Fencelines

[Dotch]

Life in the fast lane 
Surely make you lose your mind 

The scurs have been checking the Weather Eye over to see what’s up with all the recent cloudy weather. Is there a “mushroom” setting they’re unaware of or will we see the sun before next week? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance for rain changing to snow. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the mid-teens. Partly sunny Friday with highs in the low 20’s with lows in the low teens. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Partly sunny and warmer on Sunday with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Monday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. A sneak peek at Christmas Day: A chance of snow under mostly cloudy skies with highs near 40 and lows in the upper single digits above zero. The winter solstice will occur on the 21^st at 10:49 p.m. and we should see roughly 8 hours and 51 minutes and 9 seconds of daylight. The normal high for December 21^st is 24 and the normal low is 7. More time for the scurs to sleep before facing those Christmas shopping crowds on the 24^th .

Quite the spring weather we had in the last week. Most frost in the soil is gone and ice on area lakes has completely disappeared. Rainfall totaled 1.56” since the 10^th at the ranch, bringing the total precip to 1.78” for the month. Fields that were still wet from the November precipitation have become saturated to the point where water is standing. Some tiling was being performed yet last week although in places it was plenty muddy for that if the ruts and mud on the road were any indication. There has been some concern about loss of fall applied nitrogen although most were careful to apply it when average soil temperatures were 50 degrees or cooler at the 6” depth. Soil temperatures have generally remained well below that so most of the N should be in the ammonium form. Along with the use of a nitrification inhibitor, it should help keep conversion to nitrate to a minimum. Once the ammonium has converted to nitrate, it is subject to both denitrification and leaching.

It has been a bizarre weather month to be sure. Lawns remain relatively green and the sheep at the ranch are still foraging around the pasture looking for those precious last few blades of grass. This of course after they’ve devoured a bale of hay. It would be great to finally get a chance to burn the huge brush pile in their pasture. As wet as everything is, it’s doubtful that it will burn very well anytime soon. That and here in the People’s Republic of Steele Co., I need to make a personal appearance to procure a burning permit so the STFP (Secret Trash Fire Police) drones can pinpoint my exact location.

This time of year gets so busy for everyone. Seems like we’ve been on a whirlwind tour for much of the month and we don’t have any kids. We spent part of the weekend before last at the MLWP get together in Chaska then served at a Lions Club pancake feed in Bugtussle that Sunday. From Tuesday through Thursday was at CPM Shortcourse in Megalopolis, then on to choir practice upon my return. Had a good time attending a Christmas party Friday night near St. Peter. Then on Saturday, back to Megalopolis to attend the Gopher women’s basketball game courtesy of Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer and his bride. Sunday we attended an organ recital in a small town just across the freeway from Little Jerusalem. Somehow we manage to squeeze some time in to get chores done and go to work in between. Being a social butterfly is exhausting.  Just might require a long winter’s nap.

We also managed a trip to get our live Christmas tree although as one sage pointed out, once you cut it down it’s not alive anymore. Very true and one realizes that when it comes time to put it outside. After sweeping up the needles and other assorted stuff that falls out of them sometimes one wonders if it’s really all worth it. However after having a real tree most of my life, nothing matches the smell of the real thing. Even after it goes out the door, it serves as a place to hide for some of the birds frequenting the feeders. And every spring when it turns brown, I entertain myself by torching it; on the sly of course in order to evade detection by the aforementioned drones.

Fudgie and Ruby seem excited as Mrs. Cheviot transforms the house from Thanksgiving mode to Christmas mode. They know the routine by now and rather enjoy it. It means extra treats and attention as we move closer to Christmas. There will be some leftovers that come their way as well since there will be plenty of feasting throughout the holidays. Both dogs are closer to finishing up their fall shed only to be replaced by the winter shed. Actually they don’t shed much this time of year and their coats usually glow from all the goodies they’ve been consuming. When company arrives Ruby especially enjoys all the extra attention and while Fudgie doesn’t qualify as Miss Congeniality, once she stops woofing, she picks and chooses. Her coat is as nice as I’ve ever seen it and I’m envious, especially when the rain dripping off the eaves finds the thin spot on top of my melon.

See you next week…real good then. 

[Dotch]

Ooooh that smell…

The scurs were relieved to see that the sun does actually exist after having their doubts. Will the scurs see snowflakes come out of the Weather Eye or will they see white bees wings left over from corn drying season? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance for rain changing to snow by evening. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Christmas Eve Day, mostly sunny becoming cloudy with highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy Christmas Day with a moderate chance of snow by evening. Highs in mid-30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of snow.  Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the low teens. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Monday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the mid-teens. Partly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the low double digits. Yes, that’s still above zero folks. The normal high for Christmas Day is 24 and the normal low is 6. After tossing another log on the fire on the 21^st the scurs will be considering retrieving the aluminum Festivus pole from the crawlspace. A Christmas tree simply doesn’t measure up to the very high strength-to-weight ratio.

There will be a Full Moon on Christmas Day although from the sounds of things we probably won’t see it. You’ll just have to take my word for it. It goes by several names including Full Cold Moon and the Long Nights Moon, both aptly named as we frequently see our coldest days from this full moon to the next, not to mention our longest nights. The Ojibwe called this the Small Spirits Moon and the Sioux had a couple names; The Moon of Popping Trees or The Moon When Deer Shed Their Horns (antlers). At the ranch we have come to know it as the Moon When it Feels Good to be Done with Chores and Back in the House. So far however this one has been relatively easy so as winters go. Given that memories of the other kind are still fresh enough to remember, we’ll take it.

There have been some questions as to what kind of things can be impacted by a warmer, open winter such as we’re experiencing presently. Some things such as insect survival can be enhanced although there is still a lot of winter left. Insects such as western corn rootworm eggs don’t survive well once soil temperatures reach 14 degrees and so far we’ve been nowhere close to that. Northern corn rootworm eggs are tougher and can withstand much lower temperatures, part of the reason they are the more predominant species in these northern latitudes. As far a breaking up compaction, other than surface compaction, winter freezing and thawing does little to alleviate deeper soil compaction, typical of high traffic areas and headlands.

The question too has arisen about rivers and streams being so full this time of year. Even though we had a dry harvest season, in particular a dry October, we have recorded above normal precip the entire growing season. November was significantly wetter than normal, saturating the soil profile in the upper 5’. December precip has also been slightly above normal. Another tidbit to bear in mind is that the vast majority of our precip in December has fallen as rain. Normally it would be sitting on top of the ground in the form of snow rather than soaking in or running off.

As we approach the winter holidays, the house is once again decorated from top to bottom. Inside anyway. We gave up long ago trying to keep up with the neighbors outside although Mrs. Cheviot did put some lights on the railings in order to make an effort. It looks nice especially since I didn’t have to do it. I try to do my part however and provide moral support. I cut some white pine boughs and red twig dogwood for decorating on Saturday. Hauled out all the garbage on Sunday after church and changed the light on the garage that exploded inside the fixture in the heavy rain. I also made the fresh cut on the real Christmas tree and brought it into the house so it could become acclimated before decorating. The smell of a fresh fir tree is still something to behold when it warms up inside, especially if it was kept away from tomcats outside. Been there done that.

The sheep and the dogs have been good lately so most likely they won’t get a lump of coal in their stocking. Actually the sheep already got a little bit of their present. Rummaging around the old lean-to I’d forgotten one squash that the sheep had partially gnawed on through the fence. Tucked underneath of a board was another squash that was hidden from view. Yet another one was discovered as I moved closer to the granary. Unfortunately all the squash had been frozen, rendering them unfit for human consumption. The sheep didn’t mind. They tore into them and within a matter of a half hour they’d devoured them. Luckily there are some apples going soft so they’ll get those soon. The ranch isn’t a bad place to be a sheep at Christmas time. The dogs are in line to get some of the leftovers out of the fridge so they too are more fortunate than some canines. And they try to be good. Fudgie has been coming when she’s called at night rather than chasing bunnies and Ruby didn’t even growl at Julie Andrews during The Sound of Music. There may be hope for those two yet.  

As has been the custom in the past I go shopping for the Star Eagle staff as only the scurs and I can do. It’s become a little tougher though as I’m never sure just who is working there anymore. Oh well, here goes: A donation has been made in all your names to the Human Fund: Money for People. That ought to cover it. Those warm thoughts can be treasured while performing feats of strength and during the airing of grievances. Another Festivus miracle!

Happy Festivus!

See you next week…real good then.

[Bobby Bass]

Julie Andrews, {chuckle} My dog Duncan does not like TOTO from the Wizard of Oz, Good Read As Always, Merry Christmas

[Dotch]

Hey thanks Bobby. Good to know Ruby is not alone. She has developed a "list" that set her off. Julie Andrews, horses, the Hump Day camel, elephants, any dog or cats, to name a few, but especially Clint Eastwood. If she sees Clint riding a horse the world is coming to an end. Oddly enough Mrs. Cheviot expresses some of those same sentiments when I watch those spaghetti westerns. You don't suppose....?  

Merry Christmas! 

[Dotch]

Must be because I had the flu for Christmas and I'm not feeling up to par

The scurs got their Christmas shopping done, saw the sun and got a white Christmas all in the same week. This led them to believe the Weather Eye is a relevant forecasting aid. Will we see a warm start to the New Year or will we revert to the real January? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the lower double digits above zero. New Year’s Eve Day, mostly cloudy and colder with highs in the mid-teens and lows in the mid-single digits above zero. Mostly sunny and slightly warmer New Year’s Day with highs in the upper teens and lows in the mid-single digits. Saturday, mostly sunny and warmer with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Partly cloudy on Sunday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Monday, partly cloudy with highs in the mid-20’s and lows near 10. Partly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the low teens. The normal high for January 1st is 23 and the normal low is 5. The scurs are certain their resolution to start their resolutions when they’re darn good and ready should be attainable.

More snow fell this past week although more of the precip was actually rain than snow. This has been an unusual December from that respect and at the ranch has been above normal as compared to the precip norms at the SROC in Waseca. Precip for December there is normally 1.48” and so far we have recorded 2.4” with some snowfall likely not added until after this writing meets the early deadline. Soils have largely frozen once again since then however so unless we see a thaw in the near future, not much of what falls this week will wind up in the soil, at least not for a while.

The snow was welcome by those who like having the landscape look like winter for Christmas. It is interesting however in places that have never seen snow how they relate to our notion that a winter wonderland is part of what makes it Christmas. On Christmas Eve Day I made a run to get some groceries. When I got back to the truck with my purchases, thanks to the snow, the door on the truck was iced up. Struggling to get it open I dropped the milk jug which split wide open, splashing the contents all over the nerf bar and my shoes. Seem to be attracting a lot interest from area cats wherever I go lately. Can’t cry over spilt milk as they say. It was just nice not to have to move the snow out of the way. Cleaning snow out of driveways and feedlots is highly overrated.

The recent snow has increased the activity of the creatures frequenting the yard, particularly the birds. A large rooster pheasant likely of the Little Jerry lineage was a frequent visitor over the weekend. Juncos are back as are a couple goldfinches. The woodpecker group consisting of downies, hairies and red-bellied has been keeping the suet feeders busy. Chickadees and nuthatches are regulars at the sunflower feeders. The leghorn-sized blue jays have returned too. Not sure where they hail from but they are huge, almost closing the ports on the squirrel-proof birdfeeder. And speaking of the squirrels, the fox squirrels have eaten so much ear corn that they are nearly round.

There have been a few days when sunflower seed consumption has been noticeably lower, making me curious as to why. Two consecutive days while we were at home, I spied first a Cooper’s hawk and the next day a smaller model, likely a sharp-shinned hawk. It was fascinating to watch them harass the sparrows as they attempted to conceal themselves deeper in the brushy cover. Was hoping they’d get one of them to fly out of there as hawks are like lightning.

With the weather terrorists telling us that the landscape will be once again plunged into another winter snowfall apocalypse, it was time to batten down the hatches just in case. Moving everything around so that snow removal is a possibility is a place to start. Since the winter thus far has been less than snowy, putting the chains on the tractor needed to happen. It’s a pain in the butt but if you plan on moving snow with a loader on ice, it’s almost a necessity. In the meantime, Fudgie and Ruby helped as I backed the empty gravity box into the feedlot. The ewes looked momentarily at the gate, then decided that discretion was the better part of valor. With one Border Collie inside the opening and the other looking menacing on the other side of the fence, it was simply not worth it.

Seed catalogs continue to arrive in the mail almost weekly. Not sure just what to order yet but there are several items that are automatics. We are sweet squash lovers and the Mooregold and buttercup varieties are our favorites. A wide variety of gourds for decorating are always included. Each year it seems there are new types that have a unique shape and color that are fun to try. Best of all, gourds are pretty tough, prolific and easy to grow. Indian corn too is another “must have”. Simple to grow and if the striped gophers can be held at bay, the colorful results are still like opening a Christmas present.

Mrs. Cheviot unfortunately wound up with a bout of stomach flu for Christmas. Of course she had the doggies to help pick up the slack so all was not lost. Most of the time she was miserable but there was little to do other than keep her comfortable. By Sunday she was back online again. Must be due to the wonderful care she received. Ruby and Fudgie should’ve taken up nursing.

See you next week…real good then.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2015 by Dotch
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[Dotch]

Time, flowing like a river
Time, beckoning me

Moving rapidly into the New Year, the scurs had the Weather Eye firing on all cylinders. Will our lull in the snow activity continue or will we see more white stuff this time around? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of snow and sleet. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow rain in the daylight hours, then a good chance of snow by evening. Highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 30’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a good chance of snow. Highs in the mid-30’s and and lows in the mid-20’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy and cooler with a slight chance of snow. Falling temperatures with highs in the low 20’s and lows near – 5. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a slight chance of snow. Highs near zero and lows in the mid- single digits below zero. Monday, mostly cloudy and colder with highs near 10 and lows near zero. Cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-single digits above zero and lows near -5. The normal high for January 7th is 22 and the normal low is 4. The scurs have decided with the cooler forecast, hibernation suddenly looks very attractive.

Snowfall totals last week after press time varied somewhat although amounts of snow in the 7” – 10” range were common. Melting the snow revealed .6” - .9” of liquid equivalent precipitation. It made for a mad scramble on Wednesday morning to get snow moved and transportation going again. Luckily as has been the case with many snowfall events over the past several years, there wasn’t much in the way of a plunge in temperatures or wind following it. And not surprisingly, no one complained that there wasn’t. We wound up with 12.6” of snow for the month at the ranch, only .4” off of the normal at the SROC in

About the only people complaining are those who want to do some ice fishing locally. Ice in the southern part of the state has been treacherous and the snowfall on top of it hasn’t helped matters. Some have been working along the lake edges with their portables but there have been no reports of major activity. The predicted first below zero temperatures of the season should help. In the meantime most have been convinced it’s not worth the risk. Colder temps, less snow, better ice and fishing to the north.

The wind with the snowfall itself was northeast so it dumped snow in places for many they really didn’t like it. At the ranch it was no exception although the feedlot escaped relatively unscathed. Getting the driveway cleaned out enough to navigate didn’t take as long as I’d feared, in large part thanks to the time spent putting the chains on and moving things out of the way prior to the snowstorm. Not my first rodeo.

There have actually been a few clear nights and mornings in which to enjoy some of the astronomical occurrences. The brightest feature in the morning sky has been the “Morning Star” or Venus. The moon has had a partner as well with Jupiter tagging along in close proximity last week. Probably the most unique event though was the appearance of the Northern Lights. There was a fair amount of solar activity that was causing the particles to react in the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere. Of course the one night I wanted to see them, they were nowhere to be seen.

As mentioned in a previous edition, we continue to have a cat that adopted us sometime in the latter part of the summer. It has grown on us so that we did actually name it, calling it “Tincture”. It has helped keep the sparrow population at bay in the barn and is friendly although it has a nasty habit of getting underfoot from time to time. Another negative is the fact it’s a female. We’re likely to see a bunch of kittens in the spring. After all as Betsy’s dad has always maintained, cats are a renewable resource.

With the snowfall we continue to see an uptick in bird activity around the yard including pheasants. Up the road they’ve been congregating at one of the neighbors including a large number of hens. At the ranch we were blessed with a small group of Hungarian or gray partridge. They plump little gamebirds scurried around and kept me amused with their antics. Best of all they were in close proximity to the pear trees. Coincidence? I think not.

Some of the fruit of the new seeding from the kindly neighbors was put into action over the weekend. The Big Dubya brought one of the round bales up the road from the stash at his place. It was a welcome respite for Mr. Cheviot as this meant a temporary end to hand feeding the ewes in the feedlot. They of course were happy to see the bale and wasted no time once they discovered it to tear into the contents. Sure they’ll waste some of it but it’s not 160 RFV hay. It should be ideal for their stage of gestation is right about now. Somehow they still beller when they see us but at least they’re doing it with their mouths full.

Bumped into an old friend at the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo. We couldn’t believe how the last year flew by and how quickly we’re already starting to saw into this one. Doesn’t seem to want to slow down either. Quite the contrary. Still lots of Christmas gatherings to attend yet too. Best solution: Buy lots of goodies to spoil grandkids and have treats on hand in case someone comes over. All part of the process.  

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

She's so cold cold cold like an ice cream cone

The scurs had the Weather Eye checked out again at Ike’s to see if there was some way to get more heat out of it. Will it warm up or will we be stuck on winter for the rest of winter? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper teens with lows in the low teens. Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Saturday, mostly cloudy and colder with a slight chance of snow. Falling temperatures with highs in the upper single digits and lows in the upper single digits below zero. Partly sunny on Sunday with highs only a degree or two above zero and lows again in the upper single digits below zero. Monday, mostly sunny and slightly warmer with highs near 5 and lows a few degrees below zero. Partly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-teens and lows in the mid-single digits above zero. The normal high for January 15th is 22 and the normal low is 4. On the 19th we will have gained about a half hour of daylight since the winter solstice. It’s still only 9 hours and 24 minutes of light however.  Armed with that information and with no more festive holidays in sight the scurs will continue their quest for long winters naps.

Small accumulations of snow were common this past week although we tallied roughly 2.4” of snow at the ranch in about four different snowfall events. Luckily this hasn’t been the kind of snow that needs a lot of attention as the winds have largely left it where the good Lord put it. By press time that will likely have changed some and there will likely be some drifts exactly where we’d rather not have them. Oh well, luckily it was 2.4 inches and not 2.4 feet of snow. It’s still taking a little getting used to the cold however. We’ve become wimpy with all the warm temps in December and now we’re having to readjust. Won’t be long though and 20 degrees will feel good again.

As temperatures have cooled the frost depth in the soil as measured at the SROC in Waseca has increased form 7” on January 4th to 9” measured on the 11th. It is likely a safe bet that most primary tillage operations for the upcoming cropping season have been performed, at least for a while.  Tile lines continue to run reminding us that not only are soils not frozen at the tile depth but our soils are still relatively loaded with moisture across much of South Central MN.

Bird feeding has become relatively routine with one minor twist: A female cardinal was seen by Mrs. Cheviot the evening of the 11th so now begins the annual game of “Where’s Waldo” we play to spot the male. It’s been since last year about this time that we started noticing cardinals appearing. Safflower was recently added to the seed mix with the hope that they would appear again. Was wondering when we started seeing the mourning doves recently if the cardinals would show and sure enough one did.

The cold spell has meant adapting to conditions and in some cases taking advantage of it. For example, when it’s comes time to keep ice cream cold for a family gathering when the freezer is full, putting it in a cooler out on the patio outside works very well. Likewise one can hear the howl of aeration fans across the landscape as farmers try to cool any potential hotspots in their bins down and freeze the grain up for the winter. Sometimes I have to check to see that the one toilet flapper valve isn’t stuck as inside the house it makes a sound similar to that. Time to adjust the chain again.

Fudgie and Ruby have adapted about the same as we humans have at the ranch to the recent cold snap. In other words, they don’t enjoy staying out in it any longer than they have to. Not unusual to see cold paw lifted up in an attempt to let us know they’re not liking this any more than we are. Once back inside like us they’re happy to get to their food dish and stay warm on a pillow or the couch.

Ruby has developed a routine when it’s garbage pickup day at neighbor David’s. First off, the sight of the dumpster at the end of his driveway sets her off. It’s out of place and she sure everyone needs to know that. Then when the garbage truck arrives, it’s as though the world has come to an end just down the road. The barking, growling and whining makes me think she’s suddenly become a politician. The final straw though is when someone comes out to retrieve the dumpster.  Cause for more carrying on then more growling at the squirrel eating corn which is usually followed by a nap in sun on the rug. For a Border Collie, Ruby really knows how to get the most out of her entertainment dollar.

See you next week… real good then.

[Dotch]

Somewhere a queen is weeping,
somewhere a king has no wife.

After getting a brief respite from the cold, the scurs had the Weather Eye checked over one more time. Will it warm up now or have we just seen the tip of the iceberg? (no pun intended) Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper teens with lows in the low teens. Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the mid-single digits. Partly sunny Friday with highs in the upper teens and lows in the upper single digits. Saturday, partly sunny and warmer with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny on Sunday and warmer with a slight chance of snow. Highs near 30 with lows in the upper teens. Monday, mostly cloudy and cooler with a slight chance for snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows near 10. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the low teens, all above zero. The normal high for January 23rd is 23 and the normal low is 4. The scurs have served notice that their favorite time of year is nearly over and soon it will be time to think about getting the lawn furniture and jarts out again.

The Full Moon for the month falls on the 23rd and generally goes by the Full Wolf Moon. It was at this time of the year that the wolves could be howling near the tribal encampments of the Native Americans. The moon also goes by the Old Moon and is sometimes called the Moon after the Yule. The Ojibwe called it the Great Spirit Moon and the Sioux very aptly I’m sure called it The Moon of Frost in the Teepee. While there was certainly no frost in the house at the ranch, we were just hoping it would not be the Moon of Frost in the Well Pit. No one enjoys frozen water unless you’re an ice fisherman.

While last week tested our mettle somewhat, we have to keep in mind we skated through most of November and December relatively unscathed. We’ve sawed off a lot of winter already and are essentially halfway plus through it. Yes it was cold although the cold snap was certainly nothing new in MN terms. Indeed we are through the coldest part of the winter which typically occurs from about January 9th – the 21st. High temps for the area during that timeframe average about 22 and lows a tick below 4 above. Cold enough for most people’s taste.

The cold and snow cover has some of the wildlife starting to look for food around the yard. A large group of pheasants discovered the ear corn I’d left in the feeder for them. A group of 10 was meandering around the back yard on Monday as I nursed a quick hitting alien making its first 2016 appearance. There were three roosters and seven hens, all in good rig. They were zipping around in the plum thicket at first then fanned out across the yard, some of them hopping up and down to pick off some of the low hanging nannyberries still on the bushes. The cottontails and the squirrels have also found the corn, scattering partially eaten ears all over the grounds. It doesn’t take the pheasants long to find them. They must think they’ve struck the mother lode.

A sharp-shinned hawk continues to be at the ranch from time to time, keeping the house sparrow population on the run. Watching it in action the other day, amazing how aggressive the little hawk was as it twisted its way around inside the brush pile and spruce trees trying to dislodge a potential lunch partner. There are plenty of jays, downies, hairies, red-bellies, chickadees and nuthatches keeping the feeders busy when the sparrows are on the run. We still have seen only the female cardinal at this point. She tends to appear most commonly during the low light times of the day and has so far been alone. Her appearance doesn’t change in the low light so not sure why she has no beau. Feel bad for her, having to sometimes tolerate the horde of sparrows by herself where the males in the past are generally not so hospitable. I’m sure there must be a male somewhere that isn’t paired up. Not to worry. Valentine’s Day is coming up soon.

So what do we as outstate Minnesotan’s do when we run into these cold snaps?  Ice fishing was mentioned and now apparently there is enough ice for permanent fish houses as a few are dotting area lakes. Mrs. Cheviot puts together puzzles. I like to watch the wildlife and look for Studebaker parts. Some of us also find time to go to basketball games like this past Sunday. What a great escape from the icebox to score tickets from Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer, hop on a warm chartered bus and head to a Gopher women’s basketball game to cheer them on. That and having a little lunch prior to that in order to keep our strength up. It’s especially nice not having to drive through the Twin Cities and to actually look at it once in a while without trying to guess what some numbskull driver is up to. Did you realize the Foshay Tower is no longer the tallest building in Minneapolis? A special “thank you” to those responsible for arranging these welcome little respites from winter. I was asked by an appreciative lady on the bus if I knew the chief in charge and she asked me to thank him for her. Am doing that now. Sometimes we take a lot of this for granted and we don’t recognize it until it’s gone.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

She whispers that it's only for a while

The scurs persistence paid off. Getting the Weather Eye out of its funk was no easy task but over the weekend it happened. Will it stay warm now or are there more long underwear days in our future? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 20’s and lows also in the upper 20’s. Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Partly sunny Friday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Partly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the mid-20’s with lows in the mid-teens. Monday, mostly cloudy and slightly cooler with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy skies and cooler for Ground Hog’s Day with a continued chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the low teens, all above zero. The normal high for February 2nd is 24 and the normal low is 5. On the 2nd the sun will rise at 7:30 a.m. The scurs will still be looking at their alarm clock and wondering why a groundhog would want to get out of bed that early.

We’ve flown through a month of 2016 and there’s no sign of it slowing down anytime soon. So far we’ve been pretty fortunate except for a couple stretches of cold weather to be expected in January. The frost in the soil as measured under bare soil at the SROC stood at 14” on January 25th. There are exceptions as one moves to an area that has had continuous snow cover. I found that Sunday firsthand when backing the tractor through a snowbank in the feedlot. Suddenly one side dropped and the mud underneath in the tracks provided a clue. Reports of ice thickness on area lakes are consistently 12” – 14”. It was almost overnight once it warmed up that small fish house villages sprang up. Fishing reports have been less than stellar for most. As one wise man once told me, there’s no law that says you have to fish.

The backyard continues to be overtaken by pheasants and squirrels as they feast on some of the corn gleaned this last fall while soil sampling. The female cardinal continues to have little luck in attracting a mate. Maybe she has B.O. which I rather doubt since most birds don’t have much of a sense of smell. She does like picking up the cracked corn generated by the chubby squirrels that eat the heart out of a kernel of corn then grab another one. The sharp shinned hawk continues to patrol the yard as well in pursuit of house sparrows. While it scares the other birds away from the feeders, the hawk seems intent on making a meal of these pests; something that’s a good thing in my book.

The ewes are getting plumper as we edge nearer to shearing time. They too have benefitted from a warmer than normal winter after coming off the pasture looking like someone had been feeding them shell corn. Their lambing barn was finally cleaned out on Sunday and it was a battle. The last cold snap had frozen the manure pack down about 4” – 6” making it a challenge to tear loose with the skid loader borrowed from our local sheep shearer. Some of the hunks were huge, 3’ across and up to 5’ long. Was a little hesitant dumping that into the spreader as growing up, it usually meant shearing a pin or breaking something, typically the longest possible distance from the house. Somehow my present spreader ground up those chunks or just flung them out if it caught them right. Oh well, by spring they should be thawed and we can grind them up again.

While it was a tough battle, it was nothing like what we did growing up sometimes. That sometimes  involved the use of a pick axe to break through the frozen pack then using a pitchfork to flop the hunks into a wheelbarrow. Then the wheelbarrow was wheeled up a ramp and the contents dumped into the spreader. Then the process repeated itself. No wonder I was so ornery sometimes. It actually made cleaning the chicken coop seem like a piece of cake even though it had to be pitched through a roughly 3’ x 3’ window. Since the chicken coop was between two other buildings the spreader had to be backed up to the window. This made it necessary to toss the first part of the load all the way to the front of the spreader. If you didn’t let the manure accumulate too long between cleanings it went easier. It was always “less worse” though than cleaning the sheep barn, partially because there was only one load. And I had tunes on my little tan 9-volt RCA transistor radio to help keep me company.

It was in those years I gained an appreciation for some of the rock and roll artists and bands of the day including the Eagles. Their songs had a particular relevance to many a young man growing up in rural America in the early to mid-1970’s. Songs about dreams, travelling the country, mysterious women, loves found, loves lost, stars in the sky, pickup trucks, and being laid back, unpretentious. Somewhere in our attic I still have the Eagles Greatest Hits LP, one of the first albums I purchased. Seeing Glenn Frey several weeks ago on a rerun of Miami Vice and his recent passing made me reflect on some of those days working in the dead of winter when the music would take me away if only for a while. Thanks dude for helping make it tolerable.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

There's a blizzard coming on, how I'm wishing I was home

The scurs were pleased to see the Weather Eye at peak performance once again. Are we home free and looking at spring or will we get a taste of February reality? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow.  Highs in the upper teens and lows in the mid-single digits above zero. Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the low double digits. Mostly cloudy Friday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Saturday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of evening snow. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the upper teens. Monday, mostly cloudy and slightly cooler with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the mid-single digits. Mostly cloudy skies and much cooler for Tuesday with highs in the mid-teens and lows near zero. The normal high for February 9th is 26 and the normal low is 7. On the 5th we go over 10 hours of daylight again, something we haven’t had since November 5th. In spite of Tuesday’s inclement weather, the scurs are sensing that tanning on the lawn furniture is just around the corner.

January turned out to be less of an ogre than it sometimes is. Sure we had our below zero temps but in general it wasn’t bad. Snowfall too at the ranch was well below what we typically see for the month, tallying a paltry 4.3”, a little less than half of what is normal at the SROC in Waseca. The snow tended to be very dry as well, with the liquid equivalent measurement being about a third of that at the SROC. The interesting thing was that Old Man Winter seemed to get a lot of mileage out of the January snow we did have. Road ditches were nearly filled and it seemed every time you turned around, there was a nuisance drift in the way or snow to shovel out of the way. There was a lot of cloudy weather which probably helped keep our temperatures on the warmer side. The NOAA February outlook calls for better than even odds of above normal temperatures while we they call for even odds of above or below normal precipitation. This would make everyone happy if it comes to fruition. Normal snowfall is about 9” and the liquid equivalent is about 1”. Unfortunately we might get it all in one snowfall event.

Last weekend was about as nice as one can expect for this time of year. Temperatures on Saturday reached the mid-40’s at the ranch and on some bank thermometers, causing the snow to disappear in rapid fashion. Sunday brought a slightly cooler encore performance but one that was still comfortable enough to grill on the patio. Even the ladybugs were waking up and annoying us in the house. With another bonus day on Monday though, one could almost expect the other shoe was about to drop. The humidity was high as evidenced by all the fog Monday morning and it has been a while since we’ve had a real storm. In other words we’ve been long overdue for a real live blizzard. Some of the drama queens on the TV weather were already talking about 1-35 being closed as early as Sunday morning. When it happens, they look like geniuses. When it doesn’t, you never hear about it.

Fortunately we are a few weeks away yet from lambing at the ranch. Still, it was a good idea to button things up so the animals could get in out of the weather if needed and stay dry while they were at it. The water tank was filled and the door was closed up again after letting the barn air out over the past week’s nice weather. Another round bale was procured from the Dubya’s ahead of the storm. The tractor and skidloader were pointed out the door, ready to counter-punch whatever happened to be thrown at us. Keeping the feedlot area cleaned out is a must. It’s great for gestating ewes to be able to get out and traipse around. Getting some exercise keeps their metabolism going and makes the lambing process go a lot smoother as a result.

Of course, being one who lives in the country yet has an office in town, I had to journey out just to see how bad it was. I can always make the excuse that I’m a weather spotter so as long as I’m not endangering my life or others, then it’s OK. When I left the ranch it was starting to snow. After about an hour of tepid conversation at the Mall for Men with the little fat buddies, I decided it may perhaps be time to think about moving towards home. Had to stop at the post office to wish them a Merry Christmas first then on to the grocery store to procure the raw material to make French toast.

The roads on the way home had deteriorated slightly in an hour to the point where there was generally 2” – 3” on the roadway.  It was a little tough to see in places too especially where there was a building page or sheltered area on the north side of an east-west road. Still, I was glad to pull into the driveway and glance over to see the snow-covered ewes still outside grinding away on their round bale. It really wasn’t that cold out and with their 4” wool blankets still intact, they probably had no clue it was even snowing. Nobody ever said they were smart. Unloaded everything from the truck and went in the house. Nice and warm, electricity still on with the dogs to entertain me inside and birds and squirrels to entertain me outside, until choretime anyway. Just relax and enjoy the ride.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

I'll be the round about
The words will make you out 'n' out

Reports of the scurs being able to suntan soon turned out to be greatly exaggerated. The Weather Eye is faltering once again. Can a 42 year old Gremlin part stuck on a 1977 “ice-age” prediction be converted back to global warming or will it remain stuck on January?  Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the single digits and lows in the mid-single digits below zero. Thursday, partly sunny with a slight chance of evening snow. Highs in the low teens and lows in the mid-single digits. Partly sunny Friday with highs in the low teens and lows near – 10. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-single digits and lows a few days below zero. Mostly cloudy and warmer (finally!) on Sunday with a modest chance of  snow. Highs in the low 20’s with lows in the mid-teens. Monday, partly sunny and warmer. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the low 20’s. Mostly cloudy skies and continued warmer for Tuesday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 20’s. The normal high for February 14th is 27 and the normal low is 9. On the 15th, we’re back to 10 hours and 30 minutes of daylight again, about the same as October 26th.  The scurs are planning on cashing in on the Valentine’s Day candy. It’s been a long drought since Christmas in that department.

Not a bad week until we ran into the Sunday night and Monday winter storm. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of snow and the snow that had fallen the previous Tuesday had melted some over the weekend. This put a crust on the snow to keep it from breaking loose and drifting. If that hadn’t happened, the situation could’ve been a real mess. As it was, school was cancelled Monday after being called two hours late initially. Visibility was poor, down to less than a quarter mile in spots. Small cars would suddenly appear out of the ground drifting ahead of my pickup. Snow began sticking on the pavement in the afternoon causing additional driving woes for the commute home. Why is it we live here again?

Overall winter really hasn’t been too bad. Sure, we’ve had our share of colder conditions the latter part of January and now in the first part of February but this is MN. Heating bills have been moderate thanks in part to cheap LP and natural gas prices. Our below zero days have been a fraction of what we can expect and the days are becoming appreciably longer. One can be outside at 5 p.m. and still have enough light to make it until almost 6. Morning also is beginning to be lighter and by month’s end the sun will be rising before 7 again. Something to look forward to.

The birds in the yard have had it pretty cushy too. There has been plenty of corn to keep the pheasants happy. Even though they’re not daily guests, they are numerous when they are. There are frequently more than a dozen. With the recent bad weather they’ve been glad to see the ear corn feeder on the edge of the yard. The usual visitors include juncos, nuthatches, chickadees, downies, hairies and blue jays. Not much for goldfinches and can’t say why. Too many house sparrows of course although they have really been scarce in the barn since the cat took up residence there. It’s now possible to sit on the tractor or skidloader without first wiping the bird droppings off of them.

The ewe flock is getting girthier shearing day approaches. They too have benefitted from relatively mild winter conditions. Unless it’s been windy, most nights they sleep outside, leaving their outline in the frost behind them as Ruby rousts them from their slumber with her barking and growling. Glad I don’t have an alarm clock like that. That would be enough to make anyone grumpy. Due dates for lambing start about the 18th so it will be good to get the shearing out of the way first.

The dogs continue to take winter in stride. Many dogs aren’t so lucky and we tell them that. Ruby did notice the Doritos dog ad during the Super Bowl, putting up a fuss when they were in the checkout line. The Westminster Dog Show is coming up soon so she will have an overload when that happens. Fudgie continues to plod along, glad to have opportunities like Saturday and Sunday when snow removal makes up for not being able to follow the lawnmower around. Both dogs come in ready to sleep well after those occasions as does their master.

The snow removal policy in the People’s Republic of Steele Co. continues to mystify me. During last week’s snowstorm, the snowplow started going by late morning when it was snowing like mad and went by a couple more times in the afternoon. Then, the next morning they were Johnny on the spot again. Sunday as I left for church, they had been by already and taken some of the finger drifts out of the way leaving me in total disbelief as to what county I had suddenly been transported to. The roads were in great shape without a lot of salt and sand. I was in total disbelief.

My faith in them was restored however after the next snowfall event. Again, the plow was back on the “better late than never” schedule. After plowing the end of the driveway out was wondering what happened and when they’d get there to redeposit what I had just shoved out of there. Plus I’d need to clean out around the mailbox which would be futile until they made that pass and plopped a wad in front of that. Rumors have been circulating that perhaps they’re getting hung up in the roundabouts by Owatonna and can’t figure out how to get off. Oh well, as my favorite barber likes to tell me, in another hundred years I probably won’t care.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Tuesday, afternoon, I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way

The scurs are glad to announce that global warming has returned. After copious amounts of PB Blaster, the control cables on the Weather Eye are back to predicting weather with the best of them. Will it be enough to make it to spring or will we get stuck with more winter? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the upper teens. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of evening rain. Highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Partly sunny Friday with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the low 40’s and lows near 30. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Partly sunny and slightly cooler on Sunday with a slight chance of rain and  snow. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Monday, mostly sunny and cooler. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low teens. The normal high for Washington’s real birthday is 30 and the normal low is 12. This brings back temperature-wise to roughly the end of the first week in December. The scurs cannot tell a lie: They will be celebrating with cherry pie and ice cream of course.

The Full Moon for the month will occur on the 22nd which coincides with Washington’s Birthday. It goes by The Full Snow Moon as the snows were deep when the tribes of the Northeast got to February. For our area however, February ranks 4th in total average snowfall. The Ojibwe called this The Sucker Moon for the suckers began running in rivers and streams. The Sioux called it The Raccoon Moon as the raccoons would tend to awaken at this time of year and start to move around as the temperatures began to warm. At the ranch it is of course The Full Lambing Moon as soon the ewes unload their cargo. And not a moment too soon as far as some of them are concerned.

Last week was a cold one and thankfully not one where we were lambing. Temperatures were even below normal for early January. While temperatures were cold, they didn’t reach the predicted overnight lows Friday night. Nor was there much snow. For the month thus far we have tallied about 9” of snow with 6” – 7” of that coming early in the month. Frost depth continued to head downwards however from 12” at the SROC on the 8th, back to 13” on the 15th. As an anecdotal reference, the walk-in door on the barn at the ranch is beginning to get sticky, something it does as the frost gets deeper. It tends to heave the frame up on the bottom as a result. Typically it gets to the point where the only thing that will keep it shut on a windy day is a good old fashioned bungee strap.

Tuesday afternoon will be shearing time at the ranch with the ewes having won a reprieve after the temperatures were so cold over the weekend. There should be only 40 or so to do so it should go relatively quickly. Probably the biggest hang-up has been trying to keep the ewes out of the snow prior to shearing. The little nuisance snowfall events have provided just enough snow to make the wool wet if we don’t shut them in ahead of time. The shearer doesn’t like it, the catcher doesn’t like it, the bagger doesn’t like it and the mills don’t like getting moldy wool. Can’t blame any of them. It’s not good to keep bred ewes cooped up though for long periods of time so getting the shearing done will make all parties concerned breathe a collective sigh of relief. Fun to observe; not so fun to be a participant.

Luckily the Gopher women’s basketball team has provided something to look forward to all winter long. Having been fortunate enough to attend several games and watch most of the rest on TV has made the winter seem to fly by. I do have to laugh at some of the BTN commentary however. They have generally given the Gopher’s very little credit all season long aside from Rachel Banham’s scoring prowess and occasionally the one-two punch of Rachel Banham and Carlie Wagner. Last Sunday while watching the Nebraska-Michigan St. game they tried to make it sound as if the Gopher’s 110 - 73 mauling of Nebraska back on the 11th was some kind of a fluke. Even Monday night they seemed preoccupied with putting Iowa into the NCAA tournament for much of the game. Funny how it suddenly stopped when Banham put a dagger in their heart with a last second 3 ball to win the game. As one fan said: “There! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!” The only thing worse has been BTN’s network hockey coverage. It’s as bland and stale as a piece of white bread left out on the counter for three weeks. Watching the Ohio State band perform during the intermission between periods? Give me a break. Makes me long for the good ol’ days of the WCHA.

Ruby is working on surviving another Westminster Dog Show. One more night and she should be in the clear. This is the only dog we’ve ever had that pays much attention to the TV. Even as a kid I don’t recall the dogs barking or growling at anything on the tube. I’m sure the advent of the HD signal probably has something to do with it. The agility trial on Saturday night served as a warmup for her. All the action and movement probably catches her attention more than just the handlers taking the dog around the show ring in a circle. The dogs Ruby gets most vocal about? No real clear pattern although her favorite is usually the Border Collie.

See you next week…real good then.

[Bobby Bass]

Dotch, what kind of money do you see for wool, I don't have a clue but I am guessing there must be enough there to cover the cost of getting blindsided by a ram every now and then

[Dotch]

4 hours ago, Bobby Bass said:

Dotch, what kind of money do you see for wool, I don't have a clue but I am guessing there must be enough there to cover the cost of getting blindsided by a ram every now and then

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but I was trying to defend my honor over in the cooking threads. Rough crowd I tell ya! I haven't seen the "huge" check yet but I suspect we'll probably get somewhere in the neighborhood of $.50 - $.60/lb for it. Cheviots are a smaller breed so each critter will probably shear an average of 5 - 6 lbs and the fleeces are very light and fluffy this year. Part of that is we are extremely fussy about keeping the fleeces clean.There are some show animals in there too that were washed and trimmed so they don't have a full year's growth on them. It costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 - $6 per head to shear them by the time you pay a catcher. These are meat sheep so the wool is not where the money is; it's more of a cost of doing business. Some spinners like our wool since it is so clean and we do sell some of the nicer fleeces from time to time for more than the shearer will pay. This is especially true for the black/natural colored fleeces. The things spinners have made us as gifts are amazing and absolutely beautiful. We are truly blessed to have friends like these. 

[Dotch]

Wind is so cold, is that the reason?

The scurs may have been premature in their pronouncement that winter was on the ropes. Will the Weather Eye return to its former glory or will the scurs be making another parts run? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny Friday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the mid-teens. Monday, partly cloudy and warmer with highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the low single digits. Mostly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the low 20’s and lows in the upper teens. We will go over 11 hours of daylight on the 26th, with the sun rising before 7 a.m. on the 25th, and setting after 6 p.m. on the 29th. The normal high for March 1st is 33 and the normal low is 16. These temperatures compare to what we typically see around the end of November. The scurs are confident that March will most likely come in like a slightly chilled lamb.

A drastic change in the weather quickly melted much of our snow from about midweek until the present. While windy and cloudy conditions didn’t allow it to feel as warm as forecast, the snow cover has receded. Most  snow now resides in road ditches, windbreaks, and around building sites Presently by all calculations there is less than an inch of snow depth on average. Geese were seen overhead on the 18th and a mass exodus of fish houses from St. Olaf Lake was noted on the 19th. A robin was heard at the ranch on the 20th. Frost depth has begun to change as measured at the SROC. Last week it measured 13” and on Monday the 22nd, it had decreased to 11”. Grass under the snow still has a lot of green color to it in both the lawn and pasture at the ranch. It didn’t take long Monday morning and a few ewes decided it was green enough to be eating. That doesn’t take long especially if it’s on the other side of the fence.

Shearing happened last Tuesday and came off without a hitch although the older I get the longer it seems like it takes to get ready and clean up afterwards. Seems to be a pattern developing here. We had a great catcher and the shearer did his usual phenomenal job while we just tried to keep up with shots and pour on insecticide. Between the treatments and the cool weather this time of year, we haven’t seen anything resembling parasites and the animals generally have nice full fleeces. It’s probably been 45 years since I’ve seen a sheep tick. This was another year when the fleeces were lighter in weight than what we’d maybe like but they were also extremely clean. There was very little in the way of foreign material in them and they were very white. All except the black/natural colored fleeces of course.

Lambing season started in earnest on the 22nd with 2 sets of twin buck lambs. It was gratifying after having a single buck lamb born dead the week before. One always worries with a start like that and it didn’t make matters any better to see a ewe starting Monday morning then quit. When she wasn’t doing anything at noon, my fears rose that it would be time to fish some dead lambs out of her during evening chores. Not to worry. Sometimes it’s best not to mess with Mother Nature and let things take their course. Fortunately this turned out to be one of those times.

Letting the dogs out and checking for lambs at night then doing chores in the early morning makes for some good yet quick stargazing. In the dark early morning, Venus remains very prominent low in the eastern sky. As one ventures out at 10-ish in the evening, Jupiter has reappeared in the eastern sky and is very bright. The Big Dipper too is apparent in the northeastern sky and the handle end is down. It’s heading towards its spring position though where it is fabled that once it tips upside down, it empties it’s water upon the springtime landscape. 

The warmer temperatures seem to meet with everyone’s approval. As if on cue after last week’s mention of the Full Raccoon Moon, raccoons and skunks have begun to stir. Warm temps have awoken them and they’re no doubt scrounging for food and perhaps places to raise a new brood. Driving past the St. Olaf Lake Monday morning, there was already one raccoon fatality. A few miles up the road, a skunk was running down the middle of the Lake Road and took the first left past the golf course. He must’ve seen the road posting signs.

Fudgie and Ruby of course have liked the warmer temps too, excelling at getting muddy from head to toe in a matter of minutes. Now the ice patches have disappeared between the house and barn it is a fast track for a Border Colllie. Fortunately it’s been freezing up overnight so the mud isn’t always a factor. Scraping the yard down as I did before shearing really helped keep things from getting too far out of hand in the ice department. After all, a little mud we can deal with; the ice we’d rather not.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

It is the springtime of my loving - the second season I am to know

The scurs may need to do a little tweaking on the Weather Eye to keep it operating at peak performance. Will the adjustments get the temperatures warmer or are we stuck in the Kelvinator refrigerator/freezer? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of evening snow. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of rain and snow in the morning and a modest chance of snow in the afternoon and evening.  Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Saturday, mostly sunny and warmer with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Monday, partly sunny and warmer with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the low 40’s. We will go over 11½ hours of daylight on March 7th. The normal high for March 7th is 35 and the normal low is 19. The scurs are nearly certain we’re looking at an early start to the gardening season. Those seed packages for sale at Wagner’s don’t lie.

While March came in like a white (snowy) lamb we still have a pretty good shot of an earlier than normal start to spring at least on paper. The last remaining vestiges of the earlier snow became fewer and farther between last week. Ice remains on most area lakes although it isn’t safe enough to think about driving on anymore. There were still ice fishermen trying their luck yet on St. Olaf Lake Tuesday morning.  A week ago Monday at the SROC frost depth was measured at 11”. This past Monday they reported the frost to be out. I confirmed that at the ranch in the yard on the south facing slope Monday night. Using my trusty divining rod otherwise known as an electric fencepost I determined there was no resistance regardless of where I probed. However, the frost is not out completely in all areas as the yard on the northwest side of the house was still like concrete. And when it started to cool down in the evening, the soil began to refreeze on top rapidly.

Migrating birds lent credence to the notion that we may indeed be headed for an earlier than normal spring. Last week horned larks were in evidence on area roads. Flocks of geese increasing in size Saturday made one wonder where they were all going. A small flock of swans flew by the ranch the same morning. A few red-winged blackbirds appeared in the early afternoon flowed by some good sized flocks as the afternoon wore on. We had robins feasting on the leftover crabapples and they were bobbing along the pasture making me wonder if the frost was out yet already. Of course even if it was, the temperatures were likely too cold yet for much earthworm activity.

Lambing season at the ranch always reminds one that spring will eventually be on the way. The lambing pens are starting getting full and it’s time to start moving some down to the main barn to make space. It definitely makes chores more efficient feeding larger groups as opposed to little individual pens. The dogs usually look forward to this activity as it gives them some sense of purpose. Being that 3rd and 4th “person” does make a difference. Of course they are always ready to “help” and sometimes they actually do. Not having to get off the skidloader to close a gate is a nice perk. Keeping the cat “herded” is also a plus. Helps us avoid stepping on the poor thing when it gets underfoot as we’re carrying water buckets, feed pans and hay.

Saturday afternoon was a good time to get a start on the main fruit tree pruning. I’d done some major surgery earlier on some obnoxious crabapple trees after being mortally wounded mowing the lawn. It went fairly quickly on the smaller trees that we’ve been staying on top of. Their shape is nice so most of what needed to be done was to prune the excess sapwood. The Haralson presented a little more of a challenge. It got skipped a few years once upon a time and since it’s a lot older hence larger, it was more time consuming. I got the main trees done with the exception of the Fireside which will be a several hour long project. When I came to a stopping point I saw a sure sign of spring: A motorcyclist! Made me think about getting the Studebaker out. Seeing some water coming out in expansion joints on area roads made me reconsider that idea. It was likely laden with salt; certainly not worth the risk of getting it on a classic automobile.

Thinking about the Studebaker though reminded me that the upcoming week in March would bring about a significant date in the history of the former automobile manufacturer. 50 years ago, on March 4th, 1966 Studebaker announced that they would be ceasing automobile production at their sole remaining plant in Hamilton Ontario Canada. It came as little surprise as the company had been reeling when they closed the main plant in South Bend IN in December of 1963. Sales and profits had plummeted further since that time leaving the company little alternative. The local dealership in my hometown, Marzolf Implement closed the automobile portion of their dealership and focused primarily on selling Allis Chalmers agricultural equipment. The owner’s kids however drove one of the later model Studebakers for several years. With all the salt, the body looked a little rough but it must’ve been a tough little car recalling some of the treatment it received. Those models in particular obviously had not yet become valuable collector cars back in the 1970’s. It’s a different story today and some of us old-timers who were driving those old cars are now on the lookout for them. Gotta have fun somehow.

See you next week…real good then. 

[Dotch]

Whoa, we're half way there…

The scurs tweaking on the Weather Eye made everyone happy. Temps over the weekend and early week were well above normal as advertised. Will our trek towards an early spring continue or is trouble looming on the horizon? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly sunny Friday with a slight chance of evening showers. Highs in the low 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Saturday, partly sunny and warmer with a modest chance of showers. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the low 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny and warmer with a slight chance of a morning shower. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the mid-40’s. The normal high for March 13th is 38 and the normal low is 21. The scurs are thinking the ice fishing season is about shot. You’ll just have to settle for store-bought ice from now on.

Time for the dreaded time change once again over the weekend. Many crabby, tired people cheated out of another hour of sleep. Oh but it’s so nice to have that extra hour at night some say. It is? All that tends to happen is we stay outside and work for an extra hour after getting up and bumbling around an hour earlier in the dark for a few weeks. I have an idea: Since some of these presidential candidates are such a bunch of brain surgeons (actually the brain surgeon dropped out), why don’t they come out against this foolishness and see how many votes it would get them? At least promise to leave it one way or the other. They’d have my vote.

Another weekend of phenomenal weather for early March. It was nice last week that it at least stayed frozen in the mornings and into the afternoon in some cases, allowing for some manure hauling to take place. The weekend warmth along with the breezes changed the landscape quickly. Snow is a rare sight, having retreated to some fencelines, tall grass areas, windbreaks and north sides of buildings. At the ranch there are vestigial snow piles that are disappearing rapidly. Not a lot of sod or gravel in them either which is a good thing. However it appears I did do a pretty good job of thatching the yard while I was at it. I’m sure it needed it.

One possible concern in the fields for those with cattle or sheep though is the breaking of dormancy by the alfalfa. If daytime temperatures continue on their present trajectory, odds are it will happen soon. Not a bad thing necessarily although if temperatures are to suddenly nosedive, it could put the crop in jeopardy. Yes, if it kills out alternatives can be seeded. However, talking to most farmers over the years when this has happened, almost to a man they’d much rather have the alfalfa than some alternate source of forage. It’s an extra hassle and expense most would just as soon not incur.

The skies have definitely been full of signs of spring. Over the weekend, I saw killdeers could hear some sandhill cranes to the south of us. An eagle has been making the rounds lately too, feeding on some roadkill deer on Steele Co. 21. Sunday I saw my first ducks of the spring flying in formation heading northwest. When I came outside for nighttime lamb check about 10 p.m. I could hear the whirring sound of their wings along with their quacking as they passed overhead. The local ponds weren’t open yet so it was hard to say exactly where they might be going. March 6th is awfully early for migrating ducks in SC MN. Usually we’re just talking about seeing robins. Incidentally, they officially have one snow on their tails to their credit.

In the lambing barn it looks like we’re about halfway there. We’ve processed one group and moved them in order to make room for the next wave. With the warm relatively dry weather, it has been easier going than some years. Probably the worst thing about it being warm is the ewes feel no obligation to go inside to lamb. It’s too warm inside and they can sneak off to lamb out in the pasture. It’s OK as long as there aren’t complications but when one has to coax the ewe up out of the pasture and into a pen, it gets old if it happens with any frequency. We’re not getting any younger.

We did have one ewe that complicated matters with a set of triplet buck lambs. She was an older model and wasn’t in good enough condition to handle all three. They were extremely aggressive and the ewe went down, almost smothering one of the lambs. Not wanting the headaches that go along with feeding three buck lambs, we called Auntie Mar Mar to see if her Mom, Agnes, might be interested in taking one or more of them. It sounded like she was up to the task and at last check was thrilled to have them. We were just tickled she’d take them.

Extra work is not something either of us need right now. Keeping the lambs already on the ground alive not to mention what’s still yet to come takes enough time as it is. Feeding 3 bottle lambs 4 – 5 times a day, multiplied by 15 – 20 minutes by the time you mix up the milk replacer, warm it up, walk out there, feed them, walk back in, clean the bottles out and put them in the rack to dry amounts to over an hour a day. They don’t give lamb milk replacer away either. It’s about double the cost of calf milk replacer. While we donated the first batch of milk replacer, we really appreciated Agnes’s kindness. It’s always comforting to know that the lambs went to a better home than we’d be able to provide them.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Stranded, caught in the crossfire 

The scurs and the Weather Eye continue to make weekend weather lovers happy. Temps over the weekend and early week were well above normal as advertised. Will satisfaction continue or will March be March again? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a moderate chance of changing to a rain-snow mix by evening. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of a rain-snow mix. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Partly sunny Friday with a slight chance of a rain-snow mix. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of rain and snow showers. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Monday, partly sunny and warmer with a slight chance of a morning shower. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the mid-30’s. We will see over 12 hours of daylight on St. Patrick’s Day, the first time since September 25th. The vernal equinox will occur on Saturday March 19th.The normal high for March 19th is 41 and the normal low is 24. The scurs still will be wearing the green from St. Patty’s Day while fielding the calls from chicken farmers due to their chickens being angry about their eggs standing on end.

Spring will officially arrive on the 19th although as most of us are aware, it’s been here for a while. The ice went out on St. Olaf Lake on Sunday and on Beaver Lake on Monday. It’s getting tougher to find those last remaining patches on snow on the north sides of fencelines and groves. Yards and lawns have firmed up nicely and it appears that the frost is out in most area fields. The rainfall Saturday night and early Sunday didn’t amount to much so those who were counting on it to even any d remaining frost out were probably disappointed. Overall our March precipitation has been lagging. Normal for the month at the SROC in Waseca is 2.49”. As of Monday night at the ranch, we had recorded only .24”. This is not a bad thing as the soils remain wet underneath in many areas. Wetter conditions are forecast in the near term so we’ll likely make some headway towards the averages soon.

At the ranch the ewes continue to deliver more lambs in a gradual pattern. We’re nearing the three-quarter done mark so it won’t be long and they should all be on the ground. The creep feeder was set up in the main barn and the area expanded so all the ewes with lambs should eventually fit. Managed to get the electric fence up and charged on Saturday the 12th, marking another early date for that.  Of course the lambs enjoy having more freedom to run and move about without their mothers on their case, not unlike most humans I suspect. They certainly put on a show for anyone happening by or watching on Saturday. We were able to dock tails and move more ewes with lambs on Sunday so not a moment too soon. Sure makes chores go more smoothly.

The wildlife has also been responding to the early spring-like conditions. Grilling on Sunday night, I was entertained by the sounds of Canada geese on the pond and Hungarian partridge creeping around in the plum and sumac thicket about dark. Also heard from the pond area was the faint sound of the western chorus frogs. It apparently hasn’t been quite warm enough for them to crank it up full volume just yet. Give them time and am sure they’ll be shrieking once it warms up for good.

Have been picking at the tree pruning as the month continues to roll on. Got the pear trees done and did some surgery on some of the wild plums that seemed to be in attack mode much of the lawn mowing season. Of course mowing as frequently as we did last year didn’t help matters. The Fireside tree is all that remains. Oddly enough looking back at last year’s column about the same time, it was the last tree then too. With good reason: It has enough out of control sapwood growing on it so it almost looks like hair. After pruning the Haralson as I did, it should make it easier to get at the Fireside this time. More wood for grilling.

March 16th 1966 marks a watershed date in the history of US transportation: Studebaker officially ceased manufacture of automobiles. As mentioned a few weeks ago, the announcement had come on March 5th although the last car rolled off the line on the 16th. What brought this very old transportation company to its knees? After all, Studebaker had been a major wagon and carriage builder in the 1800’s. Many of the wagons used by the Union Army in the Civil War were manufactured by Studebaker not to mention countless wagons associated with the westward expansion by the settlers. Studebaker had been a pioneer also in electric cars at one time and a styling leader, with many of the trends it started being copied and implemented by the Big Three. In “More Than They Promised: The Studebaker Story” Thomas E. Bonsall devotes a chapter on his thoughts of what caused Studebaker to cease auto production.  While they are opinion, they tend to be backed up with facts and data.

Coming out of WWII, Studebaker was a hot brand.  After building thousands of military trucks, amphibious vehicles and B-17 aircraft engines for the war effort, they were the first company to come with new automobile styling postwar. Tired of the war, people were ready for something fresh and new. They bought them like hotcakes. Studebaker’s low level of productivity relative to the Big Three was to become their Achilles’ heel. While avoiding strikes, the company had been lax on labor, allowing low productivity in favor of high volume.  This would later cost them dearly. The redesign of the ’53 product line also came into play. The coupes were beautiful and exciting, selling well. The overall market for coupes was limited however. The Baby Boom was on and the demand for larger family cars was part of it. Studebaker’s sedans and wagons were dumpy looking and unpopular. In some cases they were on a shorter wheelbase than the coupes.

Overall sales and profits plummeted. The Ford-General Motors sales war in the ‘50’s caused companies like Nash-Rambler and Studebaker to become caught in the crossfire. This robbed Studebaker of the high volume they’d relied upon. Their dealer network was also weak making matters worse. From 1953 – 1955, Studebaker lost two-thirds of its market share. Low volume and high cost of production are not an equation for success. Aside from the blip on the radar with the introduction of the Lark in 1959, it was mostly downhill after that. While Studebaker manufactured some classic automobiles in the 50’s and 60’s such as the Starlight Coupe, the Hawk series and the Avanti, the public was convinced that if they purchased one, they’d be left with an orphan automobile. When the lights finally went out in Hamilton Ontario, the end had been coming for some time.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Oh me, Oh my, Love that country pie 

The scurs and the Weather Eye received hate mail after Friday night’s snowfall event. Will they get more hate mail after Wednesday or will it be June all the sudden? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain changing to snow in the forenoon. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of a rain snow mix. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Cloudy Friday with a modest chance of a rain-snow mix by evening. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of rain and snow showers. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Monday, sunny and warmer with highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Continued sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. The normal high for March 27th is 46 and the normal low is 27. The sun will rise once again at 7 a.m. on the 29th, the same as it did back on February 24th. What the…? The scurs are thinking that the only good thing about it is that it’s “free”.

The Full Moon for the month of March will occur on the 23rd and is known by several names. The Full Worm Moon is common as it’s in this moon that earthworms make their way to the surface and begin leaving their casts as well as providing food for hungry robins and other birds. It also goes by the Full Sap Moon for the sap running in the maple trees boiled down to make maple syrup. The Ojibwe called this the Snow Crust Moon and the Sioux, the Moon When Buffalo Cows Drop Their Calves. At the ranch, it is The Moon of Wet Stinky Border Collies.

Not much progress towards planting season was made this past week. The Friday snowfall varied across the area with up to 7” reported by Betsy’s dad northwest of Bugtussle, 5” reported in Bugtussle proper and about 3” at the ranch. It melted down to about .27” of liquid equivalent precipitation at the ranch. It was apparent too that the snowfall amount was greater in Bugtussle than at the ranch as the snow on the north sides of buildings and trees took longer to melt off as Monday wore on. Fields also remained shiny so any notion of fieldwork was quickly put to rest. The ground Monday morning was frozen solid however allowing one last chance for manure hauling if need be. I did notice some corn being planted the other day however. A squirrel was busily planting kernel after kernel in the yard. Apparently he was unaware that crop insurance coverage doesn’t kick in until April 11th.

Around the ranch the flora and fauna are starting to come to life. Pocket gophers are building mounds in the pasture. The buds on the lilac are swollen as are those on the maple trees. The rhubarb continues to ever so slowly break dormancy while the chipmunks and striped gophers pick up the seed spilled nearby from the barrage of house sparrows. A brown creeper was checking the ash trees for insects on Wednesday. A cardinal graced us with his song on occasion over the weekend at the ranch although I think he lives at neighbor David’s as the song emanates from there most frequently. Rooster pheasants can be heard crowing across the landscape with numerous hens residing in the CRP here. A Harris’s sparrow was seen on Saturday, earlier than what I’ve come to expect, making me wonder if the weather will suddenly break, bringing the orioles and hummingbirds with it. One can always hope.

Got the last apple tree pruned on Sunday. The Fireside tree has about 25 years under its belt so it’s a fully mature tree. It also avoided being pruned for a few years a while back so it takes some time even though I’ve been religious about it for roughly 15 years or so. This was a major pruning although if something happens to the tree, it can be replaced. A lot of wood came off of it so that should keep my supply for grilling stocked for quite some time. It should also help protect my melon from being bruised during mowing and allow the headphones to remain on my head. Both the Haralson and the Fireside are pruned to the point that not much reaching is required to pick most of the apples. That’s the way it should be. When in doubt, take it out.

We’re over the ¾ done mark on the lambing now. We’ve been at it a month now and it has gone by fairly quickly. We lambed during some of the warmest conditions I can recall for February and March to the point that some of the lambs were dropped outside rather than in the barn. Doesn’t help matters that the ewes are convinced there’s enough grass to make it worth grazing the pasture already. We had a set of triplets born out of a black or natural colored ewe born in the feedlot. Luckily it was about 50 degrees with no rain. There were two white lambs and one black lamb. The black gene is a recessive that shows up here when the ewe and the ram each carry at least one of the recessive alleles. If one or the other carry both as in the case of the black ewes, it increases the odds. White wool of course was selected for as it would take dyes better resulting in more vivid colors. The black lamb was a buck of course but our plan is to hang onto him and use him on a select group of ewes to see if we replenish our black ewes supply. They’re always a conversation piece and more than once we’re told by passersby that they look for the black ewes interspersed on the hillside. Oddly enough when asked how many they would like, we get no takers.

Auntie Mar Mar came to visit on Sunday and brought with her a batch of bars made from a new recipe. She had us guessing what kind of berries the bars were made of though after previously making blueberry and raisin bars. Turned out these were made from aronia berries that she’d gotten from someone at work. Just so happens we have a whole row of them about 100’ long. Since there’s nothing else to eat back there when I mow the windbreak, I snack on the berries. They pucker you up but they’re supposed to be good for you, containing lots of antioxidants. When a little sugar is added and they’re substituted into a bar recipe, they become a culinary delight. Can’t wait to see what happens when Mar Mar decides to work her magic on an aronia pie recipe. Even more of a good thing made even better with a little ice cream.  

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Ship of fools on a cruel sea, ship of fools sail away from me.

The scurs and the Weather Eye continue to receive hate mail after Wednesday night’s snowfall event. Are we done with winter finally or is another encore performance (or two) waiting in the wings? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of a rain in the forenoon. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Partly sunny Friday with highs in the upper 30’s and  lows in the upper 20’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-40’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the low 30’s. Monday, cloudy and warmer with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the low 30’s. Continued cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the low 40’s. The normal high for April 1st is 49 and the normal low is 29. We continue to gain daylight at about three minutes per day. The scurs are thinking maybe by fixing the dome light in the ’74 where the Weather Eye emanated from we will see more sun next week. That ship may have sailed. April Fools!

We certainly are stuck on some cloudy weather. There are anecdotal indications that all is not well in flyover land. From livestock health issues to vitamin D and human depression issues, this has been a tough one. Our old pal the polar vortex has been bandied about recently as well, leading some to believe that in spite of better than even odds of above normal temperatures forecast by NOAA, we may see a chilly start to particularly the first half of April. Take heart however. Planting much before about the 20th has shown little or no benefit most years so if it can get it out of its system by then we should be fine. Fretting about it won’t change it and planting in mud early is a guaranteed disaster.

Some have wondered about all the “free” nitrogen we receive in the snowfall as someone in the news media usually gets wound up about that. Typically we receive somewhere in the vicinity of 10 – 12 lbs./acre of nitrogen from atmospheric sources over the course of an entire year’s precipitation. The nitrogen received is fairly minimal per precipitation event so like most other things, not much in life is really “free”.

Now, if someone wants some “free” sod, I have lots after “freeing” it from my yard with the tractor and bucket. Last week’s snowfall measured about 7.5” at the ranch with what appeared to be roughly that at the Mall for Men. It was some wet, heavy slop and with the rain that preceded it, totaled about .83” of liquid equivalent. For March snowfall, we’ve now received a hair over the 30 year average (1981 – 2010) at the SROC with 12.5” having been measured at the ranch. Total precip-wise we are still roughly a half inch behind the SROC average with that being likely to change after this reaches print. It really doesn’t matter at this point. The soil profile is saturated; with temperatures remaining cool and skies cloudy with not much for drying winds, it will take a few days for conditions to become fit.

I am convinced this was one of the reasons farmers used to have livestock: To keep them busy enough so they didn’t have time to venture forth until field conditions were truly ready. At the ranch, the end of lambing season is drawing near. Only a handful of ewes remain left to lamb so working in the garden is unlikely to happen until that occurs. The lambs are growing well although they too would appreciate some extended warm, dry weather to run and hop around. The pasture has greened up nicely however so once the snow left, the ewes left to lamb aren’t wasting any time to sneak off and grab as much of the new forage as possible.

The snow did make it a little more difficult for some of the birds to find their favorite food, namely earthworms. Fear not however. Just as at the ranch, there are numerous berry bushes and trees that sustain them through such occurrences. And if there isn’t, they fly someplace where there is. We did finally catch a glimpse of the male cardinal after hearing him singing much of the past couple weeks. He was sticking close to the protection of the brush pile although we still haven’t seen him at the feeders.

Saturday we did our agri-tourism bit with my brother and his family including a great niece who wasn’t even two yet coming down from the Twin Cities to feed the bottle lambs. Little Everly was the star of the show, getting to pet the little black lamb named Goober in the lambing barn and bottle feed the little as yet unnamed buck lamb in the main barn. Maybe call him “Clint” after the man with no name from the spaghetti westerns. After that we headed to The Willows for a little lunch and Everly entertained the waitress. It was a fun day and the weather even cooperated, the rain holding off until later that evening.

Easter Sunday of course meant church and after hauling a few flowers around, Mrs. Cheviot decided it was a good day to hit the Easter brunch afterward. I wasn’t arguing. A long week of evening chores by myself as well as moving snow, etc., had me in no mood to work at grilling a meal. That worked. After we got that accomplished we fed the bottle lambs and settled in to watch the replay of the Gopher women’s hockey team winning the national championship. Luckily I knew ahead of time they had scored right away so was able to pencil in an hour and a half powernap until the 3rd period when I knew they scored again, eventually winning 3 - 1. Forewarned is forearmed I always say.

See you next week…real good then

[Dotch]

White bird in a golden cage, alone.

The scurs are starting to wonder if the Weather Eye is hooked to the brakes somehow based on the spring weather. It definitely has been stubborn since about mid-March. Will it put its foot on the gas finally or do the brake adjustment wheels need a shot of PB Blaster? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain turning to a rain/snow mix by evening. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of rain/snow mix in the forenoon. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the low 30’s. Monday, cloudy and slightly cooler with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Continued cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the upper 30’s. The normal high for April 8th is 53 and the normal low is 32. We are back to over 13 hours of daylight on April 6th about the same as we were on September 4th. The scurs could use a Labor Day break after slaving over this forecast.

More rainfall this past week sent us well into the “slightly above normal” category for March. At the ranch we garnered 2.86” of total liquid precip, with 12.6” of snow for the month. April started out in similar fashion with .4” recorded from last Thursday’s rain. Saturday was cool and blustery while Sunday got us to 73 degrees under breezy conditions at the ranch. Although this dried the surface out nicely, underneath the soil remains pretty sticky in many places. Cooler temperatures and a wintry mix for the week don’t bode well for large amounts of fieldwork being accomplished anytime soon. While our possible early spring has disintegrated to some extent, it also remains entirely possible that it could turn and suddenly when it does. Stay tuned.

Sunday’s wind did allow for some gardening on the south facing slope. Got a few radishes put in the ground as a germination check if nothing else. Radishes are among our favorite early vegetables. With several packages of seed that were a year or two old it made for a nice experiment. If they don’t come up, they can easily be tossed and replaced with newer seed that will. The soil was in nice shape so just taking the garden rake over the surface, scattering the seed in the worked bed was enough once tamped in firmly.

Another set of triplets from a black ewe made us wonder if we should be buying lottery tickets. Oddly enough, it was the same assortment we got out of a different black ewe a couple weeks ago: a black buck lamb and two white ewe lambs. The odds of this happening are somewhat unusual especially in the same season. They are doing well and the weather has been somewhat cooperative lately. Cool but generally dry. At least it’s not below zero so the ewe has been able to keep up with their demands. We’re down to one ewe left to lamb that’s close enough so we can tell anyway. It’s been a long haul since February 22nd and it’s time to put a fork in it.

Saturday allowed me to start the Silver Hawk and proceed to get it out to limber it up. Cranking it over didn’t seem to be producing the desired results so a little splash of gas down the 2-barrel carb was in order. After the initial fireball it started right up. Always a good idea to have an operational fire extinguisher nearby-which I did. A quick drive up to the “T” and back confirmed that all was as I left it last November. Sunday made for a better opportunity to take a short spin after the Lions pancake feed so stopped by Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer’s house. Didn’t want him worrying that I hadn’t made it out yet. After that I made my way to the local sheep shearer to chit chat and watch his lambs. Can never get enough lamb watching I always say. Once home, it was time to wipe the bugs off the white bird and put it back in its cage. Driving the Stude is a little like the bathtub when I was a kid: Once I get in I don’t want to get out. At least I don’t look like a prune, yet.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention something about the loss of a great man in our community, Darrol Sponberg. The personal kindnesses that he bestowed upon us at the ranch will never be forgotten. When a storm ripped our place apart, he came over with his backhoe and cleaned a lot of the mess up and charged us next to nothing. In the 90’s, we were frequently showing sheep into November for the NAILE in Louisville. Winter seemed to set in early often in those years. He allowed us to bring our pickup and trailer into his large shop with floor heat to wash and dry the animals rather than trying to do it in the cold. We thought we’d died and gone to heaven. In those years we had a great deal of success and Darrol was a large part of it. And he was always genuinely interested in how we did. It was as though our success was a reflection on him. We were proud and so was he.

Last summer when the car club visited the care center, it was so good of Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer to wheel Darrol out to see the cars. He really appreciated it although I’m sure he would’ve rather been behind the wheel of one. When we held the most recent Lions pancake feed it seemed odd not to see Darrol there taking tickets. I still recall one time when they were short of help and despite his bad knees, Darrol jumped in to flip French toast when someone didn’t show up. I know it stiffens my knees up and I can’t imagine how he must’ve hurt after that. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to who he was. Always willing to help out, not afraid of hard work and getting his hands dirty. We could use a lot more Darrol’s right about now the way I see it.

See you next week…real good then.

 

[Dotch]

Cos I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but me

With small glimpses of spring here and there, the scurs suspect the Weather Eye is about to cut loose with some nicer forecasts. It’s about time but will it last? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s.Partly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Monday, mostly cloudy and slightly cooler with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with a continued modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. The normal high for April 15th is 57 and the normal low is 35. We’ll see the sun set at 8 o’clock on April 16th. The scurs will be exhausted after paying for the “free stuff” on Tax Day that everyone is being promised.

Fieldwork was scattered at best last week. Some anhydrous ammonia was applied and fertilizer spread but generally fieldwork was on hold with spring in suspended animation. Some always behave as though the calendar is a month or more ahead of the actual date and that’s fine. Someone has to plant first even though there is no award ceremony for it. Planting on Monday the 11th or afterwards allows the crop insurance to kick in for replanting so it’s all good. Very little weed growth thus far to no one’s surprise. Cold temperatures last week and scattered snow showers not to mention frozen soil a couple 18 degree lows have had everyone wondering when this pattern will change. Hopefully by the time this reaches print, the cold will be a fleeting memory. Luckily in spite of the cold temps, it has been relatively dry and the gusty winds have dried the soil more than one might imagine. It’s still sticky underneath in places but if worked at a reasonable depth, it should allow one to at least contemplate planting corn.

Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer made a stop to discuss old cars and left me with some notes on what to look for in the heavens at night courtesy of the Steele Co. Astronomical Society. The night skies were cloudy much of the month of March but the near term. April forecast so far looks more promising for stargazing. Jupiter is the most prominent feature in the southern sky at dusk, with the planet being about halfway up. Look for Jupiter to be in close conjunction just below the crescent moon on the 17th Mars and Saturn rise around midnight but can be seen most easily in the hour or more before sunrise low in the southern sky. Mars will increase in brightness each night. It will be almost as bright as Jupiter by the end of May.

Seeing the anhydrous tanks going by on Sunday had me in full yard clean up mode. Got the last of the crushed rock and sod piles taken care of then re-landscaped the area on both sides of the sidewalk, something that needed to be done to improve water flow if nothing else. The brush from the apple pruning was also loaded on the Gator and the batteries installed in both lawnmowers. At least it looked like we were making progress. Just have to pick up the sticks in the backyard so they don’t go through the vinyl siding and we’ll be golden. While assessing that situation, I spied the first dandelion of the season growing out of the foundation on the south side of the house. Maybe spring will come after all.

Both dogs had a big day Sunday. The mud has largely dried up and the sun was periodically shining making it ideal for them to be outside. Anytime though you start up as many machines with small engines as we have it’s bound to get them excited. There are after all a lot of tires to bite. There was also an opportunity for them to show off their Border Collie talents. Had to make a trip through the feedlot gate with some brush and Fudgie was on hand to make sure the ewes didn’t get any ideas about coming out. Ruby ran back and forth frantically in front of the opening too so pretty sure the sheep didn’t know which dog was which. All they knew was it’s simply not worth the effort when the dogs are on patrol.

Lambing at the ranch finally came to an end last Wednesday so another year of fun and games is over. There are somewhere in the vicinity of 50 lambs running around. They were tickled when the Big Dubya came by Saturday and plopped a round bale in their lot. Not only did it give them something more to nosh, it provided another object for their obstacle course.

The birds have made some subtle indications that the season may be about to turn the corner. An eastern meadowlark can be heard singing on calm mornings and flickers have been moving through. A yellow-bellied sapsucker appeared on Saturday and the chickadees are singing their springtime song. The most pleasant surprise was the sighting of a pair of goldfinches. The male was a little splotchy yet but there was no mistaking the bright yellow that was starting to emerge. There are still juncos yet although the Harris’s sparrow has been with them occasionally. Have also heard some white throated sparrows vocalizing in the windbreak. Had better have my grape jelly and sugar water ready just in case the orioles and hummingbirds are not far behind.

See you next week…real good then.

 

[Dotch]

Very superstitious, nothin' more to say (4/20)

The scurs had the Weather Eye set on high last week and it showed. Spring had truly sprung. Can we expect to continue wearing shorts or will it be back to reality? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Thursday, cloudy with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a modest chance for showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of evening showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly cloudy and slightly cooler with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with a continued modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. The normal high for April 21st is 60 and the normal low is 38. The scurs will try next to hook the headlights up to the Weather Eye in order to get more sun and less clouds. Being a mushroom is overrated.

We’ve come to yet another Full Moon on April 21st. It is commonly called the Full Pink Moon due to the wildflowers that bloom by that name. It also goes by The Full Sprouting Grass Moon and The Full Egg Moon. The Ojibwe called it the Broken Snowshoe Moon and the Sioux called it The Moon of Greening Grass. Indeed many including those of us at the ranch can agree with the Sioux as we call it The Moon of the 1st Lawn Mowing.

Tremendous progress was made in the fields last week as corn planters rolled under sunny skies and warm temperatures. Soil conditions were ideal for planting and despite the early calendar date most at least started and in some cases wrapped up their corn planting. There are some soybeans in the ground and although the replant portion of the crop insurance doesn’t kick in until April 21st, the crop is otherwise still covered. Corn has germinated planted Wednesday the 13th and has a radicle about ¾” long on it. Some concern has been expressed that it is too dry. Careful what you wish for.

 We had much the same scenario in March with scant precipitation falling the first half of the month. Precipitation actually ended up being above normal for the month in the southern half of the county thanks to abundant rain and snowfall. It also cooled off and temperatures went back to normal to below normal for the last half of March. There is plenty of soil moisture below the top couple inches. The profile was full down to the 5’ level at the SROC in Waseca as of April 1st. Yes it has dried out on top but we needed it to. We also needed it to warm up. As recently as the 13th, the low air temperature recorded was in the upper teens and soil temperatures at 2” average 40 degrees. While some still remain obsessed with knowing the average soil temperature this time of year, it really isn’t that critical. The calendar and soil conditions tell you it’s time to put corn in the ground if you haven’t already.

The local fauna serves as a reminder that spring is on the move. New arrivals included the tree swallows last Friday and a brown thrasher. Chipping, Harris’s, white-throated and song sparrows all made appearances under the feeders along with a lone female purple finch. It shouldn’t be too long before the first orioles and hummingbirds arrive. The jelly feeder was dusted off and put in place in anticipation. The bluebird houses were readied quickly and a check on the wood duck houses revealed that they were already occupied. Luckily the houses had been looked over last fall and cleaned out pretty well. The wood ducks took it upon themselves to evict the deer mice that had squatted in the nesting boxes over winter so all was well. There were six eggs in one box and seven in another.

The chorus frogs with the recent warm nights have made themselves heard and loudly. Heading out to feed the bottle lambs into the open or grilling on the patio, the noise is almost deafening. Was wondering if the recent low temperatures in the teens had perhaps thinned their ranks. We were still breaking ice out of water buckets yet last week. If the racket emanating from the wetland was any indication would have to say the answer is “no”.

At the ranch it’s been time to do some odd jobs although the garden hasn’t moved to the top of the list just yet. Cleaning up the plethora of small sticks in the backyard so they don’t make Swiss cheese out of the vinyl siding when the mower hits them was higher priority. We got all the lambs docked, vaccinated and tagged so they were moved to the main barn Saturday. Small pens slow everything down at chore time. They were happy to have more room and displayed their pleasure by running and hopping. That makes everyone happy. It was tempting to remove the tree wrap on all the trees although in the past, doing that on the small whips has yielded disappointing results. A small bunny just outside the front door served as a reminder as to why. Not superstitious but also haven’t taken the chains off the tractor yet. In the past, removing them much before about May 1st has meant a surprise snowstorm of a major magnitude. And some years, even that’s too soon.

See you next week…real good then.

Then the lights begin to flicker and the sound is getting dim 

The scurs had the Weather Eye working on more sunshine and it delivered, especially towards the week’s end. Will spring continues to march along or are we looking at a temporary setback? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, cloudy with a modest chance of showers. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the mid 40’s. Partly sunny Friday with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with another good chance for showers. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, partly sunny with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. On the 27th we surpass 14 hours of daylight for the first time since last August 15th.  The normal high for April 30th is 64 and the normal low is 42. The scurs are awaiting the arrival of their first May  basket. It’s been a long time since Easter.

After some cooler temps and rainfall recorded the 21st and 22nd, fieldwork got underway again over the weekend allowing many to finish up their corn planting. Corn planted on April 11th at the SROC was beginning to emerge as of Monday the 25th. Some area corn planted the 13th and 14th could be seen poking through behind building sites and groves where sheltered from the wind allowing more GDU’s to accumulate. Rains on Sunday night helped alleviate the worries of some that had corn in dry soil and activated their pre emerge chemicals. Rainfall gauges generally measured rainfall in the .5” - .8” range. Best of all, the rain fell in two different batches so it had time to soak in.

Speaking of rain gauges, through the courtesy of the Waseca Co. Planning and Zoning, we are now recording rainfall amounts officially at the Mall for Men. Rainfall is reported daily and we try to have the gauge read shortly after 8 a.m. every day. The results are recorded on a paper data sheet as backup but are put online daily on the State Climatology page. For those who are “old school” it is also recorded on the calendar on my office door. To access this information online go to: http://www.climate.umn.edu/climatology.htm

Click on the colored “MNgage” line, click on “browse”, type “Waseca” into the box where it asks for the county, then click on the “find county” box and the Waseca Co. gauge reports should appear. The results for the most recent New Richland readings can be found by clicking on the current month in the slot for New Richland s17. If you peruse the rest of the page you’ll also discover that it’s a treasure trove of weather and climate information.

More sure signs that spring is here to stay include the siting of our first toad on the 23rd. They can now be heard trilling in the wetland as the sound of the chorus frogs is beginning to dim. Red admiral butterflies are also numerous, sunning themselves on the west side of the house in the late afternoon. More birds are moving through although no orioles just yet. Looking back at last year, they were here about May 2nd. Not taking any chances and the jelly has been out for over a week now.

Robins are in full nest building mode with the recent rain providing mortar for their mud lined grass nests. A lone pine siskin was sharing the thistle feeder with the goldfinches on the 19th. The male goldfinches continue to gain brightness, adding some color to what has been a bland landscape other than the green grass. The plums burst into bloom over the weekend and the crabapples will be right on their heels. Barn swallows returned on Saturday. Had a hen pheasant fly into the barn and break her neck on Sunday. That same afternoon, a rooster was strutting across the pasture, letting us know the species would carry on. Likewise a pair of Hungarian partridge got up from their dust bath as I was heading toward the black cutworm monitoring trap. Love is in the air.

Ruby and Fudgie got their shots out of the way at the vaccination clinic on the 19th without fanfare. They are surprisingly well behaved in a group setting since they spend very little time on a leash or around other dogs. They seem to know the drill however so it’s just another opportunity to go for a ride for Fudgie and more petting for Ruby, the attention whore. Once home again, Fudgie is content to lie on the porch overlooking the pasture while Ruby stands outside the garage door waiting for someone to come out to do chores.

Last Saturday meant getting the lawnmowers out to mow so it took a while to air up the tires, grease and blow the dust off them. Border Collie sensory overload. Apparently Ruby had not been exposed to the air hose before as she was just bonkers when it accidentally blew in her face. Fudgie was more in tune with just biting the tires in the meantime. Since the dust was glued on tighter than the air hose could remove, it became apparent that both mowers would benefit from a quick rinse. Ruby enjoys chasing the water stream so she also got a quick rinse. After that the official beginning of the tire biting and lawnmower herding season could commence.

Fudgie got a big day of traipsing back and forth and up and down the hill, after which she proceeded to flop on her pillow like a bag of dirt. Not bad for a dog going on 14 years old. Ruby on the other hand apparently needed more exercise and playing ball in the living room was more her speed. Until she saw her most recent TV “villain” came on: That strange “Puppy Monkey Baby”. She just comes unhinged if she happens to see that weird, mythical creature.  Add it to the list of the Hump Day Camel, the Spiriva Elephant, any horses, Julie Andrews, Clint Eastwood, etc. Just about the time we think we’ve seen Ruby’s goofiness in tis entirety, she digs a little deeper and comes up with more. She should probably be running for president.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

It's just a little rain oh yeah

Rough week for the scurs as the Weather Eye cranked out several rainy days, including a Saturday rainout for those planning on getting something done. Is spring back on track or are we going backwards again? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Sunny Friday with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Saturday, partly cloudy with modest chances for showers. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Monday, partly sunny with a modest chance of showers. Highs in the mid 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. The sun will rise at 6 a.m. on the 5th. The normal high for May 8th is 67 and the normal low is 45. Mother’s Day has the scurs wondering when the fishing opener is.

Fieldwork came to a general standstill last week as showers invaded once again on April 28th and 29th, coming back for an encore performance as mentioned over the weekend. The weekend showers turned out more generous than forecast so plans of getting back in the fields for most the early part of the week vanished. Corn has begun to emerge even though the temperatures haven’t been real conducive to growing corn. The general yellow color of the emerging seedlings is an indication. Some early planted soybeans were also moving along nicely in spite of the same cool, cloudy conditions that have plagued the corn. Small grains too have been slow and would benefit like everything else from some sunshine and warm temperatures.

At the ranch, the radish germination project has shown that two year old seed can indeed still be viable. Last week saw the first rhubarb pie of the season and it was delicious. Rhubarb sauce was also manufactured for dessert as part of Sunday night’s meal. Poured over ice cream, it was fantastic. The red color is so vibrant this year for some reason too so the sauce is actually very appealing to look at. Only problem is it makes you want to eat more of it!

Still awaiting the arrival of the first orioles of the season. Not quite enough foliage to hide their bright orange plumage in perhaps. As the week wears on that should change dramatically. The jelly appears to have been untouched so far. Strange because the orioles are usually not the only one’s helping themselves. Everything from grackles to grosbeaks to red-bellied woodpeckers typically want in on the action. The number of goldfinches continues to swell also. There are more of them this year than we have seen in a long time. There is one token junco yet. It normally tends to hang with the white-throated and Harris’s sparrows. The number of these two sparrow species is also larger than we have ever seen and they’ve been here a while. The white-throated sparrows are in particular fun to listen to.

The time to start weaning ewes and lambs has drawn nigh. Some of the lambs are getting too big to pass through the creep feeder panel easily and the ewes have plenty of pasture to support them now. And both the ewes and lambs are starting to get annoying. The ewes are fat yet beller incessantly anytime it looks like someone might get close enough to the barn to feed them. The lambs in addition to getting stuck in the creep panel like to use the round bale as a piece of playground equipment. Their climbing on it and getting inside the feeder tends to tromp down and waste more hay than I’d like. Wasted hay makes expensive bedding.

More lawn mowing was in order Sunday after a confirmation service was attended. With Fudgie leading the mower and Ruby following there’s no telling how many miles those two put on in a year. Fudgie continues to amaze. She decided that it was a good idea to walk right in the water the full length of the ditch. Border Collies are not normally known as water dogs so I was a little surprised. On the other hand, Fudgie came in the house with nice clean white socks for a change. Ruby’s white socks were green as grass. Odd? Not so much.

Last week one morning I revisited my childhood as I walked across the pasture to get to the black cutworm trap. A pocket gopher had been working there since last fall and while it hadn’t quite made it to the garden, it was getting too close for comfort. I happened to notice the gopher had a fresh mound and the gopher actually stuck its head out of the hole, indicating the hole was open. Dad had always told me that when the hole was open, it increased the odds of catching the rascals. I quickly went to the barn, grabbed a gopher trap, set it, and stuck it down the hole.

I came back around noon just as it was starting to rain. Dad had also said when weather was moving in gophers became particularly active about closing the hole. He was right again as the gopher was in the trap. I took it back to the barn and gave it to the cat as she had three hungry kittens to feed. Made me reflect on a cat we had named Spotty when I was in gopher trapping mode growing up. He waited patiently for me to return from the hayfields each morning in the spring as he knew I’d be bringing him a pocket gopher for breakfast.  By the time the trapping season was over the cat would be huge.

The township at that time was paying a whopping thirty five cents for each pair of feet. It did allow me to purchase my first wristwatch though, a big deal before the days of cell phones and other sources of instant gratification.  Poor Mom in the meantime had to put up with jars of gopher feet that accumulated in the freezer. She was a good sport about it though and as long as they stayed in the freezer of the old Kelvinator refrigerator, she at least pretended not to mind. That was Mom though. As many have said, she had to be a saint for putting up with all the stunts we used to pull. And with Mother’s Day coming up, it will serve as a day to reflect fondly, a reminder of how much we miss her.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

The rain is gonna come, oh it surely looks like rain

The scurs were back on some Christmas card lists once again as last week’s weather finally lived up to the Weather Eye’s forecasting capabilities. Will they pull it off again or will we need to throw another log on the fire? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Thursday, partly sunny with a tiny chance of morning showers. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Partly sunny Friday with a slight chance of a daytime shower. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. The sun will set at 8:30 p.m. on the 12th.  The normal high for May 12th is 68 and the normal low is 47. The scurs have their night crawlers collected for the fishing opener. Robins can’t eat all of them.

What a great week for farmers to finish much of their soybean planting. After a slow start to the week, the sun shone and fieldwork commenced once again on Wednesday in many areas. With the weather holding through the weekend many area farmers were able to capitalize on it. Once planters left the field, frequently one could see sprayers were right on their heels applying pre-emerge herbicides. Top that off with rainfall Monday morning and one couldn’t have scripted it much better. There were some concerns also in the corn that crusting was becoming a problem which was largely alleviated by the rainfall and cooler temperatures. Small grains have loved the spring conditions so far and hayfields are also looking very nice, having survived the winter in good condition for the most part.

In the skies if it isn’t cloudy, May should bring some planetary viewing of note according to Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer. Mars will rise in the east around dusk by the end of the month. It will continue to become brighter, rivaling Jupiter in brightness. Saturn will rise about an hour later than Mars and will be yellow in color. A conjunction will occur on Friday the 13th between the quarter moon and bright planet Jupiter to its right. May 20th between Mars and a nearly full moon, with the moon above Mars. The next night a rectangle forms with the full moon upper left, Mars upper right, the star Antares lower right and Saturn lower left. The same players can be seen on the 22nd with the moon to the left of Saturn, the star Antares to the right and Mars above Antares. Again, if the skies permit it. Thanks also to the Steele Co. Astronomical Society Club for the update.

Chores are still taking far too long after getting home so some of the greedy, overweight ewes who shove anyone out of the way to get at the feed bucket are destined for the pasture soon. There should be numerous candidates and that should help streamline things. Once weaning is completed, the entire chore process becomes semi-tolerable. That said, there are still too many sheep here for my tastes. I’m approaching the age my Dad was when he divested of the flock at home and sold it to my sister and me. I think he was onto something. At least he bottle lamb detail is beginning to wind down. I can finally stop the 10 p.m. feeding. Maybe even have time to gaze at the stars.

At the ranch some gardening progress was made as the tiller was pried from its parking space between two wagons in the shed. Checked the oil, put some gas in it and proceed to till up the gardens for the first time. After about six hours the task was completed. The smaller garden areas went pretty well but the main garden on the backside of the windbreak was a sodden mess. Annual bluegrass had become entrenched there after getting a start last fall. Under the snow it had nearly perfect survival. Sunday was a good day to do all that though because last year’s garden residue was crispy dry. It went through the tiller with relative ease. The ground was hard but the next time through when it dries up should go much more quickly. It may be a few days until that happens.

Around the yard the lawn needs mowing as we head into our busy season. Frequently it begins to take on the abandoned farmstead look unless we have the good fortune to mow at night. The flowering crabs were beautiful last week although Monday’s wind ruined many of the later blooming trees beauty, scattering petals like confetti on the lawn. The apple trees bloomed rather profusely with the SnowSweet being the heaviest bloomer. That’s good because they’re probably my favorite apple to eat with some caramel come fall. The rhubarb is gigantic and even though we’ve picked a lot of it, it’s difficult to tell. Due to my screw up on the Schwan’s order we wound up with a gallon and a half container of vanilla ice cream. This can only mean one thing: We’ll need to harvest even more!

The spring birds continue to return to the ranch and some of the visitors such as the Harris’s and white-throated sparrows appear to be leaving for their summer homes far to the north. Our first Baltimore oriole loudly announced his arrival on Saturday morning about 9 a.m. He’s staked a claim to the jelly feeder and so far he’s had no competition. The first house wren was singing Sunday morning so it can officially be proclaimed spring at the ranch. I spied an orchard oriole on the hummingbird feeder from the oval office the morning of May 10th.  On a less pleasant note: Looking at the rain gauge Monday noon following the morning rain, I noticed there was no water in the gauge. The collection funnel however was partially full. When I examined it more closely my old nemesis the robin had defecated in the collection funnel and plugged the hole up tight. Must need more fiber. Guess I’ll have to leave a little plunger out there and see if they get the hint.

See you next week…real good then.