It started so fast it was almost scary

No accumulating snow last week, so the scurs had the Weather Eye tuned in. Have we seen the last of Old Man Winter or is he just taking a siesta? Starting Thursday, sunny with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows near freezing. Sunny Friday with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the low 50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a good chance of rain. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Sunday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Cloudy Monday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Tuesday, cloudy with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly cloudy on Wednesday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Our sunrise will occur at 6:30 a.m. on April 15th. The normal high for April 15th is 55 and the normal low is 35. The scurs have eaten their way through much of their Easter candy. Hoping the May baskets come through.

 

Along with the oats seeded last week, broadcast fertilizer, herbicides and anhydrous ammonia were applied. Field conditions were reportedly good as well they should be. There is some anxiety about soil temperature. So far, average daily temp at the 2” and 4” depth on April 6th were in the mid-40’s at 2” and near 40 at the 4”. Not warm enough to germinate corn, although some weeds have been noted. Things like wild buckwheat have appeared at the ranch as well as prostrate knotweed, the green mat that grows in driveways. Both species belong to the buckwheat family and are among the earliest weeds to appear every spring. The seeds can also be favorites of migrating birds early in the season when insects and earthworms are difficult to find. Giant ragweed is usually not far behind both in early appearance. The seeds are also wildlife favorites. Human allergies at pollination, not so much.

 

Cold temps have put the yard and gardens in suspended animation at the ranch. Grass is greening up, but it’s taking its sweet time. Rhubarb is expanding, but didn’t make it in time for Easter. Daffodils that looked like they’d be blooming a few weeks ago still haven’t opened yet and they’re by the south side of the house. Some of the hyacinths from spring bulb planters of the past have appeared as well as the miniature daffodils, so there is color slowly spreading across that flower bed. The forsythia bushes that were purchased last spring are blooming, providing plenty of yellow flowers for early season pollinators to forage on. There were some flies buzzing around flowering plants Sunday afternoon once it warmed up. They were some of the first customers and it’ll only be the beginning.

 

After we turned the ewes with lambs out last week, we were on easy street, or so we thought. On Wednesday one of the ewes yanked the ground wire off the electric fencer unit. Reattaching it didn’t solve the problem, so I checked the fence to see if it was grounded someplace. Found one post where the deer had popped all three insulators off. Thinking perhaps that was the culprit, I examined the rest of the fence just to be sure. After making repairs, I plugged the fencer in again. Nothing. I went back over the entire fence again in case I’d missed something. Nothing. What else could it possibly be? I pulled a one-amp fuse out of the fencer. The hair-like element wasn’t visible, so I went back to the house to get some new ones. No element visible on the second fuse, so I replaced both fuses. Sure enough, the fencer slowly warmed up and came back to life. Persistence pays off once again.

 

Speaking of that, I took advantage of the rain Friday night to wash the Studebaker off after sitting in the garage all winter. Using the duster on it wasn’t going to cut it. Rain water is as soft as it gets, so nothing better. The car started on the second cycle, and I backed it out of the garage. As anticipated the rain rinsed it off beautifully. When I went to start the car to move it into the heated garage, it turned over slowly and didn’t fire. After sitting overnight at 33 degrees, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. I wiped it down in the cold and put the battery charger on it until Sunday afternoon. Temps in the mid-50’s were forecast. About 2:30 I started the countdown and let the electric fuel pump run about four seconds. I barely touched the ignition, and it started so fast it was almost scary. Of course I had to drive it to get its blood circulating. Ran smoothly. Temp, amps and oil pressure were perfect. All systems go.

 

It’ll be approximately a month until we’ll start to see the return of the nectar and jelly feeding crew at the bird feeders. In the meantime large groups of goldfinches continue to come to the feeders daily. The bright yellow plumage of the males is starting to become more evident on some. At least one little red-breasted nuthatch has stayed on through the winter. I really enjoy seeing it and it doesn’t seem to be bothered by our presence when filling the feeders. It would be great to have them stay through the summer here. Being diminutive makes them a favorite any time they’re at the feeders or crawling around the trees.

 

Poppy has several favorite activities, but eating and sleeping top the list. Care is taken to make sure she gets plenty of exercise though too as Corgis are notorious for getting too fat, resulting in back problems. So far so good in that department. There are still plenty of squirrels to chase and bunnies too, even though I’ve thinned the herd. Playing ball in the house gives all parties concerned lots of exercise, including humans who must retrieve the ball from underneath the furniture. Once that’s over with, it’s usually time for a Poppy nap and sometimes one for her humans. As cold and crummy as some of the weekend weather has been lately, one has to look forward to getting her outdoors more frequently as the spring progresses. Let’s hope so anyway. Now basketball season is over, it limits my weekend afternoon TV watching to Bonanza and Gunsmoke. One can only take so many naps.

 

See you next week…real good then.