Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: Sure signs of spring
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jillpine |
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: Shepherds (and especially their border collies) will be among my most favored large animal practice memories. Thank you for sharing. |
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BAWaters |
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KarlBAndersen1 |
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KarlBAndersen1 |
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. |
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Spartan2 |
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cyclones30 |
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... |
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HighnDry |
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wrestlencanoe |
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yogi59weedr |
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. |
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Pinetree |
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gravelroad |
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Canoearoo |
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bhouse46 |
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billconner |
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Spartan2 |
airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!! 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. :-) |
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Boppasteveg |
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! |
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airmorse |
MrFeesh: "TrailZen: "Spartan2: "airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!! 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. |
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Spartan2 |
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. |
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MrFeesh |
dan |
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blutofish1 |
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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? |
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TrailZen |
TZ |
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bwcadan |
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Spartan2 |
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. |
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jillpine |
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! |
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THEGrandRapids |
gravelroad: "Ravens pairing up for some sky dancing. 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. |
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outsidethebox |
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. |
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thart2009 |
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JWilder |
And then... Safe to say 6+ inches by the end of the day. JW |
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Bearpath9 |
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cyclones30 |
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yogi59weedr |
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gravelroad |
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: |
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BoxofRain |
Snowbells blooming in Maryland |
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dschult2 |
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rtallent |
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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: 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. |
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analyzer |
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JWilder |
Haven't heard these warm weather sounds in awhile... JW |
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tumblehome |
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. 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 |
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nctry |
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jillpine |
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! |
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Mocha |
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JWilder |
Oops, wrong thread. Or is it?? JW |
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yellowcanoe |
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 Oh no. Fits my area just fine. |
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Unas10 |
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TrailZen |
Spartan2: "airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!! 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 |
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MrFeesh |
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 |
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gravelroad |
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. |
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airmorse |
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jhb8426 |
Bearpath9: "I haven't seen a Junco in about 3 weeks." Still have them here in Mpls. |
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jhb8426 |
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. |
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WhiteWolf |
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. 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. |
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airmorse |
Just leave it one way or the other for cripes sake. |
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pastorjsackett |
Sheds are dropping and we are scooping them up! |
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Banksiana |
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MrFeesh |
TrailZen: "Spartan2: "airmorse: "The time change. I hate it!!! 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 |