hi, turkeys!

a group of wild turkey toms passed through while i had the ducks out yesterday.  the little whities were really curious about them and actually walked out a ways to get a closer look at the weird looking birds in their yard.

short video:

'migo

when we bought the place across the street we inherited about nine feral/semi-feral cats that lupe, the previous owner, had been feeding.  i told lupe i'd feed the cats after she moved.  most of the cats have moved on in one way or another.  now there is only one.

'migo

 he used to be called fluff/floof but after a dream i had, in which he appeared as a benevolent figure offering me help, i started calling him 'migo (short for amigo because in the dream he said he was my friend).  i walk over to bring 'migo some breakfast everyday.  usually he is waiting for me on a pine round behind the woodshed.  when i don't see him in his usual place i call him and he comes running out of the blackberries down by the creek and up the slope to me, yowling all the way.
today, like always, i gave him his breakfast and petted him a little until he got interested in eating and then i wished him a good day and went to check some trees and do a little watering.
when i was on my way out the gate to go back home i heard 'migo yowling me and i stopped to ask him what was up.  he kept yowling and walking toward me, pausing a little uncertainly a few times before he made it to the gate.  i bent down to pet him but he was skittish, he seemed to want petting but was not comfortable being so out in the open.  he kept yowling me and leading me back over by the woodshed.  when we got close to the woodshed i bent down again and he allowed me to pet him.  it was more than an allowance.  he seemed to really want and need to be petted.  i stroked his head and back and rubbed his ears and neck and he purred and rubbed his head and body against my leg.  we did this for 5-10 minutes and he probably would have liked more but i had to get back home to some other furry critters who need things from me too.  i thought about how difficult it must be for him to live in the loneliness of not quite being a wild cat and not quite being domesticated.  i told him it was alright as i stroked his soft coat and looked into his friendly yellow eyes.  i told him he could be wild or he could be tame and i'd be his friend either way.

staal's happy birthday feast

beef and veggie spring rolls, long beans and purple pole beans (from the garden), and rehydrated oyster mushrooms from our winter crop

i cooked the beans and mushrooms together with some garlic but didn't get any pictures because we (nick came over and helped) were too busy eating it.

the first few i roll are always a little clumsy but i usually get pretty good at it by the end

porch swing

a year or two ago staal and i found a really great little porch swing at a yard sale.  the paint was peeling but structurally it was sound.  it's been sitting around our place since then waiting its turn to come up on one of our lists of millions of things.  staal hung it up outside the front door a couple of weeks ago to get it off the ground and seeing it hanging there with peeling paint got me inspired to do something with it.  staal helped me chip and sand off the worst of the old paint and after experimenting with mixing some paint colors for it i gave it a fresh coat of paint.

before:

after:

it's now a cheery place to enjoy some morning coffee and by late afternoon it's a great spot to sit in the shade and cooling breeze as the heat of the day starts to break.