40 turkeys in my backyard

A while back I posted about our Turkeys.  WELL.  Apparently wild turkeys LOVE snow.  b/c right now it’s coming down in droves, and there are (I kid you not) FORTY wild turkeys in our backyard.  How great is that?!

But here’s the trip.  John just went out and – as well as scattering seed, left a big bowl of food in the middle of the yard.  After all, these turkeys daily gorge themselves at our overflowing feeders.  You’d think they’d delve right into a bowl, right?  HAHAHHAHAHAHH!!

21 thoughts on “40 turkeys in my backyard

  1. Enjoy the little amount of snow while you can. I’m headed out to shovel before it starts to mix with the rain, then it becomes heavy to move. I need to do it here before the mess freezes. Once snow is cleared, the piled perimeter becomes the boundary that I shovel to all-l-l-l winter. I have to make that boundary out far because, if anything, that snow/ice wall closes in somewhat as the winter storms pile up. So, I’ll dress in layers, take off a layer as I build up body heat when I shovel, get cold outside, and look forward to coming in to a hot cup of cocoa. Hopefully, the rain- soaked snow will not down any power lines. I’m sure Portland’s power won’t suffer. Let the girls outside to make snow people stand singing Christmas carols in the side yard. The ice that will come after the snow should preserve the snow characters. Once outside is clear, you and John have a great day, with him home on this snow day from classes, to work on that beautiful dining room. I can hardly wait to see the miracle. Dad is looking down with encouraging beams of approval. I love you guys, Kate

  2. This is so cool! We don’t have wild turkeys here (Seattle), but I never saw any even when we lived in Michigan. I love the picture of your kids looking out the window. Thanks for sharing!

  3. When I went out, earlier, the light and fluffy snow measured at 6 1/2″. After shovelling for 20 mins I came in to rest. I’ve just come in from my 2nd shovelling excursion to finish the front path at my house. I measured the total snowfall in the backward before I came in this time & it measured at a depth of 9″. The flakes are getting bigger, indicating things are changing over to rain. Hopefully I won’t have soggy snow to shovel when I get back out to clear the back deck. I grew up shovelling & though I didn’t care for it as a child, I do enjoy being out in the cold air now as I plug along clearing pathways. We girls always had a section of sidewalk to shovel since everyone was required to shovel a pathway if not the sidewalk, in front of their homes since we walked to & from Willard school every school day. Not until the 4th grade did we take the bus to another school, intown. What a glorious day!!!!! Kate

  4. It looks like the word got out about the free meals at your house! The cats in Philly must have ratted you out. Love the pictures, keep em coming!

  5. I’ve just come in from my 3rd shovelling & the snow measured at almost 10 1/2.” OK, so I got carried away with the shovelling; I’m tired of it now. Thank goodness I remembered to use my knees when lifting & to step in the direction of the throw so that I wouldn’t overly twist my back. Three winters ago, we got 2 snow storms/wk, dumping considerable amounts each time, for 6 1/2 wks. Awful. Snow banks around my house were 8′ high from the shovelling. Thank goodness we got a snowblower before the 1st snowfall that year. Before the winter was over, the snowblower payed for itself. Last year we found a reliable fella in the neighborhood to plow our driveway. He’s plowing us again this year but he won’t come until the snow stops. It’s still snowing.
    Hopefully, I’m inside for the duration so that I can work on Christmas presents as long as we have power. Inevitably, we lose power in the CMP’s Alfred substation coverage area. Kate

  6. Wild turkeys. Apart from being a sixties rock group led by the great Glenn Cornick, I had no idea that wild turkeys really existed. They seem such a silly animal, I had assumed that someone had invented them with Christmas/Thanksgiving in mind.

    In the UK there are no wild animals, there is no room for them. If we had wild turkeys walking about they’d last about 5 minutes.

    In Spain we have wolves and bears but no turkeys. They eat seafood at Christmas. That’s very nice but you don’t get wild prawns in your back garden so much.

  7. Hope you folks have enjoyed your Christmas in your house. You’ve truly made it your own. Whatever you two do is a blessing to the home’s life. You love it; we understand that love; and Dad’s spirit is pleased with whatever you do to make it your own. He once told me that a home is not meant to be a place of strict cleanliness, like a museum, but is to be LIVED in, dirt, cobwebs, and all. You have plenty of space to make various piles of interest that can be left and returned to when the spirit moves you to re-use the pile. Not everything got picked up but earned its respective place to which we returned when it was needed. The old home-your old home- is meant to be filled with noise and cheer by brilliant thinkers. That you are, fantastic dreamers. And dreamers need jars to fill; I have two more empty, large coffee jars. Do you have screws and nails to fill them?…paint brush cleaner?…soup? Anyway, I’ll be intown around noontime on Tuesday, Lord willing and the creek don’t rise (weather permitting). I’ll leave the jars under the stoop near the kitchen door. Really cold temps are moving into the area that day so that you’ll want to bring in the glass jars before the cold-d-d cracks the glass. Did you enjoy the gingerbread men? Was your chimney big enough for Santa’s sack of toys to slide down? Did the girls hear the reindeer on the roof? They’ld probably have to be sleeping in the attic to hear Santa’s sleigh and reindeer on the roof. Kate

  8. Won’t be intown tomorrow. The creek will be rising in our neck of the woods. Too, we’ve had a touch of the flu so that I don’t want to expose your family to any sickness. Maybe I’ll be intown next Tuesday, January 5, 2010. Hope y’all are well. Happy New Year coming up, 2010. Health and peace to you and yours, Kate

  9. Happy New Year, 2010!!!!!! Thank goodness our 1st storm of the year brings light, fluffy snow. New Year’s Eve into 1/1/10 AM we got 2″ with an additional 4″ since then out here, 30ish miles southwest-ish from Portland. Yesterday’s early AM walk was silent, cozy but occasionally slick under the softly dropping powder. Just wonderful to behold. If I get out often to shovel, this should be fun. So far no wind though 1-2′ of drifting snow will be hard to reliably measure during this weekend-long storm. If we don’t lose power, I’ll keep you updated. Arborists have been busy trimming around the power lines. Time to snuggle in to read a good book, clean a closet, OR go tobogganing. Have FUN on Dole’s Hill. You should be able to stop before going across the ice flows on the mud flats If you slide that side of the hill. Have a ball. Hopefully the neighbors will be there, too. Kate

  10. Last night we only got 3 1/2″ with no wind, to speak of, to cause any drifting. Easy to clean. Boy, what a fizzle after all the hype. Big snow flakes now drifting down steadily in this ‘shower.’ I hear Portland really got the wind. Did the house speak to you about it’s security? Did you feel safe against the blowing, being snug inside? Kate

  11. I’ll be intown Tues, 01/05/10, in early afternoon. Hope to stop by with the 2 jars. Again, if you’re not home, I’ll leave them on the deck, by the back door. Thanks for sharing the pictures of your Christmas. Your tree was very pretty and in a great spot for your neighbors to see the lights. So warm and homey. Kate

  12. Surviving winter:With bad knees & bad back, I learned to shovel 1) using a child’s shovel so that I could only move small loads of snow UNTIL I trusted myself to use the adult, open-sided shovel to lift ONLY small snow loads; 2) stepping close to the area to be shovelled; 3) bending my knees down to scoop snow onto the shovel before staightening up;& stepping in the direction of the throw of snow (standing up & stepping-in-the-direction-of all in one move) using my arms, shoulders & momentum to toss the snow OR to carry the shovelful of snow over to the pile off to the side. Recently, I found grip handles that I could secure around the shovel handle & place each added handle- on separate shovels- part way down the handle so that none of us older folks needs to bend our knees as deeply. AND I’ve learned to shovel at only my pace (slow) & to take breaks after 15-20 mins. out in the cold. I go inside, remove boots & jacket, make a cup of hot chocolate & rest before heading out again to shovel more. This is my adult process but as a kid I managed to last longer outside, like until the job got done with frequent pausing to eat snow & make angels in the snow or a snowman. Somehow our shoveling took all morning & needing to go out after lunch to finish with focused gusto so that we could go toboganning. Remember, keep all movements close to your core, especially when you’re wearing additional footgear & needing to move on ice or in snow of any depth. Kate

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