Talking Turkey in Turkey with a Turkey whilst Housesitting

So this is Turkey-Lurkey.

He is one BIG male turkey, and he lives in Turkey with over 20 – yes 20 – other animals we have come to house sit.

Now looking after over 20 animals is in itself pretty unique, but what is really unique is looking after Turkey-Lurkey. You see, Turkey-Lurkey thinks he is human and has been raised by his owner since a little after he hatched out of his egg.

Turkey-Lurkey sits on her bed in her cottage. Turkey-Lurkey likes to look in the mirror at himself. Yes, he is quite vain!

And Turkey-Lurkey didn’t like us too much. A couple of times Turkey-Lurkey tried to come into our separate stone home, so we had to walk around with brooms to guide him back. He was ticked off the very first time we did this. No way – Turkey-Lurkey just doesn’t like us, so, fortunately, there was an option to keep Turkey-Lurkey in his cage.

But Turkey-Lurkey was well looked after, and received the best of my fruit and vegetable scraps, along with his regular feed. We’d even pick him pomegranates and apples just for him, so he still felt cared for.

That was animal number one, in what felt like some days to be a Turkish zoo.

Exploramum and Explorason – Turkey-Lurkey

We then had a cockerel who couldn’t tell the time. So he would start his morning alarm of ‘cock-a-doodle-doing’ anytime from 3:00 a.m. Along with the wailing of the prayers that emitted from the mosque behind, mornings were not a time of peace and tranquility.

This cockerel was joined by two lady hens – these fine ladies were no bother at all.

Along with them were two peafowls who were ‘perves’. These two peafowls would think it was nothing to climb up onto the verandah roof, so they could sneak a peak in the window at me. Yes, I’d catch them eying me off through the lace curtains, and at several windows. They knew where we were.

But they had fantastic spotted feathers, and we were able to collect for art. And they were harmless and easy to care for.

Exploramum and Explorason – Peafowl who like to look through your windows

Next came eight female turkeys. Pretty much no bother too. They used to hang out in the tops of the grape vines, so it was a matter of watching for missiles from above, but all in all, they put themselves to bed, and they talked a bit of turkey with us.

Exploramum and Explorason – lady turkeys and 2 ducks

There were meant to be two ducks, but most times there seemed to be six. I think the neighbor’s ducks soon learned it was a great feed at this house, and waddled on over. And of course, they couldn’t resist the fact we had our own pool. Everyone is your friend when you have a pool!

Exploramum and Explorason – the ducks having a swim

We had four cats to feed. This one below became our favorite, as he had bad teeth and couldn’t eat any hard food. By the end, we were pretty soft touches and he was always getting mushy food and milk, while I stood guard to ensure he could slowly consume it, and no other cat or dog nabbed it. Most of the cats were pretty good, except one, who decided he wanted to leave me some indoor messes on many an occasion – I was none too happy about that.

Exploramum and Explorason – our favorite of the 4 cats

Next up came the four dogs. Each one had a great personality. This fellow below was a bit of a barker – well most of them were barkers for our stay anyway, but he was the most sensible I think.

Exploramum and Explorason – lovely Dalmatian

The other three were all pretty good, and all very different.

But one liked to chase cars and motorbikes, and one likes to chase Turkey-Lurkey. Another chased the ducks. It was very noisy at times. Oh, and there were times they just chased the neighbor’s dogs or had a friendly conversation with them. Did I mention that conversation might be at 2:00 a.m.?

One also required medication at the start, be we soon had him ‘right as rain’ after the first week.

But we did love them all. And for us, that was the hardest part about leaving. We loved our walks with them, and we just loved having them around.

Exploramum and Explorason – 3 of the dogs and Explorason on the dog bed

I realize I am no good at managing this big of a mini zoo of this many varieties of animals. I am great with animals, but one needs to know their limits. So I won’t take on quite so many in the future.

So in staying all this …. Why do we housesit?

For starters, it is a good time to have family time. To unpack and feel like we have a temporary home, with a routine. To have the same bed for a few nights – or weeks.

Exploramum and Explorason – sleeping in the same bed is nice

We have some schooling like maths, writing, arts, and crafts that are ideally done during this time at house-sit.

I catch up on blogging and computer work. Oh, and to get my poor broken laptop repaired.

It is a great time to learn about new foods and cultures, and to check out the local markets – I love markets!

Exploramum and Explorason – eating local foods and shopping at the markets

It is a great time to get the car serviced, and mechanical matters fixed. This time we had three visits to the mechanic and the car was gone for a few days.

Exploramum and Explorason – getting the mechanic to service and fix the vehicle

It is great to have a mailing address to send things to and from (with the owner’s consent) as you can’t do that on the road.

It is a great time to sort out what we no longer need. To sort, pack and post things back to Australia we have purchased.

It is great to make a seasonal change – in this case, we needed to sort through winter clothes and outgrown shoes.

It is a great time to have medical check-ups; go to the dentist; and the hairdresser, and catch up on beauty routines (manicures and pedicures for us both, even if performed by me).

It is fantastic to cook meals, and sit and relax in the evenings by the fire.

Exploramum and Explorason – cooking

It is great to make friends with the neighbors. Although we don’t speak Turkish, we would often walk the dogs, and the neighbors would give us grapes they would be picking.

Exploramum and Explorason – this neighbor picked and gave us grapes

One day this lady and her husband brought me what I thought was home-made wine. I poured a glass, and it was sweet pomegranate molasses – really yummy. Add brandy and it would taste like port.

Exploramum and Explorason – this neighbor picked our olives, but gave us pomegranate molasses – yum!

It is a great time to explore the area and enjoy some awesome day trips – like when we went to the rock tombs of Pinara – about an hour from the house-sit, amongst other places.

Exploramum and Explorason – exploring and visiting places nearby

There are stacks of reasons to house-sit. You can see all of ours – what would be yours?

If you would like us to house-sit for you, please do contact me at exploramum@gmail.com.

You can see all of our extensive experience here.

You can find my house sitting Resume here: http://exploramum.com/2014/07/house-sitting-resume.html

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So now as we leave another house-sit and move on – we would love to share with you ways you can join the ever increasing number of house-sitters in the world.

There is room for all of us.

Here are some great links below and some have great discounts too – but you need to use the links below to get the discounts.

So read on carefully. Sign up and start house-sitting your way around the world.

Or just have a holiday for free in a different location.

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House-sitting sites we recommend

House Carers: Housecarers – Click here for a great deal that supports us

Housesit Match: Housesitmatch.com by clicking here. You’ll also be helping us with our travels.

– use this special in the “Redeem Coupon” section. Then enter EXPLORAMUM-10 and get 10% off too!

Trusted Housesitters: http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=5758&id=219143 Join here and support us.

Other House-sitting sites you may wish to join

HouseM8: http://www.housem8.com (no fee to join)