We are preparing for the holidays at Glen Villa and waiting eagerly for family and friends to arrive. The group below came early.
We see wild turkeys from time to time but rarely in the colder months.
I counted 15 of the prehistoric-looking animals munching their way through the field where the long line of crabapple trees grow.
Odd looking creatures, aren’t they?
Until last week the field was covered with snow but warmer temperatures and rain (ugh!) melted it all, exposing some tasty bits for the wild turkeys to enjoy.
Domesticated turkeys don’t look like these, particularly once they’ve been plucked.
It’s unlikely that we will have snow for Christmas this year. Climate reports say that northern areas are warming at a faster rate than tropical zones and that green Christmases may be the case from now on. I hope not. Seeing snow fall on Christmas eve is a beautiful experience.
Yesterday we decorated the wreath on the front door. It is pretty but not as nice as wreaths touched with snow, like the one below that I made in 2010.
This wreath is attached to our chimney stack. Our front door is just out of view to the left.
Over the years we’ve had wreaths and whole trees as decorations by the front door.
Attaching a small tree is easier than making a wreath. This photo is from 2014.
Some years our house is knee-deep in snow.
Some years it is ready to eat.
My son-in-law makes the gingerbread and builds the house according to his design. Each year it is different — this one is their family’s house in Boston. Grandchildren decorate it which probably accounts for the red star on the roof.
However you celebrate the season, whatever name you use, I hope your holiday is full of joy. May your turkey be tasty and bright!
Love that red star! A very happy Christmas, Pat. I have never had a winter Christmas experience. It looks so very different to our summer Christmases here. Much prettier, in that wintry way but I would be reluctant to give up on the first pick of summer raspberries, new potatoes and early peas and luncheons outdoors.
Merry Christmas to you, too, Abbie. My husband and I were in Australia with our son and his family for one Christmas a few years ago. Barbecuing turkey and going for a swim made for a very different experience. Fun but not one I’d choose on a regular basis.
Christmas light displays never made sense to me until I was in London in early December one year and realised that it is dark soon after 3.00 and the lights are magical. Here, we used to take our children to see the Christmas lights in town when they were little but as it doesn’t get dark until about 9.30pm, it was a very late night for them and we usually saw more twilight than dark! It has taken most of my life to see NZ evolving its own Christmas traditions better suited to the season here, rather than replicating the essence of a northern, winter festivity.
Wonderful traditions, Pat. I hope the season is as bright, though snowless, as ever this year. The shots of the turkeys are amazing!
I need a new phone, Roberta — I couldn’t take anything sharper than those, and my phone was the only camera I had with me.
The morning after posting this blog I woke up to a white world, with more snow falling. So it looks like a white Christmas after all.
Best of all that’s good to you and Bob now and in the year to come.
We see wild turkeys around here, too. Wishing you just enough snow to be pretty and a very merry Christmas!
We had a good solid snowfall the day after i posted so it’s a white Christmas after all. Thank goodness!
I wish you and all your family a very merry Christmas and all the best in 2020.
We see wild turkeys quite often in the hills around our mountain town. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
We’re heading back to Quebec for a snowy sojourn from early January to late February — looking forward to it.
You are bears for punishment, Lisa, or at least for the cold! I’ll look forward to your posts and photos of Bic. Have a wonderful Christmas and hope to see you in 2020.
We so loved it last year — it’s novel for us to have nice snow!
We’re cherry-picking winter for fluffy snow; our house is warm and cosy with our wonderful wood stove (and back-up convection heat); we’ve learned about warm base layers and snow pants, boots, etc. and have a beautiful national park nearby to ski in, not to mention all the bicycle trails turned ski and snowshoe paths in our nearby city of Rimouski.
So we’re missing the icky parts of fall and spring, and just enjoying the winter.
Happy Christmas, white or green, to you and all your readers. Xxxxxx
And to you and all of yours, Anne.!
Season’s Greetings to all!
And to all in sunny, green British Columbia.
Nice shots. When my brother lived near Boston there were lots of turkeys in the woods. They were very aggressive and used to attack his car while it was parked. They seemed to think their reflections in the shiny bits were other turkeys. Happy holidays!