Wild November Turkeys

Hahaha, figures the moment I posted the pictures of our friend's Turkeys on this blog...we just had six Wild Turkeys come wandering into the yard this afternoon!! So glad the big dogs were on the porch. They (all the dogs) sat so quietly, watching as these turkeys wandered in from the side yard where the chicken coop is. By the time I got up to come get my camera, all of them were in the front yard near the Rubber Tree plant.

Here is the group...Can't tell if the larger one is a Tom or not since it wasn't 'displaying' and the sun wasn't in the right position with my being on the porch.

Within just a few moments, they were all heading down the driveway. Slipping in and out as silent as the night, I usually only see the 'scratchings' of where they have been. If the deer weren't such piggies at the bird feeders I'd be able to keep a bit of feed on the ground for them. The deer, as much as I adore them, can be quite the pests when it comes to the birdseed. They will eat any and all of it and while I was putting feed out for them at one point, since they refuse to leave my Hibiscus alone....well, I just haven't been encouraging them to feed here.

Cooler weather and Biketoberfest has begun

Temperature this morning is a cool 64 degrees at 6:30 am....it's the same in the house as outside.  The clouds must have been a little thinner this morning, as I was able to see the 'glow' in the eastern sky through the trees as the sun began to rise.  Haven't really seen much of that lately with my sleeping in...lol.  We have a cool front moving in across the state that is supposed to bring us temps in the low 60's at night in the coming week and highs in the low 80's.  The lower humidity makes it feel much cooler...but I am totally enjoying the Fall weather this year.

Biketoberfest began on Thursday and the Bikers have been rolling into town all week.  The paper has had several articles about how fewer people are in town for this event and fewer dollars are being spent.  Well, DUH...the whole economy is in the toilet and yet our area expects these people to come throw their money our way?  One of the news programs last night was saying how in years past we've had over 500 thousand people come in for this event and now we are seeing less than 200 thousand.

Well, for starters, our city leaders and the local people pissed and whined about the noise that accompanies the Biker events to the point they began heading out to other 'biker friendly' areas.  These same people griped about all the traffic, both bikes and people, clogging up the main roads as they stopped at vendor tents set up along said main roads.  Yeah, it was a headache at times to navigate through the sea of bikes in some areas, but the businesses sure didn't mind taking their cash.  These same Bikers dumped millions into our local economy twice a year and have been doing this now for over 50 years during Bike Week in the Spring.

Since all the whining and increased fees for the vendors, one smart person or group, developed a huge, multi-acre Motorcycle "Mall" on the far North end of Daytona.  That sure pulled a lot of the Biker traffic away from Daytona proper.  Of course, now, the same ones who pissed and whined over the traffic and noise, are now pissing and whining about the loss of revenue from these events.

Granted there are those Bikers who still are the hard core 'bad boys' most people think of when they hear Biker, but for the most part, these people are rarely the 'rowdy' crowd of the early years.  Our local cops have imposed fines on those who insist on 'showing off' either by driving reckless or exposing more skin than some people care to see.  Not so long ago the phrase "show us your tits" would have the gals lifting their tops, flashing the crowds as they rode past.  Nowadays, the gals are being cited for 'indecent exposure' for lifting their tops.  The 'bad boys' showing off barking tires, pulling wheelies and rumbling loud pipes are also handed pretty steep fines for their behaviour.  The local cops are constantly harassing the Bikers when they are in town and it has become a bit of a joke about coming down for Bike Week and ending up staying because they got jailed.  One would think that some of the citations and fines are just the city and counties' ways of making a profit from the events.

We used to go to some of the festivities up until a few years ago.  Since hubby's accident in 2004 we haven't went much.  All the walking and standing tends to put the both of us in major pain afterwards.  Since we don't have a motorcycle we just don't hang with those that do.  Personally, with all the idiots on the roads around here, I'd just as soon have as much steel as possible around me.  We used to trail ride the motorcyle and that was way more fun than playing dodge the idiot on the roadways.

Last night we headed over to a friend's house and the road that leads there has a biker bar on the corner...a very popular place way out here in the country.  As we were coming back home several bikers were heading into the parking area behind the bar....they were making left turns across the main road to get there....instead of waiting for us (we were heading straight on the main road), about six of them cut us off by turning directly in front of us!!  We were in the van...can you not see this monstrosity heading your way?  Hubby had to actually stop in the middle of the road to avoid hitting these morons.....and they wonder why so many die on the roads during these events.  Granted, some accidents are caused by people not paying attention to the bikes on the roads, but many more are caused by the idiot on the motorcycle doing dumb shit like pulling out in front of someone.  Good thing the brakes work well on the van is all I can say....especially as it was already dark when this happened.  Sure would be nice if these out of towners acted like they had a bit of common sense...wonder if they drive the same way when they are in their home area?  Or in their vehicle instead of on a motorcycle?  Really makes me want to be on a motorcycle.....NOT!!  Sad to say, I used to adore being on a motorcycle...not any longer...not in this state.

The day is looking very nice...cool air here at 11:45 am, bright blue sun filled skies with a very nice breeze.  I've had several deer visiting the yard this morning...a couple of does, the young spike and even a small fawn came out for a run across the front yard.  They wandered to the neighbor's pasture and hung out there for a bit after visiting my yard.  All of them are wearing their darker 'winter' colors now.  So cute to see them in the middle of the morning...they were here just after 9 am.

Guess I'll head into town and get my grocery shopping done...I'm out of several things at the moment.  Wow, just checked and its only been ten days since I went to the grocery last...must have forgotten several things on that trip!  That's what happens when I'm not in the mood to go to the store...I truely hate grocery shopping nowadays....unfortunately, I enjoy eating....LOL

Good ol' Florida.....

The morning began way too early for me...before the alarm went off at 6 am, I heard the shower running...hubby was up.  This was about 5:15 am...he was having spasms in his neck where the vertebrae is chipped and couldn't get comfortable.  That's one of the side effects from him running the tractor and mower...the bouncing and constant turning to check the mower deck irritates his injury.

Outside, its still a dark, pre-sunrise grey...the sun won't be up until at least 7:30 am...by the end of the month this will seem more normal, as we turn the clocks back an hour.  Barney began to sound right at 6 am, even though it was still dark.  The air has a wonderful chill in it this morning as the humidity has dropped to around 39% and the temperature is right at 66 degrees.  The high for today is supposed to be around 85 and sunny.
We are also under a red flag warning for fire danger with the humidity being so low for the next few days.
Still amazes me how they are allowed to do that with so many still under standing flood waters and we just had a good hard spell of rain less than two days ago!  About the middle of the month we move into our dry season and we still have til the end of November to be watching for hurricanes...good ol' Florida weather!

As I watch the orange-red glow begin to fill the back pasture, I notice a lone deer near the back fence...she's wearing her fall dark colors.  I'm not real sure just what it is they like so much about the weeds right there, but I always enjoy seeing their sweet faces...even though they destroy some of the things I like.  When I looked out front, I had three more visiting there.  Looked to be a doe with twin fawns...just past the spot stage..all of them dressed in the dark colors of fall.  So sweet, as long as they are nibbling far from my Hibiscus...lol.  Looks like mama has brought them up to the birdfeeders...all three are busy nibbling the growth around the Rubber Tree plant right off the front porch.  Kinda humerous, the two big dogs are passed out with the deer just feet away grazing as if they own the place.

My part will be in after 11 am, so that means a trip into town sometime today...hate to get started doing anything major knowing I'm going to have to stop.  For now, I guess I'll just go toss a bit of feed to the chickens and pick up a bit...maybe start a load or two of laundry since its so nice and cool.

New hens...silly dogs

It's just past 3 pm...the temperature is around 86 degrees...whew!  Without the blowing wind we have been having, it's a bit warm. 

Went out to check on the new girls and gave them a bit more feed and some fresh water.  They seem content to be out in the garden for now.  While I was out there I was trying to decide what to call them...have finally found their names....the darkest one with the little flipped comb shall be called "Henny Penny"...the lighter one shall be "Chica Patty"...was so cute watching them as I called these names....Chica Patty came right to me the first time I said the name....Henny Penny perked her head up and looked my was as if to ask "yes, what do you want" when I called that name.  They are supposed to be Rhode Island Reds....guess we shall see.  Judging from their legs, they will be one of the larger breeds...thick yellow legs like Ms Piggy on both.  Ms Red has thinner whitish looking legs, not quite as small as Barney's but nothing like Ms Piggy's.

After checking on the hens and giving everyone water, I came back inside and figured I'd go check the mail.  So I asked the dogs who wanted to go check the mail, just like I do everyday.  Of course everyone starts bouncing and getting excited.  As I opened the door and Mojo and Bear shot out across the yard....I happened to notice the small herd of deer next to the woods.  Hadn't paid any attention when I walked out on the porch, but figured Bear and Mojo were chasing off after squirrels.   Immediately I began to call them back as I watched the spooked deer leaping for the safety of the trees.  About wet my pants as I stood there watching my crazy dogs flying towards the deer, and suddenly seeing Mojo wipe out as he tried to cut back too fast in a different direction.  Bear ran to just inside the treeline before he turned around and came back to the porch.  Mojo came back with one of those "you didn't see that...did you?" looks...as if he was a bit embarrassed by his wipeout.  Since they are not allowed to chase anything but the squirrels, no one got to make the trip out to the mailbox.  Instead, they all got a time out on the porch. Silly dogs...

What a difference...

Brrrrr....what a difference a few days makes!!  After the heavy heat we've had for the past six months, this is quite the change!  The humidity is low, the air is nice and refreshingly cool.  Woke this morning to temperatures of 66 degrees in the house and on the porch thermometers.  For the first time in months all of my fans are off and just the windows are open allowing the cool air to flow.  It could stay like this and I'd be ok with it...at least for awhile.

Hubby came in well after dark from the mowing job...he will be going back this evening to finish.  The property belongs to a friend, the same one who has given us the chickens.  The grass in his pasture is very thick and close to five feet high.  The highness isn't the problem for the brush hog mower, its the thickness of the growth.  We've mowed this property numerous times, but usually, I'm the one running the tractor.  Hubby has gotten annoyed with me in the past regarding how I've run the machine out there, but last night was saying HE actually had to stop and cool down the tractor as he was running it too hard.  Just the difference in how we operate it.  I have realized the grass out there is way thick in spots and as a result, I only use about a third of the deck as I make my pass.  Yes, it does mean that it will take me longer, but at the same time, I don't overheat the tractor either and it looks good when I'm done.  He made the comment that it was taking him about fifteen minutes each pass...which tells me he was trying to run it way too quick....and that's why he ran the tractor hot.  Our tractor is an old McCormick International circa 1959...sweet running and fairly strong, but come on, she's old!  He's fussed at me in the past about keeping an eye on the water when I'm on it and he knows when she's pushed hard she throws a fit....just like his wife...lol.  Guess I'll be meeting him over there tonight....means we'll have two vehicles as he will need his to drag the trailer home....but our friend is off today and I'm picking up a couple more hens from him...Rhode Island Reds...both laying.   The friend's work schedule and other things has resulted in him not having time to deal with the animals...that and the property has sold so he will be moving in the very near future.  His girlfriend isn't there all the time like she was, so the animals need new homes.  I'm tickled over the hens.  Might actually make a couple dollars selling the eggs...at least enough to cover the feed every month.  The other animals he has are pigs, a goat, a young bull, turkeys and more chickens.  I don't want the pigs, even though I think they are adorable, and the goat, well, maybe if I didn't have the dogs....but the goat was raised with a young pit bull and is a head butting fool.
The young bull, I'm not sure what he's doing with, it is a Black Angus...sweet natured, almost like a big puppy.  Most of these animals he was raising for food...I'm just not able to do that myself....if I have to feed it and bond with it, I sure can't bring myself to eat it.  At least not as long as I have the convenience and ability to go to the grocery and buy meat.  With things the way they are, I might eventually have to grow my own meat...

All the hot soapy dishwater yesterday sure has done a number on my hands...the skin is sooo dried out it's tight and shiny...need to find my hand lotion...wherever that might be...haven't needed it for some time now.
I did manage to get everything pulled out of that cabinet, washed and put away....finding a new spot for all that glassware wasn't easy.  Most of it ended up in the drawer beneath my stove.  I'd hate to find the cabinet pulled off these weak walls just because I loaded them with glassware...can you imagine the mess that would be??!!

Today I intend to work on my back room again.  The idea of setting the hammock up in there is making me want to get it cleaned out ASAP....I started to go grab the tape measure yesterday to get an idea of the space I'll be needing for it.  There isn't much furniture in that room....my desk, file cabinets and a six foot wide bookshelf is it....the desk and small file cabinet set on one wall, the two tall file cabinets set in the cubby between the closets and the bookshelf sets between the two windows on the outside wall.  Its the middle of the room that is totally full of junk....although at the moment, I can barely get to the desk, which sits just inside the door.  God forbid I should want to use the desk!!!...way too much junk stacked on it, in front of it, etc...and this is my little desk.  My big desk is out in the shed....no way it would begin to fit in that room.

So far this morning I've seen five deer up in the yard...three out back and two more off the front porch....I didn't pay attention when I opened the back door to go see why the chickens were squawking....Mojo, Bear and Spike all three began tearing towards the back pasture...about that time I spotted the deer.  So glad they mind so well and all three returned to the house when I called them back.  Hmmmph, seems hubby forgot to let the chickens out this morning as he left...that's what he normally does as he's going out to warm up his truck.  The girls were squawking to get out and Red had apparently just layed.  As I got their feed and closed the gate I noticed the dog crate sitting in the back of my truck...which means, he picked the crate off the back porch and walked right past the coop, forgetting the chickens.  Oh well, no harm...just kept them penned longer than they liked...I wouldn't have even been out there yet except for hearing the squawking.
Looks like the deer are wearing their fall colors now...instead of the tan, they are turning more to brown.

Finally got warmed up enough after the inital chill to unwrap myself from my favorite afghan...turned the fan on in the kitchen area to keep some of this nice cool air moving as the outside temperature begins to warm from the sun.....Looks like it will be a very beautiful Fall day.

Fall is in the air!

Yesterday ended with the temperatures dropping and rain moving in from the east.  We've got a front sitting over the area that is bringing winds from the NNE....what a difference!!  The house maintained a temp of around 78 degrees or so with just the windows open and the fans on low.  As the night closed in, we began having heavier winds...weathercaster showed we could expect 20 - 30 mph winds last night and most of today.  Our overnight temperature dropped down around 74 degrees and we had periods of hard rain lasting only briefly....maybe around an inch total from yesterday afternoon til this morning.  One of these days, I'll have to get another rain gauge...right now, I'm guesstimating based on what I'm seeing in the birdbath, which was dry.  This morning I slept in, so I'm not sure just what it was like earlier, but at 9:30 am, it is overcast, windy and nice...the temperature on my porch thermometer says it is right at 80 degrees.  Feels much cooler with the wind blowing.

Looks like I shall need to fill the birdfeeders again...another of the things I've neglected to do with all the depression.  This morning I'm seeing many of the little regulars flitting about the yard....the Eastern Bluebirds are checking out the feeders and the little sparrows have been out in the grasss flitting about.  The Cardinals stop in as well and I had one the other day that flew up to the screen next to the door and just hang on, looking in as if to say " is everything ok?".  The birds remind me of my mom...she would fill her feeder every morning before leaving for work and the Robins and others were always out in her yard.  One of the reasons I haven't been keeping them full is the squirrels and deer keep hogging it all.  Just saw one of the grey squirrels run across the split rail fence in front of the porch and stop to see if there was food in the feeder....got one right this minute climbing on the one feeder and now up on the second, chasing away the Cardinal that had stopped in.  So maybe when I go out to feed the chickens I'll put a bit in the feeders today.

Things are still tense around here...I'm flat worn out with all the energy expended trying to deal with the issues.  Guess that's why I'm so wiped out today.  Feels like I could have slept all day, no problem.  Could just be the cooler weather, but I think its more stress related depression.  Been down this road before, so the signs are kinda easy to recognize now.  This too shall pass...

At least I managed to get a few things accomplished yesterday.  Now that the garbage has been picked up, I have room to start tossing more.  Bet our trash crew will be surprised to see our can out so many times in one month!   I know they are used to zipping right past our drive because the can isn't out every week.

Took the dogs and decided to wander around the property a bit yesterday.  I haven't been out in the back pasture since all the rains flooded everything in July....wow, has it been that long?...  Hubby had run the brush -hog mower about a week ago, right after things had dried out, but the grass out there is mid-calf again already.  The rider should handle it ok at this point....if only I could get the stupid thing started!  My pulling arm won't allow me to snatch the cord hard enough to make it start.  SIGH...I miss my 'Zoo with the electric start.  I don't dare to even try the weedeater, it throws my shoulder into such a fit when I yank that cord.  Not like I have the energy to hang on to the weedeater today though.  The back part of the pasture has loads of pine branches down....need to take my truck out there and load all that up for the chipper, or to be burned...probably burn it in the pit...love the fire pit this time of year....now if only I can get the growth cut back around it, we or I might be able to enjoy it.  So much to do, so little energy.

I've decided to go ahead and work on my back room today and see if I can get it cleaned out and organized...at least then I'll have somewhere to seek refuge on the days when hubby is determined to sit in front of the tube all day watching programs I have no interest in.  Maybe I'll bring the hammock frame in and put it in that room once its cleaned out....just not real sure it will fit, but its worth a shot.  Sis gave us the hammock and frame last year as they weren't able to use it since her surgery....she loved it, but just can't tolerate the way she needs to lay to use it.  It's way too beautiful a hammock to leave out in the weather...we also have two chair hammocks that I love, but without the frame can't use them inside.  I have one spot out in the pasture where I hang mine, but have to bring it in when I'm done for the day.  When she gave them to us, we were still in our old house and intended to mount them from the ceiling as she had done hers.  No way the ceiling in this place would hold it and a person sitting in it!

The Bluebird is back and so is the squirrel....the Cardinals are zipping between the feeder and Bottle brush tree trying to get my attention.  Discovered yesterday that the Cantaloupes have fruit!  Happened to take a good look at them on my way in from the mailbox....they were looking a bit dry and withery, and there it was...a mellon growing that is just a bit bigger than a golf ball at this point...came and got the watering can and gave them both a drink...both urns have mellons showing.  Now, if only they will get large enough to ripen and eat....hope the squirrels stay out of them.  Time to go check on the chickens and get them a bit of feed...then on to the cleaning once more.

Spots...

Another cool start to what promises to be another beautiful day...the early temperature at 8 am was right around 75 degrees. The humidity is low at the moment and the air feels nice.

As I went out the back door this morning to let the chickens out, Mojo of course went with me, there was a Doe and young spotted fawn right off the back porch...Mojo started after them, and I hollered 'NO'...he stopped and came to where I was...the two deer stopped just on the inside of the pasture fence and just stared at us. I went ahead and let the chickens out, Mojo found a squirrel to chase out front while I was in the chicken pen. By the time I was ready to head back inside, the deer had wandered on. Just thought it was pretty cool that when I said no, Mojo obeyed and the deer stayed. They are beginning to get their dark fall coloring now.

Was thinking the other day after reading Flowerfreak's blog, I haven't seen the Turkeys lately. Usually, we have a flock of probably two dozen or so that hang in the neighborhood. I haven't noticed them being around since we started getting all the rain and standing water. Hope they are ok, there were still a couple of young ones a month or so ago...seems like an eternity since we started dealing with all the water.

Hubby got the parts for the mower, it fired right up when he was done. Too bad it was almost dark...looks like I'll be mowing today instead.

The wildlife visitors

Here is the 'little' herd out in our front yard near the road. They are on the west side of our driveway, next to the neighbor's pasture.
There are several spotted fawns in this group.


A couple of them on the East side of the driveway, near our woods.
















Mama doe and her little spotted fawn just behind the pasture entrance on the northwest side of the yard behind the house.

Visitors....

Its about a quarter past seven in the evening, rain has come and gone, the temperatures are fairly comfortable hanging around 80 or so. The rain fell in buckets again around 2pm. The yard is flooded once more in the usual areas...not as bad as before, just holding water once more.

We've had the deer, the little spike and his girls, and an unusual water bird that I need to identify...beautiful bird. The bird was hanging out in the standing water out front...sorry dude, but there really isn't much there as it just has filled again. Got some good shots from the porch and will post them later.


The two does headed straight for the birdfeeders and the little spike began grazing the front yard...until Spike and Mojo decided to make their presence known on the porch. The does hauled off across the yard to the trees and the little spike looked at the porch as if to ask "what did you do that for?", before he joined the does at the woods.

I almost feel sorry for the critters...they look like they could all use some good feed. Poor does have ribs visible...but they do have fawns, so that could be some of the reason. I hate to begin feeding them again with us considering a move. I'm almost ready to begin spooking them, just so they regain their fear and wariness of people. The next residents here may not be tolerant of the deer and their young.


That's one of the sadder parts of leaving this place...I feel I have developed a bond with the wildlife that lives here and I will miss them each and every one.