Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Sunday 9 September 2012

R.I.P. Sylvie

Sylvie 
November 2006 – 9th September 2012

Today one of our 'old lady' hens peacefully passed away. She was nearly 6 years old, she came to live in our garden just after I started this blog and she soon settled in. She was an enthusiastic gardener and always set about the task of turning over a pile of leaf mould with characteristic vigour!



 But, above all else,
we remember Sylvie for
her love of grapes!







We'll miss you Sylvie – a very fine hen.

Celia
x

40 comments:

  1. Oh dear, how sad. I am sure she had a wonderful life with you but we are never ready to say goodbye to those we love, including elderly hens.

    Sleep well, Sylvie X

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    1. She had a very good life and was only frail for a few days.

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  2. Thats a great shame Celia, at least she had a great life.

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  3. Aww, that's sad. I think she must have had a happy life with you though.
    What a pretty hen she was!

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    1. I think she had everything a hen would want... free range in a big garden, a safe roost and GRAPES!

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  4. Replies
    1. She faded quickly over a few days... sad to see but quiet and gentle.

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  5. They are never "just hens" are they? We still speak fondly of some of our characters.
    Was she a silver-laced Wyandotte? Or similar.

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    1. Well, she was certainly a 'character' and I'll miss her around the garden.
      She was a "Maran Cou Cou", which is hybrid Marans lookalike (75% Marans/25% Rhode Island Red) a very robust combo.

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  6. Oh Celia, I am sure that you are so sad to have lost Sylvie, but hope that you also know how lucky Sylvie was to help you with the garden and to have those grapes nearby.

    xo

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    1. Sylvie's love of grapes never failed to make us laugh. She knew when they were ripe and would wait by the door to the veg garden to dash through my legs as I went through - she then headed straight for the grapes and could demolish bunch before I realised where she was! The evidence was the red grape juice splash on her white lacy collar!
      Happy memories :-)

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  7. Always sad when one of your animals dies, but it seems like she had a good life... grapes indeed!

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    1. Sylvie always managed to eat more of the grapes than we did.

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  8. What a long and good life that lucky hen had to live with you and grapes. I planted grape vines along the chicken run this spring and there is already the first batch ripening. Lucky for the girls, they taste bitter to me. They love them! I'll toss them some today in honor of Sylvie.

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    1. Thank you Terry xx
      I know you'll understand - some hens are one of the flock, some are eccentrics and some, like Sylvie, are stolid sensible birds who live their life with vigor and verve. I'll definitely miss seeing Sylvie charge across the lawn to be first for the treats, and I'll miss her beautiful chestnut brown eggs.

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  9. Looks like she had a great life with you! Ada :)

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    1. She always seemed a content bird - and a pleasure to share the gardening with :-)

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  10. How very sad Celia, you'll miss her a lot. Bless her.

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  11. How lucky you are to ahve such a fine hen...adn what a lovley life she had with you.....I don't know of any other chooks with a penchant for grapes!

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    1. I'm sure you'll find lots of chickens love grapes ;-)

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  12. oh how heartbreaking - chickens seem to have such fabulous personalites, so sorry you have lost a little friend xxxxx

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    1. Yes, sad but she lived a very active 5 3/4 years free to explore our garden ... and occasionally to snaffle bunches of grapes!

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  13. I'm very sorry for your loss Celia, it's never easy to loose something you love. I'll bet Sylvie had a wonderful life with you, and when you see the grapes you'll smile and always remember her. xo

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    1. I was sad when I noticed Sylvie wasn't her usual robust self... we moved her to the little henhouse and pen, she quietly slipped away in a shady place in the garden.
      The memory of her eating grapes will always make us smile.

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  14. Sorry to hear about little Sylvie. :0(

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  15. Poor Sylvie. I wonder what chicken heaven is like? worms everywhere!

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    1. Sylvie had the best of lives and her heaven would be a vineyard somewhere sunny :-)

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  16. That's such a shame, they leave a big gap for something so small don't they? I lost two old lags this year and I miss them still. They all have their own particular way of eyeing you as you approach and you do miss seeing that. Chicks next year perhaps?

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    1. A shame yes, but what a lovely life - all that scratching about and her own grape vine :-)

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  17. I look at your hens and think what a good life they have. With grapes! What a wonderful way for an old girl to have lived out her days x

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    1. She was a lucky one... just slipping away in a shady corner on a sunny afternoon.

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  18. Thank you for this post! You took me back . . .
    RIP Sylvie; give my greetings to Henny and Penny; two old friends in chicken heaven who passed on some time ago.

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    1. A lovely thought that they are scratching and pecking together in a grassy field.

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  19. RIP Sylvie. Sounds like she was quite the character. Claire

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    1. You can't tend to a creatures needs day in day out for over 5 years without getting to know their peculiar little ways... Silvie was a huge character and she is missed.

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  20. That's so sad. Sorry for your loss. I'm sure Sylvie is in peace wherever she may be now. She had given life to new chicks that's for sure. And those chicks will live the life for her.
    weight loss programs mn

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  21. So sorry to hear about Sylvie. She indeed looked a real character. I'm no expert but 6 seems to be a grand age for a hen - she had a wonderful life in your garden Celia.

    Jeanne
    x

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