We said a sad goodbye to our darling ex-bat Evie this week after almost three years of retirement with us. Only Mariette and Dotty have hit the golden three years with us, so Evie did very well and never had a day’s illness either.

Evie came to us in September 2015 along with her flock sisters Celeste and Gertie – named after the heroines in my novel The Rose Girls which had been published that summer.

Evie was a brave soul who quickly revelled in her new free-range life and struck up a strong friendship with Gertie. They could usually be found together and would often leap up onto the bin to peep into the kitchen window!

A little bit of a scruff on arrival, Evie soon grew all her feathers back and became a really beautiful hen although, in a recent moult, she lost all her tail feathers and looked very scruffy indeed! But her feathers made a splendid comeback and she looked bonnier than ever!

Always a gentle hen, she quickly teamed up with the younger Viola once she’d lost her long-term pal Gertie. Here’s Evie with Viola enjoying a yoghurty treat together.We feel so lucky that Evie’s retirement was a long and healthy one with just a gentle slide into old age. But how we shall miss that cheeky face looking in at the kitchen window!

Goodbye, my dear girl. You will be missed.