Last Sunday, I travelled to the heart of the Cotswolds to a very special place – Wood Green near Witney – the inspiration behind Miss Read’s fictional ‘Thrush Green’.
I’ve visited here before, but it’s always a joy to see the golden homes nestled around the green, and it’s even better that I got to meet up with Dora Saint’s daughter, Jill, for a very special performance…
The wonderful Redlynch Players were performing ‘Miss Read Remembered’ by Ron Perry in the church, and how lovely it was to see the characters of Thrush Green come to life! Mrs Curdle’s caravan looked absolutely splendid, and Ron Perry really captured all the warmth and humour of Miss Read’s story. There was a particularly moving scene between Dr Bailey and Mrs Curdle and the choice of music really added to the beauty and poignancy of the production.
I thought I’d travelled a long way from Suffolk to see the play, but there were at least three people in the audience from America! The appeal of Miss Read is truly international and it’s a real testimony to her writing that this novel, first published in 1959, is still so appealing.
Portia is a Buff Orpinton – the breed made famous by the late Queen Mother. She’s the most timid in the flock at the moment and is very vocal whenever I pick her up!
Phoebe is a Black Orpington. She likes jumping up on things and was the first to discover the back door into our house!
And Perdita is a Blue Partridge Brahma. She’s the most dominant of the little flock and was the first to climb up and down the ladder into the coop and the first to eat from my hand. She’s very curious and alert.
The girls are enjoying free-ranging in the autumn garden, but are sticking closely together at the moment as they get to know their new environment! They’re such gorgeous girls and I can’t wait to get to know their personalities and enjoy plenty of hen cuddles with them.
But what a state she was in! We’ve never seen a hen look quite as rough. Her comb was overlarge, floppy and pale, her wings looked like chopsticks and she was missing so many feathers that she looked almost oven-ready.
However, appearances can be deceptive and she soon proved to be a feisty little girl, marching up and down the run of the coop, asking to be let out to free-range for the first time.
And how she loved to free-range! So much so that she was soon laying eggs in the hedge and venturing through the hedge into our neighbours’ gardens! She also loved sneaking into the house whenever the door was open, leaping onto our chair in the conservatory and sticking her head in any bags of food around. She really was an adventurer!
Winter weather didn’t faze her even though she was a sun-worshipper at heart. In fact, I’ve never seen a hen enjoy sunbathing so much and, in the early days of her release, we had to put sun lotion on all those bare bits of hers!
I loved looking out of the kitchen window to see her leaping on to pots and bins and sneaking around the oil tank. One never quite knew where she’d appear next.
Darling Vi. You were such a special girl and I hope you loved your retirement with us as much as we loved having you as a part of our family. You’ll be missed so much.