The Boys Are Back

"The Boys Are Back In Town!"  Thin Lizzie was singing loud and clear yesterday as the turkey toms started congregating under the oak and in the herb garden.  Haven't seen much of the boys this summer.  The hens and the one surviving youngster travel through every morning as they make the rounds of their feeding grounds, but only once in awhile have the toms shown up, and then only one or two.  There is a particular wild grass that springs up amongst the marjoram and thyme.  It is impossible to pull by hand; it needs a potato fork to dig out the massive root ball.  It throws up tall stems, covered in tiny seeds that are a favorite of the turkeys.  Just a few feet from the front porch, six big toms feasted, starting at the bottom of the stalk and stripping the seeds into their beaks.  This grass makes the front garden look so unkempt, but I let it grow just because the wild things love it.

The cooler weather brought back ambition and I started washing windows.  Never in my life have I cleaned windows so often as I have up here, primarily because I spend so much time looking out.  Even without the wildlife, each window presents a gorgeous view.  All seven doors to the deck are ten-pane glass; real time-consuming boogers to wash.  Only the front door is solid, and even that has an oval, beveled glass insert.  The one big window that is impossible to keep clean is that by the hummingbird feeders.  I don't know how those tiny birds do it, but that glass is always spotted with sticky bird spit.  I wish they'd have the courtesy to wipe their beaks before they whirl away, flinging droplets in their wake.  (I'm scraping the bottom of the second twenty-five-pound bag of sugar this summer.)

Tree Guy came by the other day (his trip to Plumas County was cancelled), bringing more branches from his trees for my burn pile.  I talked to him about the need to finish up dealing with the last oak that fell.  I will need the firewood to get me through the winter, and that yard needs to be cleaned up before the rainy season starts.  I can't mow that section as it is, and star thistle waits for no man.