Thanksgiving 2014

Here is Mr. Z carrying home a turkey the guys got for Thanksgiving. Mr. Turkey came from a flock of about forty gobblers which range up and down our valley throughout the year.

The rules say a hunter can harvest two turkeys in the spring and one in the fall, so the rest of the fellows are safe until springtime.

The meat tastes like very turkey-ish turkey. I marinated the breast in zesty Italian dressing and it roasted, immersed in a cup of melted butter and a half cup of olive oil.

Ms. Pearl is following along to ensure that the turkey doesn't come back alive and fly away.

We had a domestic turkey, too, who lived an organically good life on a farm about sixty-five miles away on the Rio Grande. We bought him from Cid's, the mini Whole Foods type grocery store in Taos.

Here is a photo from the Embudo Valley Organics website.

I don't know if this is the one we ate, but isn't he a beauty?

After Thanksgiving, Trudy, and then I, contracted a cold virus and we've been out for the count, resting in bed and hoping this bug doesn't last much longer. Trude had to travel feeling ill and I worried about her the whole time she was flying home.

She had some time to enjoy our Northern New Mexico sunshine, though, before she was zapped by the bug. Trudy's the best Mom-in-Law ever and we were so glad she was able to visit!

M and M came for Thanksgiving, too. Here they are ready to dig in.

Now Trudy is snug at home, Z, M and M are back to work and we are home alone once again. The exciting thing we did today was take the trash to the transfer station. Fun times.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ms. Pearl wants to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

We pretended that Ms. Pearl helped, even though she didn't.

Not your basic store bought turkey, but excellent eating, that's for sure.

Turkey Hunting At The Nickel and Dime Ranch

Turkey season began Sunday, April 15^th, but it didn’t look like Tom was going to get one. Though we had seen as many as 50 turkeys at a time, and a small flock of two toms and 7 hens drifted around our place the week before the season opened, Sunday was cold and blustery and there was nothing about, no preening males dancing, saying, "Look at me!" and no females studiously ignoring them.

Tuesday morning, however, Tom called one in from the neighbor’s property, over 500 yards away. It took almost an hour for the bird to get within range, but he was patient. Tom pronounced Ms. Pearl "a champ,”  tied up ten yards up the hill from where he sat, and told to “be quiet.”  Pearlie obviously liked this turkey.

 Three days later, Tom decided to try filling his second spring tag, and seeing some turkeys by our south fence, went out and sat in front of a tree on the other side of our wall. He called a little and then waited, and sure enough, another “gobbler” strode in front of his shotgun, across the creek. A little longer shot this time, it took two to put the turkey down permanently. Ms. Pearl was again nearby, behaving excellently like the half a hunting dog that she is. She was delighted at Tom’s----and her----success.

When I asked him how he knew how to call, he said “That part was easy.   I just tried to sound like you during our fight the other day……”

            Turkey.