The downside

Hearing the familiar clucking of turkeys, I assumed it was the pair that has been visiting lately and at a quick glance, I believed this was the one that always cranes its neck to look in at us.

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But then the companion strutted into view – a male. Quite obviously, this was a different pair.

Willow and Little Man watched and chattered at the big chickens.

The way those birds stare at us makes me wonder what sort of communication I should be picking up. The turkeys move away if they catch sight of us, but they don’t panic. We’ve seen a large group of females with chicks wandering about down by the horse ranch. At the moment they appear to be staying close to the woods, but we hope when the babies are bigger they may drift up to see us.

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A new visitor came by late yesterday, one we scarcely see these days.

Rabbits have good eyesight, so perhaps it was aware of me standing by the window, but it went on poking around in the grass, apparently undisturbed.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been vigilant in the evening hoping to see a fox. Since early Spring they’d been around every day, often more than once, but in the past fortnight the only sighting was a single capture by the trail-cam way down in the bottom field.

It is pointless to worry about wild animals, but I miss their beautiful faces.

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However, I did see this cheeky poppet staring in one night when I looked up.

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Its mum was around the corner under the apple tree while junior skipped back and forth.

It has already grown considerably. What a beauty!

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When someone tells me they have good news and bad news and ask which I prefer to hear first, I always ask for the latter. Maybe everyone does?

When presented with a meal, as a child, it was my habit to save whatever I liked best for last and although I don’t do that now, I do still try to get unpleasant tasks dealt with swiftly. It’s just the way my brain is programmed, I suppose.

But sometimes, good news begets bad…

What made me think of this?

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A flower?

Because the bushes are up the hill, beyond the garage, one has to remember to look, which fortunately I did in time to see the first bloom of the season.

For years the bushes failed to bloom and we’d almost given up hope of seeing them flower.

So, it was such a great surprise when suddenly they did, but each summer we wait…

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Some time ago, I’d seen buds, but just as you should not count chickens before they hatch – you should not depend on buds opening!

So the sight of that first flower was a joy and today there are several more.

How could there be a downside to this?

The trouble is – and it is the reason we had no flowers for many years – deer.

The dear deer eat the buds and it is clear they have already been nibbling this year, so how many flowers we will actually enjoy, who knows?

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Mum would have had forty fits, but how could I begrudge my friends a meal?

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