Friday, March 30, 2007, 18:35
Rainy Day
It is raining today. Not a hard rain and no thunderstorms. Just a gentle, quiet rain.
When I fed the horses this morning, the rain gauge said we had gotten 2/10 of an inch. It's been raining quietly since then.
Well, you know what they say. "April showers bring May flowers."
Oh, no. Wait. That's right. It's not April yet!
But for the past two weeks, it seemed like April when it warmed up and all of the snow melted and the temperature got close to 80 degrees for a couple of days. But of course it's not April. It's still March.
I like April. It is one of my favorite months. April means that we have made it through another long, cold winter. April brings the promise of flowers to come. And gardens to come. And leaves to come. And days of bright sunshine and clear blue skies to come. And black raspberries to come. And blackberries to come. And wild grapes and wild black cherries to come. And warm days with long evenings of daylight to come.
So this year, I am getting more "April" than I usually get!
Since it was raining this morning, I carried up a couple of flakes of hay from the barn to make a bed for Charlie by the house. When it is cold and rainy, there's no good place outside for him to take a nap. But on a day like today, with highs in the 40s, Charlie thinks it might be just a little too warm to come into the house and stay in his kennel in the basement, although I might be able to persuade him to come inside after a while.
I spread the hay out right next to the house in back under the eaves. As soon as I finished feeding the horses and going around the hayfield with the dogs and came back to the house, Charlie immediately collapsed on his bed of fresh hay with a happy sigh.
I used some of the hay from the barn that has a lot of June grass in it. The horses don't care to eat June grass hay. Especially now when there's a little grass to pick in their pastures. In the dead of winter when it is very cold and there is absolutely no hope of finding even frozen grass, then the horses eat the June grass hay pretty well.
Charlie doesn't care what kind of hay it is. As far as he is concerned, June grass is fine. It's dry. It smells good. But best of all -- it's a doggy bed just for him!
Update -- It is raining a little harder now. I went outside at 1:30 p.m. to see if Charlie was ready to come in the house. And he was. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, March 28, 2007, 03:09
'Tis the Season? (Yes, but WHICH season?)
I'm so confused.
Since it's only the end of March, I was pretty sure that it was spring.
But both Sunday and Monday, it felt downright hot. Much more like summer rather than spring. The weather forecaster said the high temperature in Eau Claire (25 miles to the east) for both days was 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It was only mid to upper 70s here, but that was warm enough.
The forecaster also said that since they've been keeping weather records, there has never been two 80-degree days in March back to back.
I can believe that. Usually by the end of March we're just getting started with a good snow melt -- in normal years when it's been snowing, that is.
Not so very many years ago, we had a lovely snowstorm the 26th of March -- a little over a foot of heavy, wet snow. I cleared the lower driveway with the snowblower but did not bother clearing the upper driveway or even shoveling a path out to the road so I could get the mail. I figured I could walk up from the lower driveway. After all, it was already the end of March, and the snow wouldn't be around for very long. Maybe only a week, or two at the most.
Right.
We still had snowdrifts in the yard in May that year.
But this year, it was upper 70s to 80 degrees at the end of March.
I feel sorry for the horses. Kajun and Isabelle think it is really hot. They still have about 90 percent of their winter coats. And here it is, nearly 80 degrees. They have been going through quite a bit of water. There's no grass yet for them to get some moisture from that, plus they are eating dry hay.
Our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, thinks it is hot, too. Randy won't clip him for a while yet. Even when he waits to clip Charlie what usually happens is right after that, we get a cold spell. And it doesn't matter how long Randy waits to clip the dog. Just as soon as he is finished, cold weather sets in again. Then poor Charlie is sitting around shivering because all of his winter coat has been shaved off.
For the last couple of days, Charlie has not been very enthusiastic about going out for walks when the sun is shining and it's warm. I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to be wearing my winter coat, either, when I'm going for a walk.
Our little Shetland Sheepdog, Pixie, doesn't seem as bothered that it is warm and that she's still got most of her winter coat. Maybe that's because it's still cool in the house and she can nap on the hallway floor or on the dining room floor on the cool linoleum. Plus she is not as heavily muscled as Charlie.
I took Pixie into the vet clinic on Monday for her regular vaccinations. With the warm weather, I am certain the deer ticks are out and moving. She did not get the new vaccine last year for Lyme disease, so I will have to give her a booster of the new Lyme vaccine in a few weeks.
I'm going to wait a little while to take Charlie in for his vaccinations. He just finished up the antibiotic today for his eye. His eye looks pretty good, so I hope it's all cleared up -- whatever "it" was. I put some BioSpot on him the other day to try to keep the deer ticks off until he can get his Lyme shot. Charlie only needs one. He got both the initial vaccination and booster of the new vaccine last year.
I have been avoiding walking in the old thatch grass on the neighbor's property or in the woods until Charlie has a chance to get the Lyme vaccine. Although even then, I probably won't go through the woods or where there's old grass. We just have way too many ticks, and I don't want Charlie to get sick again, if I can avoid it.
The weather forecast says it is supposed to be cooler with more normal temperatures by the end of the week with highs in the 40s. And that's fine by me. Because if it is 80 degrees in March and it stays warm, what would the summer be like? 120 in the shade?
I wouldn't even want to think about that.
LeAnn R. Ralph