Friday, May 26, 2006

Henrietta


I have talked of our turkey Wilbur before. Now I have to give Henrietta her due. Henrietta came into our lives about the same time as Wilbur. She was a white domesticated turkey. I usually like the brown ones the best (they look like turkeys should look!) but Henrietta had great personality and you found it hard not to like her. She lived in the same pen with Wilbur and another white turkey Esmeralda and led a quiet and calm life. That is until our neighbor’s dog came into the picture. He had a taste for turkey that he couldn’t satisfy and made many attempts on our poor turkey’s lives. Esmeralda took care of him in the end but that is another story. One day after a loud commotion outside I ran out to check on them and Henrietta was gone. I figured the dog had finally won his battle. I drove down to our neighbors but he was no where in sight. Life went on without Henrietta. Now I had always been told how dumb turkeys were. I had heard stories of how they would drown themselves in heavy rains, etc. Henrietta was soon to prove this was all myth. It had to have been about a week later when I came home from work to find Henrietta sitting on our front porch. I didn’t even know it was her at first. She was covered in mud and no longer white. She had obviously been through a lot but was not harmed in any way. I could only assume that she had flown from the pen and been lost for the duration. How she found her way home I will never know and what is most amazing is that she let her presence be known by waiting for me at the front door. Henrietta went on to live a long (in turkey years) and fruitful life with us. Since that time with all our turkey friends I have been fascinated with anything turkey. When I saw this turkey fabric I knew I had to make a quilt out of it! We no longer have turkeys but Indiana now has quite a few wild turkeys and I am able to enjoy them every so often. Last week while running one of the kids to school there was a Tom and two hens just past our house, he was in full strut all fanned out. A gorgeous site to see and a safe one, turkey season had just closed the previous weekend!

12 comments:

ForestJane said...

*grins*

I thought when I first started reading your post that I was about to get a recipe. :)

YOU know, you have your eggs Benedict, your apple brown Betty, and your turkey Wilbur.

I was glad to keep reading and see that Wilbur was a bird with personality!

Nines said...

we like to name our livestock funny names, too. Like, Eliza, Nellie, Jethro and Pearl. Grace was my favorite hen and Malcolm is our revolving rooster name. Unless we have two- then the second one is always Eddie. Glad Henrietta found her way home.

heather said...

That's a great quilt! I don't think I would have thought to set those blocks in a strip set like that. Great idea for the turkey fabric.

Judy said...

And is the quilt named for Henrietta?

Good for her! Finding her way home and waiting patiently on the front porch for you to come home and put her back up.

Love the quilt, as usual...the setting is perfect. Did the turkey fabric have them all in rows like that, just a border sort of fabric? That was an unusual find, if it was! Good choice! Great story!

Tonya Ricucci said...

Oh I was afraid that story was going to have a tragic ending, but so pleased it didn't. Great quilt - and wow, don't think I've ever seen fabric with turkeys on it. Maybe turkey red color... Wonderful find.

Lucy said...

This quilt is so lovely !!

Darcie said...

Oh! Your quilt is gorgeous, Laura! You did a terrific job of using that border print...love the vertical setting!

And bless Henrietta's little heart. Great story!

Patti said...

Dearly love the turkey quilt. I'm not familiar with the block - it looks like a Churn Dash variation. I really like that, as Churn Dash is one of my favorite blocks.

Loved Henrietta's story!

Bonnie K. Hunter said...

I love this quilt! What a great one!

Bonnie

Lily Mulholland said...

Who needs a dog when you can have a loyal turkey? What a great story and what a clever bird. Like the fabric too. It's lovely that it brings back memories of your feathered friends whenever you see it :)

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh Laura! What a wonderful quilted tribute to Henrietta. Here at first I thought Henreitta was a chicken! And I didn't even notice the turkey fabric until after I read the post and looked at the quilt closer! Way fun! I think I would enjoy having turkeys and chickens!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry : I sent a msg to you, this morning, when I just had visited your blog for the first time. Well, it seems that your story about Henrietta impressed me, or I wasn't quite awoken, because I even called YOU Henrietta ! That's me ! Will you forgive me, Laura ?

Smiles,
Nadine in Begium.