Winter Says "Not So Fast"

Ya. That's snow.

9 May 2020
Ya. Second time in my lifetime we've had snow in May.

Snow Day?!

Woke up to this, Saturday morning, 18 April...

Seriously?
This is the second latest snowfall I can remember. The latest I've ever seen snow was 9 May 1977. That was pretty bad because the leaves were already out which made the snow covered branches very heavy. We had a foot of snow in some isolated spots.

I actually don't mind the snow so much. It's the cold I really hate. And this hasn't been much of a season. Can't really recall any below 0 weather. Certainly not for any length of time. Long underwear, quilted overalls, storm parka and sheepskin hat stayed in the closet for the entire season and that's usually the best indicator.

And I thought this was kind of pretty...

Climate Change Much?

This has been a very strange winter season. Here with the promise of spring I think we'd had one plowable winter snow. There's still time for a blizzard or two. Last year we barely had any snow until March when we got 15 inches in just a few hours. And last March was cold, and the spring was notably cold and wet.

It was a terrible year for tomatoes. And I don't think corn was coming up until June.

This year, last month, end of the first week of January, I saw a Great Blue Heron on the pond outside my home. He was more than likely sick. And then maybe climate change messed him up.

And then I could hardly not notice....buds of trees! On 15 January!

15 January. Very bad thing!
And then just several days ago, I see Daffodils coming up!

7 February. Daffodil sprouts!
As I understand it, everyone agrees the climate is changing. The issue is the likely cause. Most people believe carbon emissions are to blame.

Some believe it's just part of a natural cycle. I'm not a climate scientist. But there's a lot of evidence contradicting a natural cycle conclusion. But. It appears evidence doesn't mean much to some people..

A little more like it

A week ago I went out and broke up the ice and spent an hour working a shovel underneath to lift it off the ground in sheets. I was determined to get horses out there if it was the last thing I did!

So after a week of weather steadily in the 40s and 50s we're *finally* getting horses out every day.

Tuesday 27 February. The sun is very nice this time of year!
And I'm pleased beyond words to have the horses out there enjoying the sun. This has been a really challenging winter. For everyone. Now if I can just get myself organized well enough to ride!

Another good sign! The local maple sap is running!

Friday 23 February

Spring milestone

The first of the season's daisies!

27 May
That's my back yard. In another week or so there will be thousands of daisies out there. I'll be sure to update!

Celebrating spring!

Er.  Not so fast!

 

Friday 24 March

Winter wasn't that bad.  Wasn't that good.  But wasn't bad.  My best indicator of what kind of winter we had is my hat.  I have a sheepskin hat.

It's a very nice warm hat.  And...I only use it when it gets ...and stays...very very cold.  I never even took it out of its bag this season.  When I don't use my hat all season?  It wasn't a bad winter!  We even had a week in February where it was in the 60s.  We had windows open for two or three days straight.  Caught up on a lot of barn work.  It looked very promising!

March came around and relief was in sight.  You see, it almost never gets bitter cold in March and if it does?  It doesn't last long.  Well.  I should know better.  The first weekend in March it was 4 degrees.  It got cold.  And it stayed cold.  This *never* happens in March!  We can have blizzards in April but it never gets cold like this.

We had a full on blizzard 10 days ago and the snow still hasn't melted.  I never minded the snow much.  It's the cold I really hate.  But make no mistake.  Barn work sucks in the cold and it's a long trip to the manure pile and back in the snow!

So.  Where have I been?!  Hiatus?  No.  Just busy.  Crazy busy.  Between employment and barn work and trips to the gym I just haven't had time to blog.  I want to try and get back on board.  I started blogging for me.  Keeping track of things over time and after so many years I enjoy going to back through it all and recalling where I was and the things I was doing.

Gone Fishin'

Last fall I decided to take up fishing again. I fished many many years ago but after having my lifelong fishing rod stolen I just lost my way. Sad story. Left my car wide open and..fishing rod gone. Thing is, that fishing rod was like an old friend. We'd been through a lot. Traveled all over the country. Been lost by the airlines and recovered.

But circumstances were such last fall that fishing sure seemed like the thing to do.

I made a couple of outings and..oh hell, it wasn't as easy as I remembered! So I mostly practiced. Lost a few lures. Started to get my game back, as the saying goes. Now, with spring blooming...and fish dimpling the pond outside...I decided I'd do some scouting and maybe really try and catch something.

Of course this helps too...

Why yes, this really *is* my back yard!
So I found some nice water and...Thursday morning, 30 April, went seriously fishing!

Although frankly, it really is more about this..

Just listening to the river passing by and enjoying being outdoors.

But, as luck would have it, I did a fair job reading the water and it was a most perfect day. Here! My first fish in almost 30 years!

Brook Trout? Grass Carp I think!
My second cast landed me a pretty little trout. And 4 more in the next half hour! And all kinds of missed strikes along the way. Great fun! Of course I released them all. I was pretty thrilled. And no kidding, that really is my back yard. And I'm not telling anyone exactly where I caught those pretty little fish.

Bouncy Bird

There's a funny little bird I see around the barn now and then. First saw one maybe 3 or 4 years ago. He walks along and, when he's about to reach with his hind leg, he bounces on his leading leg. It's an absolute riot. It's like he's dancing along.

From a distance and not paying much attention I'd thought it was a killdeer. But then a few weeks ago I scared one up along the driveway and thought wait a minute! That doesn't look anything like a killdeer! Actually...doesn't behave much like one either. We have killdeer all around the barn and they're *very* territorial. Go anywhere near them and they run around frantically screaming like little nutbags.

Having a better up close look I got out the field guide to the birds and...I'll be. It's an...

American Woodcock
I've never seen a woodcock out in the open before! I hear them all the time. They're very shy birds. I've seen them take flight in the woods. I even ate one once. It was delicious. Although it would take quite a few of them to satisfy any kind of appetite!

Now this just amazes me. Find the woodcock!

Hover your mouse over the image to find the woodcock!

Taxes and Swallows

Right on time.

The scout swallow was in the barn first thing yesterday morning, 15 April. That just amazes me!

Ice Out!

I live on the Charles River. The more rural headwaters end.  The river is as reliable an indicator of the trending weather as any.

And Monday 16 March...

Ice Out! See it? The bend in the river? That's not shadow, that's open water!
And the open water is expanding almost before your eyes.

Boston broke its official all time snowfall record last night at 7:00 pm. Keep in mind that's at the airport, on the harbor. Where it often rains when it snows here. I think we broke our record a couple of weeks ago. Of course we know about snow. But the more striking thing is almost *all* of that snow fell in the past 6 weeks. Up until almost the first of February we hadn't had more than a few inches. So we all got dumped on pretty good and we felt it!

"Meteorological spring" is 1 March. The sunshine is much brighter and takes some of the harshness out of the cold. The more official "astronomical spring" is this Friday. The 20th. At 6:46 pm. Either way...good riddance, winter. Don't hurry back!

I keep pretty close track of when the swallows arrive and depart. And I'm pretty good about noting when the flowers blossom. I need to keep better track of when the river freezes solid and when the ice clears.

And when L sheds. She's easy! She doesn't gradually shed her coat like most other horses. She loses barely a hair here and there and then one day, poof! Hair everywhere! And the next day she finishes. I haven't kept track of that day's date. I'll have to start this year.

Hopefully we'll enjoy a ride in a few more days. The huge snowbanks will be here for quite a while but the blanket snow is melting very quickly!

Trails?

My trainer, earlier in the day yesterday, on seeing us emerge from some swampy brush, commented on what a confident trail horse L is. L is a most *wonderful* trail horse!

This is a great time of year for bushwhacking. The foliage is just coming in and the ground is clear enough for us to make our way through the woods. It's great fun!

We don't need trails
We can pick our way through here fairly easily. Although it does have its challenges. It really is a pleasure being out here in these woods.

Yes I know. I need to do her bridal path.
I especially love the ferns. It's all so green!

I heard a Wood Thrush. I hardly ever see them. The Wood Thrush song is a quintessential New England summertime woods thing. I don't think I heard a Wood Thrush last year. Not once.

I am *completely* lost. She isn't.
I used to get a little anxious about getting lost out there. I start out knowing exactly where we are. And I'm pretty good in the woods. But after a few spins and finding our way around downed trees and not paying attention to where we are - it just takes a minute and I really have no idea where we are. But L knows *exactly* where we are. All I have to do is let her go where she wants and she'll bring us back to the barn. How cool is that! It's never failed us yet. I hardly give it a thought anymore.

There are trails out there. And we can make a few trips over the same paths this time of year to make new trails.

Seasons Change

I really enjoy watching the seasons change. And I especially enjoy winter's departure!

Last Sunday L and I had a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Saturday not so much. The bugs were out and they were *ferocious*. I'd sprayed L and put her hat on but after a few minutes in the woods the bugs were getting in her nose and she wouldn't take 3 strides without snapping and tossing her head. There wasn't a hint of a breeze and I thought she was going to break a sweat tossing her head. Of course it's not her fault and I don't blame her one bit. But it just wasn't pleasant and she clearly wasn't having a good time.

So I took us back to the barn.

Sunday was a beautiful day. A perfect 10. I couldn't help but notice spring beginning to burst every which way and a thought occurred to me. I'd try to update the winter pictures I'd taken in January with some spring equivalents. I do this a lot and it's fun to see the changes over the years. I don't however do it from the back of a horse very often. So I gave it my best shot!

Drift your mouse over these two pictures to see the winter edition of the same thing!

Sunday 8 May 2014
Well..they're not hardly perfect.

But they're close enough!
After our ride I had L out to enjoy one of her favorite things. I love the mustard in front of her left front leg there.

I drive by a mustard field on my way to work. I think it just grows wild out there. Nobody around here cultivates mustard. Unless maybe it's for the greens. For about a week this time of year it's a 30 acre yellow carpet. When the sun hits it right it's magical. I'll have to try and get pictures of it.

Dancing on the Ceiling

It must have been a tough trip. The swallows have been dribbling in a pair or two at a time all week long. Saturday the barn was just swarming with them.

Saturday 10 May. A full house!
The swallows are a huge "rhythm of life" thing around the barn. Of course they're courting and setting up house now. The males put on their best show and the females pick out the one they like the best. They have an awful lot to say while all this is going on.

This looks like tons of fun
Sometimes they build new nests but they'll use last year's if they're still up. They tidy them up and maybe give them a personal touch.

See the horse hair woven into the nest? Their nests are made of mud.
Oh, and another huge thing about having the swallows around the barn? Each one on a typical day will eat between 800 and 900 bugs. And when they're feeding babies? Forget it! It's like rush hour from dawn to dusk. So...do the math. Twenty breeding pairs of swallows will eat maybe 34k bugs *every* day!

April Highlights

Around here we thought spring would *never* get here! Mud season persisted. And you know about mud season and horses!

What?
That *really* is a white horse! Of course, they all look like that. You just notice it a whole lot more on him!

But spring did finally get here. Officially! You see, L is very funny. Most horses start to shed their winter coats by the end of February and lose their hair by the handful until it's gone sometime in April. Not L. She hardly loses a hair until...one day...in April...she decides she doesn't need her coat anymore and I swear...

19 April
In 2 days...it's gone. She sheds her entire coat in a single day with a little touch up the next day. I must take 30 lbs of hair off of her! Around the barn we think of that as the real first day of spring.

Listening to the radio the other day on my way to work one of the radio personalities commented on how, in the whole month of April, we had one day we didn't need jackets. Actually, I think we had two.

Saturday 12 April. It was a nice day!
But, you see, the trouble with this time of year is that means we've probably only had two nice days this year. And probably two nice days in almost 6 months! We did have a nice day in January. So we've had 3 nice days this year.

April is also most notable for the return of the barn swallows. The barn swallows came back this year on Thursday 24 April. Just a little late this year! I don't keep a thorough diary but usually they're back between the 15th and 20th. This year there are only 4 of them. I don't know what to think of that!..while we usually have a barn just teaming with swallows this year we have only 4. I don't know what to make of it. Usually the barn swarms with swallows and one year I think I lost count at somewhere near 30 nests! Maybe it was a tough winter for swallows?

Finally...I knew I'd like this.

I try to keep from having preconceptions when I try new beers. That's why I *never* read reviews before I have a new beer. I read the reviews after. As often as not what I think is the best beer ever a lot of people think is crap. I'm not out to educate my palate or become more refined. I just want to make up my own mind. But here we have a Trappist beer and I like the Trappist beers. But this one is special. The only recognized Trappist brewery in the United States is 46 miles away. They're the same bunch that makes the Trappist preserves. We're practically neighbors!

I got out a couple of weekends and cleared some brush to access new trails I'm eager to bring L on. These aren't really challenging trails but they'll be different enough to be interesting. This month has been so wet I'm beginning to think the puddles are vernal pools! We'll get our butts out there as soon as things dry a little bit.

Oh! The last big sighting for April? Wednesday. 30 April. I saw the first ferns coming up!

Edit to add:
I heard a White-throated Sparrow last Saturday 26 April. While everything else has been late this spring I think that's about the earliest I've ever heard a White-throated Sparrow. They're just passing through. They spend the summer in Maine. The Maine woods are full of them and they always remind me of Maine.

Dismal?

No, not really. Not as dismal as it looks anyway.

Saturday 29 March. Yahoo!
You see, it was a little sloppy in spots. It was cloudy overcast most of the day. It was breezy. Even starting to rain. But...for most of the day...it was near 60°F! I felt like we haven't been out riding in *ages*. That's probably because..oh, it's been weeks at least. It's been bitter cold, windy, snowy, icy, then when we did have a couple of seasonal days the mud was like soup everywhere.

Yesterday was as nice a day as we've had in a very long time. And L was, of course, a rock star. We didn't do anything hard. A little flexing and bending. Some transitions. She had the nicest slow jog going for a couple hundred yards. We both need to get ready to work in the weeks ahead. There are still some snow piles in the shady spots and the woods are downright swampy, but we found enough firm footing to have a good time.

We were out for about an hour so when the wind and the rain picked up and I think the temperature dropped almost 20° in just a few minutes. I felt really good with L between me and the ground even if for just a short while.

---

And look! Halibut season!

Pan seared oven roasted halibut steak
With steamed leeks. Halibut is my most favorite fish. Halibut steak, seasoned and seared in a scary hot cast iron griddle and finished in a 425° oven for a few minutes is sensational. Pinot Grigio went very well with it. And would you believe I've never had leeks before?! Loved them. I made a lighter vinaigrette than the recipe. I thought the red wine vinegar might clash with my wine and the fish might be overpowered by the balsamic vinegar. So I used white wine vinegar with a little rice wine vinegar. With a little spot of maple syrup. I should have thought to use a little squeeze of lemon.

That's the very first halibut of the season!

Looking for spring

in all the wrong places? Not much spring around here yet!

It's been very cold and unpleasant for some time now. But there is some hope! I think the ice is gone for this season

21 March 2014, first full day of spring
At least it sounds like spring. The Red Winged Blackbirds came back last weekend and they're making quite the racket. And I saw geese back here for the first time this season just yesterday. But a really sure sign is...the daffodils! I saw the first daffodils on the first day of spring late Thursday afternoon.

See? Daffodils! 20 March 2014
But *every* horse person knows the *real* frist sign of spring is...

Mud.

Mud is of course...everywhere

Tractor tracks
lot and lots of deep soupy mud. You can easily sink into this stuff to the middle of your shins and have it suck the shoes right off your feet.

But the worst part of all?

There's nothing to eat out here. Bring me in now.

Like as in, for good?!

I had occasion to take a short cut across a neighboring town this week. Driving by one of the bigger farm stands in the area I looked over the fields and saw they were...overgrown and ...unprepared?!

I thought I was seeing things.

Then this.

Closed? In May?!
And this...

Oh say it ain't so!
Jane and Paul's farm is a local institution of sorts. I always thought they were a little expensive but you could always count on finding high quality produce and prepared products. Pickles and pies and stuff like that.

They always had the very *best* in pick your own strawberries. Jane and Paul's was a destination for many in greater Boston. People would drive here from miles and miles away and the place was mobbed during strawberry season.

Pick your own strawberries
We've been coming here picking strawberries for longer than I can remember. And as soon as strawberry season is over it's ... blueberry season!

Pick your own blueberries
Then of course it's corn season. Last year the very first of the real local (rather than say..from 80 miles away) corn came from Jane and Paul's farm. It wasn't the best but it was very very good and it was dependable.

Before you knew it came harvest season.

October 2012

You could eat these like squash
It's shocking because Jane and Paul's was one of the more prominent and successful basic farm stand operations. Some places around here have resorted to starting petting zoos and running kiddie trains through their orchards to stay alive.

More than anything else though I just *hate* seeing elements of country life disappear.

Jane and Paul's Farm, June 2011
The property is priced such that no farmer would ever make a living from it. I'm sure within a year there will be 50 houses there. This is prime luxury McMansion country out here.

I'm very lucky. I still have a farm stand within walking distance of my home. A family operation that's renewed their commitment to their business just this season as a matter of fact. They have all new signs and they've opened earlier than ever before selling flowers and seedlings. Oh and this year they're going to have fresh duck eggs for sale!

Swallows and taxes

This is the second year in a row the swallows are back on 15 April. Tax Day!

15 April 2013
Two years ago it was 20 April.

I'm going to have to clean tack soon. I'm not going to wait until the 4th of July this year!

Shedding Day!

Now it's *really* Spring.

L sheds in one day. Oh she loses a few stray hairs here and there throughout the season but then, one day, all that winter hair comes off. I should really keep better track of that day.

Shedding Day 2013 - 13 April

Well blow me down

It might sound like Spring but it sure doesn't feel like it. It's been cold and I swear the wind has been blowing around here for 3 months.

Is the wind ever going to stop blowing?!
Friday I saw the first sign of daffodils coming up. Just green bumps in the soil but it's a hopeful sign!