Ravens pairing up for some sky dancing.

Water dripping from roof edges.

Chickadees exulting in the warmth from the higher sun angle.

And a boatload of Northstar canoes headed north along the express route between Duluth and Two Harbors:

It was 50 for the first time here in IA and I was in shorts today...

Snowbells blooming in Maryland

As much as I'm all for ice out and to be able to paddle again, this seems a tad early here in Michigan. Thinking we're going to have another warm spring.

Took my cover off my boat today. Hopefully hit the Mississippi here in Illinois on Wednesday

dschult2: "As much as I'm all for ice out and to be able to paddle again, this seems a tad early here in Michigan. Thinking we're going to have another warm spring."

Yes....a warmer than average March. It's a result of the same polar vortex that just dropped record cold into the southern mid west.

Here in Illinois I always mark the beginning of spring by snow geese headed north. They showed up yesterday.

For thirty years we had a small flock of sheep. When this topic would come up here every year about this time, I would post photos of baby lambs. Every once in a while in early March I get nostalgic for being able to cuddle a newborn lamb, but we don't really miss the work and the concerns about lambing that much. Spending a night in the barn helping a ewe that is in trouble, or making 2 AM "lamb checks" on cold mornings. . . I don't miss that. But I do miss this:

yogi59weedr: "Took my cover off my boat today. Hopefully hit the Mississippi here in Illinois on Wednesday "

I'm re-welding my homemade trolling motor mount. A few guys have been out here below Muscatine the last few days. What boat for you? I'm sure it's nicer than my inherited 16' jon (I wish I had the fishing and dams you guys do up there) This one is rough down here and not great fishing...

Made it out for the first time in 2021 yesterday in N.E. Iowa. Sunny, 44 degrees and no wind. It felt great.

Snowing AND melting in the Twin Cities this morning...it's actually a right of spring here.

Clone, you should come to the davenport dam and fish in sylvan slough. The fish will be stacked in there.
The last 2 Bass pro walleye tournaments , the winners fished up next to the dams..
Its smaller water and warms quicker than out under the big rollers.

The sap is running in the sugarbush

Well...we took down the winter lights and decorations from outside on the deck.

We had a conversation that started like this..."Now that your canoe trip is planned...what should WE do for OUR vacation?" Yeah...

Days are getting longer...like three minutes of daylight per day now.

The transition is really on now...after a week in the 40's and much of the snow melted...we are back in the teens this morning with fresh snow and slippery roads. But...low 50's by the end of the week!

Seed catalogues.

bwcadan: "Seed catalogues. "

Really? That is a January thing in our household! The boxes and envelopes full of seeds have been arriving here for several weeks now.

Puddles juxtaposed with ice.

Slush on the lake so thick I think twice about skiing through it. Is it slush? Or is it dying ice?

Rag pile returns to back porch for wiping mud-spray from the ventrum of the Labrador, who stubbornly fights through crusted snow for a fourteenth winter.

Wood-splitting spot has melted to reveal bare ground covered in the season's bark pile.

Bird calls starting earlier and ending later - beeping, sing-song, cheer-cheer-cheer.

We call this time of year "Deception Spring". Winter recedes slowly, gasping and throwing final punches as the sun rises higher into the sky each minute.

Open, ice-cold water. Not long now!

gravelroad: "Ravens pairing up for some sky dancing.

Water dripping from roof edges.

Chickadees exulting in the warmth from the higher sun angle.

And a boatload of Northstar canoes headed north along the express route between Duluth and Two Harbors:

"

I was fat bike riding in the superior NF and must have seen them driving back from Sawbill with an empty load... but didn't know exactly where they were headed, as they headed east on The Grade.

First time out in 2021 yesterday on the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland. The ice blew out a couple of days ago. Not the BWCA but a refreshing paddle nevertheless. Selfie is a cell phone screen grab from a live webcam on the river. Here I am in my dad’s 1993 OT Pack that he gifted me in November. .

A pair of Trumpeter Swans flew overhead in front of our car this morning in Duluth, headed north. In the same neighborhood where bear sightings are being reported. :-)

Saw my first robins on my morning hike, Des Moines, IA. Snow pack nearly gone revealing sprouting spring flowers. Hung laundry outside today.

Had my driveway plowed Tuesday.......

Supposed to be around 50 today so I took the day off to put my new motor on.

Trout Lily and Hepatica blooming here in western NC...

TZ

Lots of robins showing up here in South Central Kansas. Hundreds of thousands of geese winter in our area-they are grouping up and heading north. The daffodils are popping up...the trees are budding. I'm getting the lettuce beds ready to plant. The wheat fields are turning green. The return of the robins. the mating call of the cardinals and red-wing blackbirds. It won't be long-here.

My wife and I walked 18 holes of golf today...but, believe it or not, here we play golf, sometime, every month of the year.

The mailman was wearing shorts, yesterday, stepping over remnants of snowpiles.

Spartan2: "For thirty years we had a small flock of sheep. When this topic would come up here every year about this time, I would post photos of baby lambs. Every once in a while in early March I get nostalgic for being able to cuddle a newborn lamb, but we don't really miss the work and the concerns about lambing that much. Spending a night in the barn helping a ewe that is in trouble, or making 2 AM "lamb checks" on cold mornings. . . I don't miss that. But I do miss this:


"

Ok, my apologies for stepping on this thread, but I'm really interested. Please educate a cidiot.

1. How do you know the Ewe is in trouble?
2. Does she welcome your assistance?
3. What do you do? Reach in and turn the lamb(s)?
4. If you weren't helping, would she die?

analyzer: "

Spartan2: "For thirty years we had a small flock of sheep. When this topic would come up here every year about this time, I would post photos of baby lambs. Every once in a while in early March I get nostalgic for being able to cuddle a newborn lamb, but we don't really miss the work and the concerns about lambing that much. Spending a night in the barn helping a ewe that is in trouble, or making 2 AM "lamb checks" on cold mornings. . . I don't miss that. But I do miss this:



"

Ok, my apologies for stepping on this thread, but I'm really interested. Please educate a cidiot.


1. How do you know the Ewe is in trouble?
2. Does she welcome your assistance?
3. What do you do? Reach in and turn the lamb(s)?
4. If you weren't helping, would she die?"

Not a problem. Not many people except shepherds know this stuff.

1. If she has passed a bag of fluid and hasn't had the first lamb (there are usually two) in a couple hours, or if she is lying down obviously straining and not making any progress. They usually pace around and don't spend much time prone.

2. Yes, she does. Of course we only had a small flock and they knew us well, so that helped. But sheep are basically docile animals, and I think once they have a problem they are thankful that the shepherd is there to help.

3. Yes, you often reach in. Sometimes you can just push back a leg that is blocking the way, or get the feet and nose in the proper position. It is very hard to actually turn a lamb; I don't think we ever did it. Butt-first breech birth is uncommon, but for us it usually meant "call the vet."

4. Yes, if she doesn't have help, she would. The vet can sometimes help more than just an amateur shepherd like we were, but it is expensive. Also hard to find a large animal vet in our area who will make house calls. We did have ewes die, but it was very uncommon. Lambs die, too. But I will say, in about 30 years of shepherding, we didn't have a lot of ewe deaths. More lambs. And really not a lot of those either, given the number of lambings we had every year.

We learned a lot through the years, and we did enjoy it. We had ewes that were bred to have multiple births and we had quite a few sets of triplets, and two sets of quadruplets. All of our sheep were named, and I did keep a record of all of them. We had a small acreage, and just kept anywhere from 5-8 ewes; sold all of the lambs unless we needed a replacement. The photo is Soprano with her quads.

Thank you spartan 2.

Woke up here in southern Minnesota to heavy rain, flashes of lightning, followed by rumbles of thunder. Is that the sound of small hail? I think so. Wish I had the rain gauge out.

Haven't heard these warm weather sounds in awhile...

JW

JWilder: "Woke up here in southern Minnesota to heavy rain, flashes of lightning, followed by rumbles of thunder. Is that the sound of small hail? I think so. Wish I had the rain gauge out.


Haven't heard these warm weather sounds in awhile...


JW"

I miss the rumble of thunder. The first rumbles of the year bring the same feelings as seeing the northern lights.


Winter Storm Warning for northern MN tonight. Sigh......

Tom

Late snows are the worst... with the frost already coming out it’s pretty nasty. I could have washed my truck a few times from just yesterday. Mud... a sure sign of spring!

Spartan2: "

analyzer: "

Spartan2: "For thirty years we had a small flock of sheep. When this topic would come up here every year about this time, I would post photos of baby lambs. Every once in a while in early March I get nostalgic for being able to cuddle a newborn lamb, but we don't really miss the work and the concerns about lambing that much. Spending a night in the barn helping a ewe that is in trouble, or making 2 AM "lamb checks" on cold mornings. . . I don't miss that. But I do miss this:



"

Ok, my apologies for stepping on this thread, but I'm really interested. Please educate a cidiot.



1. How do you know the Ewe is in trouble?
2. Does she welcome your assistance?
3. What do you do? Reach in and turn the lamb(s)?
4. If you weren't helping, would she die?"

Not a problem. Not many people except shepherds know this stuff.


1. If she has passed a bag of fluid and hasn't had the first lamb (there are usually two) in a couple hours, or if she is lying down obviously straining and not making any progress. They usually pace around and don't spend much time prone.


2. Yes, she does. Of course we only had a small flock and they knew us well, so that helped. But sheep are basically docile animals, and I think once they have a problem they are thankful that the shepherd is there to help.


3. Yes, you often reach in. Sometimes you can just push back a leg that is blocking the way, or get the feet and nose in the proper position. It is very hard to actually turn a lamb; I don't think we ever did it. Butt-first breech birth is uncommon, but for us it usually meant "call the vet."


4. Yes, if she doesn't have help, she would. The vet can sometimes help more than just an amateur shepherd like we were, but it is expensive. Also hard to find a large animal vet in our area who will make house calls. We did have ewes die, but it was very uncommon. Lambs die, too. But I will say, in about 30 years of shepherding, we didn't have a lot of ewe deaths. More lambs. And really not a lot of those either, given the number of lambings we had every year.


We learned a lot through the years, and we did enjoy it. We had ewes that were bred to have multiple births and we had quite a few sets of triplets, and two sets of quadruplets. All of our sheep were named, and I did keep a record of all of them. We had a small acreage, and just kept anywhere from 5-8 ewes; sold all of the lambs unless we needed a replacement. The photo is Soprano with her quads.

Shepherds, and their border collies, will be always and forever be my most favored clients from my days of practice. Thank you for sharing.



"

Shepherds (and especially their border collies) will be among my most favored large animal practice memories. Thank you for sharing.

Another sure sign:
Yesterday, I examined the old willow in our "down south" Minnesconsin homestead - no yellow. Today - Yellow! Also bluebird song, robin song (they overwinter but don't sing their characteristic "cheer-up, cheer-eeee" until SPRING!). At north homestead, just shy of Brule: snowfall, mud (careful where you drive and park), high sunshine and sky-so-blue-it's-purple.
thank you for this thread!

Evening fires on the patio.

A few deer ticks were out the other day.

“He who hopes for spring with upturned eye never sees so small a thing as Draba. He who despairs of spring with downcast eye steps on it, unknowing. He who searches for spring with his knees in the mud finds it, in abundance.” - Aldo Leopold

Oops, wrong thread. Or is it??

JW

JWilder: "“He who hopes for spring with upturned eye never sees so small a thing as Draba. He who despairs of spring with downcast eye steps on it, unknowing. He who searches for spring with his knees in the mud finds it, in abundance.” - Aldo Leopold


Oops, wrong thread. Or is it??


JW
"

Oh no. Fits my area just fine.

I haven't seen a Junco in about 3 weeks.

I heard redwing blackbirds yesterday.

Sure signs of spring, Part Deux:

Another boatload of Northstar canoes spotted, this time in downtown Ely. Better get that permit squared away - looks like the outfitters are banking on another good year.

Bearpath9: "I haven't seen a Junco in about 3 weeks."

Still have them here in Mpls.

Junco's still here in NW Indiana.

Boppasteveg: "We had a conversation that started like this..."Now that your canoe trip is planned...what should WE do for OUR vacation?""

Yeah, I know that one is coming due soon.

Sheds are dropping and we are scooping them up!

The time change. I hate it!!!

Just leave it one way or the other for cripes sake.

airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!!


Just leave it one way or the other for cripes sake."

I so agree! I often say I have never understood why an educated population agrees with pretending it is some time that it ISN'T for half of the year. And then someone says "But it gives us another hour of daylight." No it doesn't, the daylight hours are the same length, it is just that we are pretending it should still be dark at 7 AM. Since I am an early riser, that has never, ever worked for me.

Ah, well. We shall survive this, too. :-)

Spartan2: "

airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!!



Just leave it one way or the other for cripes sake."

I so agree! I often say I have never understood why an educated population agrees with pretending it is some time that it ISN'T for half of the year. And then someone says "But it gives us another hour of daylight." No it doesn't, the daylight hours are the same length, it is just that we are pretending it should still be dark at 7 AM. Since I am an early riser, that has never, ever worked for me.


Ah, well. We shall survive this, too. :-)"

Another hour of daylight??? Yep--trying to make a blanket longer by cutting a foot off the bottom and sewing it to the top...

TZ

Skate skiing in the B-dub.

TrailZen: "

Spartan2: "

airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!!



Just leave it one way or the other for cripes sake."

I so agree! I often say I have never understood why an educated population agrees with pretending it is some time that it ISN'T for half of the year. And then someone says "But it gives us another hour of daylight." No it doesn't, the daylight hours are the same length, it is just that we are pretending it should still be dark at 7 AM. Since I am an early riser, that has never, ever worked for me.



Ah, well. We shall survive this, too. :-)"

Another hour of daylight??? Yep--trying to make a blanket longer by cutting a foot off the bottom and sewing it to the top...


TZ"

Sounds like a bunch of retired folks that don't have to punch a time clock or have kids heading off to school in the dark. It's a pain but I understand the reasons and enjoy the benefits.

dan

It will signs of spring for a few hours yet until the big snow hits. Deer poop EVERYWhERE that will soon be winterized for awhile.

MrFeesh: "

TrailZen: "

Spartan2: "

airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!!




Just leave it one way or the other for cripes sake."

I so agree! I often say I have never understood why an educated population agrees with pretending it is some time that it ISN'T for half of the year. And then someone says "But it gives us another hour of daylight." No it doesn't, the daylight hours are the same length, it is just that we are pretending it should still be dark at 7 AM. Since I am an early riser, that has never, ever worked for me.



Ah, well. We shall survive this, too. :-)"

Another hour of daylight??? Yep--trying to make a blanket longer by cutting a foot off the bottom and sewing it to the top...



TZ"

Sounds like a bunch of retired folks that don't have to punch a time clock or have kids heading off to school in the dark. It's a pain but I understand the reasons and enjoy the benefits.


dan"

Well I am not retired!!! In fact Most days I have to get up at 0400 or earlier for work. I travel multiple time zones per day. So when the clocks change it has a negative effect on me.

Well, I am retired now. But I learned to hate the time change when I WAS working, teaching 8-9 elementary music classes each day. Everything was just thrown off when the children were coming at the "wrong time"--it affected me and it also affected them. It would take me (and them) a couple of weeks to adjust each time.

I don't hate it nearly as much now that I am retired. But it just seems very silly to me. Just another way to get people at odds with one another.

I agree the change is a pain, but the reasons for the change are pretty obvious. Time after work to get out and have more time to enjoy the evening in the summer, but we don't want the kids walking to school in the dark during the winter.
dan

I retired a few years ago so it doesn't really matter much to me anymore, but the wife still works so it's great to be able to have daylight to do a little fishing, cook diner out at the lake, or whatever when she gets off.
When I was working construction it would have been pretty tough to get any thing done if it didn't get light until 9 in the morning, there were enough cloudy winter days as it was where we were stinging lights or working with headlamps, summer time we'd start at the crack of dawn to get off early to beat the heat which meant getting up around 4 or 4:30, sure glad it wasn't 3:00.
It's made my life better and I'm happy to give up a couple of groggy mornings in the spring every year.
dan

It is a sure sign of spring when you have had several weeks of above normal temps. The yard is completely void of snow and begins drying out.

And then...


Safe to say 6+ inches by the end of the day.

JW

JWilder: "It is a sure sign of spring when you have had several weeks of above normal temps. The yard is completely void of snow and begins drying out.


And then...



Safe to say 6+ inches by the end of the day.


JW"

Beautiful Pic. I was gonna say something about "another snow event" for a sure sign of Spring?-- but is this the last one?? Us in the weather field say no, but a sure sign of spring is the flakes will be bigger , but melt faster in the growing daylight--- MUD is a big sign of Spring also. Enjoy the weather - it's the only weather you got.