Notes From Zone 4

We have wild turkeys in the yard all the time. It’s almost normal. But today, Frank spotted them in the crab apple trees. At first, because of the way they were positioned, it looked like they were in the dogwood trees, but really, they are in the crab apple trees behind the dogwood, happily eating the crab apples. I knew crap apple trees attracted birds, but I didn’t know it would attract wild turkeys. It was hard to believe that those little ornamental trees could support such big birds. Who knew?

The snow and ice storm is gorgeous, but better viewed from inside than out. Um, I think it’s time to take down the fall flag! The bird feeders are starting to get attention, especially the suet, which has been largely ignored all summer and fall. We haven’t seen the wild turkey flocks yet this year. I wonder where they are? I love the way the pergola looks with the ice all over it. The pond is now frozen solid.

I was as excited as the kids were last night, waiting for the snow to start. We were supposed to get eight to twelve inches, and the kids were hoping for a snow day, of course. We’ve had so little snow this year that the yard is barely snow covered, especially where the flock of

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Our favorite flock came by for a visit, today. I’m not sure why I was surprised by their arrival, but I was. It’s cold out there. But it’s not like they could fly south, and it’s a long walk, so I guess it makes sense. I must remember to put out some cracked corn out for them tomorrow. These guys are much nicer than the pack of coyotes we heard by the house last night, howling behind the house.

Yes, these are more pictures of our flock of turkeys, as seen from the picture window overlooking the balcony inside the house. I like the way the window frames them, actually, and at least they didn’t all run away when I grabbed the camera this time! I counted 17 of them out there. That’s a nice, healthy flock size. I haven’t done much in the garden these days. I go out and randomly pull weeds, and do a bit of clean up here and there, but I think I’m basically done for the year, until the leaves stop falling, at least.

It was chilly outside today, even though it looked beautiful. We decided that when cold white stuff came down from the sky, it was hail, not snow. It’s too early for snow. And it passed quickly. But I did get a bit of a start on putting in the edging where the grass meets the gravel. Something like seven down, ten thousand to go. The landscaper brought by 150 of these old cobblestones, and I think it’ll look great when it’s all done. Not sure how many I’ll be able to get in before the ground freezes, though. A bunch of wild turkeys have decided that our yard has yummy stuff in it. We’ve seen several flocks today. So cool.