With the Weather Eye dishing out more above normal temps almost daily, the scurs may retire to a private island in the Caribbean. Do we continue pinching ourselves or does Old Man Winter drop the hammer? Starting Thursday, sunny with highs in the mid-40’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of evening snow or rain. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Sunny on Saturday with highs in the mid-40’s and lows in the low 30’s. Sunday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-40’s and lows in the low 20’s. Mostly cloudy on Monday with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the low 20’s. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the low 20’s. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. The sun will begin to set later each day starting on December 17th at 4:37 p.m. CST. Our loss of daylight slows to less than half a minute per day on the 18th, and by the 20th, drops to only six seconds per day. The normal high for December 20th is 26 and the normal low is 11. The scurs haven’t made any lists let alone checked them twice. Plenty of time for that yet.
So will we see a white Christmas? Not looking good for any large amounts of snow anytime soon. The El Niño remains solidly in place and odds are it’ll remain that way into the spring months. As predicted, the winter has started out warmer and drier than normal for the northern US. It has also been somewhat drier in the south, although predictions are that will be changing from the west over the course of the next several weeks. For here? Same ol’, same ol’. Not complaining. Reduces the odds of people slipping and falling, bruising bodies and breaking bones. When might we see a trend towards more significant precipitation again? As we head towards the vernal equinox and the northern hemisphere tilts more towards the sun, we may see better odds. Hopefully it is in liquid form and above freezing. Not a lot of fans around here of April snow, or May for that matter.
What a week of weather we had last week! As of Monday, St. Olaf Lake wasn’t completely ice free, but had largely opened up. Beaver remained frozen, more like some of the shallower wetlands. Soils thawed enough, so that some last-minute primary tillage could be performed. Highs akin to late October to mid-November are responsible for soils remaining relatively frost-free. Exceptions include north sides of building sites, as well as groves, and north facing slopes. This has meant farmers are able to work at many of the projects that weren’t near the top of the priority list until now. They have to be cautious, however, not to overachieve or they’ll wind up working on the dreaded honeydew list. Gotta leave some for seed.
What a difference the weather has made at the ranch as well. Thursday afternoon a mid-50’s high called for harvesting additional dogwood from the wetland. It also meant pruning out some of the old growth to provide more new growth for next year. Barn cleaning commenced Friday afternoon with the stockpiled manure hauled first should Old Man Winter suddenly return. As it was, there were still some frozen chunks leftover from the colder temperatures in late November. The weather looked potentially uglier Saturday, so the pile in the lambing barn lot was hauled in the forenoon. The snowy afternoon made good prep time, so that pack manure could be hauled from the main barn without so many obstacles to contend with. Sunday I got the majority of it spread. All told there were 14 loads hauled and I felt every one of them Monday morning.
The process is about two-thirds complete, with the toughest loads to come. Still a far cry from last year when I felt lucky just to get the main barn clean. I had to put the chains on the tractor and dig my way through the snowbanks just to get to the field to spread the loads. Moving the handling system was a bearcat and the animals were uncooperative, particularly the ram that hopefully someone has eaten by now. Still repairing equipment he wrecked. The lambing barn was left uncleaned, so one way or the other that has to happen. Clearance becomes an issue with the skidsteer, so rather than take the cage off mine, it’s easier to borrow the sheep shearer’s sans cage. Just need to be extra careful not to set it on its nose when picking up and moving one of those gargantuan hunks.
The sheep have really enjoyed the start to this winter. Many years by this time, they’re snowed into the lot and unable to access their pasture. They’re even still picking at the fall decorating leftovers in case something new has been deposited recently. The freezing and thawing softened up some of the gourds, allowing them to devour those this time around. Most years the sheep don’t get that chance as they can’t get there and the cucurbits are buried in the snow. Even in the lot, the ewes appear content to lounge around on the waste hay, mill around the mangers, then amble off into the pasture to see what they might find to dine upon there. If nothing else the fresh air and exercise is fantastic for them. It helps cut down on problems later on.
Poppy’s growing up more quickly in the past few months, becoming more reliable about coming when called. She’s also been much easier to read around potty time. When Poppy starts climbing on you and carrying on, odds are it’s a signal that she needs a bathroom break. Sometimes those events come closer together than others, so need to keep the outdoors clothes at the ready just in case. After missing out due to Mrs. Cheviot’s rehabilitation, Poppy is also getting a better taste of Christmas this time around. Unlike last year, there are several Christmas trees for her to inspect. Surprisingly, she’s sniffed at them, but hasn’t really tried to yank anything off to play with. The only decoration that really annoyed her was the light-up Corgi, causing much growling. Jealousy?
See you next week…real good then.