R.I.P. Phoebe 2006 – 2015

Phoebe 

November 2006 – September 2015

Our beautiful speckledy Coucou Marans hen has died at the grand old age of 8 years and 9 months . . . which in hen-years is very old indeed. A few weeks ago she lost the use of one leg (no visible sign of injury or swelling, it may have been paralysis after a stroke) in all other respects she retained her indomitable spirit and quiet determination. But I knew this would be her last summer.

Phoebe's first appearance on this blog was on Saturday 17 March 2007, my third ever blog post. I paid tribute to her on the 6th anniversary of her arrival in our garden, when she shared a special cake. She was an old lady then, we were so lucky she went on to enjoy two and a half more years laying the occasional egg, giving the younger hens old-fashioned looks and skilfully chasing and catching flies on the lawn before going to bed.

What a privilege it has been to get to know her so well (she loved porridge oats but wasn't keen on potato or anything sticky). I'll miss stroking her feathers, which were as soft and silky as a vintage Hermès silk scarf, while I thought through a problem and put things in perspective – Phoebe was a good listener.

R.I.P. dear Great Aunt Phoebe

Celia
xx

Back to her old tricks again

We have three hens that lay blue-green eggs, they are Araucana x Crested-Cream-Legbar hybrids and are named after spices – Saffron, Nutmeg and Ginger. We hadn't had a pastel coloured egg for many months, Saffron and Nutmeg had been moulting and Ginger . . . well dear Ginger-Spice, she stopped laying regularly 2 years ago, then laid the occasional egg and eventually in June 2013 she laid this – a teeny weeny egg containing nothing but egg white and a yucky grey blob.


Then, just after New Year's Day, I found a large pastel sage-green egg in the nest box. I assumed it was laid by Saffron-Spice, but the more I looked at the egg and thought about it, I realised it didn't look like Saffie's pale teal-blue pointy eggs. I picked up Saffie, her comb was still small and pale red and her pelvic bones were too narrow to lay an egg.

So who laid these . . . I spotted Ginger-Spice skipping down the ramp from the nests . . . yes indeed!

After well over a year, dear Ginger-Spice is regularly laying beautiful large sage-green eggs again.

It's very difficult to photograph Ginge' – she's got a new lease of life and is always dashing around . . .

. . . and she's even back to her old tricks :-)

Ginger was a very quick learner as a pullet and I taught her to do a little trick when I went to get the afternoon corn each day, but when Tarragon the Araucana cockerel came on the scene Ginge' gave up doing her trick. And when her egg-laying stopped she became bottom of the pecking-order and was often chased away from the feeders.


But LOOK! This is what now happens when I go into the feed shed . . .

Ginge' hops onto the little garden foot-stool and walks to the top, she waits and I give her a few grains of corn from my hand

then Ginge' hops onto my arm and we take a little stroll around the garden . . .

we have a little  chat and I admire her incredibly beautiful feathers . . .

which are like the glowing copper flames.



I've no idea what was the cause of Ginger's lost year, I'll just say it's great to have the old Ginge' and her beautiful eggs back again.


Celia
xx

Cheep's epic tail

Cheep wants to show off his tail . . . in fact showing off is what Cheep does best, he does it to impress girls! He also guards his patch and warns his girls of any dangers, four legged ones and two! I was very pleased that after a formal introduction to photographer Laura Edwards when she spent a whole day taking photographs for the Country Living Magazine article, he behaved courteously (phew! good boy).

But I think Cheep is a tiny bit disappointed that in the published article he only appears in a small black and white photo and from a back view, he'd secretly been expecting to be on the cover in full colour.

So I'll let Cheep show off in a whole blog post to himself.

Cheep hatched in September 2011 under my neighbour's broody, who instantly decided she didn't want to be a mother hen and tried to kill the newly hatched chick. So Cheep was raised in my studio – he thinks he is human and that I am his mum!

Cheep, on my desk, September 2011

Cheep is now just over two years old, after his near-death experience he regrew his missing feathers and is now fully fledged in his mature plummage. Cockerels are far swankier than hens, they have extra long and dense feathers which drape over the basic plumage which is more or less the same as that of a hen. And as Cheep proved, these long dense feathers can save them from mortal wounds if attacked.

So, as you can see, Cheep has long silky Neck and Saddle Hackles in a beautiful mixture of black, gold, copper and irridescent green. If he wants to be aggressive, he can *raise his hackles* and appear to be three times his normal size! He can really scare unsuspecting visitors to our garden by appearing at their ankles in fully puffed-up mode!

And then there is the magnificent tail! In fact technically the tail is just the stiff straight feathers that sprout from the fleshy stump or 'parson's nose'. What makes a cockerel's tail special are the Tail Coverts – the soft draping feathers at the base of his back, which fall either side of the stiff tail. These feathers have downy fluff at the base which gives extra padding around his hips - rather like something Henry VIII might wear!

And the two very long curved feathers which drape right over the top of the tail, are the Sickles - and they are shaped just like a pair of sickle blades. Bigger really is better in the chicken world!

What does Cheep do all day? He doesn't have to eat continuously to produce eggs, like his girls do. But he keeps himself busy escorting his girls to find the best food, this may mean excavation-projects in the flower-beds . . . but mostly it impresses the girls.

Afterall, that's what it's all about – impressing girls and fertilizing their eggs ;-) 

 "Follow me darling,

I know where there's a nice nest ;-)"

Cheep and me, November 2013

Cheep and I respect each other, I know he could become aggressive but won't if I treat him with respect and care. Shared moments in the garden with Cheep are very special . . . then I let him swagger off to impress his girls.

Celia

xx

The Hen-wife's Tale

. . . Chanticleer Cheep stood high upon his toes, 

Stretching his neck, and both his eyes did close, 

And so did crow right loudly, for the nonce; 

And Russel Fox, he started up at once, 

And by the gorget grabbed our Chanticleer Cheep, 

Flung him on back, and toward the wood did steer . . .

This simple widow and her daughters two We

heard these hens cry and make so great ado, 

And out of doors they started on the run 

And saw the fox into the grove just gone, 

Bearing upon his back the cock away. 

And then they cried, "Alas, and weladay! 

Oh, oh, the fox!" and after him they ran.

This cock, which lay across the fox's back, 

In all his fear unto the fox did clack 

And say: "Sir, were I you, as I should be, 

Then would I say (as God may now help me!), 

'Turn back again, presumptuous peasants all! 

A very pestilence upon you fall! 

Now that I've gained here to this dark wood's side, 

In spite of you this cock shall here abide. 

I'll eat him, by my faith, and that anon!'" 

The fox replied: "In faith, it shall be done!" 

And as he spoke that word, all suddenly 

This cock broke from his mouth, full cleverly.

And that (with apologies to Geoffrey Chaucer) is more or less what happened on Monday evening when Cheep was grabbed by a fox and miraculously escaped with a scratch and rather less feathers than he had earlier in the day.

Unfortunately our relief at Cheep's miraculous escape from the jaws of death, turned to sadness when, on Wednesday, I discovered that Bryony was missing . . . presumed taken to be Russel Fox's supper.

Of the three new pullets we got last October, I think Bryony was my favourite. She was bossy and annoying (especially when she spent three weeks insisting she was broody!)

We will miss her, I think Cheep misses her, and this weekend for the last time we will enjoy her final beautiful dark brown egg.

Celia

xx

Phoebe's special day

Six year's ago today we bought four young hens.

We named them Ruby, Sylvie, Dawn and Phoebe.

Phoebe was the first to lay an egg; but she was the bottom of the pecking order.


Then the Spice Girls arrived . . . three young hens with outragious hair-dos, Phoebe pecked them!!!


Sadly Dawn, Ruby and Sylvie have died and are under the primroses in the orchard; I worried for Phoebe, how would she cope with being the oldest member of the flock?

So, last autumn when I decided to get three new pullets, I got Coucou Marans just like Phoebe . . . because I really believe that "birds of a feather stick together" and Phoebe would like to have the company of hens that looked like her (and her dear best friend Sylvie).

And . . . it worked! Phoebe has a new bounce in her step :-) she has young hens to aim a peck at and give a stare to that says "age before beauty!" . . . Phoebe is now a Dowager Duchess of Grantham among hens!

Over six years Phoebe has probably layed more than 1200 eggs, she layed this one yesterday. As always she took her time . . . about 2 hours! An hour to get comfy, then another to cuddle the egg and go all dreamy.

Today, we had a little celebration in the garden for Phoebe; I made a 'cake' (cooked rice, porridge, bread, seeds and yogurt, flavoured with Poultry Spice)
 

 I made sure Phoebe took the first slice . . . she grabbed it and ran!

She took it far enough away so that she could eat it in peace and none of the others would get it!

 And then Phoebe carefully wiped her beak on the grass :-)

 

 

It was quite a party!

 

 

We hope that we share many more days with Phoebe in our garden, she is the most amiable of hens and we love her lots!

xxx

Celia

x

And now we are six

Last year when Purple Podded Peas was five years old, I did a live blogging event – I can't think of anything to out-shine that but I thought the 6th anniversary of starting this blog should be marked somehow . . . maybe Cheep and the under-gardeners could help?

Filmed at PPPs HQ on 14th March 2013

Directed and filmed by Celia
Starring Cheep
with co-stars: Phoebe, Saffron, Ginger, Nutmeg, Holly, Ivy and Bryony

Whether you are a new visitor or
someone who's been popping in for years,
thank you for visiting PPPs
and here's to the year ahead . . .

Cheers!

Celia

xx

Long overdue flock management

I knew what had to be done . . . but even so it wasn't easy or pleasant to do.

After losing two hens, the flock was down to four hens and three cockerels. It was time to stop agonising and organise.

So, this evening the deed was done; now the sole remaining senior under-gardener, Phoebe, and the Spice Girls (Saffron, Nutmeg and Ginger) can settle down with their head-boy, Cheep.

One day I'd like to add three new pullets, but I think that I'll leave that plan for the new year.

Celia x

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

Easter eggs!

Happy Easter!

 The Under-Gardeners, Spice Girls and Pearl
supply us with so many beautiful eggs!
Friends who call in, know that they will be
offered a box of eggs :-)

The eggs are in a lovely assortment of colours,
each hen has her unique egg-shell tint
and I can tell which has laid each egg

(I should get out more!)

The sizes vary too . . .

Did you spot the tiny egg in the second photo?

It was found in a nest that blew out of
a tree in a winter storm,
I think it must have been an
abandoned Chaffinch's nest.

Oh, and the huge egg
what bird* would lay a huge
primrose coloured egg?

I bought that from a stall at the
local farmers' market this morning . . .
I couldn't resist!!!

Can you guess who laid it?

As if I need more eggs!

But we don't buy chocolate eggs

and I just had to have it to decorate.

 

I think that painting a design on

an enormous egg is the perfect thing

to fill a cold Easter afternoon.

Wishing you a very happy Easter weekend,

whether you've found some sunshine

or snuggled on the sofa watching

the Boat Race on the telly.

Celia

xx

* Can you guess who laid the egg?

I realised that I say hello to them

on one of my favourite local walks.

UPDATE:

Well I knew someone would get the answer right soon...

Yes Su it is indeed a Rhea egg :-)

And clever Wendy is absolutely right, it's Mr Rhea who incubates the eggs for 40 days and nights before the little Rheas hatch.

The egg is from this farm: http://www.oakviewpoultry.co.uk which we pass when we walk one of our favourite routes around 'The Camps' just a skip over the border into Cambridgshire.

To give you a better idea of the size of the Rhea's egg, an average hen's egg weighs 60g, the Rhea's egg weighs 456g! I'm now going to very very carefully blow the egg and make the contents into a baked custard sprinkled with Nutmeg.

Then I can decorate the eggshell ... I'll show you in the next post.

Celia
x

PS: What about the Boat Race!!!! Blimey what a shocker :-O

"How do your hens like the snow?"

That's the question I've been asked time and time again this week – well, basically they don't like it.

We've swept some path ways through the snow on the paving outside the back door; and there's an area almost clear of snow, under the large pine tree – they stick to these zones and don't venture across the snowy wastes.

There's a trodden path from the paved area to the hen-house, the track Cliff and I make as we go back and forth to let them out, clean up the hut and collect the eggs; but I noticed another dirty path had appeared in the snow . . . it goes from the area under the pine tree, then halfway to the hut, it stops.

This evening I spotted the flock queuing up along the path . . .

Poor Ginger-Spice, she didn't want to jump/fly did she?! she thought I was going to carry her . . . but YAY! brave Ginger did it in the end :-)

There's a chance we'll get another flurry of snow tonight, but then a thaw is forecast . . . there will be a big sigh of relief from Ginger.

Celia
x

White, not crisp – salted and unsalted

Last night we had tickets to see 'Neighbourhood Watch' at the theatre in Cambridge; snow had been forecast to fall at some time on Saturday and it seemed as if the whole country was 'on amber alert' as the Met Office had labelled it, but undeterred we drove into town and as we neared the outskirts of Cambridge the first skimpy flakes were flying past the car windscreen.

At the interval we bought our ice-creams and stood at the theatre door watching the snow accumulate, the street was white and huddles of bicycles were disappearing under fluffy white blankets of snow. The mood of the audience returning to their seats, was a mix of excitement and slight trepidation of what the journey home would be like . . .

 

. . . a tad hairy to be honest! Cliff seemed confident driving my 'tardis' with it's new winter wheels, but as we passed a rather crunched little hatchback we worried about whether the car behind us would be able to brake without sliding into the back of us!

As we headed out over the Gog Magog Hills we were almost alone on the road, the snow was coming down thick and fast and by the time we turned down the little country lane to the village we were relieved to have made it to within easy walking distance of home, should we have got stuck . . . which we didn't.

This morning I peeped trough the curtains and this was the scene . . .

Bright sun and freezing temperatures would have made everything sparkle, well you can't have everything . . . the palette of white, greys and umbers has its own beauty. When we saw that the road through the village had actually been gritted! (at 7am it hadn't so Cliff had decided not to join his walking group 20 miles away) we decided to go for walk up through the village and out the other side.

At the top of the hill we had a choice, salted or unsalted . . .

. . . we took the road less traveled

And I had fun taking lots of photos of the twiggy textures and distant woods.

I think this next one is my favourite . . .

Near the village playing field are two trees which always seem to hold on to there fruits right through the winter

and underneath, a Robin was thankful of a snack.

Back home, the snow outlines pruned structures and bright stems glow – the garden is unfamiliar under its coating of snow.

The hens are confused – most of them chose not to leave the hen-house; but Pearl was out and about – but not at all sure of what to make of this snow stuff!

My hunch is the snow won't stay around for long, we'll be back to chilly, muddy February very soon.

In the mean time, I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon sitting by a cosy fire and looking at the snow-scene while it lasts.

Celia
x

PS someone's just mentioned going for another walk to see if we can spot the Barn Owls hunting in the snow - mmm? might be worth doing before I get snuggled down ;-) Naah! tea and biscuits by the fire won!

Enter February

February has arrived blown in on a chill nor-easterly, plummeting the temperatures to well below freezing by night and only just a little warmer by day; will we have snow? who knows, but today the sunshine is glorious, so despite the cold (and the wind-chill) I decided that a lunchtime walk with my camera would be a good idea.

This is the south-west corner of Suffolk, the views take in the edge of south Cambridgeshire and north Essex; here the countryside is nearly as high as it gets in East Anglia, my short route of a mile and half started at 65ft and took me to 115ft at the wood . . . so around here that's a significant hill! The village is tucked down in the valley, the church tower hardly visible among the trees.

Back home my flock is happy to be in a sheltered garden with a sunny spot under the pine tree; and look who's found a girlfriend? Cheep is inseparable from Pearl and even wants to guard her while she lays her egg!


Celia
x

BTW the music is the gavotte from Gluck's 'Orfeo ed Euridice' played by Les Musiciens du Louvre (my favourite album on my iPhone this winter).

Three cheers for Phoebe!

My senior under-gardeners are 5 years old, they came to live in our garden in March 2007 and at the beginning of April Phoebe was the first of our flock to lay an egg.

Phoebe is a Coucou Marans hybrid (Marans x Rhode Island Red) and she has the most perfect tail shape – she can manoeuvre it like a rudder. Her feathers are luxuriously smooth like an expensive silk twill scarf, and she has thick downy underwear – most practical on a day like today!

I estimate that Phoebe has laid about 200 eggs each year, so that means she has produced 1000 eggs! I didn't mind at all when late last October she stopped laying because she was moulting – she does this dramatically . . . one day one or two feathers fall out, the next day she shakes herself and stands there almost naked!!! I wouldn't have minded it she never laid another egg, we will care for her for as long as she wants to enjoy life fossicking around our garden. We've got to know her funny little ways – she spends ages laying her eggs, really taking her time and she hates any food that is sticky like plums or porridge or boiled potatoes.


 Today Phoebe laid her first egg in 2012 . . .

. . .  a beautiful brown egg just like her first one in 2007.


Celia
x

2012 . . . off the blocks!

Here we are in a brand new year, 2012, and for many it means the culmination of years of planning – the Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics; and then there's the new calenders and diaries ready to be filled with appointments, visits and holidays. There's no time for denial, 2012 has begun.

But first, an introduction . . . meet Pearl . . . here she is posing prettily and waiting patiently for me to tidy the hen house and put more hem-core in the nest box so she has a clean and comfy place to lay her egg.


In the studio, my week is starting with a major tidy-up and tying up of loose ends and making plans. I don't make resolutions but I have sent myself some challenges (maybe that's the same thing, but it seems less of a commitment).

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– The small square linocuts, 'Love in the air', 'Night flight', etc have been very popular; so I'm planning to do more this year . . . maybe one a month.

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– My main project this year is to work on a series of multi-block woodcuts . . . I may even start a new blog about these . . . does that sound a good idea? or should they stay here mingled with everything else?

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– I'll continue the 'Mantel Pieces' project.

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– Something I must try to do better is keeping in contact with galleries that sell my work and regularly supplying new work – I need to set up a day or two each month to do this.

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– I've an urge to return to sewing – so I'm in the process of finding and sorting out my stash of fabrics; I'll sort out the wool stash too. Then I can start to make things.

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– It's high time this blog had a spring clean, so things might move around and look different soon.

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– There are other things I'd love to do . . . maybe if I list them here something might happen:

      •  fabric designs

      •  an e-book of walks

      •  illustrated magazine articles - recipes/henkeeping/gardening/walks/wildflowers

      •  work towards an exhibition – maybe of the woodcuts.

_______________________________________

Well, I'd better get on with it!


See you soon
Celia
x