Category: SA Times

May 4 The first king bird of the season was seen perched on a telephone wire close to the shop. The next day, the first hummingbird of the season visited the feeder in front of 1911. Kari saw one in the garden a day or two before. All the trees are leafed out in their Sunday best. SA has gotten more rain this April than any April in the last 17 years, over three inches. We are being challenged to keep the place mowed and trimmed. We never turn down rain in Potter County, but…we wouldn’t mind fewer weeds.

April 8 Much like March, April started off with a little snow, enough to cover the ground good. Friday it rained and kept raining on into early Saturday morning when the rain turned to snow. That kept up until Saturday afternoon. Total we accumulated 1.8 inches of much needed moisture. Abigail and I got some good grounds keeping done early in the week but none from Thursday on. Sunday morning the thermometer stayed above freezing, barely. That was forecast to be the coldest time, so it looks like we dodged a killing freeze yet again.

March 8 It’s back to winter. Yesterday was chilly, breezy and dismal. Then the light rain gave way to snow. Last Tuesday, I think it was, it snowed briefly with some of the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen, but it didn’t last long. Pretty, though. Yesterday evening’s snow flakes were small but there were a lot of them and it kept it up well into the night. The skies cleared during the night and today dawned clear and bright. Most of the snow had melted by afternoon and balmy weather is forecasted for the coming week.

February 9 This month started off pleasant, then it wasn’t, then it was again. Monday afternoon was warm, officially 88 degrees, with light wind. I took advantage to spray weeds, mostly in the perimeter tree line. Don’t remember if I’ve ever sprayed this early in the year, but I’m hoping to get an early jump on the weeds and thus avoid some of the problems when warmer weather really kicks off the weed growth. Then Tuesday cold returned. The thermometer said it was 22 degrees when I got up. That was low enough to keep me inside, so I finished treating the wood floors. Abigail kept on with her tile grout project and is getting close to finishing up. Wednesday it was back to warm weather again, so I continued spraying the perimeter and Abigail kept working on the tile grout. Next day she left for Kerrville to attend a ball with Nathan.

After a semi-productive weekend, I’m relaxing in the sunroom waiting for the Super Bowl to start. Whichever team loses I won’t be too disappointed. They can’t both lose though I wish they could. May all the players avoid injury and could there please be a minimum of silliness in the end zones.

January 12 So far this year…There was a dusting of snow Monday morning of this week after some really cold wind the day before. We went to church but going back and forth to the car was unpleasant, to say the least. Fortunately, the weather was decent for the drive home on the 2nd and held so that I was able to get the Christmas decorations squared away in the attic. Then there was another dusting of snow Wednesday morning. It was too cold for outside work, so Abigail and I took the week off. Snow was predicted for Thursday, and I considered grocery shopping Wednesday afternoon but didn’t. Should have. The forecast proved correct, and it snowed from about 7:00 am till sometime after I went to bed. I ventured out early and bought groceries. The snow wasn’t deep then but by the time I went to a 10 o’clock appointment it was beginning to mount up. We may have gotten as much as a foot of snow. It was more than we’ve seen in some years. The weatherman said eight inches of snow equals an inch of rain so we got from an inch to an inch and a half of much needed moisture which should extend our reprieve from watering for a month or two even if we don’t get moisture during that time.