The scurs called for a cool week and a cool week we received. Will it rebound this week and be spring again? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with highs of 40 – 45 and lows dropping to 25 - 30. Thursday, partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Highs of 40 – 45 and lows of 35. Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy on Friday with a chance of morning showers. Highs near 45 and lows around 30. Saturday, mostly clear. Highs around 50 and lows of 35. Cloudy on Sunday with a chance of showers. Highs of 45 and lows of 35. Cloudy on Monday with a chance of rain. Highs near 45 and lows around 25. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with a chance of more showers. Highs of 45 – 50 and lows. The normal high for April 1st is 50 and the normal low is 28. The sun will rise before 7 a.m. for the first time since February 24th. At this rate the scurs think it will surely be spring by May or possibly June. No foolin’.
Last week could only be characterized as a real weather downer. Just when it looked like we were suddenly playing with the lead, temperatures decided to behave more like the last week in February. High winds and cold rain followed by snow as a coup de grace nearly sent some over the edge. At the ranch, it was cause to put the tank heaters back in the water tanks, to smash ice out of the water buckets and drain the garden hose after each use. The long handled underwear were dug out of mothballs as was the heavy chore coat. It was a bit of a double-edged sword in some respects though. It did allow for some seed deliveries on the frozen yards and made spreading a few loads of manure possible until the fields got too greasy. Oh, it can still be spread when it’s greasy, but the resulting mud on the road raises the ire of motorists and can be a safety hazard when it becomes too thick. The water in the rivers and streams has been metered somewhat by the overnight freezing and thawing. Some of the predictions of record flooding have largely been averted. March precip has also run below last year in this area, so that hasn’t hurt.
There were some positives at the ranch, however. The frozen ground keeps Ruby much cleaner, and for that we can be thankful. She doesn’t like having to stay inside when it’s muddy, especially when it’s time to feed the bottle lambs. Speaking of that, they are starting to get into the creep feed as evidenced by their occasional absence at bottle time. The end of that business is coming nearer to a close. Along those same lines, after what seemed an eternity, we found the lamb we were looking for: the last one born for the year. Last Friday morning there she was, no more than an hour old, with the ewe licking her off. Put mother and daughter in a pen, got the ewe a bucket of warm water, then went off to do the chores in the other barn. When returning with feed for the new mom, the lamb was already up nursing. That’s the way it ought to be.
On the bird front, a large contingent of goldfinches has settled in. Only a few are starting to show some yellow color again, but all are showing signs of being hungry. It had been a while since the thistle feeders had been filled, so that suddenly needed to be done. With the snow largely gone, the pheasants have dispersed across the landscape, although there is one large rooster who appears to have staked a claim to the brushy area on the edge of the yard. Sunday afternoon he pecked at the corn and other goodies, then sunned himself apparently waiting for Miss Right to show up. Monday morning he was up bright and early, drumming and crowing before sunrise. That close to the house, the drumming almost rattles the windows. Some of the sandhill cranes must’ve decided the water was too hard to wade in. Six of them were heading back south on Friday morning. Swans were spotted Saturday lumbering along after I’d procured some straw from the Dubyas’. There are some areas where there is deeper open water, so one can bet they were heading towards it. The swans, not the Dubyas. While at the Dubyas’ however, we determined that the LeSueur river Lutheran church steeple at 125 feet was taller than their silo. The swans were flying higher than that.
At the Mall for Men, after solving the world’s problems, the little fat buddies have been busy tackling local issues. Odd that at an establishment known only for the truth would train its thoughts on the wind. Generally wind is considered Al Batt’s turf, hence the reason most of those windmills were built in his backyard. The flashing lights on those windmills have been of particular interest to our panel of experts. There have been instances when those of us of who get up in the middle of the night to make sure they’re blinking have noticed they haven’t been. Some nights, the white strobe lights were on and that prompted even more discussion and speculation. Apparently there were some problems that arose from an ice storm and that had the lights all out of kilter. Now we’re focusing our attention on the two small windmills east of town, trying to determine why the blades are sitting still. Conclusion? It’s because they’re not turning.
See you next week…real good then.