Some days timing is everything

The scurs and Weather Eye are back to hate mail again. Has Old Man Winter entrenched himself or will he be dislodged again soon? Starting Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper single digits and lows near zero. Mostly cloudy on Valentine’s Day with a good chance of snow by evening. Highs in the low 20’s with lows around 10 above. Mostly cloudy Saturday with a slight chance of forenoon snow. Highs in the upper teens with lows around 5 below. Sunday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of snow showers. Highs around 5 above with lows around 10 below. Partly sunny on Monday with a slight chance of light snow. Highs around 10 above with lows around 5 above. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper teens and lows around 5 above. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the upper teens with lows in the low single digits above zero. On the 15th we’ll ease over the 10 hour and 30 minute of daylight mark for the first time since October 25th. The normal high for February 15th is 26 and the normal low is 8. With Easter being April 20th, the scurs will be rationing their Valentine’s Day candy.

Definitely back to reality in the weather department. We saw temps fall markedly after February 3rd from 40 to 50-degree highs to more normal highs in the 20’s. Trouble is our thermostats had little time to adjust, especially for some of the sub-zero lows that were part of the equation. Snow was also part of the equation. Saturday’s snowfall made the landscape white. That alone is frequently enough to keep temperatures below what they were, often 10 degrees or more depending on the air mass involved. The good news is that we really don’t foresee a lot of heavy snowfall anytime soon. It should come as no surprise that we could see a storm or two over the next 6 weeks. We are probably due after seeing them miss us to the north and south much of the winter. While there haven’t been many blizzard situations, there could be an increased tendency as the weather becomes more volatile. After all, we have all kinds of high school sports tournaments ahead of us.

Some have asked how the lambing is coming. New lambs have been trickling in with what appears to be a fair number coming up quickly. Of course, we had very few during the recent nice weather, following Murphy’s Law to a “T”. The main thing is those we have on the ground are healthy. Getting their creep feeder set up and moving as many ewes with lambs as we did streamlined chores substantially. All the contestants are happier as well with more room to run. Something that has been unique about this year’s crop has been the ewe lamb to buck lamb ratio. I’ve always maintained that if I never saw another buck lamb it’d be too soon after witnessing their destructive nature. So far with 17 ewes having lambed, the ewe lambs outnumber the bucks 15 to 4. What’s causing this? Must be climate change. It’s responsible for everything else according to some. May as well add it to the list.

Had noticed that the corn in the gravity box was starting to trickle out more slowly. Upon investigating further, it was time to call and order a new batch. I also needed to make a bagged feed run. After the last of the barn cleaning, I’d discovered some leaks on the skidsteer, the handiest tool invented for backing wagons into tight spots. The skidsteer was in for repairs just down the hill and, while I was in no hurry, it’s nice to have. I can back the wagon with the tractor as well. It’s clumsier, especially since it’s not a straight shot to the door and it’s on a slope with a lip, leftover from some less than stellar earthwork. It sometimes necessitates the chains be on the tractor too if the track is slick from snow and ice. I hit the clamps on the tire chains with some PB Blaster to loosen them up and plugged the tractor in just in case. Luckily, I’d seen neighbor Jon turn into his shop as I was coming home from getting the bagged feed, so I was hoping he was working on the skidsteer. Sure enough, after I’d eaten my lunch I received a call that it was done. Some days timing is everything.

I gobbled down the rest of my sandwich, threw on my outdoor clothes and started down the hill to neighbor Jon’s shop. I saw all kinds of bunny tracks in the fresh snow in our yard, making me glad I’d spent the time to protect some of the shrubbery from them. Also saw lots of deer tracks, especially as I got closer to the shop and a spot where there was running water from a tile outlet. Once we’d visited a little and got the skidsteer back home, I immediately saw a couple things that needed to happen since I had the skidsteer running. The snow had banked up by the mailbox, so I quickly cleaned that up. I usually enjoy getting mail, so best make it as easy as possible on the delivery person. I’d parked the manure spreader so I could get at it should an opportunity arise to clean out the lambing barn. None had, so I moved that back out into the lot in case the feed truck needed room to maneuver. I like having corn delivered too, as opposed to driving 30 miles with a gravity box when the roads are slick and it’s 10 below zero. Just funny that way sometimes.

Sunday was cleanup day in the house at the ranch. The dust mop was run over the floor and the vacuum cleaner used on the rugs and carpet, particularly to pick up the Corgi hair and carcasses of those pesky Asian ladybeetles. Not more than 10 days ago, I’d seen them crawling on the porch railing outside on the south side of the house. Completing the vacuuming, I was pleased with the results, at least initially. As the afternoon wore on it appeared the job in the living room was subpar. At first glance, there were still a few dead lady beetles I must’ve missed. Looking closely, what I thought were carcasses were still crawling across the floor. It wasn’t just here and there, it was as though I’d never run the thing across the floor at all. Where they came from, I hadn’t a clue. At any rate, it’s still going to be a long winter.

Poppy’s week included her obligatory squirrel exercising and playing in the new snow. She actually loves the snow to play in, although the accompanying cold is a different matter. When it gets well below zero, her little hind feet can get too cold and she’ll pick them up and walk on three legs, a signal it may be wise to let her out to do her thing before chores, then let her back inside until we’re done. She’s adapted well to indoor life and watched her first Westminster dog show Monday night. “Watched” might be an exaggeration. Unlike Ruby, Poppy hasn’t developed an interest in television, aside from the occasional doorbell, an emergency siren, or the odd dog barking. Near as I can tell, she watched the dog show much as I watch Gunsmoke a lot of nights. With my eyes closed.

See you next week…real good then.