesday, scattered flurries with a high of 20 and a low of 5. Normal high for December 19th is 26 and normal low is 7. Starting the 18th, we will see our shortest days of the year at 8 hours and 54 minutes of daylight. The scurs will be unfazed, staying warm by burning old Fencelines columns.

What an up and down week for weather! Recorded 41º for a high on Saturday and was sweating profusely Sunday morning trying to get all the sheep pens bedded before the forecasted temperature slide. By the time evening chores rolled around it was already – 2º. Would’ve been much warmer to stay inside under a blanket and let Mrs. Cheviot do the chores when she got home. As one of my little fat buddies always says, she’s just darn lucky to have me.

Was a model patient this week too after contracting the alien. Was enough sneezing, snuffling, hacking and coughing to last for the rest of the winter. No amount of vitamin C, cough drops or cold meds seem to make it go away any faster but they might have shortened the duration. As icky as those cough drops taste, my body is telling me it will get better as long as I don’t feed it any more of that stuff. Most of us at the Mall for Men have had the crud and after two weeks, one starts to feel like a “human bean” again.

Gus and Lucy have been very good this year so have bought them each a new pillow and some treats. Haven’t given them the beds just yet because was afraid they’d get them all mud. Was right too. With the thaw over the weekend, Gus was muddy and happier than a lark as he ran back and forth in the trench he’s created along the fence. Don’t tell the dogs about their new beds. Would rather it be a surprise.

The birds settled in and hung around all week, the numbers remaining about the same judging by the amount of feed consumed when filling the feeders. Having some brushy cover along the edge of the yard for them to duck into doesn’t seem to hurt. Many of them seem to hole up for the night in the numerous pine, fir and spruce trees planted in and around the yard. Even the pheasants have been taking off from there in the morning before sunrise. Can see them glide after hearing the thunder of their wings in the cold morning air while graining the lambs.

December 9th made for the first snow emergency around the yard. Luckily the feedlot stayed clear but the rest of the yard was a mess. Had to move the grill out of the way so the snow could be moved away from the front of the garage. Pulled one of those “should know better than that” moves where I parked the grill in front of the middle garage door as I really had no plan on moving the truck anytime soon. I’d be able to drive the van instead.

Of course, Saturday morning Mrs. Cheviot was ready to take off for work and her car was completely dead. Being the extremely swell guy I am I told her to take the van and I’d see what was wrong with the car. In addition to going Christmas shopping, I needed to get feed and a Christmas tree, not all of which would fit in the car. The car fix turned out to be an easy one; a loose battery cable. However, I needed to press the truck into service again.

About that time my little fat buddy (aka “Crankshaft”) called and decided it was a good idea to head to Owatonna for some Christmas shopping so it was agreed upon we’d carpool from the ranch. In the meantime, needed to unload a 4 wheeler to so pushed the garage door opener and proceeded to back the truck out the garage. All the sudden I heard a major unusual crashing noise behind me. What the…?!?! That stupid gas grill was back there! Turned out I’d only knocked it over but of course all the innards under the cover were scrambled. OK, not so bad but after backing out the door wouldn’t go down. Now what? One of the border collies had bumped the sensor on one side and after looking at it a minute, it was another easy fix. Low tire on the truck, needed to pump that up. Uncharacteristically, everything worked.

About that time my little fat buddy appeared and we were off to the races. After the rocky start, there was no screwing around. Four stores, a fuel stop, and two hours later, we were done Christmas shopping. Mission accomplished. Was time for a little lunch and a libation or two. After returning home and sending Crankshaft on his way, you guessed it, time for a nap and not a minute too soon. Will need to summon all my strength and have my faculties honed to a razor’s edge to shop for the Star-Eagle employees next week. Am sure they’re waiting with bated breath.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Well the weather outside is frightful...

The scurs were a little off on the 4 to 5 inches of “flurries” we had on Saturday but all things considered, pretty close. With any luck Christmas week will bring us a respite from the extreme cold. Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy, high of 10 and low of – 5 Christmas Eve. Clear on Christmas Day, high of 20 and low of 10. Friday, cloudy with a chance of snow by evening. High of 25 and low of 10. More snow for Saturday under cloudy skies, high of 20 and low of 5 – 10. A little cooler Sunday, partly cloudy, high of 20 and low of 15. Warmer Monday under partly cloudy skies, high of 25 – 30, low of 15 with a chance of evening snow. Tuesday, cloudy with a chance of snow, high of 25 – 30 and low of zero to minus 5. Normal high for Christmas Day is 24 and the normal low is 5, with the days beginning to get longer at 8 hours and 55 minutes of daylight. The scurs recently erected their Festivus pole after extracting it from storage under the crawl space.

Snow removal was on most people’s agendas last week with the Thursday and Saturday storms dumping somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 – 10 inches total. While there was little wind with the Thursday snow, it was fluffy and hung around for Saturday’s additional accumulation as well as the 30 mph winds. Looks like one of those old fashioned winters alright. Have to admit we’ve been pretty spoiled for a number of years so we were probably about due.

Moving snow at the ranch is not any easy task. There essentially is no flat spot in the yard and few nice long straight shots to push the white stuff around. Using tractor and bucket, it takes an hour or better to get it all pushed back as far as possible so it doesn’t completely fill in again. About the time yours truly was finishing up on Thursday, the snow plow went by in a cloud of powder. When it settled I looked out to see the mailbox was no longer attached to its perch. Decided since it was already gone, it’d be a good time to clean the snow away from the as yet intact post. Finishing that project, managed to find a spare chunk of 2 x 6 to reattach the mailbox to its original mount although the way things are going, suspect this may not be the last time I have to retrieve it from the road ditch. That should bring out the Grinch in me.

Fortunately, I’m not alone. Crabbiness abounds among the legions of designated driveway cleaners. It’s not even the end of December yet and there are already horror stories of things being run over or through snow blowers, the ensuing wreckage, and people getting antsy when the snow removal fairy doesn’t show up exactly when they think they ought to. The solution: Slow down and take your time or stay home. This notion that we can somehow make the weather do what we want and pretty much do whatever we want on our schedule needs to change. Last I checked this is still MN and the weather pretty much dictates what happens, not the other way around. Putting someone else at risk to come and rescue your silly rear after ignoring this fact isn’t too brilliant either. The sooner this sinks into some of the thicker melons the better off we’ll all be.

The birds always follow the weather closely. Watching them, one can get an accurate picture of what’s in store if you do venture out. When we were in the middle of Sunday’s ordeal they were primarily staying on the leeward side of the house and feeders. Didn’t have to tell them twice that wind chill values were – 40 and it’s best to stay out of it.

Ah, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. After shopping efficiently as is my wont, (anything over 2 hours is wasting time), the gifts for all those richly deserving NRHEG Star-Eagle employees. Let’s start off with the easy one’s first and work our way up or down depending upon your viewpoint I guess. For Jim, a new blankie and pillow for those much sought after naps after lunch. I know, my jelly of the month certificate is probably in the mail. For Kathy Purdie, a copy of “The Godfather”. With a little practice, when you call for an ad and do your best Marlon Brando the results should be nothing short of amazing. For Ray, a little known book, “Conspiracy Theories and the Conspiracy Theorists Who Love Them”. Who knew? For Cathy Paulsen, #2 font to make it easier to cram all those birthdays, anniversaries in the allotted space. For "Richard", otherwise known as Poor Word Usage, some gummi worms soaked in lutefisk juice. I’m too cheap to buy Gulp but look on the bright side, if they don’t catch any fish, they’re sure to attract some Norwegians. For Al, some of the lutefisk I squeezed the juice out of for "[PoorWordUsage]’s" gift. Think of it as “lutefisk-lite”. No re-gifting by the way. For Jody, just what you’ve always wanted: One of those coveted little fat buddy secret decoder rings. Nice to show off your bling-bling when eating bars at morning coffee in your casual attire. For Reed, a haircut at the Mall for Men. Let me know when you’re coming though so Leo can sharpen his hedge trimmer. For Betts, my blonde mini-van driving wig. Since you’re the closest thing to a First Lady Bugtussle has, you could use it when you and the mayor are role playing. Just pretend you’re Hillary Clinton

After all that shopping, I’m shot and need a nap. Spying Jim’s blankie, I see it’s still unwrapped. Hmmm…sure is nice and soft. Wonder of it works? Just saunter over to the recliner for a spell and …oh, baby…Zzzzzzzzz….Zzzzzzzzz…

Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus! See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Oh, back on the chain gang.

The scurs made the best out of a bad forecast with some downright warm temps for this time of year. What’s on tap for the New Year? Starting New Year’s Eve day, mostly sunny, high of 15 and low of 5 with a chance of snow in the evening hours. Cloudy New Year’s Day, chance of snow, high of 20 and low of 10. Friday, partly cloudy, chance of snow during the daylight hours, high of 15 and low of 5 – 10. Cloudy Saturday, chance of snow during the day, high of 20 and low of 5. Sunday, partly cloudy, high of 20 and low of 5. Monday, cloudy with a chance of snow. High near 30 and low around 15. Cloudy Tuesday, high of 20 and low of 5 with a chance of snow in the overnight hours. Normal high for New Year’s Day is 23 and the normal low is 3. At 8 hours and 58 minutes, we will have gained 4 minutes of daylight since the winter solstice and we’ll reach 9 hours of daylight on the 3rd. The scurs are contemplating what to do with all this new found daylight.

Some rough driving conditions last week especially the evening of the 25th. Many who had ventured forth during the daylight hours found themselves in the middle of some hazardous travelling after dusk. Not unusual for this time of year and this winter seems to have being able to turn on a dime patented thus far. It can be 40 above one day and well below zero the next. It was a white Christmas until the 26th when we saw temperatures turn much of the snow to ice. The good news is the snow has not contained much water so the ice isn’t very thick. Another thaw and much of that will leave too.

Was time to repower the indoor/outdoor thermometer as the batteries had given up outside, about a year from when the remote sensor was placed outdoors. All this new fangled stuff is nice but it always takes a mad scramble to find the instruction book to make sure you’re doing everything according to Hoyle. For some reason waiting for 10 minutes to put the batteries in is one of those things that usually falls under the “nice if you’d do this but not absolutely necessary” category. Nope, they mean it. Patience is a virtue.

Warmer temperatures recorded by said thermometer are reflected in the bird numbers at the feeders. They also seem to take turns showing up. For instance, on Saturday morning at the thistle feeders it was primarily siskins sans goldfinches. Sunday, it was all goldfinches. Given that many of their natural food sources were back above the snow banks, their reliance on the handouts was less.

With all the ice that has suddenly formed, it was time to put the chains on the tractor over the weekend. This used to be an annual ritual growing up. We had two sets of chains, one for the E-3, which made it easier to haul manure out to the field and one set on the snow moving tractor, the E-4. When Dad would be moving snow at night, those chains used to sound almost like Santa’s sleigh bells. With the advent of radial tires, have managed to get by the last several years without putting the chains on the 656. Figure if by putting them on we don’t have any more snow storms this winter, it was worth it. It’s still a hassle though and has to be done properly. There is a right way and a wrong way to put them on. Fortunately, was tutored by one of Ellendale’s finest chain putter on-ers, DG, when he lived across the way from us before moving to Thompson Oaks. I still have the set of chains he sold me all those years ago.

Getting the chains out of the back of the shed and dragging all the junk in the way along with them is a given. Getting them on the tire straight and not twisted of course is crucial. It’s a slow process and a lot of off and on if you’re doing it by yourself. It’s also important to get them on right side out and not backwards. They’ll go on the other way but the hooks where the chains attach to the outer ring should face away from the tire so as not to dig into the sidewall. If they’re on backwards, the latch on some types would catch and the chains would come off. Also, after the chains have been on the tires awhile, it’s not a bad idea to check to see if they’ve loosened up. If they have, one can always pick up a link or two so they don’t come flying off in the dark. Of course, nowadays people don’t mess with chains much anymore what with bigger tractors and front wheel assist but they sure come in handy when icy conditions make it impossible to move snow without them.

See you next week…real good then.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Uh oh, the dreaded 656! Is it a gas or a greaser? It must be a gasser if it starts in the winter!

How's the TA on the low side? I can't remember how many 460's 560's 656's and 666's I put TA's in. Easy to do iffin ya have the splittin stands. Much easier to do those little buggers with the dry housing than stepping into the 706 and up size with the wet TA's. I always giggle when I see someone pulling anything with a 560 with the TA forward-you know the low side is shot,but they just live with the high side to save the money.

I had a sweet 666 gas with a cab and heater with a IH 2350 loader on it-the tractor would have broke in half before you could bend that huge loader!

I finally went turncoat a few years ago and got a Deere 2640 Diesel with a 240 self leveling loader. Sweet little utility rig with 72 hp. I grew up on red iron,but my brother is an engineer at Deeres in Waterloo,and he talked me into it.

As for snow removal,I just use the Deere skid loader. I can get it done quicker with that little bugger,and being encapsulated in there with a heater is a good thing.

Thanks for posting Dotch,you reads always bring back memories of growing up on the farm. Aside from freezing,sweating,and working our tails off,it was great!

[Dotch]

Ah yes, MM, it's a gasser but on nights like tonite, I cheat and plug in the block heater. It does start pretty well anyway but I try to baby it. It was one of the last 656's made, serial# about 40 characters long, rolled off the assembly line in 1971 I believe. Dad bought it at Racine MN where it had been a demo tractor. TA is still solid on this one as we were always pretty careful and used it sparingly. Plowed a lot of acres with it as is apparent by my hearing loss. Makes a handy excuse w/Mrs. Cheviot at times however. Still pretty low hours on the tractor, about 2700, is equipped with a fairly heavy-duty GB 800 Workmaster loader. My biggest gripe about the 656 as a loader tractor since it's not a hydro is the ungodly slow reverse. Can take naps while getting backed up to make the next run at a snow bank! That E-4 I've mentioned is what I grew up moving snow with. It had a hi range reverse of about 5 - 6 mph so you could actually get something done. I too find after hitting the half century mark, those creature comforts such as cabs and heaters have suddenly become more attractive as opposed to freezing my tail off and eating dust.

Can't fault you for switching teams. Just yesterday I was lusting after a friend and neighbors little 6430 JD front wheel assist with a nice cab, loader and blower. While the thought of green paint still makes me cringe, with a good friend and customer selling Deere, it may happen someday. I sometimes use my skidloader for snow removal too but it's just a little feller, a recently repowered 330 Mustang, so it better be just a few small drifts or we get out the heavier artillery.

Always a pleasure to visit and write about the "good old days". When I think back on some of those times, then get a little taste of them now, I must've been a lot tougher (or dumber). Thanks for reading MM!

[Dotch]

Nothing changes on New Year's Day

Playing close to the vest on the snowfall, the scurs forgot to omit the first digit off of some of last weekend’s temperatures. This week finds us cold but seasonal with chances of light snow. Starting Wednesday, skies should be partly cloudy with the high reaching 20 and lows of 0 to 5 above. Partly cloudy Thursday with a slight chance of snow in the evening, high of 15 - 20 and low of 10. Friday, partly cloudy, chance of snow, with a high of 20 and a low of 0 - 5. Saturday, partly cloudy, high of 10 and low of 5. Clear on Sunday, slightly warmer, high of 20 and low of 5 – 10. Monday and Tuesday, cloudy, chance of snow, high of 25 and low of 5. Normal high for January 9th is 22 and the normal low is 2. On the 9th, we begin to see the sun rising earlier in addition to setting later. Hoping to stimulate the local economy, the scurs are divesting in their used Vikings memorabilia.

The Full Moon for the month will occur for us on January 10th in spite of what the calendars say. If you read the fine print, the calendars say 3:27 UTC and since we’re on Central Daylight Time, we subtract 6 hours from that to arrive at 9:27 p.m. This is known as the Full Wolf Moon as the wolves would move in closer to the overwintering tribes hunkered down for the winter. The Ojibwe knew this as the Great Spirit Moon and the Sioux called it the Moon of Frost in the Teepee. After coming home late a few times, suspect several of the little fat buddies can relate.

Rainfall on Saturday made our slippery conditions even more slippery. Stopped over at my favorite feed store in Hope and the proprietor claimed he’d sold over 3 tons of grit in 50 lb. bags this past week. Thinking that it probably isn’t because people are suddenly feeding more chickens, there are lots of people out there who would rather remain upright as opposed to falling on their own private hockey rinks or in our case, a bobsled run. One can only imagine that emergency rooms are doing a land office business as a result of all this ice. I know it doesn’t pay to be in a hurry as I was very careful during chores Sunday night until filling the bird feeders when I decided it was a good idea to hustle to see the last quarter of the Vikings game. In the dark, down I went. Somehow the bucket of sunflower seed escaped unscathed. My wrist is another story.

It’s always fun to see some of the projects one started several years ago starting to bear fruit. The windbreak we started nearly a decade ago has begun to take shape. While out gawking on New Year’s Day, was amazing to see how much snow the dogwood was stopping and how the same was true of some of the larger spruce and arborvitae. There has been a noticeable reduction in the amount of snow in the feed lot, even though the way the wind howls out here on the prairie, one would’ve expected more.

The birds have provided some enjoyment on these cold winter afternoons. There are still hordes of goldfinches that descend seemingly out of nowhere. Sunday afternoon, noticed the first common redpoll at the feeders seen in many moons. They may be named “common” but along with the pine siskins and a white-winged crossbill back in November, they’ve been anything but common in our yard. This redpoll was a male; however with feeding stations on 3 sides of the house, it’s hard to tell who might be where at any given moment. Didn’t see the mourning doves this past weekend so suspect they headed for warmer climes. Mrs. Cheviot saw a large group of pheasants in the sumac and plum thicket when she came home from work the other day. Now that the hunting season is closed, they apparently know where the feeder is judging by the tracks around it. They also know where the foodplot is. Checking that while looking at the windbreak, the snow is about ear-level on the corn. Lots of pheasant tracks there also and the rows of red cobs indicate they’ll probably be looking for additional food if the winter continues pulling some of the stunts it has.

Can’t believe that doing “chorse” in the winter has ever been anyone’s favorite. Fighting the ice and feeding hay outside on these blustery days makes one question why. If you have animals though, they must be cared for regardless. It’s your duty. Getting to the shed to feed hay out of the wind is always a goal. Growing up on the farm too, there were always locations where the tasks were more pleasant than others.

The chicken coop was also one of those “nicer” places. Tucked between the granary and barn, the wind wasn’t a factor. Inside there were enough laying hens to keep the henhouse from freezing although, Dad kept an electric heater plugged in under the 2-part galvanized waterer. Every few days we’d haul a 5 gallon bucket of hot water out to dump in it. When it got bitterly cold sometimes a few eggs in the nests would freeze even though they were gathered twice a day. Was amusing after throwing to watch them bounce rather than splat! Under icy conditions, the biggest challenge about gathering the eggs (aside from the tossing the old biddy off the nest who’d tweak the skin on your wrist between your coat and the cuff on your glove) was making it back to the house intact. While our chickens laid brown eggs with slightly tougher shells than their white counterparts, more than once the pails wound up a gooey mess after taking a spill. Nothing to do other than pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and resume the shuffle towards warmer quarters and the hot breakfast Mom had prepared.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

It's winter in my consciousness...

The scurs were on track last week, calling for cold and snow and by golly, it snowed and got cold. This week? We get treated to some major cold. Fortunately the duration of the deepest part of the cold will be short. Starting Wednesday, cloudy, chance of snow with a high of zero to 5 above. Low of – 15 to – 20. Thursday, clear, high of – 5 and low of – 15 to – 20. Partly cloudy Friday and slightly warmer with a chance of flurries in the evening. High of 5 above and low of 5 below. Warmer Saturday, partly cloudy with a chance of more flurries. High of 10 – 15 and low of 5. Sunday, partly cloudy, high of 25 and low of 15. Monday and Tuesday, cloudy, highs of 25 – 30 and lows of 15. More ice showers expected on Monday evening with the ice changing to snow on Tuesday. Normal high for January 16th is 22 and the normal low is 2. In the past week, we’ve gained approximately 11 minutes of daylight. The scurs should be breaking out the suntan lotion and lawn chairs in celebration anytime now.

So far this has been the winter of nuisance snowfall. Doesn’t snow a lot but it seems to do it at inopportune times. Since it’s nice fluffy snow, it manages to blow it into inopportune places. About all that can be done is to move it around and get ready for the next few inches. The grit is still selling like hotcakes at my favorite feed store in Hope. Even my kindly neighbor was there stocking up on it so it isn’t just at the ranch. Putting hay into the feeders the other morning, the snowplow went by sending plumes of snow into the air with every finger drift he hit. Could even smell the odor of metal from the sparks being created as the blade scraped the pavement. Darned ice is still glued on!

The birds are still responding to the weather also. The days before major weather events there’s a feeding frenzy and the amount of seed consumed is higher. The male redpoll was still here over the weekend and did locate a female so there are two of them. They took a shine to the finch mix in the small metal screened feeder, generally the only two on it Saturday. No siskins that day however. No redpolls on Sunday but the siskins were back. Goldfinch hordes both days. Stocked up on more suet for the woodpeckers with the colder weather forecast. They’ve fastidiously been working over the dead limbs on the silver maples. Could take them down but since they’re not hurting anything and the downies and hairies enjoy them, no reason to move that task ahead on the “to do” list.

The dogs await choretime morning and night with great anticipation. There really isn’t that much for them to do although they like to believe they have a purpose, not unlike most people I know. Lucy likes to check the yard and granary for kitties while Gus is initially interested in chasing the rabbits and treeing the squirrels. Being 12 years old, Lucy gets cold after a half hour or so. When Mrs. Cheviot finishes her portion of the chores, they repair to the warmth of the garage once again. Gus usually remains behind, “helping” me finish watering. Once the water is turned on to fill each bucket, he lives for putting his front paws on the gate and snuggling up next to me, all the while his tail wagging furiously as I tell him how silly he looks. Not exactly certain how Gus learned how to do this. As long as he enjoys it, that’s OK with me.

Getting a look at the ewes in the daylight, it appears they will be due to start lambing in about another month to 6 weeks. Always difficult to tell exactly when although once they’re shorn, one can see changes occur more readily. That’s coming up too. Normally we shoot for Lincoln’s birthday, sometimes not a moment too soon. Lambs occasionally hit the ground a day or two afterwards.

Last week I wrote about places growing up where one could get in out of the elements during chores. The main barn under the haymow where the sheep overwintered was another one of those areas. Kept well-bedded, it was dry and warm, especially after shearing. The haymow was drafty but out of the direct wind. Watching our Lab, Chico, climb the ladder to the haymow was always entertaining, even if it was cold. It always felt good though after tossing the hay down out of the mow to get back in to the warmer part of the barn. After snapping the twine strings (knot side up), and plopping the bales into the mangers, one moved on to the next task, watering, bedding or whatever the case might be. Standing around wasn’t an option.

See you next week…real good then.

[Steve Foss]

Last week I wrote about places growing up where one could get in out of the elements during chores. The main barn under the haymow where the sheep overwintered was another one of those areas. Kept well-bedded, it was dry and warm, especially after shearing. The haymow was drafty but out of the direct wind. Watching our Lab, Chico, climb the ladder to the haymow was always entertaining, even if it was cold. It always felt good though after tossing the hay down out of the mow to get back in to the warmer part of the barn. After snapping the twine strings (knot side up), and plopping the bales into the mangers, one moved on to the next task, watering, bedding or whatever the case might be. Standing around wasn’t an option

That last part especially brought back childhood memories. My grandparents' farm in SW Wisconsin was dairy, not sheep, but winter days were cold days regardless, and the chores still had to get done.

Funny how our childhoods stay with us. Each morning when I go out to fill the tray feeders for the birds after the night's deer raid has scraped them clean, I tell Lisa I'm going out to feed the stock.

[Dotch]

And I'm hungry like the wolf...

If the scurs get any more accurate, they will be banned from betting on the Super Bowl! Cold and snow abounded last week and the warm up on its heels were just as predicted. This week? More below normal but minus the abysmal drop in temperatures. Wednesday, partly cloudy with a high of 30 – 35 and a low of 15. Thursday slightly cooler, partly cloudy, a high of 25 and low of 5. Cooler Friday under partly cloudy skies. High of 15 and low of 0 to – 5. Still cooler on Friday and Saturday, highs of 5 to 10 and lows of 0 to – 5. Slight chance of light snow Saturday. Partly cloudy Sunday, high of 10 and low of 0 to – 5. Monday and Tuesday, cloudy becoming partly cloudy. Highs of 10 – 15 and lows near 0. Normal high for January 23 is 23 and normal low is 2. In the last week, we’ve gained 13 minutes of daylight. Some of the weather gurus are saying this week is traditionally the coldest of the year. The data however would say last week was colder. Let’s hope so. With a -28.9 for the overnight low on the 15th, the scurs have been catching a lot more ice while ice fishing.

This installment completes 6 years of Fencelines columns. No, I’m not stopping although some probably wish I would. It’s been a fun ride and hopefully it continues to be so. Sure, there are weeks when the words flow more easily and the columns practically themselves. Other times, it’s more of a struggle although, sometimes, not always, those are the weeks someone finds something they really enjoyed and lets me know about it. Just goes to show, not everyone enjoys everything about the column every week including the writer. The biggest problem continues to be where to spend all the extra cash being generated by this venture.

Despite the Gopher men’s basketball team stubbing their toe against Northwestern on Sunday, it was a great week to watch Gopher sports. The men’s hockey team swept St. Cloud St. over the weekend and one had to be impressed at the overtime men’s basketball win against Bucky Badger at the Kohl Center, the first time ever. The women’s basketball team upset The Ohio St. University at Columbus too so that warmed us all last Thursday even though it was a tad chilly outside. The best thing about basketball is the halftime when on those chilly Saturday afternoons; a nap can easily break out as the snow blows by the window.

The birds have been busy catching up at the feeders after Saturday’s blustery weather. Was so glad RH from Little Jerusalem came to pick the load of lambs when he did. The bird feeders were relatively quiet during the inclement weather that followed. There was a rooster pheasant hunkered down by the ear corn feeder all afternoon however. Sunday to the west of Mom’s a group of 4 Huns flew off from the edge of the road where they’d been picking up a little grit just before sundown. Good to see they’ve made it this far.

Had some sad news in the food department last week: After the cold spell last week, I checked the squash I’d so dutifully hauled upstairs in the house last fall and they were frozen! Had hoped there were still a few survivors but alas, ‘twas not to be. Oh well, the sheep will enjoy still enjoy them, after they thaw out again of course. A little extra vitamin A at this point won’t hurt them.

The little fat buddies enjoyed more warm, fresh cinnamon rolls last week courtesy of CS. Those are tough to beat, especially after a cold start to the day. Makes it worth coming in to work just to see if might happen to be a pan of those delectable coils of caramel, walnuts and cinnamon. Mom made her signature bars of caramel, cocoa, chocolate and walnuts and slipped them into a pan she was returning. Am hoarding those. Betsy and her Dad were in bright and early Monday morning at the Mall for Men with the Girl Scout cookie order blank. No sign of an economic downturn anytime soon at the cookie factories. Makes your mouth water just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

Have to confess, the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street was patterned after me. Few things more enjoyable than a warm, fresh out of the oven pan of cookies and a glass of milk, especially after working outside in the cold. At the ranch, the cupboards and drawers have been scoured for the last of the Christmas goodies. They are scarce but when discovered they become a short-lived endangered species. As a lad, Mom used to uncover our goodie-seeking operations. There was typically something in the baking ingredient department worth snacking on when those hunger pangs would strike, which was frequently. When Mom would ask who’d eaten all the chocolate chips, we’d usually leave a few rattling around in the bottom of the bag so we could honestly say we didn’t eat them all.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Or if I ever need a reason to smile...

The scurs were close but not right on target with the weekend winding up a little colder than expected. Oh well, still not as wicked as the week before. What’s on tap this week? Improvement. Wednesday, partly cloudy, high of 25 with a low of 10 and a slight chance of snow Wednesday night. Partly cloudy Thursday, slight chance of snow, high of 20 and low around 10. Becoming partly cloudy Friday, high of 20 and low of 10. Saturday and Sunday, partly cloudy, highs of 25 – 30 and lows of 5 – 10. Monday starting out partly cloudy, becoming cloudy with a chance of snow by evening. High of 25 – 30. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with a chance of a rain snow mix, becoming all snow by evening. High of 30 – 35 and low of 5 – 10. Normal high for January 30th is 24 and the normal low is 4. For the period January 23rd – 30th we will have gained about 16 minutes of daylight, so it’s getting better. The scurs have their shades open to let in all the extra daylight.

It is nice in the evening to actually see what you’re doing when starting chores. By the time we’re finished though, one has to be glad there are lights and we’re not stumbling around out there with kerosene lanterns like the old days. Seeing the artists’ renditions from folks like my late uncle Harvey and Bob Artley, one can these days only imagine what that was like. Once in awhile we get a little taste of the nostalgia when the power goes off for a few days. The novelty wears off pretty fast however.

The common redpoll numbers at the bird feeders over the weekend just exploded. There were several of the feeders absolutely covered with them as was the ground under the feeders. There were a couple that were lighter in color that may have been hoary redpolls but as quickly as they move and as inexperienced as I am at identifying them, I wouldn’t bet my life on it. Regardless, it’s still fun to see all these little visitors from the boreal forest in northern Canada. They do this every few years as I understand it in a migration known as an irruption, in search of food. Well, they found it alright. There are still lots of goldfinches they hang with and after watching the woodpecker numbers over the weekend, there’s a reason the suet feeders need filling as frequently as they do. Some years the starlings are a problem. So far, they’ve been present but not in large numbers. Appears to be squirrel mating season at the ranch judging by the behavior of the three in our yard. Oh it’s a scene, man.

Getting some daylight hours to do the chores one can definitely see there are some ewes bagging under the heavy quilt of wool. With the drier late summer we had and good control of parasites, their wool is especially nice looking this winter. In a few weeks it’ll be shearing time and we’ll get a close up of where we’re at. Did toss the remaining squash over the fence as they had definitely expired, starting to smell faintly like someone's old sneakers in the garage. The ewes were absolutely overjoyed to get the squash and started a scrum to get at their favorite types, not unlike the little fat buddies going after an assortment of bars after an anniversary. By evening chores there were only a few remnants they’d pushed through the fence. Tossing them back over the fence, the scrum was on again. One downside to getting light at choretime, one can actually see how much hay is left in the granary. In a few weeks, the hay fairy will have to make another visit.

The weekend wasn’t good for much outdoors so once again was forced to watch Gopher basketball on the tube. Tubby got the boys back on track again. Nice win at Bloomington Sunday followed by a nap. Always brings a smile to my face when I wake up.

With all the cold weather, it’s been time to clean out the office at the Mall for Men. It’s actually more like an archeological dig. Papers from 2006, receipts from ’04, a couple 37 cent postage stamps, and an ’07 calendar. A remarkable discovery though after removing the protective layer of dust and papers: There is indeed fake wood beneath all the rubble. Should’ve filmed the event and sent it in to the Discovery Channel.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

The winds of Thor are blowing cold...

Improved as the scurs predicted was right for last week but anything was better than the bitter cold we experienced for mid-January. How do we fare this week? Starting Wednesday under clear skies, high of 25 and low of 15 – 20. Warmer both Thursday and Friday, clear Thursday becoming partly cloudy Friday with a chance of snow in the evening. Highs of 30 – 35 and lows of 20 – 25. Partly cloudy Saturday with a chance of snow and/or rain, high of 35 and low of 20 – 25. Partly cloudy Sunday and Monday, highs of 30 – 35 and lows of 20 – 25. Clouding up on Tuesday with a chance of freezing rain. High of 20 – 25 and low of 20. Normal high for February 6th is 27 and the normal low is 6. We officially have over 10 hours of daylight as of February 4th and we gained about 18 minutes of daylight in the last week. The scurs saw their shadow on Groundhogs Day so there will be six more weeks of winter just like there always is.

February 9th ushers in the Full Moon for the month. This was known as the Full Snow Moon as the snow was usually deep during this month. The Indian tribes also knew this as the Full Hunger Moon as the snow had become so deep that hunting became difficult. The Ojibwe knew this as the Full Sucker Moon as the suckers began to run in the streams in the month of February. The Sioux called this the Raccoon Moon as the raccoons frequently would come out of their deep sleep during a February thaw. Without the road system in those days, the raccoons had to feel much safer.

At the Mall for Men one will need to note the change in the barbershop days and hours. Leo will be in on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 – 5. One will just have to wait until Tuesday to look like Brad Pitt. At the training table there have been plenty of offerings as long as one stops at an out of town bakery or the grocery store. Oh to have a local bakery again…

The bird feeders weren’t quite as busy this week as the seed consumed bore that out. Warmer temperatures and melting snow seem to impact that activity. However, there were 6 rooster pheasants and 2 hens that warily made their way across the pasture to the CRP, using the plum and sumac as a staging area. Lots of pheasant tracks around the ear corn feeder there. With the warm up, a few mourning doves have returned. The number of redpolls dwindled although there are a few pair hanging with the goldfinches. The pine siskins were a no-show while a white breasted nuthatch appeared again over the weekend, silhouetted against the tree trunk as if it were a broken off branch. The high winds that seem to frequent the area blew one of the squirrel nests out of the tree. Not sure if it was Tubby’s or Scratchy’s. Maybe they’re cohabitating.

Wasn’t last Saturday a breath of fresh air after all that cold junk we’ve experienced? It was so nice in fact that I went on a garden seed buying mission. Found the cucumbers we’ve enjoyed so much the past several seasons as well as string beans, beets, radishes, sugar snap peas and one packet of old fashioned blue Hubbard squash. That below zero weather has given many of us cabin fever and the chance to get outside and enjoy some warmer temps and sunshine was just what the doctor ordered. Lots of snowmobilers out and about apparently trying to take advantage of what could be the last of the decent snow conditions for awhile judging by the frozen muddy track that was the trail on Monday morning.

Saturday was a good day to get some chores done around the house too. The water softener needed a couple bags to top it off. Amazing how little salt these on-demand type softeners use compared to the old soften-every- so many-days types. A couple bags last about 4 months with just the 2 of us. The sheep buildings needed some bedding so maneuvered a couple big square bales of corn stalks around to make the task easier. No sooner had I set the bale down by the lambing barn and the sound of a couple new arrivals could be heard from within. Not what we wanted to hear for a couple weeks yet but there’s no stopping them.

Everyone was fine and cooperative so got some panels around after bedding the building. Next morning, same song, different verse only with the strong winds, one lamb was chilled so that one has taken up residence in the house. Hope this is the last of the surprises although starting out with all ewe lambs is never a bad thing. Gee, I should be happy the lambs are coming early, the sooner they start the sooner it’ll be over, right? No, the sooner it starts the longer and more drawn out it generally is. The ewes are not shorn, the barn essentially is not ready yet, there will need to be more hay and bedding procured and the trips to the barn before bedtime will go on for an eternity. I just start being crabby earlier is all.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Oh Sweet Pea, won't you be my girl...

The scurs on target once again, their longer-range forecasting frequently prompting phone calls from people wondering what to wear a week in advance, most likely those wanting to avoid laundering cold weather clothing. This week? Starting Wednesday out with partly cloudy skies and a slight chance of snow, high of 30 – 35 and low around 20. Partly cloudy Thursday, high of 30 and low near 15. Friday through Sunday, the weather machine is stuck on partly cloudy, with highs near 25 and lows near 10. Warmer Monday, partly cloudy, high of 30 and low of 15 – 20. Partly cloudy Tuesday becoming cloudy with a chance of snow in the evening. High of 30 – 35 and low of 20. Normal high for February 14th is 29 and the normal low is 9. We’ve gained about 19 minutes of daylight in the past week and since the winter solstice, we’ve gained an hour and 35 minutes as of Valentines Day. The scurs will be full of energy after consuming all their Valentines chocolates.

Longer days are making their mark with the yard light coming on during night chores and going off during morning chores. The weekend sunshine was certainly a welcome sight, making one want to get outside and enjoy it. It was nice as long as one could be out of the strong westerly breezes. With lambs hitting the ground it was great that our sheep shearing neighbor took pity on us and changed his schedule so we could get the brood ewes shorn Saturday. Not like the days of old when it was an all day affair with a big home cooked meal at noon but we threw together what we could for the wonderful crew who showed up to help.

Still amazing to watch a good shearer peel the wool off a ewe in a matter of minutes, then grab the next one the catcher has ready and start the whole process over as the wool bagger grabs the fleece and plops it in the packer. We add an extra step to the process as we treat for parasites when the ewe comes off the shearing board. We had a newbie helping who caught onto the process quickly so it didn’t skip a beat. The wool we produce probably winds up in (where else?) China. The fleeces are taken out of the burlap bags and sorted. Since ours is a fairly consistent medium wool, it probably goes for carpet and overcoats as explained by the wool buyer who also happens to be the shearer. The main thing was I was able to get my power nap in late that afternoon as the bottle lamb quietly read the NRHEG Star lining her cage in the garage. Her favorite columnists? Let’s just say she’s not fussy.

Sunday was a good day for pruning the apple and crabapple trees that I’d made a pretty good start on last year. Not wanting to take off too much growth in one season, these trees were on the 2 year plan. Didn’t plan on being as aggressive as I was but when Mrs. Cheviot gave the finished, platformed product her stamp of approval, I knew I’d done well. It’s always nice to have some of the apple wood on hand too for barbecuing as it imparts a wonderful flavor to the food being cooked. It’s even nicer to be able to mow under the trees without getting snapped in the face or losing your glasses to those insipid lower limbs.

What can I say about the birds at the feeders this week? There were over 50 common redpolls at, under and around the feeders this past weekend at the same time. They outnumbered everything else and when tree pruning they were not amused that their feeder tree was being worked on, vocally letting me know about it. The pheasant numbers are increasing too with more hens showing up. There are still 6 roosters and about an equal number of hens. They change their routine up from day to day too, sometimes coming through the pasture south of the house and other days going around to the west and moving from one clump of yellow Indiangrass to the next. Placed an order for more shrubs from my local SWCD. The deadline in Steele Co. for tree orders is February 27th and for Waseca Co. it’s March 15th. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.

Guys, don’t forget to get your sweet pea something nice for Valentines Day. Yes, I know times are tough but you know how the old story goes: If you agreed ahead of time to not get each other anything, you know she’s going to get you something so you’d better reciprocate or you’ll suffer the consequences. Think on the bright side though, if you have to sleep outside in the car at least it’s warmer out.

See you next week…real good then.

[Steve Foss]

Good read, man!

[Dotch]

Everybody I know seems to know me well...

Wow! The scurs fire another week of nearly precise forecasting. Obama will be calling them to fill some of his advisory posts. Fortunately they’ve paid their taxes. What about this week’s forecast period? It starts out a little taxing. Midweek highs will be below normal starting Wednesday under cloudy skies with a chance of snow for good measure. High of 25 and low of 0. Cold sunshine Thursday, high of 15 - 20 and low of 5. Partly cloudy becoming cloudy Friday with a chance of snow showers late. High of 20 - 25 and low of 5. Partly cloudy Saturday, high of 20 and low of 10. Warmer Sunday, partly cloudy becoming cloudy with a high of 25 – 30 and a low of 20 – 25. Chance of sleet and freezing drizzle in the overnight hours. Cloudy Monday with a chance of freezing rain and sleet. High of 30 and low of 25. More of the same for Tuesday, turning to snow by evening. High of 35 and low of 15 – 20. Normal high for February 20th is 31 and the normal low is 11, the same as we normally see in early December. On the 24th, the sun will begin to rise before 7 a.m. Early to bed and early to rise, makes the scurs healthy wealthy and wise.

Last week’s snow sure left in a hurry, didn’t it? There are still some large snow banks left in the fencelines but generally speaking, the amount of liquid water equivalent in the snow hasn’t been terribly high hence part of the reason for the snow’s quick exit. Speaking of quick exits, the mass exodus of fish houses from area lakes early last week was nothing short of astounding. One after another of the shanties trailing behind a wide assortment of moaning, groaning vehicles gave Gus and Lucy cause to put up a fuss. Of course airplanes, tractors, large trucks and neighbors sneezing are capable of setting off the dog alarm as well.

The rapid snow melt did manage to fill the basin on the CREP wildlife wetland below the hill. On Wednesday morning, there a couple dark figures one could see in it from the house. Thought perhaps the muskrats were playing around. However upon closer examination with the binoculars, two Canada geese had already decided to ply the waters. While it was short-lived as the water froze solid the next day, it almost made one feel that eventually it would be spring. The little horned larks are showing up along area roads in pairs so they’re getting towards nesting already. Having short grass pasture, there are likely some taking up residence although to see them one would have to go looking for them with a flashlight after chores. Still plenty of little Canadian visitors as well in the form of common redpolls. Down to about 30 this past weekend but still eating as if there’s no tomorrow. Good thistle seed, aye?

Lambs continued to arrive through last Tuesday then the ewes took several days off. Moved some ewes with lambs at side out of the jugs to the loafing area over the weekend. The youngsters were glad to be out of their pens and celebrated by hopping and bounding around their new environment, while the mothers bellered frantically trying to reel them in. Oh to be young again.

Saturday’s Valentines Day shopping made for yet another minivan adventure. Stopped at the Man’s Store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange-topped silo. Was able to hide the vehicle between several large trucks. Wearing my wavy blonde soccer mom minivan driving wig, I managed to slip in and out nearly undetected. The only thing I could figure was that with the beard, people must’ve mistaken me for Robert Plant. Only ran into one person I knew and he didn’t see what I was driving. On to the French female’s store where driving a minivan could be considered a plus. The whole parking lot is full of them as well as a lot of small SUV’s so one blends right in. And, the cramped parking spaces there simply don’t lend themselves to parking an extended cab one-ton dually. It generally takes up a couple spots and sticks out like a sore thumb. Once inside the store, the population was 95% female, all gazing at me as if I’d escaped from a leper colony. There were a handful of metrosexuals and a smattering of older males looking as though they’d received a death sentence while their wives dug through the racks for bargains. No pickup drivers in here I thought to myself.

This store is laid out in a fashion such that only a female could understand it. One can go from DVD’s and bumble into the feminine hygiene products aisle in the blink of an eye. Experiencing this caused me to resurrect a tactic developed and perfected by the Boy Entomologist whilst battling the dreaded Blue Plague: Scrinch your hooded sweatshirt down over your face and run with reckless abandon while seeking out your prey, in this case Valentines cards and a bottle of shampoo. People give you funny looks but by golly you sure get in and out of there fast. Plus no one figures out who you are if you pay cash. I did discover a couple things worth noting: Oreos were on sale and Betsy’s Dad is right; he probably does have more fishing tackle than they do in the whole store!

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

And the young birds eyes do always glow…

While the scurs were a little premature on their precipitation forecast for the week, they managed to catch the cool down right on the money. This week? Starting Wednesday, cloudy becoming partly cloudy with a chance of freezing drizzle rain in the morning. High of 35 – 40 and low of 15 – 20. Thursday, cloudy, with a good chance of snow. High of 25 and low of 5. Clearing on Friday and colder, high of 20 and low of 0. Partly cloudy Saturday, high of 20 and low of 10. March 1st arrives Sunday with partly cloudy skies. High of 30 and low of 25. Cloudy Monday with a chance of wintery mix of precipitation. High of 30 - 35 and low of 20. Cloudy Tuesday, high of 35 - 40 and low of 25 - 30. The normal high for February 27th is 34 and the normal low is 14. On the 25th we will experience over 11 hours of daylight for the first time since mid-October and have gained 2 hours and 7 minutes of daylight since the winter solstice. The scurs will be enjoying their last week of freedom before the Time Bandits steal back an hour of our time.

Temperatures continue to lag along below normal giving us an occasional taste of warmth before deciding we really don’t deserve it. Snowfall for the month while sparse has contained a fair amount of liquid thus far. We’ve only received roughly 3” – 4” of snow but it contained .2” of liquid equivalent. This is typical of course as we get closer to spring. The more recent trend however has been for precipitation falling more often as rainfall in March than what we were used to back in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Less shoveling!

It has certainly been a great winter to watch the birds with the irruption of birds coming down from Canada including pine siskins, common redpolls and white-winged crossbills. Some have asked what irruption means and in layman’s terms, it’s basically a migration of birds from their normal winter range to another area where they are not commonly seen, frequently due to a lack of food in their typical overwintering area. This year has brought more variety at the ranch than I ever recall seeing. It probably doesn’t hurt that we offer more variety of foodstuffs than we once did and the habitat is growing. While not perfect it allows our guests to feel more at home. Seeing a cloud of redpolls emerge in the morning from the spruce and pines in the yard is evidence of that.

Some have wondered about Little Jerry too. I think he’s still around but am not exactly sure anymore which one of the rooster pheasants he might be. There are up to half dozen of them in the yard on any given day. There is one with a set of tail feathers nearly 2’ in length, the likes of which we rarely see. He’s usually at the feeder right before sunrise and slinks back into the brush after the sun is up. Apparently there’s a reason those feathers are so long. Won’t be long and he’ll be courting the ladies so am guessing that’s probably our guy. Hopefully he picks up after himself a little better than he did last year. Colors are beginning to brighten on the rooster pheasants and there is an ever so subtle hint of yellow starting to show on the goldfinches around their throat and on their nape. Spring is coming whether we like it or not.

Gopher fans were almost suicidal after last week’s dismal performances. The men’s hockey team dropped two over the weekend, the Gopher women’s basketball team lost to Ohio St. and the men’s basketball team punted against Michigan. On Sunday however, Tubby and the boys got their act together and avenged their earlier season loss against Northwestern. Will be interesting to see how they fare against Bob Willerton’s Illini on Thursday. Who’s Bob Willerton you ask? A renowned Illinois sheep guy and Illini fan who’s shared some humorous tidbits concerning the Blagojevich debacle with me from time to time. As he points out, the Coleman and Franken matter is small potatoes compared to the media circus there. I agree. Every time Blago’s on the tube, you just know it’s gonna be good. Coleman-Franken lawsuit? Snoozers!

After taking about 10 days off the ewes were back at it again late last week, with this week promising to get us closer to half done in the lambing barn. The first lambs born are growing like weeds and have been taking to their creep feeder like fish to water. For those non-farm types wondering what a creep feeder is, it’s an area set aside designed to exclude the ewes, where the lambs can get started on solid feed. The quicker they’re started on solid feed, the sooner they can be weaned, the ewes can be put out on pasture and the happier Mr. Cheviot is. Ideally, we’d like to wean the lambs at about 8 weeks of age.

There are probably as many designs for creep feeders as there are operations out there. Ours involves use of a panel with rollers in it placed in the opening of a gated -off area initially about 6’ x 20’ long. The rollers in the panel are spaced narrowly enough so the shoulders of the ewes can’t get through it. The spacing’s are adjustable as the lambs get larger to keep their wool intact and allow them to slip in and out without getting bruised or stuck. Come to think of it, this is probably not a bad idea at the Mall for Men where the little fat buddies are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their Girl Scout cookies, another sure sign of spring. The cookies, not the little fat buddies stuck in the creep panel.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

It's got me under pressure...

The scurs were a little overly optimistic in their temperature predictions for this past cold weekend but are more confident we’ll see some warmth return to mark the first week in March. Starting Wednesday, look for partly cloudy skies with a high of 40 and a low of 30. Slight chance of freezing rain in the overnight hours. Thursday starts out cloudy becoming partly cloudy, high of 45 – 50 and low of 25 -30 with a slight chance of rain during daylight hours and light snow in the evening. Cooler Friday, partly cloudy, high of 40 and low of 20, slight chance of snow after dark. Saturday, cloudy, high of 35 – 40 and low of 20 – 25 and again, a slight chance of evening snow. Partly cloudy Sunday and Monday, chance of snow/rain/sleet starting Sunday evening. Highs of 35 and lows of 25. Partly cloudy becoming cloudy on Tuesday, high of 35 and low of 25 with you guessed it, chance of snow flurries. Normal high for March 6th is 37 and the normal low is 17. The scurs will be getting up at 2 a.m. on March 8th as is their wont to set their clocks ahead an hour.

There have been plenty of articles recently about how this time change is nonsensical. It makes perfect sense: If you want everyone to be irritated and crabby for a week, this is the obvious way to do it and while you’re at it, increase their health risks at the same time. From Reader’s Digest, a recent Swedish study showed that the number of heart attacks increases 6 – 10% for the 3 days after the clock is moved forward. In the fall when the clock is turned back, the number of heart attacks falls by 5%. The likely culprit for the increased risk? Sleep deprivation. In the same magazine, there was a portion of an article dedicated to mistake proofing your life. One of the suggestions was to get more sleep. To quote the passage, “Sleepy people make more mistakes and there are staggering numbers of sleep-deprived people out there”. If big government was really concerned about our health, wouldn’t they would be wise to get rid of Daylight Saving Time?

The moon could really give a rip about what time some politicians think it should rise and set. It does what it’s been doing for millions of years in spite of their decrees. This month the Full Moon occurs on the March 10th at 9:38 CDT. It is known as the Full Worm Moon as once the ground thaws we begin seeing worm castings. It is also know as the Full Sap Moon as the sap in the maple trees begins to run during this month. The Indian tribes of the northeast also knew this as the Full Crow Moon as the calling of crows signaled the end of winter. The Sioux knew this as the Moon When Buffalo Drop Their Calves, while the Ojibwe knew this as the Snow Crust Moon as the snow develops a crust from the thawing days and freezing nights. After a long winter, would imagine everything was probably a little crusty. For those who missed it, the moon was in conjunction with Venus in the western sky last Friday. Consulted with RJ, Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer, and he indicated this was indeed true.

Are you ready for it to be spring? I know I am. This has been a long one, starting the latter part of November and not showing much sign of letting up since then. Reckon one can do things to get ready like order garden seeds (already got ‘em), take naps (did that too) and work on getting the lawn mower ready (are you nuts?). Thought about shaving the beard off but would rather wait until it warms up for good. The way it’s going, I’ll look like one of those ZZ Top guys by July.

Last week’s thundersnow was an eye opener as it looked like maybe we were turning the corner and heading towards spring. Spotted a Canada goose flying north just before the well publicized storm started which seemed a little odd. The thundersnow that followed seemed equally as odd. The sudden drop in pressure, the energy the storm contained and the velocity at which it was moving made it a prime candidate for thundersnow. From an e-mail response concerning the relative frequency of thundersnow here in MN, Dr. Mark Seeley, U of M Professor and Extension Climatologist/Meteorologist indicated it doesn’t occur all that often. We experience a lower frequency of thunder and lightning during the months of December through February relative to the rest of the year. As Mark points out, according to NOAA statistics lightning and thunder has a variable frequency in February of once every 8-11 years in Minnesota. As he also points out, the sample size they’re working with is pretty small so it’s hard to be much more precise than that. I remember the first time hearing thundersnow one January night back in 1971 during a blizzard. I would’ve bet anything the Russians were bombing us.

March came in like a chilled lamb and speaking of the chilly temperatures, we still have a bottle lamb living in the garage. Oh it’s no big deal, she’s in a shavings lined dog kennel and we let her out to get some exercise after feeding, allowing her free run of the garage while we’re outside doing chores. Was puzzled though one day last week why the lamb suddenly became a little “loose” in the caboose and was emitting a strange, foul odor. She was healthy as a horse though and drank her bottle greedily just like always. Come to find out during recess one day, Mrs. Cheviot determined the lamb was getting into a pail of onions, some of which had sprouted. While we were working outside the little woolly was delighting in nibbling the nice green tops off the bulbs. We put the onions up out of reach and things have returned to normal once again. We did however change the lamb’s name to Vidalia.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Oh, throw down your plow and hoe…

The scurs should be playing horseshoes as they’ve been getting close. Adjust the timing of some of the precipitation events by a few hours and they’re on the money. After some early week precip and cold midweek, this one promises to be drier and warmer. Starting Wednesday, the scurs see partly cloudy skies with a chilly high of 15 – 20 and a chillier low near 0. Clear and we see the start of a warming trend Thursday, high of 25 and low of 10. Clear Friday, high of 35 and low around 15 – 20. Saturday clear again with a high near 40 and a low of 20. Mostly sunny Sunday with a chance of rain showers. High of 45 and low of 30. Cloudy Monday with a chance of rain, high of 45 – 50 and low of 30 – 35. St. Patrick’s Day Tuesday, partly cloudy with a high around 50 with a low of 30 – 35. Normal high for March 13th is 40 and the normal low is 20. On St. Patrick’s Day we will see our day length increase to over 12 hours for the first time since last September 25th. The scurs will be consuming copious amounts of green malted barley beverages which should serve to make them even smarter.

Spring has been showing us some glimpses of what’s to come although it seems to be doing it in the old “one step forward-two steps back” fashion. Lots of folks saw robins this past week and there were plenty of other bird signs as well. Friday morning during chores there was a small flock of red-winged blackbirds in the yard. A killdeer could be heard and the rooster pheasants have started crowing and drumming on the edge of the yard again. Canada geese have been on the move since the middle of last week, with one group apparently deciding the pond might be open, due to the reflection of the moon off the water on its icy surface. In the wee hours of the morning they were sure to let everyone know about it too. Redpoll numbers at the feeders have tailed off a tad but they’re still around, especially noticeable when the temperature takes a dive or the weather turns nasty. Looks like they’re not quite ready to head back north just yet.

The ewes have taken a break from lambing just as was suspected earlier in the season. We’re stuck at about two-thirds done. Would imagine with the cooler weather forecast, that should trigger another barrage. Am guessing the rams promised to call somewhere along the line last fall but like most guys, must’ve been afraid of commitment.

Getting ready for a late Saturday afternoon nap as is my wont, got a call from a vertically challenged Swede asking me if there were any crows around the ranch. “Well, yes there are, especially in the morning. They get pretty loud.” I said. “Mind if I come over and hunt them? I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” he said. “Yeah, that’s fine.” I mumbled. Scrambled to find some appropriate shotgun shells and by the time I did he was in the driveway. He explained how it worked and set his calling mechanism up in a tree and we repaired to a spot under the spruce trees in the pasture.

There were no birds anywhere in sight but within about two minutes of his activating the call, the sky filled with cawing crows curious to see what the commotion was about. We blasted away at them but only managed to hit one as they flew off. “Well, that’ll probably do it for today.” He said. “They won’t be back as they get pretty smart pretty fast after being shot at.” He was right. We visited for a little after he put the call back in his truck and took off presumably for another site. I went in the house, ready for that nap to ward off the evil spirits resulting from Daylight Saving time. One could get used to this crow hunting I thought as I drifted off.

We’ve been working feverishly in the mornings at the Mall for Men. Our latest endeavor is reviewing restaurants, particularly those serving pie. Of course, in addition to discussing their location, we also hash over how to get to these places. We figure between coming up with a restaurant guide and an area road atlas, there should be some money to be made, at least enough to keep us in cookies and donuts for awhile.

Like a lot of local people, was taken by surprise upon hearing of Orlin Lewer’s passing last week. I could see he’d been having a rough winter a few weeks ago when he’d been in for a haircut but had no idea the end would come so quickly for him. During coffee Monday morning, it was unanimous: He was about as good as human beings get. He’d been a customer of some and served on boards with several of the members at the training table and to a man, we all agreed.

Orlin was one of the generation of farmers I’d watched retire and hand the reins over to his son and daughter-in-law. He was truly one of the nicest people I’ve ever known, always interested in what was going on in the fields and after he moved to town, what was going on in his yard and garden. Wasn’t unusual for him to call and ask about things or leave a bug or a weed with a note on them if I was out when he’d stopped by. Gotta admit, I’ll miss those wilted weeds and containers of bugs on my desk as well as the conversations that followed. Never got to say it in person so thank you Orlin.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

It increases my paranoia...

The scurs keep on getting close and that’s all anyone can ask. The upcoming forecast promises to bring us back to near normal temperature-wise. Starting with Wednesday, look for partly cloudy skies and a slight chance of morning drizzle. High of 50 and low of 25. Clearing Thursday and slightly cooler, high of 45 and low near 25. Partly cloudy for the first day of spring on Friday on through Saturday, highs of 45 - 50 and lows of 30 both days. Warmer Sunday, partly cloudy, high of 55 and low of 35 – 40 with a chance of showers Sunday afternoon or evening. Rain possible Monday under cloudy skies. High of 55 and low around 35. Cloudy with a chance of rain changing to freezing rain Tuesday, high of 45 and low of 30. Normal high for the first day of spring is 43 and the normal low is 23. The scurs will on the lookout for cranky chickens due to all those eggs standing on end as a result of the vernal equinox.

During the vernal equinox of course, you’re supposed to be able to balance an egg on its end with no support. This myth has long since been debunked but you still see people monkeying around with it. Hey, this sounds like a perfect project for Betts and Jody! Actually, it took me awhile to figure out as a lad how they came up with the “vernal” name for spring. Just assumed at the time it was named after the alfalfa variety “Vernal” that everyone used to sow in the spring. Did seem a little odd to name an astronomical event after a forage legume

Was a great weekend to observe the birds starting to move on through. There were waves of Canada geese, more robins, red-winged blackbirds and grackles of course. Monday morning there was even a small group of snow geese passing by the ranch to the north. There were also bluebirds Sunday just before dusk checking out the nesting box situation. Luckily most are cleaned out and ready for occupation, booting the deer mice out in a couple cases back in December. There were 4 very flashy-looking hen pheasants scooting across the yard on Thursday and on Friday, Little Jerry the rooster pheasant was gobbling down corn. Good thing because he’ll need a full tank of gas to keep up with those girls. We had a bald eagle fly over Sunday morning. There have been some in the area over the years but this one was certainly majestic, as it flew with the sunshine accentuating the brilliant white head and tail.

Cranky seems to be the buzz word when it comes to working people responding to the dreaded Daylight Saving Time. When you go out the door in the cold (it was -2 March 12th) and dark, then wake up the birds and livestock, that generally is not a positive sign, especially when you just got done doing it a month ago. The adjustment is getting a little easier due to some quality naps readers have informed me they’ve taken. Of course, if you can’t take one yourself, some of the little fat buddies will volunteer to take one for you. Just the kind of guys they are.

The longer day length is helping to ease some of the stress now we’re receiving over 12 hours of daylight, increasing daily by about 3 minutes per day. The 54 degree high on Sunday didn’t hurt either. The number of people out for walks and crotch rockets humming around greater Bugtussle and environs were signs that folks were more than ready to shed their winter garb to enjoy the weather. However, the leaves continue to cling stubbornly to the red oak in the yard. Known for his propensity for practical jokes, am convinced Al Batt may be sneaking over and super-gluing the leaves back on the tree.

Not to be paranoid but I also suspect the neighbors have been going to the sale barn and dropping off additional sheep at the ranch when we’re not looking. Every time it seems we might be making progress in the lambing barn, it appears there are more ewes left to lamb than we recall. Maybe it’s just a sign of getting old but the process is starting to be pertpetual. My best guess would be the neighbors who are selling us hay. Makes me wonder though how they’re finding all these bred Cheviot ewes and sticking our flock tags in their ears. Something fishy going on around here…

The confuser was acting up and no amount of “magic words” or idle threats seemed to be making any difference so we called in professional help. Seems it could use more memory the computer guru said, increasing the present memory from 1 GB to 4 GB. Ordered last week, it should be in and ready to be installed this week sometime. If only it were that easy on a human level. Making mistakes and cursing Bill Gates at an even faster pace than before should now be possible.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Need a little work and there's fences to mend...

The scurs started out hot and heavy, ushering in spring with some very spring-like temperatures. They’re indicating some cooler temperatures and you guessed it, some chances of snow for this forecasting period however. Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a chance of rain and/or snow in the morning. High of 40 – 45 and low of 30. Partly cloudy Thursday and a chance of rain in the morning and a chance of snow in the evening. High of 40 -45 and low of 30. Partly cloudy Friday, same scenario for precip, high of 40 and low of 25. Mostly cloudy Saturday, high of 40 and a low of 25 with a chance of snow for the day. Sunday and Monday, partly cloudy, highs of 40 – 45 and lows of 25 – 30. Chance of snow Monday evening. Tuesday, cloudy, chance of rain and/or snow, high of 40 and low of 30. Normal high for March 27th is 47 and the normal low is 26. The sun will rise once again before 7 a.m., just like it did back on February 24th. The scurs will be readying the lawnmower for the onslaught of upcoming green grass.

Last Saturday was absolutely fabulous and after the winter we’ve had, one had to say we were due. With a high near 65 at the ranch, one couldn’t get out the door fast enough to enjoy it. Too bad so much of the time winds up spent working rather than taking a little time to stop and smell the roses. Between all the sticks and gravel showing up under the snow pile remnants, there will be plenty of messes to keep Mr. Cheviot busy well into April.

Did manage to get the electric fence mended then up and running again early last week. Moving more lambs out of the nursery building and into the loafing area allows them to exercise while their mothers stuff their faces. The younger lambs also follow the lead of their older playmates and head into the creep feeder. They catch on fast as the first bag of solid feed bit the dust already last Sunday. When the weather is nice, the lambs tend to come out and play. So do the spectators causing a gawker slowdown outside the ranch. It’s fine if you want to watch them but please pull in the driveway for safety’s sake.

Gus and Lucy have helped move lambs by guiding the ewes to barn. They’ve enjoyed the warm temps too although they are about like the Odd Couple. Gus does his best Oscar impression by running through the puddles at full throttle while Lucy tends to be like Felix and skirt the edges. Gus turns into a mud ball and Lucy remains relatively clean. Just the same they’re both tired out after the animals are moved and glad to take a load off after receiving their treats for a job well done.

Saturday’s warmth caused a noticeable tinge of green to show up in the pasture below the hill on the south facing slope. There was a striped gopher who had apparently decided it was time to come up and have a look around. Haven’t seen any sign yet of pocket gopher activity although am sure someone probably has if the ground had been covered by a snow bank for most of the winter. While I was sitting on the throne overlooking my kingdom Friday morning, caught a glimpse of 3 deer moving along the south fenceline before dawn. The leftover brown grass and alfalfa across the fence made them difficult to pick out save for the flick of a white tail giving away their movement.

The redpolls appear to be officially gone. Last Sunday there were nearly 100 and by Tuesday, one lone straggler was all that was left. It’s been fun to see all the visitors from the north we usually don’t see in this neck of the prairie. The goldfinches don’t seem to mind though that they’ve got the thistle and sunflower feeders all to themselves. More Canada geese arrived like waves of bombers over the early part of last week and plenty of ducks, primarily mallards and ring-necks in small flotillas gracing the pond. A great blue heron made a low altitude flyby after probing the murky shallows for morsels. The frogs haven’t been heard yet so the wetland may not have had much to offer. Pheasants can be heard crowing and drumming every morning at choretime although they’ve been kind enough to stay in the CRP thus far.

One special note for me anyway, last Saturday marked the first male cardinal we’ve ever seen at the ranch. Sure, we’ve seen a few females here and seen males other places but never at our home. Apparently some of the plantings are beginning to attract their attention, especially the red osier dogwood where we noted the redbird becomes almost impossible to pick out this time of year. He was seen picking away under the feeder late Saturday as well. Not sure if he’ll stay but it was definitely a thrill to finally see and hear one. Hopefully many more to come.

My bachelor uncle Basil passed away at the ripe-old age of 96 this past week. While his picture can be seen in the dictionary under the definition of “curmudgeon”, he lived for hunting and fishing, sharing that with the many of us nieces and nephews who he took along on his many excursions. He usually shared his grumpiness too but we got used to it. The last fishing trip my brother and I took to Cox Lake, we were busy making some last minute adjustments before putting the boat in the water. Cousin Eugene and company with then 92 year old Basil in tow happened to roll up about that time so naturally we had to visit and decide how to maneuver the vehicles in what was already a cramped access area. Basil being his usual “diplomatic” self had had about enough of our chit-chatting and bellered from the back seat of Gene’s truck, “What’s the holdup?” As we were conditioned to his grumbling we laughed it off and went about our business. After last week, no more holdups; Basil ought to be able to fish whenever he wants now.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

I ain’t gonna take none of your foolin’ around…

The scurs taught those blow combs a thing or two last week. No TV weather hype here in an attempt to get ratings, just an honest assessment what potentially lies ahead. This forecast period starting with Wednesday April Fools Day, partly cloudy with a slight chance of snow in the morning. High of 35 and low around 25. Thursday, partly cloudy with a chance of snow showers in the morning. High of 40 and low near 25. Partly cloudy Friday with a chance of snow in the evening. High near 40 and low around 30. Partly cloudy Saturday in the morning becoming cloudy by afternoon with an increasing chance of rain/snow. High of 40 and low of 30. Cloudy with a chance of snow Sunday forenoon, becoming partly cloudy. High 40 and low of (what else?) 30. Monday and Tuesday, partly cloudy, high of 40 and low of 30 with a chance of precip sneaking back into the picture by Tuesday evening. Normal high for April 3 is 51 and the normal low is 29. We continue to see Jupiter as a major feature of our morning pre-dawn sky on the eastern horizon. On the 6th of April we will experience a day length of just over 13 hours, about the same as we noted back on September 4th. The scurs will be closely watching their caller ID on Wednesday to avoid prank phone calls.

What a letdown this past week was after seeing 65 the weekend before last and then dealing with lows in the teens on Friday morning. We’ve also had to settle for days struggling to get above freezing although there has been bright sunshine and highs in the 40’s. The strong winds of the prior week coupled with the warmer temperatures did take the ice out of most of the local lakes with St. Olaf becoming ice free on March 24th and Clear Lake in Waseca following suit the following day according to Waseca SROC golfing legend TH. Suspect the T stands for “Tiger”. The cooler weather also caused some of the shallow wetlands to re-freeze. Sunday morning was watching the ducks swimming in the portion of the pond that was thawed and resting on the ice shelf after their swim.

There are some encouraging signs too. Saw a robin working along the outside of the lambing barn and went over to examine what he’d been up to. Sure enough, there was an earthworm where the snow had set so the frost must be out there. Have spotted several meadowlarks in my travels locally although none have stopped at the ranch yet. The goldfinches are making their color change. Some of them are pretty blotchy, with the yellow feathers beginning to replace the drab olive overwintering plumage. A few of the little males in our yard are nearly all yellow and their colors will only get brighter as we move into April. They’ve wasted no time establishing the yard as their territory after the redpolls left. If all of them stay, they give our leafless ashes the appearance of yellow flowering trees. The striped gopher was back out again on Saturday afternoon too. Imagine he’ll be stuffing his cheeks with the sunflower seeds the goldfinches toss under the bird feeders, judging by the clumps of sunflowers appearing in the lawn and garden.

Thursday at the Mall for Men looked like a little fat buddy convention, what with all the pickup trucks and commotion. Just our annual meeting complete with guest speakers and the first free grilled brats of the season, an annual rite of spring at the Mall. No self-respecting little fat buddy pays for meals this time of year. Some even go so far as to exchange notes at morning training sessions and write down the times in their date books so as not to miss any free food. All part of their personal economic stimulus package.

Saturday I had to get a load of hay so accomplished that in the forenoon after chores. Had warmed up enough by noon so it was time to go for a tractor ride to get a load of screenings from a very kind neighbor who graciously saves and stores them for me in his shed until needed. In order to make the trip though, the chains needed to come off the tractor first. Managed to stay just warm enough with the heat houser on with as the chilly breeze blew in my face. Was great however to see the “da ‘hood” at a blazing 14 mph. Moved several more pens of lambs out of the lambing barn Saturday early evening so chores would be more consolidated. Border collies Gus and Lucy got their workout in for the week as a result. Transferred screenings out of my wagon, cleaned it out, put it in the pasture, then backed the neighbor's wagon in after moving a bunch of junk out of the way and unloaded the hay Sunday afternoon before evening chores. Likely only one more ewe left to lamb after Sunday night. Gee, sounds like farming!

Gus and Lucy enjoyed the Lions Pancake Feed once again. When I open the car door upon my arriving home, they always put their feet on the floorboards and give me a good going over with their olfactory senses. If their tails are any indication, they love that pancake smell and their eyes get big when they see the bread wrapper full of FFE’s (Flapjack Flipping Errors) and out of code French toast. Funny thing, they never gripe or complain if the French toast is a little too dry, the pancakes are on the medium-rare side or that there’s not enough butter or syrup. Know any humans like that? These are two pretty lucky dogs and some days, they know it.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Games people play, you take it or you leave it...

Once again the scurs avoided making any rash storm predictions for the past weekend as opposed to the wild prognostications of some weather professionals. This week’s weather promises to get us back closer to normal. Starting with Wednesday and Thursday, clear to partly cloudy skies, highs of 50 and lows of 30. Clear Friday and Saturday, highs of 50 – 55 and lows around 30. Sunny on Sunday becoming partly cloudy with a chance of rain by evening, high of 55 and low around 35. Cloudy Monday and Tuesday with a chance of a rain and freezing rain changing to sleet. Highs of 40 – 45 and lows of 25 – 30. Normal high for April 10th is 55 and the normal low is 32. The scurs will be getting anxious to plant their early garden. The cottontails are beginning to look gaunt after all the cool weather.

The Full Moon for the month falls on the 9th and occurs officially at 9:56 a.m. CDT. This moon is known as the Full Pink Moon because of the wild pinks that show up in the woods this time of year. It is also known as the Full Grass Moon or the Full Egg Moon. The Ojibwe knew this as the Broken Snowshoe Moon and the Sioux the Moon of the Greening Grass. At the Ranch we know it as the Moon When Sticks Fall Out of the Trees, keeping Mr. Cheviot occupied when weather allows.

Seems like the old one step forward two steps back approach to spring thus far. After a gorgeous weekend two weeks ago, we sunk back into a pattern of messing with snow/rain combinations. Luckily for us, the amount of precipitation hasn’t been excessive. At the ranch we only garnered a tad over and inch of liquid equivalent for the month of March. Most of that went in the ground as there has been very little runoff in evidence. Even though the weekend snow was the consistency of frozen mashed potatoes, it didn’t amount to enough to significantly slow progress. There has been some pack manure spread in the mornings when the ground has been frozen and rumor of some anhydrous ammonia being applied here and there. Farther south prior to the snow, tool bars and anhydrous tanks were common around Ames. Given several days of 70 degree temperatures and some breezy conditions, it wouldn’t take long for field conditions to become fit for most folks.

We’re still making progress towards spring albeit slow. After moving some manure and piling it up, 4 or 5 days later one noticed the south side of the small pile was covered with weed seedlings. Pocket gophers began digging in many spots last week although one could still see signs of snow here and there on north facing slopes in areas. The western chorus frogs that Al Batt mentioned recently began their spring song on the 2nd in the pond. At bottle feeding time, one could make out the faint sound of one lone frog barely croaking but it was there. The following evening was warmer and the tiny frogs began to make themselves noticed in the yard.

Lots of juncos under the feeders this past week, apparently on their way back north to their boreal forest summer homes. Goldfinches are getting more yellow and usually by mid-April we see some of the males complete their color change from a pastel to a more vibrant yellow. Male house sparrows completed some nests in the shed a few weeks ago. Little do they know I have an extension ladder and I’m not afraid to use it. It would be fun to go back in time, find those knuckleheads who decided it was a great idea to bring them into this country, give them a pressure washer and a rag, then tell them to clean all the bird droppings off the tractors in our machine sheds.

After seeing the sleight of hand on display in the recent Star/Eagle, I feel compelled to defend myself. There were several as of yet unconfirmed UFO sightings last week although I suspect to determine why all those eggs were standing on end, one need look no further than the conspicuously placed “easy button” pictured beside the perpendicular hen fruit. Heed my advice; never play cards with the crack management staff.

The little fat buddies had some grueling sessions at the training table, grinding through an assortment of birthday cake, cake, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls and donuts this past week. Best bulk up now while they can as spring work is looming on the horizon. One of the local Bandwagon stars pictured on the front page of the Star-Eagle last week had a hand in this too, supplying the black walnuts on the cake as well as in some oatmeal raisin cookies that mysteriously appeared in my mailbox. We are fortunate as this individual also supplies fishing wisdom and knowledge. A man of few words, when asked where the fish were biting he replied coyly by pulling on his lip.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

And the redbird sings, I'll be blue...

The scurs dire predictions of a sleet and freezing rain event failed to materialize at ground level for Monday and Tuesday. Due to virga however, it was raining several thousand feet up. They set their sights on the upcoming forecast period, predicting improving fortunes for the greater Bugtussle and environs. Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny becoming partly cloudy by evening. High of 60 – 65 and low near 40. Thursday, partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy in the afternoon with a slight to moderate chance of showers. High of 60 and low of 40 – 45. Partly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of showers. High of 60 – 65 and low of 40 – 45. Saturday and Sunday, cloudy with a slight to moderate chance of rain, the best chance being Saturday evening. Highs 55- 60 and lows of 35 – 40. Monday and Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of rain both days. Highs 50 – 55 and lows around 35. The normal high for April 17th is 58 and the normal low is 35. Sunrise will occur at 6:30 a.m. on the 15th and will set at 8 p.m. on the 17th. We’re adding day length at roughly 3 minutes per day. The scurs will be buying a Jersey cow so they can make creamed peas, onions and potatoes.

Was a dry week and allowed field work to commence for another spring season. Am impressed with the amount of restraint most have shown however when it comes to planting corn. Perhaps the Federal Crop Insurance date of the 11th had something to do with it although would suspect average soil temperatures in the mid-30’s at the 2” depth and the calendar date were determining factors. All bets are off this week however. There has been a nice window for anhydrous ammonia application as well as application of pre-emergent herbicides. Small grain seeding was accomplished and along with an accompanying forage crop in some cases. Great timing for this as the fields are firm and worked up beautifully. There is apparently some frost in areas however as evidenced by local tiling lore. Even with the warmer temperatures, the soils are generally still cold and slow growth from weeds such early emergers as lambsquarters and giant ragweed bears that out.

In the garden things are starting to come to life. Checking the patch on the south slope, the rhubarb planted last spring is rubbing the sleep from its eyes and should pop some leaves out this week. There are some volunteer bachelor’s buttons so the pine siskins must not have eaten all the leftover seeds. Didn’t get the potatoes in the ground on Good Friday but unless this week is a total washout, there appears to be ample time. That and I failed to make the trip to Edna’s for the onions last week. The tiller needs an oil change yet and a giving the plot a dosage with a few skid loader buckets of composted sheep manure first probably wouldn’t hurt.

Bird-wise some notables include the return of the tree swallows to the ranch on April 11th along with some Eastern phoebes. The phoebes found something to their liking in the grass as they’d perch and pounce, devour whatever it was and repeat, their tail flicking the entire time. A brown creeper has been surveying the ash and maples closely each morning. Auntie Mar Mar and Mrs. Cheviot spied the male cardinal again on Easter Sunday as he made a brief appearance in the crabapple tree. Always love to see the redbird.

Was a sad day last week when I received a voice mail Tuesday morning saying my favorite radio personality has passed away the night before. I’m referring of course to Steve Cannon, whose booming voice and radio program graced the airwaves, emanating from ‘CCO’s basement studio for several decades. His program, talent and verbiage has influenced many including myself lo these many years. Reminiscing with several other Cannon fans this past week, there was a common denominator among us: We all tried to make a special effort to be by a radio, whether it was in a combine, tractor, truck or the office no later than 3:07 p.m. to tune in those barking dogs. Steve-O’s theme song (What do you mean you lost your dog?) was just the beginning before introducing the engineer, saying that he would not be adequate.

The Little Cannon’s of course were the hallmark of every show, whether it was Morgan Mundane talking sports along with his prognostications, Ma Linger talking about her little black dress and girlish figure or socialite Backlash LaRue keeping Cannon abreast of the local happenings. It took me several years as a lad to figure out that he was doing these voices himself. Wasn’t alone apparently as Cannon fooled lots of people including the likes of Calvin Griffith. The schtick was the same every day but we all listened and learned all kinds of things about being Minnesotans.

There was Point of Pancake (Point of Law) with Charlie Boone, interviews with Bill Dull (Diehl) as well as with the ink stained wretch, the oracle Sid Hartman, with lots of “Hi gang!”, “Oh yah!” and “Yethir!” mixed in along the way as Cannon moved through his Cannon Mess and all the commercials. There was always the weather with Mike Lunch (Lynch) talking about the “blow combs” on TV weather, the Crack Management Staff, the computer system Cannon apparently was not fond of he nicknamed “Terrible Tone” as well as his reference to ‘CCO as “The Evil Neighbor”, a takeoff on the “Good Neighbor” they fancied themselves to be. Cannon always called his wife “Nanook” making one wonder if he was really married to an Eskimo.

He must’ve loved to play games with people’s minds as we were convinced that he was going to use the ‘CCO cough button so no one had to listen to him coughing up phlegm. This was normally when Cannon claimed to have contracted “The Alien” and of course he’d hack and cough loudly so everyone would hear it. He frequently referred to Hurley’s Hanging Garden’s up Nordeast way. Always figured it was in Northeast Minneapolis somewhere but never did find it. (it didn’t really exist but lots of us thought it did). Every day, after the music to end the show was done, his signature sign-off was always, “I got the money”.

As Cannon used to say after playing his favorite college fight song “Fight on for Ol’”, as performed by the Eveleth City Band with genial Emil Stern wielding the baton, he always got a crick in the knee, a frog in the throat and a tear in the eye. That’s the way I felt when hearing of Cannon’s passing. Steve Cannon truly was the King of the Kilohertz, the Prince of the Airwaves.

http://www.830wcco.com/In-Memory-Of/4123966

See you next week…real good then.

[Birdsong]

I neglected to read last weeks column, I guess. I love your extension ladder line concerning the sparrows. And just think, since those knuckleheads you mention are long gone, you can give them a pressure washer and rag, and they can clean the doo-doo from your tractors for all eternity.

[fishinchicks]

Dotch- a week ago, my daughter and sister in law got lost on their way to Rochester from the Marshall area (they both can be directionally challenged). They ended up in Ellendale, and stopped at a repair shop where the people were friendly and got them back on their way. If you happen to know who would have been the helpful ones that day, please extend a thank you from our family!