I Know It's Been A Long Time, But...

   I know, it has been a couple of months since I have written anything, but there is a really good reason for that. Nothing ever happens here. I have thought about writing something new quite a few times, but what can I say? So, here goes, I will write about what is happening around here.
   We bought some new chicks and a couple of white broad breasted turkeys in March. We now have two coops, the breakfast and the dinner coop. One of the turkeys is a definite tom. I was calling him Thanksgiving, but yesterday I changed his name to Godzilla. He walks on everyone else and he reminds me of how Godzilla stomps on cars and buildings. The turkeys are also getting pretty ugly.
   We have two Buff Orpingtons that are going to go into the breakfast coop, even thought one of them is a rooster, and we have 10 New Hampshire Reds. One of those is going into the breakfast coop. One is so gentle, I pick her up and she just relaxes and doesn't struggle at all.
   Too bad my parakeet, Frosty, isn't like her. I have had Frosty for almost a year, and I still can't get her finger trained. I have tried all the ways you hear, but no luck. I can pet her, but that's it. I have had birds before and they got finger trained, but not Frosty. Maybe it's her name that did it. Since I named her Frosty, maybe she is just giving me the cold shoulder.
   We planted a small garden this year, because we really need to build up our soil, but we also needed the garden. I was beginning to think I had a bad packet of bean seeds, but after tow weeks, they have finally started coming up. I know I didn't plant them too deep and I have planted this kind before. I was getting ready to go replant them.
   I have been busy making and selling teddy bears in flannel pajamas. I have three left to sell and am making eight more.

Pale blue bear wearing polka dotted jammies

Striped bear wearing train jammies. He looks swirled in the picture, but he is just striped.

 

 Tan bear wearing sheep jammies. It isn't swirled either. All bears and clothes are machine washable and dryable. I am selling them for $40.00 each which includes US shipping. I even started a Face Book page for them.https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauras-Bears-Critters/624151867673434
   So, now you know what I have been up to. I have a black Shetland fleece in the living room that I need to
wash and spin. The neighbors behind us gave it to me. The sheared
the sheep before they butchered him. I also have shirts and
shorts to make. So much to do and so little ambition.

Oh Deer, What Can The Matter Be?

Seen through the dirty window

   Tuesday morning, we had these visitors in the yard. They were so good, the didn't jump the fence into the garden. They probably would have, if they could have figured out how, so they ate from the compost pile and our small berry plants instead.
   Usually when deer see movement, they take off running, but these 3 didn't. They were very skinny and really need to fatten up to survive the winter.
   After grazing for awhile, they noticed something and went into alert mode. We didn't see anything from the window.
   All of a sudden, the deer took off. We knew it wasn't a run for your life run, since it wasn't fast enough.
   You'll never guess what scared them away? Have you given up yet? Well, hot on the heals of the deer, came 19 turkeys chasing them away.
   The turkeys were all fluffed up with their necks stretched out, running as fast as their turkey legs could go.
   It was really funny watching the turkeys. Turkeys chasing deer isn't something you see every day. As a matter of fact, I've never seen it before.
   The deer ate most of the good stuff from the compost pile, so the turkeys didn't hang around long. We have a first come, first serve compost pile.

A Funny Sight

Today, we had two different flocks of wild turkeys come thru the yard. The first group were younger than the second. They were feeding on the grasshoppers. The second flock were chasing grasshoppers and jumping to catch them in the air. It was funny seeing them jumping and crashing into each other for a tasty bug. I wish they had come earlier in the summer when the grasshoppers were really bad. Now, they are just about done for the year. Any grasshopper removal helps.

A flock of turkeys

Yesterday morning, as I was on my trek down the long driveway to get the newspaper, a large flock of turkey's crossed my path. There were 4 females and about 25 young ones about 6 inches tall and one a little bit bigger. The smaller were still fuzzy and the bigger one was at that ugly stage in life with feathers starting to come in. I know turkeys aren't the smartest of critters, but the larger baby must have been hiding when what little brains turkeys have, were being passed out. It was lagging behind and the adults waited several times for it to catch up. Eventually, they'd just leave and it would realize it was alone and run to catch up with the rest. I'm pretty sure it will be a snack for some animal later. I used to bring my camera with me when I was out and about at our place, but nothing seemed to be picture worthy, so I stopped bringing it. I guess I'll have to start bringing it again. I had to look up on the internet to find out what baby turkeys are called. I was close. They are called poults. I thought it was poulets. I know a group of turkeys is called a flock, but I think this was a herd.