A week ago Tuesday, the hen turkey who had been sitting on eggs in our old doghouse hatched them out while I was at work. When I got home she was out in the field with three poults. I checked in the doghouse and found a fourth, almost dead.
Seeing it lying on its side, twitching occasionally, I heard my gradually improving farmgirl instincts telling me to let nature take its course. Apparently, it had been somehow inferior, couldn't manage to walk and therefore couldn't eat or get to the waterer, and so now it would die. And almost all of the animals we've tried to save have ended up dying.
But I had to give it a try.
I carried the poor thing inside. We dipped its beak in water and sugar water. It kept falling over and one of its legs seemed weak. I gave it to my daughter and told her that it would probably die soon but we'd at least make its last hours comfortable.
And that's how Rocky came into our lives.
See him sleeping under the blanket there?
My daughter and stepson took great care of him. He survived his first night in a box in our office, safe from Milo. He peeped for his mother incessantly, unless we held him. And he made a full recovery.
We held him. A lot. He liked to sleep in my daughter's hair.
Each day he got stronger. We took him outside as much as possible and he caught and ate bugs from the get-go.(Side note: my daughters nails are courtesy of her Migi Nail Art Set, a birthday present from my stepmother and fantastic for fun nails; I have a watermelon slice pedicure at the moment...)
I got home from work on Thursday and my stepson declared that Rocky would come when he called. I didn't believe it, so he had to show me. First he put Rocky out in the grass and got a distance away.
Rocky poked around in the grass until my stepson peeped in his best mother-turkey voice.
Immediately, Rocky turned and ran for him.
And I do mean "ran." See the closeup:
He continued to imprint on us, and we continued to fall in love with him.
Rocky spent much of Saturday morning helping me weed the garden, wandering off to chase bugs and pulling his own weeds but always running back between my feet for a little reassurance.
By late Saturday, however, we had reached a critical point. Rocky had (a) found that a life outside a cardboard box in the office was the life for him and (b) decided that, as his mother-substitutes, we were all responsible to stay out in the grass with him, all the time, or else he would peep loudly at every moment. He had gotten brave enough to want to explore the house, not cuddle, so our options were growing limited.
Saturday evening we reunited him with his mother.
She is afraid of us and keeps her distance, but she was intrigued by Rocky and his little turkey noises. He saw his siblings and ran right over to them. The mother opted not to peck him to death, always a risk, and you could almost see her checking her math over and over ("I swear I only had three, but he looks like one of mine...."). We had to retreat because Rocky kept deciding he really was ours, not hers, but once we hid from him, he settled for his real mom.
The next morning, I saw the mother walking across the yard, three babies right under her feet, one lagging about ten feet behind but always catching up. You know who. There was one scary moment where they all got in the pasture and Sam, the curious beef calf, got soundly reprimanded by mother turkey for his inquisitiveness and all the poults scattered. One by one we found them in the tall grass and returned them to their mother. Three out of four of them ran right to her. The fourth ran back to us, right between my husband's feet.
Oh, Rocky.
But eventually, with our encouragement, he got the idea and I'm happy to report that after a full week, he's doing well and fitting right in. Here's hoping they all make it to adulthood; you never can tell with turkeys.
In yarn news, I had a little shop update I'm calling Knotty But Nice. It's three colorways (six skeins) of bamboo blend yarn, all of which I've had to tie at least one knot in. For that reason, they're 20 percent off.
From top to bottom, that's Emerald, Shadow, and Froggy Went A-Courtin', available here:
My own stress reliever, spinning, has kept me quite busy over the past couple of weeks. I finished spinning the three-ply bulky for my husband's yet-to-be-designed Aran, getting me one step closer to my Sheep-to-Sweater 2009 goal:
I have three pounds there, which should do it.
I wasted no time in getting the dyepot ready for something else. In December, I had combined a bunch of leftover dyed fibers, like silk, black alpaca, BFL, walnut-dyed BFL, and some other stuff:
Carded up twice (months ago), it looked like this:
And so, 26 batts sat on a shelf for months while I got sidetracked.
Well, in the interim, I started working at the coldest office in Vermont. (Seriously, at your workplace, do more people than not wear fingerless mitts at work? Hats? One coworker even wraps up in a throw.) I felt the need for a seriously warm sweater, but very simple so that it would hold up long after current trends fade. And I felt I had to fight my blue/green tendencies. I was thinking rust/red. So I dyed the batts like so:
I like dyeing up the majority of the fiber in several lots of similar hues, and then throwing in a few accent colors for interest. I split up the fiber into halves and then quarters and so on, until I got down to 32 piles like this:
So far I've carded 20 of them, but I couldn't resist starting to spin. Batt:
Spun into singles:
And into a bulky two-ply:
It comes across as a brick red/rose/rust color, a little paler than I had expected. But I like the way you see those other colors. And it's realllly soft.
I'm hoping it knits up with a subtle bit of striping because if I'm going to knit a totally plain pullover I think it could use a bit of visual interest. I have no idea whether it will be what I envision. But I'm sure having fun in the planning stages.
Meanwhile, summer goes on. Back on July 5 we went to see rescheduled fireworks at the lake. The kids went swimming.
There's been a lot of animal news here, besides Rocky. For one thing, Wanda the hinny moved to a new home. Once we witnessed her chasing and biting the goats we realized she wasn't going to be happy without horses. Fortunately, friends of friends picked her up the very afternoon we decided we couldn't keep her. They love her and she likes their horses. And the goats are so relieved.
On a sad note, our new super-friendly turkey Annette got hit by a car and killed just over a week ago. Annette, we hardly knew ye. Don't know if I mentioned it before, but Dave the peacock got hit a couple of months ago, and the peahen disappeared to sit on a nest and never returned (we are now peacock-free, which should please the drivers on our road).
And last but certainly not least, our dearest little poodle Sophie was killed this week. Right in our driveway. She had a habit of doing laps around vehicles when they pulled into the yard, and this time it was dark and the driver didn't see her. It was quick, at least.
For anyone who doesn't know, Sophie was a rescue poodle who had been a breeder in a New Hampshire puppy mill/garage for 5 to 8 years before she came to us four or five years ago. She was always the sweetest, most darling little baby girl and although I hate to get all emotional about pets, given how many animals come and go from this place all the time, we will really miss her. My poor daughter is going to be grieving a long time. My husband hasn't said much, but given that every picture I have of her includes him, I'm sure it's hard on him, too.
What's more, our other dog may need to be put down this week, and my old, old cat is not far behind him.
Anyway, here's to Sophie, Sophe-Sophe-Sugarloaf, the Sophster, Sopherloaf.
Good dog.
RIP Sophie. From the pictures, I'm thinking your husband is definitely missing her.
Yay for Rocky! What an entertaining turkey.
Posted by: Sonya | August 09, 2009 at 01:26 PM
Oh, I'm so sorry about Sophie. It's so hard so see our animals come and go so quickly.
Sounds like everything else is mostly on track, though -- yippee for Rocky, and your rose yarn looks scruptious.
Posted by: Dave | August 09, 2009 at 01:28 PM
I am SO sorry to hear about Sophie. She was such a sweetie.
And sorry to hear about Annette and the peacock :-(
But delighted to read about Rocky!
And impressed (as usual I suppose) with your yarn.
Sure wish this summer had let us come for a visit. Perhaps next year will be kinder.
Posted by: Helen | August 09, 2009 at 01:48 PM
Sad news about Sophie. I can usually resist dogs, but she was a sweetie.
Posted by: Helen | August 09, 2009 at 02:12 PM
I am the same way about my turkey babies. In fact I have a house poult right now! (His name is Worm.)
I am very sorry about your other critters. Losing them is so hard, I know.
Posted by: Mo | August 09, 2009 at 02:39 PM
Sorry to hear about Sophie, at least you know she had the best poodle life going. You know... there's a children's book in there with Rocky's rocky start. Rhyming of course.
Posted by: diane | August 09, 2009 at 03:17 PM
The handspun is gorgeous!
Sorry about Sophie. We've had our little dog for a year and a half or so and I dread the day...
And I was the one who didn't really want a dog.
Posted by: wendy | August 09, 2009 at 04:16 PM
I'm very sorry about sweet Sophie.
I too enjoyed "The Tale of Rocky the Turkey".
Posted by: Kristen | August 09, 2009 at 04:22 PM
You've been busy! (The granola came out well...)
So sorry about Sophie, I was always amused to see your (largish sized) dh with such a small dog. They always looks so sweet together.
Posted by: lisa | August 09, 2009 at 04:31 PM
I love the turkey tale! And if you ever want to sell some batts - please put me on the list. I absolutely LOVE the colors in your handspun there of the reds, etc.
Posted by: Dianna | August 09, 2009 at 04:43 PM
Your sweater yarn is to die for! Love the color and tweedy bits in there. So sorry for all of the recent deaths and the impending ones. Poor Sophie. Loved the story about Rocky.
Posted by: Manise | August 09, 2009 at 06:23 PM
I's so sorry to hear about Sophie - but glad knowing that you were able to give her a wonderful life away from the mill - I didn't know about that.
Love the tale of Rocky!
Posted by: jillian | August 09, 2009 at 06:34 PM
I'm sorry to hear about all your animal family losses! I'm glad Rocky made it, though! *hugs*
Posted by: Andrea (noricum) | August 09, 2009 at 09:10 PM
Oh, I am so sorry to hear about Sophie! I lost my last dog to a car (also mercifully quick), and it nearly broke my heart. ... This makes it a little harder to be happy about Rocky, though.
Posted by: --Deb | August 09, 2009 at 09:38 PM
I'm sorry to hear about Sophie, happy to hear that Wanda has a new home and amused with your turkey story.
Posted by: heide | August 09, 2009 at 09:46 PM
So sorry for your loss of Sophie.
Posted by: diane | August 10, 2009 at 12:20 AM
I am the 17th poster but I will say basically the same..I'm sorry for your loss of your doggie. You told a beautiful story this last post and your photo montage was excellent of Sophie.
Posted by: Leila | August 10, 2009 at 01:26 AM
By the way..I love the nails and would love to see your toenails. That kinda stuff is right up my alley.
Posted by: Leila | August 10, 2009 at 01:27 AM
Oh, how sad about Sophie! I always laughed at the pictures of your big Hubby fast asleep with Sopie curled up on him. How very sad for you all.
Posted by: Spinningfishwife | August 10, 2009 at 03:55 AM
Whew, there sure is a lot going on around you! So sorry about Sophie. My Gran who also lived her whole life on farms said that dogs (and horses) will always leave an impact on you, and losing them is neve easy.
I LOVE the photo of Rocky jogging over the grass!!!! (BTW, can you tell it is a boy??)
I started spinning some of your sock fiber, on a spindle so it is not going fast but I'm still learning and having great fun with it. And I really enjoy seing the process behind dyeing and blending fibers, that is a whole new world to me.
Posted by: Rippedoffknitter | August 10, 2009 at 05:15 AM
I'm so sorry to read about Sophie....it's so hard to lose them isn't it?
I love the story of Rocky however....what a cutie!
Posted by: Kim | August 10, 2009 at 07:30 AM
Oh, poor Sophie! I'm so sorry, and I'll miss the pictures of her with your husband. However, the story of Rocky is wonderful. I'll need to share that with my mom, who loves animals but hates poultry (bad childhood experience!).
Posted by: janna | August 10, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Goodness, you've had quite a time lately, haven't you? Congratulations on saving Rocky--what a sweet story.
I'm so sorry to hear about Sophie. I've always loved the photos of your husband with his animals. I can understand how your family feels--I lost my beloved dog, Maggie, last month. I miss her every day. The house is just too quiet without her.
Big hugs to all of you.
Posted by: KatyaR | August 10, 2009 at 11:22 AM
What a sorrowful week. It's good to have Rocky to provide some lightheartedness. The colors of the spinning and dyeing look marvelous.
Posted by: Diane | August 10, 2009 at 04:59 PM
It's been a hard summer, hasn't it? Too much loss.
Love your batts and yarn. I'm endlessly fascinated by your combinations of fibers and the lovely yarn you make out of them.
Posted by: gayle | August 10, 2009 at 08:39 PM
Joyful and sad news wrapped into one post. TOh no, I'm so sorry to hear about Sophie. She looked like such a little snuggler. On a joyful note, you seem to be really rockin' out with the spinning this summer and I can't wait to see all that beautiful yarn turn into cozy sweaters. Hope you're enjoying the delicious weather.
Posted by: Miss Curious | August 10, 2009 at 09:48 PM
I'm so sorry to hear about Sophie. I can tell from your stories and pictures how much your animals mean to you and your family.
Posted by: Chris | August 11, 2009 at 09:14 AM
We lost my 20 year old cat the same way, only I was the one driving. It was heartwrenching. I'm sorry you lost Sophie. She always looked so cheerful.
And I would have had to help Rocky along, too. I'm glad he did well and is a member of his original family again. How odd for the turkey mom to look up and see an extra baby.....
Didn't you all lose a bunch of turkeys last year? Something about a fence post hole?
Posted by: donna lee | August 11, 2009 at 09:56 AM
Thank you for sharing your news about the flow of animals through your household -- it is always a risk (we just had a European swallow chick enter his rest after four days of incessant care from my DH and 9 year old son), but the treasure of them does stay in our hearts. We mourn and rejoice with you.
Posted by: Christine | August 11, 2009 at 02:44 PM
Rough time on the farm! But kudos on Rocky's rehabilitation and reacceptance by momma turkey.
Posted by: trek | August 11, 2009 at 06:20 PM
I am so sorry about Sophie. She looked like a sweetie.
Posted by: Carrie | August 12, 2009 at 01:33 AM
I'm sorry to hear about Sophie - an awful thing for all parties! And about Hoss. And your poor old pussy cat, the one that dangled by a claw from your face.
But what an amazing story Rocky is! (hence the name I guess)
Posted by: lynne s of oz | August 12, 2009 at 01:45 AM
So sorry to hear about your loos of Sophie and other animals. The turkey boy though is a wonderful tale.
Your yarn looks gorgeous!
Posted by: Renee | August 12, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Sorry for your losses....I grieved for weeks when my little pup had to leave this world. Thank you for the entertaining adventures of Rocky. And your spinning is beautiful! Heh, where I used to teach, it got so cold that I had to wear gloves when I played the piano, no joke. What a waste of air-conditioning! Blogless Mary Lou
Posted by: Mary Lou Keenan | August 13, 2009 at 01:22 PM
The news of Sophie made me cry.
I hope Wanda's happy. She was fun to look at.
The turkey baby sounds so sweet and your yarn is GORGEOUS!
Posted by: Pom Pom | August 14, 2009 at 01:19 PM
I am so sorry about Sophie! I am really going to miss the pictures that you post of her.
Posted by: Ruth-Ann | August 14, 2009 at 04:27 PM
I'm so sorry to hear about Sophie. I always loved the pictures of her snuggling with your husband.
Posted by: Carole | August 16, 2009 at 03:07 PM
OK, that wasn't fair. You had me laughing at Rocky's antics at the beginning of your post, and I ended up with tears in my eyes reading about Sophie. Actually, it was the pictures with your husband that got me, especially the first one. Even though, as you say, farmers have to get used to death, I'm not sure that the frequency of it makes it any easier.
Posted by: Caroline | August 22, 2009 at 11:46 PM