Sans Teeth, Sans Eyes, Sans Teeth ....Sans Everything


On his way to church the Prof stopped for a moment by the field gate and asked what I was doing.
I thought it was obvious
I was lying down next to Bingley as he ate a bowl of corn in order to stop the geese pecking him up the arse.
Bingley is in his seventh year, and after his usual spring and summer not really eating and posturing at anyone in dark clothing walking up and down the lane , his age is creeping up with him.
Like an old man getting out of a low arm chair, he is staggering somewhat when walking and is reluctant to leave his house in the mornings. I wonder if something more neurological is going on
but I have no way of knowing
Now before everyone leaves a supportive comment of " how sad" I have to say...stop and don't..... Bingley is reaching his twilight time and that's ok..he's a bird....and not a dog.....

I'll make sure he's got food and water and the odd small plate of dog food ( which he adores) and I shall watch to see if he's comfortable, but if he goes off his feet, well it will be his time to go...sentimentality? There's no real room for that I tell myself.

When I reach the same stage, when my turkey legs no longer can keep me going ....I hope to god that there is " dignitas" clinic just down the road where I can go with my family and friends with my dogs on my knee

I've only been to Switzerland the once ....and I didn't like it much.

43 comments:

  1. i agree! i hope i can just crawl into a corner in my house and slip away.

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  2. I wanna go in my sleep; easy and peaceful like.

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  3. I don't suppose many Turkeys get to reach Bingley's age or live in such a comfortable environment. I think it is shame that we can't have the 'dignitas' 'treatment' from our own home should we want to. Thanks for showing us Bingley once more. He looks like a wise old bird. x

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  4. I would not want to live if I my quality of life is poor.

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  5. Great photo !

    cheers, parsnip

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  6. I like the photo too. (i obey and don't say how sad it is).

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  7. Anonymous12:45 pm

    Poor old Bingley, he looks right fed up of it all! He's just a slightly doddery old bloke now, not interested in the girls and wanting a peaceful quiet time.
    I want to go at the age of ninety seven, in my own bed, of exhaustion....of course it will be a shock for the gorgeous nineteen year old man beside me at the time, but he'll recover!!!!!

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  8. Brilliant photo .... and fancy the Prof not knowing what you were doing ... he should be used to all of your 'ways' by now!!

    Bingley has had a fantastic life for a Turkey .... now if he just lives long enough .... Christmas is on the horizon ;-)

    I can't believe I just said that ... me a veggie an all ...lol !!

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  9. oh god yes shoot me please if I ever get like that......anyways difference between a turkey and a dog...turkey great christmas roast (though Bingley probably too chewy now) and dogs make a damn fine curry.....

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  10. Everyone likes someone to make a fuss of them from time to time, even an old Turkey like Bingers.

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    1. My thought exactly! Fussing is good (especially over sick men, they do seem to feel their illnesses much more acutely...)

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  11. I want to be roasted and fed to the family at Christmas while I am still edible.

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  12. Dignitas Clinic just down the road? Dream on... In this deteriorating land you'll be lucky to get a rough fella with the permission and the power to quickly pull, twist and snap your neck.

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. So, 14 years Bingly has been the pardoned Christmas turkey. Quite a time to be strutting his stuff.

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  15. Winston Churchill said old age is a bugger, and just to keep buggering on. I've booked dignitas. Like you I hope it will be eater to home.
    My elderly mothers bridesmaid, changed the beds, washed, dried, dusted up and down stairs and then sat in her chair and passed away. Tidy death.

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  16. Spell check lives. Nearer. Not eater. Love. Predictive text. Not.

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  17. Well, let me just say that the turkey next door to us (Mr. Peep) looked ancient when we moved here and then he lived for eight more years.

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  18. Anonymous2:28 pm

    I agree about the Dignitas thing. The programme Terry Pratchett made about the process was very good, and I just don't understand the resistance to such a facility. It's my life and I should have the right to end it if I'm faced with dementia, motor-neurone disease, terminal cancer or whatever, without a bunch of 'All life is sacred' activists standing in the way.

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  19. Anonymous2:30 pm

    Got the 'turkey staggers' myself these days. Chin up Bingley...you've had a good long haul for a turkey and the best of care.

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  20. Very pragmatic and sensible John. Nature is wonderful but also cruel.

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  21. In some ways we treat out pets, better then we treat our elders. We all hope that we have someone as kind as you around, when we are tottering on our last.

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  22. We all hope for a swift and gentle death.

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  23. Anonymous3:20 pm

    What a poetic post, John.

    Switzerland? Leaving their cows, chocolate, cheese, clogs and cuckoo clocks aside (the latter being a German invention, from the Black forest - like the cake) Switzerland and its doorstep is meticulously clean. As clean as their political neutrality. I spent my teenage years at Lake Constance, bordering on Switzerland and am very fond of Zurich, Basel, Tessin (county) et all. Yet, to die on Swiss terms ... well, yes, I imagine it a little sterile. If efficient.

    Bingley greetings,

    U

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  24. I am a total believer in dying with dignity for both turkeys and humans.

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  25. Yes, I'm a supporter of the Dignitas concept too. After I go I want to be shredded up and made into cat food, thought not sure that it would be allowed - and whether I'd be considered nutritious enough, not to mention being non-toxic.
    Sending warm thoughts to dear ol' Bingley.

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  26. As a child I was taught to pray for a good death. As I grew older I thought on what a 'good death' would be. I'm now at an age where I know what a 'good death' would be.

    My FiL at 89, after a mornings gardening said to my MiL 'I think I'll just go in for a bit, then I'll get dinner ready' After an hour my MiL went in to find him asleep for ever in his chair.

    That's how I want to go.

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  27. Wondering if Bingley has thoughts about his day. Do you think he wakes up and thinks, 'Dammit, I woke up again!' or not? Dying peacefully in your sleep is probably #1 on everyone's last wish.

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    1. This! For animals it is about quality not quantity. For me too. :)

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  28. Dying whilst still having a shred of dignity left. Yes.

    You've done, and are doing, alright by Bingley.

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  29. Well, I have had too much loss in the past couple of years so I hope Bingley is just being a rusty old man and manages to keep going on a while longer, then falls asleep one night and just doesn't wake up.
    Sadly I have had a dog and a husband who did not die peacefully in their sleep .... so I sorta know what I am talking about ..

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  30. Anonymous5:22 pm

    You should do a before and after of Bingley. The car photo from the other day...

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  31. A turkey ... a dog ... a person ... if they are dear to us, it is sad to lose them not matter what species they are.

    That being said, Bingley may totter around for awhile yet. Especially if he has protection from the geese, who seem to want to speed things along just a little too much ... do you think your housesitter will look after that the way you do?

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  32. My friend took herself off to Dignitas in December three years ago. She emailed me to say there would be no need for a Christmas card that year and she was saying goodbye. I have still not got over it.

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  33. If you really loved Bingley you would have a motorised, turkey-sized mobility scooter made for him. Even in the wild turkeys can live for ten years.

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  34. Absolutely brilliant suggestion.

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    1. But please take photos, video for us !

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  35. It sounds to me as if Bingley will receive the best of times in the end.

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  36. Hoping I can take the home delivery!

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  37. I'm not sure people fear death as much as it is said we do. I think we mostly fear HOW we'll die. When it is time for my chooks to go, they get knocked off ever so gently in the night when they aren't really even aware. I'm all for Dignitas for everyone!

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  38. I'll keep it simple. Euthanasia is murder.

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