Slim pickings

Snowmageddon failed to materialise yesterday and I’d like to give myself a pat on the back.

When I got back from my emergency supply run to the village, I hauled a lot of wood up from the woodshed. If there really was going to be 30 centimetres of snow, a power outage was inevitable, which would mean no heat pump. (Not that it’s really up to the job when it gets this cold. I’ve had fires going most nights this past week.)

And, to make sure there was something I could heat up on the woodstove, I made a batch of red pepper soup.

Back in the 1990s, after Mike and I started to take delivery every week of a box of organic fruit and veg, sometimes there would be more of some veg than we were likely to get through. To address this problem I bought a book of soup recipes. One week we had a surprising number of red peppers – but there was a soup recipe! It immediately became Mike’s all-time favourite soup. When I was back in London in the 2000s, I’d make it for him whenever he came to visit. When I was back here visiting I always made some for him – no matter what red peppers cost at whatever time of year it was. These days I only make it when the island grocery store has a special on a bag of peppers – which they did this week.

Anyway, what with all the firewood and the pot of soup, I was ready. That was obviously when the snow gods looked down and thought, “Fuck it. Hardly worth dumping a load now.” So, to everyone who was hunkering down for the onslaught: You’re welcome.

Unfortunately, a pot of soup can’t help everyone.

Glanced out of the diningroom window early yesterday evening and spotted first one, then a second deer.

Mighty slim pickings for them at the moment. The only thing they could find to munch on was the leaves on the ivy wrapped around one of the cedars. I felt so sorry for them that I wondered fleetingly if there was anything in the house I could put out for them to eat. Then I remembered the island rule: Don’t feed the deer. 

You know where you are when you see this road sign.

Yes, we have a population of wild turkeys on the island. Like the deer, you’re not supposed to feed them. (Although there are people who do.)

Slim pickings for the turkeys at the moment, too. So, as funny as it was, it wasn’t really a surprise when someone posted footage yesterday of two turkeys getting up on her deck to attack (and destroy) the feeder she has out for the juncos.

They ain’t shy.