When we first brought Alice home last February, she was completely bald and very pale but she had a curious nature which meant she was often the first to discover things about her new home.

She was also our star layer – producing the biggest eggs I’ve ever seen!

During the last month, we kept her in the house at night and often during the day too when it was raining.  She was very docile but occasionally liked to have a little wander around, chattering away if you spoke to her.

And here she is enjoying the garden last weekend.  She was very weak here but managed to enjoy a rare moment of sunshine one evening.

So we’ve lost a third of our little flock in one week.  I still can’t believe it.  I was warned that ex-bat hens don’t last long because they’ve been worked so hard before they’re retired but I do wish they’d had had a little longer with us.

We got Minnie last year when we rehomed 4 ex-battery hens via the British Hen Welfare Trust.

From day one, she was a rather beautiful hen and clever too – she was the first to discover the high perch in her new home (which we soon named ‘Minnie’s Perch’).

She really bloomed into a gorgeous hen.  Her feathers turned a wonderfully rich chestnut and she became quite a size!  She was also very cheeky and loved jumping up onto the dustbin to peer into the kitchen window begging for treats.  I shall miss that so much.

It has to be said that Minnie wasn’t always the sweetest-natured of hens.  She could be pretty bossy with that beak of hers but, whilst our Alice was unwell, Minnie could often be found keeping her company in the coop.

I’m so glad that Minnie came into our lives and enjoyed her retirement as a free-range hen.  We’ll miss her so much.

It’s always lovely to meet my readers and hear what they think about the books and it’s especially encouraging when they start so young!

I was also interviewed for BBC Radio Norfolk so it’s been a busy week away from the desk.

Back at home now and there’s a novel to finish and hens to take care of.  Alice is still unwell, poor love.  She’s been sleeping indoors and isn’t eating much.  We’ll keep an eye on her but maybe she’s just getting old.

Little Flo has been enjoying life as a free-range hen.  Here she is having a dust bath:

And here’s the lovely Primrose having a cuddle in front of the Spookiest Shed in Suffolk!

Poor Primrose took a bit of a dip in the pond the other day but managed to pull herself out and wasn’t any the worse for the experience.  Mariette’s been trying to lay her eggs in the hedge a la Dotty, and all the new girls are growing brand new feathers so that ‘oven-ready’ look will soon be a thing of the past!

Primrose is a little adventurous and tries to join in with the old girls but they really don’t like it and Dotty takes great exception to Primrose entering the conservatory which is – of course – her special space!  But, overall, things have been good.  Old girl, Minnie, has even tried to get into the nest box and sleep alongside Little Flo!

Little Flo is really enjoying her new freedom and is particularly agile – jumping up onto things and exploring everywhere.  One thing we didn’t expect, though, was that she’d take a dislike to our spaniel, Molly, and charge at her everytime she walks by!  Poor Molly is now absolutely terrified!

Mariette is the shy one.  She gets really anxious if you approach her and prefers to do her own thing in the garden.  It’s a joy to watch her discovering things for the first time.

On the writing front, The Runaway Actress has been edging towards the Amazon Top 100 on Kindle which is really exciting and I’ve already had lovely feedback from readers.  If you’re in the East Anglia region, check out my diary as I’ll be doing a few events over the next few weeks.

In the US, Mr Darcy Forever has been getting some wonderful reviews and there are rumours that the ‘Mr Darcy Wet Shirt Competition’ which features in the book might become a real event at the Jane Austen Festival in Bath this September!

Sad news last week – one of my favourite writers, Miss Read, died just a few days before her 99th birthday.  She wrote the loveliest books about English village life with the most beautiful descriptions of the changing seasons.  I particularly loved her Fairacre series which began with Village School.  Truly inspirational.  I even named my first hens after characters from her books.

And there’s a competition where you can win a signed copy together with gifts inspired by the book.  And we’ve even got a fun book trailer although I have to confess that no hens make an appearance.  At least, there shouldn’t be any hens in there …

So that’s two books out this month!  Two new books and three new hens – I am truly blessed!

It was time to get some more hens!  The British Hen Welfare Trust was organising a release day of factory hens and our local collection point was at Baylham House Rare Breeds Farm.  The sun was shining and there were blue skies and pink blossom everywhere.

Whilst we were waiting for the hens to arrive (all the way from Coventy) we met a few of the wonderful rare breed animals at the farm.  Here’s Wilma.  Is it my imagination or does she also want to come home with us?

And I got to cuddle a five-day old lamb!  Now this was one I really did want to bring home with me!

Then the serious business of the day began.  There were over 200 hens to be rehomed and we were all ready to collect our three.

And here they are!

They soon settled down in the car for their journey home just like our others did over a year ago.

And here’s a very jubilant hen-keeper settling them in at home!

Welcome to Mulberry Cottage Mariette, Primrose and Florence (Little Flo) – named after HE Bates characters from my favourite book, The Darling Buds of May.

Here’s Mariette – she has a huge, pale floppy comb.

Here’s Primrose – she can walk down the ladder to the run but can’t yet go up it, bless her.

And here’s Little Flo who is very shy and barely has any feathers on her neck – yet!

These hens are the first to be released from the new ‘enriched’ factory cages but it’s obvious that these are still far from ideal places to keep hens.  They might have a little more room than the previous ‘battery’ cages but feather-pecking still goes on out of sheer boredom and aggravation and the birds have no opportunity to go outside and just be hens.  Just look at this tail – it’s got to be the scruffiest thing ever to be seen on a chicken!

I’m so looking forward to getting to know these little personalities and seeing them bloom back to health.  My old girls are keen to know them although there have been a few disputes.  But we’re keeping them separated for a couple of weeks whilst the new girls settle.

Here’s Minnie sizing up Little Flo.

And – no – Alice is not kissing Little Flo here!

It’s hard to believe that Alice looked like Little Flo a year ago but I’m sure the new girls will soon recover themselves and their feathers will grow and their pale skins will colour up beautifully – just as Dotty, Alice and Minnie’s did.  Indeed, by the end of their first full day with us Little Flo had taken food from a bowl in my hand, Mariette had scratched in the grass for the first time and Primrose had laid her first egg!  Clever girls!

The hens have been enjoying the sunshine too.  Here’s Minnie trampling through my daffodils (don’t worry – I forgave her!)

And here’s Alice after a dust bath.  We thought we were going to lose Alice last week.  She was very poorly but has made a good recovery and is enjoying the warm weather.

But my girls aren’t the only birds rejoicing in the weather – look at these gorgeous partridges sitting in a sunny field.

And there are yellow flowers everywhere: daffodils, primroses, celandine – suddenly, everything is glowing gold.

Last week, on a truly beautiful spring afternoon, we visited the Dedham Vale which was made famous through Constable’s paintings and, keeping up the tradition, Roy set up his easel whilst Molly and I followed the river to Flatford Mill.

The river meandered gently through the landscape and we soon found ourselves at a very famous view indeed – the mill pond in front of Willy Lott’s Cottage.  The haywain might be long gone but it’s wonderful that the old cottage is still there.

Walking back to Dedham, I took this photo of Roy at work:

Not a bad way to spend your time, is it?  The early evening light was magically misty and the river had turned from blue to silver.

It really was like walking into a painting.

The Runaway Actress is about a movie star who swaps Hollywood for the Highlands.  And I’m absolutely thrilled with the cover and can’t wait to hold the book in my hands.  It’s out in the UK on 12th April and you can read more about it here.

Before that – on 1st April – the US will publish the third book in my Austen addicts trilogy, Mr Darcy Forever:

Set in the beautiful Devon countryside and the Georgian city of Bath during the Jane Austen Festival, it’s about two sisters and the man that comes between them.  Read more about it here.

But, before all the excitement of publication, I’m busy working on the new novel, The Aphrodite Touch and there is so much mayhem to sort out, I’m not sure where to begin!  Still, it’s all good fun and I’m sure there’ll be a happy ending at some point …

Of course, it was also lovely to see my writer friends for lunch.  Christina Courtenay has just won best historical novel for Highland Storms at the RONAS and Henriette Gyland recently signed her first book deal with Choc Lit so there was lots to celebrate.

I then met up with my wonderful writer friend, Sam Mills, whose new book, The Quiddity of Will Self is out soon.  Grab a copy if you can – they’re selling fast!

It was then on the the spectacular Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum for an evening with the lovely people at Compassion in World Farming.

They, too, were celebrating recent successes like the ban on barren battery cages for hens in Europe (a cause that is very close to my heart) as well as looking ahead to the work that is to be done in the future.  It so heartens me that there are dedicated people out there fighting for the rights of animals.  We all have a responsibility to know where our food comes from and the conditions that animals endure.  Do support CIWF if you can.

On the way out, I couldn’t resist taking a look at some of the incredible specimens on display although some of them were the stuff of nightmares!