It is spring in the village of Thrush Green. In neighboring Lulling, Charles Henstock admires the blooming garden of his new vicarage, glad that the squabbles with his parishoners in Affairs at Thrush Green are settled. And yet the good vicar wistfully recalls his former home - the ugly, old rectory of Thrush Green, which burned to the ground. Now, from the rectory's ruins, the villagers are building eight retirement homes for the older folks most in need. But how to choose who will live there? How will they get on together? And how will they accommodate the dogs, cats, and birds that must come along? The spring has brought a new crop of dilemmas, but Dr. Henstock and the villagers are determined to make the old people feel at home in Thrush Green. In the end, harmony is restored to this tiny fictional world. With wit and grace, Miss Read has charmed numerous critics and won the loyalty of readers who will happily find themselves once more At Home in Thrush Green. Miss Read (1913-2012) was the pseudonym of Mrs. Dora Saint, a former schoolteacher beloved for her novels of English rural life, especially those set in the fictional villages of Thrush Green and Fairacre. The first of these, Village School , was published in 1955, and Miss Read continued to write until her retirement in 1996. In the 1998, she was awarded an MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire, for her services to literature.  At Home in Thrush Green By Miss Read, John S. Goodall Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Copyright © 1985 Miss Read All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-618-23858-3 Contents Title Page, Contents, Copyright, Dedication, Frontispiece, Part One, 1 June Afternoon, 2 Problems at Thrush Green, 3 Market Day at Lulling, 4 Family Demands, 5 The Longest Day, 6 The Fuchsia Bush to the Rescue, 7 Summer Visitors, Part Two, 8 New Neighbours, 9 Some Malefactors, 10 Settling Down, 11 Preparing for Bonfire Night, 12 The Fifth of November, 13 Old People's Fears, 14 Visitors, PART THREE, 15 Christmas, 16 Winter Discomforts, 17 Nelly Piggott Meets the Past, 18 A Hint of Spring, 19 Various Surprises, 20 Richard's Affairs, About the Author, CHAPTER 1 June Afternoon 'I must pay a visit to Thrush Green this afternoon,' said Dimity Henstock to her husband Charles. They were breakfasting in the kitchen of Lulling Vicarage. Charles buttered a slice of toast carefully. 'I can drive you there before two, my dear, but I have this meeting in Oxford at three.' 'Don't worry, I shall walk. Ella is clean out of light blue tapestry wool for her lovers' knots, and I have some here.' 'Her lovers' knots?' echoed Charles, toast poised. 'Round the edge of the chair seat,' explained Dimity. She rose and began to clear the table. Charles, still looking bewildered, chewed the last mouthful of toast. 'I must get on, dear,' said Dimity. 'Mrs Allen comes today, and I like to get things cleared up.' 'I always thought that we employed Mrs Allen for the express purpose of clearing up for us.' 'Yes, one would think that in theory, but in practice, of course, it really makes more work to do.' 'Then I will go and water the greenhouse,' said the vicar of Lulling, rector of Thrush Green, and general priest in charge of Lulling Woods and Nidden – otherwise Charles Henstock. He stepped out of the back door into the dewy freshness of a fine June morning, and made his way happily through the vicarage garden. ... As he tended his seedlings in the pleasantly humid atmosphere of the greenhouse, Charles pondered on the felicity of his life in Lulling. His present vicarage and its garden were both mellow and beautiful, owing much to the care given by his immediate predecessor, Anthony Bull, who now had a living in Kensington, where his good looks and slightly dramatic sermons were as much admired there as they had been at Lulling. Charles and he remained staunch friends. Charles had been twice married, and after the untimely death of his first wife life had been bleak. Soon after, he had been appointed to the living of Thrush Green, where he dwelt in the ugliest and coldest house there. Most of the dwellings round the large triangle of grass which gave the place its name, were built of Cotswold stone and tiled to match. Why a Victorian builder had ever been allowed to erect the gloomy pile which had been Charles's home for so many years, remained a mystery. The good rector, the humblest and most hard-working of men, seemed oblivious of the draughts, the murkiness, and the sheer discomfort of his home. When he married his second wife, Dimity, who had shared a cottage with her friend Ella Bembridge nearby, he was perplexed to hear her complaints about her new abode, and did his best to help her to render the rectory more comfortable. In fact, it was a losing battle. The house faced north-east, was shoddily built, and had a long corridor, leading from the front door to the back, which acted as an efficient w