They can keep their dirt next time

The scurs and Weather Eye were glad to see last week’s blizzard come apart. Will Old Man Winter leave us in peace now or does he have more fun and games up his sleeve? Starting Thursday, partly sunny with a slight chance of p.m. rain. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny on Friday with a good chance of evening rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly cloudy Saturday, with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 30’s. Sunday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of rain/snow mix. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy on Monday with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Tuesday, April Fool’s Day, cloudy with highs in the mid-40’s and lows in the low 30’s. Cloudy on Wednesday with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the mid-30’s. On the 29th we’ll see the sunrise back to 7 a.m. CDT and our daylight expand to over 12 hours and 30 minutes. On the 31st, our increase in daylight slows to three minutes per day. The normal high for April Fool’s Day is 48 and the normal low is 29. The scurs are thinking we’re due for some beautiful spring weather soon. Would they lie to you?

We escaped relatively unscathed from the latest “blizzard” with the heaviest snow falling well to our south. The forecast had me convinced as I scrambled to get extra hay, unloading and stacking it. I also moved feeders and another round bale strategically, so it was accessible to the ewes yet to lamb. I filled the water tanks. In case the power went out, we’d still have water for all the critters. Lastly, I hooked the tractor up to the snowblower. After tearing up the yard following the March 5th storm, I really didn’t want a repeat performance. Granted, wet spring snow generally doesn’t go through a blower all that swift. However, getting enough through it to maneuver around the yard is preferable to resodding chunks of it. This time of year, it’ll melt fast enough, so paths are all you really need. I was a little nervous when visibility dropped down to under a quarter mile on Wednesday. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. Was I sorry I’d gone to all that extra work? Absolutely not. Would do it in a heartbeat if it meant avoiding another blizzard. TX and NM can keep their dirt next time however.

The weather finally backed off long enough after the wannabe blizzard, so we could move the few pens of ewes with lambs down to the main barn. It makes everyone a lot happier, including the shepherds. No ewes hopping over panels and fewer small square bales being fed. The self-serve round bales are much easier to contend with every 10 days to two weeks. It’s a better environment for the animals too. They’re much happier to be in the fresh air outdoors rather than cooped up in a smaller area in the barn. Best of all, the lambs can really unwind and get some quality exercise in. When they were let outside it was as if they’d been shot out of a cannon. The lambs ran figure eights around the round bale feeders as fast as they could go. The stiff legged hops and leaps they toss in were part of their repertoire. Shortly after dusk though, their mothers seem to put a damper on their fun. It’s over until the next day when it’ll start all over again.

I’ve been itching to get a start gardening after finding the cache of leftover seed from last spring. So far, the soil surface has remained too tacky, making me think I’d only be wasting my time. Until it improves, I have to make do with seeing progress coming from the perennials. The daffodils have been coming along, and, while they’re nowhere compared to last year (we had daffodil bouquets in the house at this time), the number of bunches has increased dramatically. It was gratifying to see the white daffodil planted last year emerging as well. There is a wide assortment of hyacinths, tulips, miniature daffodils and other bulbs coming to life. Perhaps the most anticipated perennial was the rhubarb. It’s a little pokey, but it’s coming. The little clenched fist buds of the first leaves were evident last week. I didn’t uncover them as forecast lows in the teens tempered my decision. Maybe if we get a warm rain this weekend, I’ll think about it. A piece of warm rhubarb pie for Easter would be divine.

We’re all looking for signs of spring and I’m no exception. It wasn’t the worst winter, but the cold snaps during lambing season tested our mettle. We’ve seen glimpses, but spring has been stubborn about asserting itself. Seeing the tinge of green pasture from the oval office and watching the ewes in hot pursuit of sprigs of new grass was a start. The silver maple buds are red and swollen with sap icicles forming in the trees on cold mornings. They serve notice that the sappers should be in full swing. The willows yellowing up in my travels reminded me it was time to get at the pussy willows. I did just that Monday night, hoping the warm days hadn’t blown the catkins over the dam. When I got to my favorite bushes, it was somewhat of a letdown. A few of the catkins were already past their prime and starting to yellow due to a few days of warm temps. What was more disappointing though was the gappy appearance of the prized longer stems in the upper part of the canopy. I was puzzled, but it didn’t take long to figure it out. The high winds since an earlier visit had beaten the stems up and the catkins littering the ground were proof.       

Poppy continues to relish her “dog days,” those days when one or both of us are around the entire day, so we spend time with her. After 25 years of Border Collies and heading into year three on a Corgi, it’s still a steep learning curve sometimes. Of all the dogs we’ve owned, Poppy demonstrates her affection for people the most openly. The Borders were fine with some people, but they tended to be selective. Ditto with Murphy the Sheltie we had. She either liked you or she didn’t, although she could be bought. If she discovered you had a pocket full of treats, you were in. So what does Poppy do when we’re not home? Most days, she spends a large part of it sleeping on the couch in the dog hole created by Border Collie Ruby. She can spend time watching her little buddies the squirrels south of the house, but she has to get up to do it. After we turned the ewes with lambs out in the lot, she can watch them from the arm on the couch. Closer to the dog hole and another nap, something Corgis are all about.  

See you next week…real good then.