Last week Levi, a young fellow from the Amish neighborhood, came by to help work on the garage roof. Back in '85 when Coop built the garage he installed skylights as C requested. They were nice because they lit up the garage attic and eliminated the need to run electric for lighting. When we moved and A took over the place a lot of things were neglected, including the skylights. Since our move back, Coop has sealed around them a couple of times to stop leaking but it was never a sure fix. So last week they were removed and those areas of the roof were sealed up and shingled. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the buggy gracing our front yard and the horse reined at the north edge of the yard. Out of respect for the Amish views on photographing them, I didn't take a picture of Levi atop the roof.
***
Look closely just a bit to the left of the big tree and you'll notice one white turkey. I've noticed him traveling with the flock just about every time I've seen them. I'm not sure if it's a domesticated turkey gone wild or maybe a kickback to another subspecies not native to this area. I've read that there is a gene called the Narragansett gene that prohibits the expression of normal coloring pigments and which occurs about 12% of the time in some wild turkey populations.
Off they go!
Your days always bring a smile to my face.
ReplyDeleteI much appreciated this blog being from another country I got so very excited about the fact that you live near the Amish....to us they are mythical creatures...although I'm sure we have them somewhere here our society still struggles to celebrate those who revel in simplicity.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if these turkeys are agressive like geese or if they don't care much about who is around?
How wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteI would so love to have a horse and buggy, or rather a nice small covered cart which i would actually drive to town.
I don't think I've ever seen such a big flock of turkeys. The white one may very well be a domestic bird adopted byt them. Several years ago we lived on 174 acres and a herd a deer spent months each year on the property. One year they brought a huge Mule deer doe with them and she spent the fall there. We figure she must have escaped from somewhere and been adopted by the herd. Sadly tho, she didn't return with them the next year.
Anne - your saying that brings a smile to me as well. :)
ReplyDeleteCam - Here the Amish are quite real. We live near quite a number of Amish families and deal with them on a fairly regular basis.
My experience with wild turkeys is that they are not aggressive at all. In fact, they will avoid you and head in the opposite direction.
Juli - We've actually considered a horse and buggy ourselves. But if anything we'll likely choose a Rhodescar (it's a 4 wheel bicycle) if we ever go completely off oil dependency.
How interesting about the mule deer. I've seen deer shun another deer but never take in a stray like that. Nature is interesting to say the least!
Wonderful photos , that white turkey is probably albino ~ without pigment as you suggested.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your simple womans daybook post.
~ Autumn Blessings ~
JoyceAnn
I think the white turkey must be naturally-occurring too. We have often seen albino deer in our area, sometimes completely white and sometimes speckled with brown. The turkey's shape looks like the wild ones, and not like the domestic white turkeys we raise. but then, she/he's been in the wild so might be leaner. However, I believe it's one of the flock, born with a different coloration. We've seen wild turkeys at home with feathers that often includea fair amount of white ones.
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely feeling your pictures invoke in me! thank you for sharing them today!
ReplyDeleteNeat turkey pics. I've never seen a white one in the wild.
ReplyDeleteIt's so very cool that you have Amish to come help with things,and that you respect their ways so much. I had the opportunity to visit the "Amish country" of Ohio a couple of years back and was so enamoured with them. My wife was in a hurry to get me out of there for fear I'd "join up".
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures too.
P~
I didn't realize you were in Amish country. I completely respect their way of life! Do they have an outlet where they sell their creations? I've heard of some that do and the quality supercedes all!
ReplyDeleteNow that is a large flock of turkeys! We have wild ones here, but not seen in those numbers at once...unless they are leading their younuns'
I love these pics!!
ReplyDeleteCarolyn
Joyceanne & Granny Sue - I agree, it appears to be a wild turkey despite the white coloring. We've been here over two years and I've seen it on several occasions, always with a flock.
ReplyDeleteJayedee - Howdy, it's so nice to see you! You're most welcome.
Tipper - Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I'm so glad you did! I love your blog and will be catching up on it soon.
P - Being from Ohio we'll always been accustomed to and somewhat familiar with the Amish. They're good folks to have as neighbors for a multitude of reasons.
Barb - Yep, we're in the heart of Amish country here. In our area it is the old order of Amish who adhere more strictly to the old ways and not being part of the outside world. Further south in the Wayne county area and below, the Amish are more commercialized, selling their wares in storefronts, driving fancier buggies, and quite frankly, profiting off being a tourist attraction somewhat. Around here it's not like that. They sell produce, eggs, baked goods from their homes to the local folks...like us. You will see them set up at local farmer's markets or along roadsides as well to sell their produce and home baked goods. That's about as commercial as they get. A lot of them are for hire to do home building and cabinet making, etc. since it has become even more difficult for them to live their simple lives exclusively off the land.
Well, now I feel inspired by you and P to write about them in more depth, so you might see an entire post dedicated to their ways if ya stick around. :)
Wow...talk about déjà vu! We had a local Amish man come to our homestead in the valley back in May, and I wrote an entry about it with a photo of the horse and wagon, along with a mention of how I respected their beliefs and didn't take photos of the actual builders! (It's my May 11 entry, if you're curious.)
ReplyDeleteWe were very impressed with Enos, the young Amish man who built our shed. The Amish over in the valley are much like the ones you mention who do business mainly locally and sell products from their homes. Some, like Enos, build products (like our shed) at home and also do for-hire work.
The Amish in town (Shippensburg), however, are more like the others you mentioned - more commercialized. We've had dealings with them a few times and were not at all impressed. The worst was when they were doing work on the neighbor's roof; they damaged our siding, made a major mess, tore up the yard, and stole our electricity (by plugging power tools into our outside outlet).
After talking to area folks about buying our homestead, we quickly found out that it's common knowledge that there's a big difference between the town Amish and the valley Amish.
Love the turkey pictures!
This post and these photos are terrific! What interesting wild turkeys (as others have said) - really cool. I've never seen one quite like it. I have a thing for carriages, so I loved that too. Cool!
ReplyDeleteI am sitting here in total awe and envy looking at your beautiful world! Thanks so much for sharing the beauty of your world!
ReplyDeleteCarolyn - glad you enjoyed them!
ReplyDeleteDeclaren -Nice to see you! Thanks for taking the time to come by and comment.
Yes, what you said, out local Amish in our county are a lot less worldly than those in Holmes and Wayne counties.
I read your blog entry..how coincidental!
city mouse - hey there, thanks for stopping by!
Tracy - You are most very welcome. I love to share my world and realize how fortunate we are for where we are. :)