My favorite dog buddy activities

With 2024 in the rearview mirror, the scurs have the Weather Eye tuned in for another year of exciting forecasts. Will they be met with favor or derision this week? Starting Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper teens and lows around 5 above. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the low teens and lows falling just below zero. Partly sunny Saturday with a modest chance of snow into the evening hours. Highs in the low teens with lows in the low single digits above zero. Sunday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the low teens with lows around zero. Partly sunny on Monday with highs in the low teens and lows near 5 below. Tuesday, partly sunny with highs around 10 and lows near 10 below. Mostly cloudy Wednesday with highs in the low teens and lows around zero. Good news to report in the daylight department. On January 3rd, we’re back to 9 hours of daylight, having gained about 6 minutes since the winter solstice on December 21st. On the 4th our daily gain in daylight increases to just over a minute per day. On the 7th, our sunrise will occur at 7:47 a.m. CST, after being stuck on 7:48 a.m. since December 29th. The normal high for January 4th is 22 and the normal low is 6. The scurs are hoping their Christmas cookie supply will carry them until Valentine’s Day.

Unusual recent warmth and beautiful sunshine on Saturday had folks doing their best to enjoy it. It seemed like we’d been caught in a persistent cloudy funk for much of December, so it presented a wonderful opportunity. At the ranch, the yard got muddy so it limited how much could be done until the ground freezes once again. It was a good day for a feed and Hope Creamery butter run to everyone’s favorite feed store. It was so warm I had to turn the pickup heater down to keep the butter from melting. It was tempting to get the Studebaker out too as the recent rains had likely washed the vast majority of the road salt away. Too much to do, however. I was able to wash Poppy’s sliding glass doors and took on the tractor cab after that. No heated shop so it’s catch as catch can in that respect. Was also able to locate and repair the leak in the gas pump so it won’t necessitate hauling 5-gallon cans to fill the tractor anymore. Small screws and cold hands are seldom a winning combination. Not a problem last Saturday.

The sheep were loving every minute of Saturday as well. With virtually no snow remaining after the rain and warm temps, they were free to move about their pasture. One minute they’d be below the hill south of the house picking at some of the leftover gourds. The next thing you knew they were on the far west end completely out of sight. Following that, they’d come back to the lot and grind away on their round bales then find a place out of the mud to bed down and chew their cuds. Being able to wander around, getting fresh air and exercise is wonderful for them. Not always the case this time of year. There are not a lot of ewes that appear close to lambing yet and that’s a good thing. Still barn cleaning to do once it decides to freeze up. Whether or not conditions will allow it to be spread or just stockpiled remains to be seen. Old Man Winter may have something to say about that. Just have to deal with it.

Seed catalogs are showing up already. Still have some squash to process yet so not real excited about planting garden just yet. I recall planting some radishes last year in January. While some of them grew, it was more to say I’d done it than anything else. As the saying goes, the results were unrewarding. Still, getting the seed catalogs does jog the memory as to what worked and what didn’t. It was a rough gardening year locally with the excessive rainfall, causing some replanting and some vegetables to struggle to produce anything, especially the green peppers. Turn the page. There are some gourds we used to grow I’d like to source again as well as one variety of squash. And, it’s been years since we grew muskmelons. I think the present garden location should lend itself well to that, especially on the upper slope. Breaking up some additional ground might need to happen for that to come to fruition. Hope springs eternal once the seed catalogs show up.

Watching the birds this winter has been somewhat hit and miss. When the snow melts, they don’t come to the feeders quite as readily. Temperature plays a role as well. The colder temps earlier in December seemed to increase their numbers and consumption dramatically. We’ll see if this next cooldown increases bird activity in the backyard. Something I haven’t done for a long time is to put out a heated birdbath. I have an old one where the heating element is probably about shot. It tended to freeze over once it got really cold. That and the non-feathered wildlife figured out a way to defeat the purpose once in a while. There should be a way to keep that from happening. The birdbath would be one more way to attract more birds as we head into the depths of winter. A source of fresh, clean water is always welcomed by our feathered friends especially this time of year. 

Poppy had a good time with the warm weekend temps too. She likes snow to a point but if it’s too deep or when it melts and gets sloppy, it takes the fun out of it. Fortunately she’s not a huge mud fan. Our Border Collie Gus was an avid mudder. His long coat necessitated hosing him off on numerous occasions. Sometimes the biggest problem with Poppy is just being able to see her. Her Corgi low to the ground body, short stature, dark colored coat after dark with no snow makes it difficult. One of my favorite little dog buddy activities is taking her along when I fill the birdfeeders after night chores. Calling her sometimes doesn’t result in a rapid response especially if that little nose determines something needs further investigation. Luckily I wear a headlamp to see while filling the feeders. It really helps to see Poppy too. Catching the reflection of those little eyes in the beam of light brings a sigh of relief. Once back inside out of the cold, it’s time for treats to warm both of us up. 

See you next week…real good then.