Wrangling Turkeys and a Few Smiles

 

 Hi Everyone! At the moment, the wind is howling and the rain is coming down. I'm hoping I am able to get this post done before things get worse.

I thought that you might enjoy reading an account of my turkey wrangling. As you know, there has been a flock of twenty-one turkeys that have been roaming our neighborhood. Now, I am a live and let live kind of person, so as long as they were in my front yard searching for acorns, I was okay with the daily visit. Then the other morning after breakfast, I saw turkeys in my front yard, turkeys in my side yards, and turkeys in my backyard. . . lots of turkeys!!! So, with Emma on a leash and with me holding on for dear life we dashed around encouraging those turkeys to move on from our yard. Feeling very self-satisfied by our successful efforts, we eventually went back inside. Later that morning, my lawn guys showed up for a fall clean up and raked up leaves and acorns, and I was smugly confident that my problem was solved.

 Imagine my horror in the early afternoon to find those brazen delinquents had returned in force to my backyard!!! Two were atop my picnic table and the rest were scratching up my lawn all over the place.  So, once again I put a leash on Emma and began dashing madly around my backyard. There were wings flapping, a schnauzer barking, and turkeys flying around. There were turkeys on the fence and in the air. One stubborn group just kept circling my large garden with Emma and me in close pursuit. The photo above shows two turkeys who flew up to branches in a large tree in the woods. At one point, there were ten turkeys in the tree, a few on my neighbor's rooftop, and some in my other neighbor's backyard. It was like a bizarre scene from Hitchcock's The Birds." Yes, it was something to see. One of my neighbors watched the whole thing and found it very entertaining. My neighbor across the street saw me wrangling the rest of the group out of my front yard. (I had years of experience directing huge groups of students on field trips, so this was easy. I just walked behind the group in the front yard clapping my hands and flapping my wings! as they moved along down the hill.)

So far so good . . . the flock has not been back for another visit, but Emma and I are on alert and ready to spring in to action. (You might be wondering why I had Emma on a leash. She is truly quicker than greased lightning, and I didn't want any actual confrontation on either side.)

Okay, I hope that made you smile. Here are a few more smile items.

 

 

I have known my forever friend Cathy since we were toddlers . From time to time, she sends out emails to her family with old photos. I am on the list and laughed aloud when I saw she had added this photo to her Thanksgiving email. As you can see, it was taken in Plymouth, and if you are not from this area, that is the Mayflower ll in the background hence the Thanksgiving connection. That's Cathy on the left, my mom in the middle, and me on the right. Just look at that wild mop of super curly hair! Ever a would-be- fashionista, I was wearing a madras, wrap around skirt. Cathy and I agree that it was probably from the mid-sixties as she had a large Beatles pin on her bag. (It's not clear in the photo, but all four Beatles' faces were on the pin; I know this because my Beatles pin is still in the bottom of one of my drawers  :-)

 I hope you had a safe, as happy as it could be, Thanksgiving Day. My cousin Kristin and her family sent this gorgeous arrangement for my table for one.

Even more wonderful, my cousin and her girls came for a socially distant, backyard visit yesterday. It was a joy to see them. Kristin told me that a flock of wild turkeys is also called a "rafter."  She also lamented that fact that no one had captured my turkey wrangling on video:-)  :-)    :-)

Stay safe everyone. 

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The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2020 was reimagined for this year. Kudos to all who managed to pull this event off. It would not be Thanksgiving Day without the Rockettes. The members of the wooden soldier kick line performed their vigorous dance routine while wearing masks.

A Cross Stitch FFO and Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Today was a very rainy, gloomy, grizzly day. (Grizzly??? Why, yes, grey + drizzly = grizzly :-) Anyway, I had plans to accomplish a lot today but  . . . it was so grizzly,  I wasn't very successful; I did, however, FFO (fully finish) this cross stitch piece. Isn't Santa cute in his nightshirt? Besides holding a lantern in one hand, he has a chocolate chip cookie in his other hand and a mug with his initials. This little pillow is about seven inches square. The chart is "A Good Night - Santa '04" by Lizzy Kate.

Speaking of Santa, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, has confirmed that it will indeed be safe for Santa to visit the homes of all good little boys and girls this Christmas. Dr. Fauci has stated that Santa has an “innate immunity” and will not be spreading the virus. A reporter on CBS This Morning today spoke directly with a representative at the North Pole who confirmed that Santa and all his elves are wearing masks and taking all health and safety precautions. This will indeed be good news for concerned children everywhere. 

So, why have I fallen head first down the cross stitch rabbit hole? It's because there are so many fun, wonderful, irresistible charts available. (Not only that . . . the members of the cross stitch community are tremendous enablers; I'll write about that in a future post. :-)

 

Also, there are special Christmas issues of cross stitch magazines which are chock full of delightful ornament charts.

So, what am I planning to stitch next? Decisions, decisions, decisions . . . none of the above  .  . . I'm stitching an adorable chart featuring Mrs. Claus which I will then finish as an ornament. By the way, I have convinced myself not to order any more charts as with respect to Christmas items I am approaching SABLE = Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy!!! Well, not really, but at this point I have enough cross stitch charts, fabric, and floss to last two or three years.

Yesterday afternoon, my favorite cub scout and his mom, dad, and brother came to drop off the Christmas wreath that I purchased from his troop. It was a joy to see these guys running around and getting buried in a pile of leaves.The visit was short, cold,  and outside and everyone wore masks. I see them on a family zoom meeting each Sunday, but it was beyond wonderful to actually see them in person. I have warned them that when this pandemic is over, I intend to smother them all in hugs. 

Look at this kitchen towel that I received at last Monday's birthday get together, and it wasn't even my birthday! Linda, "Coach," had seen it in a shop and thought of me. (I call my friend Linda "Coach" since she has been an ongoing source of information, guidance, and inspiration for living with diabetes. She was one of the first people I called after receiving that diagnosis a number of years ago.)

"All you need is Love and a Schnauzer"  . . . truer words were never spoken. :-) I don't know what I would do without my Emma during these dark days. 

 And finally, here is a 2020 ornament that I received yesterday. In case you are unable to make out the details, the masked elves are labeled Janice and Emma, there is a bottle of hand sanitizer, and the "Merry Christmas" greeting is written on a roll of toilet paper. That just about sums up our year. You have to laugh  and smile to get through all this. :-)

 If I complete what I had intended to do today, I might pop back in before Thanksgiving. If I do not, may I wish you and yours a happy, healthy, safe Thanksgiving Day.______________               ___________________                  __________________

In my last post I noted that in the United States alone, we have have lost 250,000 men, women, and children to this pandemic. Now just five days later, the death toll stands at 257,577.

Stay safe my friends and please make wise decisions.

A Hardy Bunch

Well, it has been a while since my last post. I'd like to say that it was because I was so very, very busy being creative and making amazing things, but that would be a big, fat fib. I really have not done much lately. 

I did take a walk one afternoon at Osprey Overlook Park in East Weymouth. I just love the sweep of the Back River; it seems like an image from some place in the West. 

 Just off the path I spotted this nest. Fortunately, no one appeared to be home. I spent some time trying to ascertain what type of nest it was. I originally thought it was a wasp nest, but I found images similar to this one that indicated it was probably a hornets nest. According to one article, all but the queen die off in the fall and the nest is not reused. I wonder how many people who had walked by it in the summer were aware how close they were to the danger hidden in the low growing bush.

 On Monday afternoon, a hardy bunch gathered in the MDC parking lot at Nantasket Beach in Hull for another socially distant, birthday gathering. The birthday girl Pam is on the left in the second photo. There was no rain this time, but it was a tad cold! We had cupcakes, muffins, and, of course, masks. We lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes until the clouds blocked the sun, and it became downright cold. It wasn't a long visit, but it was good to see everyone.

 And speaking of a hardy bunch, this group of twenty turkeys comes by every afternoon around 3:30. They make me laugh, but I try to shoo them away reminding them that this is after all November and Thanksgiving is just around the corner,  and perhaps it might be prudent to be in hiding somewhere. :-) They munch on the acorns from my might oak and disregard my warnings. Today they decided to meander across the street very, very slowly bringing traffic to a standstill. :-)

 So, let's talk turkey . . . Did you know that Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the turkey our national bird? Did you know that turkeys had completed disappeared from New England by the 1850s? Massachusetts began transplanting wild turkeys from New York in the 1970s. I remember that there was concern that the poor birds would not survive our harsh winters, but they sure did!  Want more turkey talk? I found an article you might enjoy "How the Wild Turkey Vanished, Then Returned, to New England."  It's a short article, and though most of us will not be celebrating with family and friends this year, you could file the information away, God willing,  for next years's sparkling conversation at the Thanksgiving dinner table . :-)

Now to keep the turkey theme going . . . Here is my latest cross stitch finish, Gobble. The chart is available from the Stitching Housewives Etsy shop.

 I finished it following a pillow tutorial by Lori Holt. The top and bottom were sewn together right sides together around all four sides. Then I cut a slit in the back, turned the piece right side out. It doesn't show from this angle, but I stitched brown rickrack around the seam edges and covered the slit with a piece of wool, a cute turkey button, and a 2020 charm.

 I have four or five Thanksgiving charts, and I had originally planned to stitch one or more throughout the rest of the month, but nope, I'm switching to Christmas pieces at this point. 

While I am writing this post, a film Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You  is playing on Apple TV. It's wonderful. It deals with the music, but also the men and women of the E Street Band who have been making music together for years.  Springsteen has the soul of a poet and his observations about his bandmates, the music they live to play, and the passing of time enrich this beautifully filmed piece. Whether you are a fan or not, it is a film definitely worth watching.

 Last night I watched Oprah's interview with former President Barack Obama about his new book. It was an excellent, thoughtful interview. . . also on Apple TV. (I received one year free with my recent purchase of a new iPhone.)

Another recommendation . . . The Weight of a Piano, a novel by Chris Cander who is a gifted storyteller. This was a suggestion from BookBub, and I took a chance on it and added it to my Kindle. It tells the story of a special piano and the two women whose lives were linked to this instrument. It starts slowly, but if you try it, stay with it as it builds. Normally, I like reading something light at bedtime; one or two mindless chapters then off to dreamland. The Weight of a Piano kept me reading many nights well into the wee hours of the morning.

Okay, that's enough for now. Stay well my friends. Be smart and be safe. Trust that better days are coming, not as soon as we would like, but with two new vaccines on the horizon, there is hope.

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 World                    55 Million  Cases                     1.34 Million  Deaths

United States         11.6 Million  Cases                    250,000  Deaths     

Massachusetts      196,000 Cases                             10,407 Deaths

Today we reached the grim milestone of noting the passing of 250,00 of our fellow citizens.

Character and Decency Win!

 

Yesterday morning at 11:28a.m., CNN declared that Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will be our 46th President. Kamala Harris will be our country’s first female Vice President. It has taken a very, very long time for women to see this moment. Every little girl will grow up knowing that girls, too, have limitless possibilities in their lives.

 

The streets of many major cities were soon filled with dancing, cheering, excited throngs. 

 

The long days after Tuesday’s election have been filled with anxiety, fear, stress, and emotional ups and downs. Should we have expected anything less during this blasted year of 2020???

Last night, President-elect Biden addressed our divided nation saying that he would not be just the President of the red states or the blues states, but rather the President of the United States. He spoke of this as being the time to heal in America and made a strong effort to reach out to all who had supported President Trump.

74,400,000 votes went to Joe Biden while President Trump received 70,400,000 votes. The fact that over 144,800,000 people voted in this election is in fact a victory for democracy and for all of us. 

Our President up to this point has refused to concede though election officials and every major news outlet have confirmed the results. On Twitter, the President boasted that no sitting President had ever received as many votes as he had while failing to note that Biden had received 4,000,000 more votes than he did.

Former President George W. Bush congratulated President-elect Biden on Sunday. He thanked Biden for the patriotic message that he had delivered and in a statement said,  "Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country."  Further, he wrote, "The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear." If only other prominent Republicans would echo these words.

I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but I have always liked him, never more so than after reading his statement. 

President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will face enormous challenges, none more serious than the raging Coronavirus pandemic. The death toll in our country has now reached 237, 000. Tomorrow, Biden will be announcing a Coronavirus task force to begin working on this crisis. 

Let us all pray for the safety and success of our President-elect and for our country to come together and as he asked last night, give him a chance. Even opponents acknowledge that Biden is a good and decent man.  I believe he is the right man for these troubled times.

Stay safe. Stay strong. Try to find a reason to smile each day.