'It sounds to me,' said Harold, with rare male perspicacity, 'that Agnes may be a little in love with this Teddy herself.'
'Good heavens!' cried his wife, deeply shocked. 'Of course she isn't! She has the cat, after all!'
Harold pondered on this as he lay awaiting sleep. Should men really have to compete with cats?

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It soon became apparent to Percy that Mrs. Brown was one of those people, all too common, who regaled their listeners with lengthy tales about people who were entirely unknown and, after an hour or so of increasing boredom, thoroughly disliked. ( )

Friends At Thrush Green by Miss Read is the tenth book in her Thrush Green series and these simple stories about a small British village have a special place my heart. The author writes of the changing seasons in the countryside and the small affairs of village life in a timeless manner. Her characters have problems but they are usually worked out through the course of each book with the help of their friends and their own good sense.

This book both opens and closes with a visit from previous Thrush Green residents. Dorothy and Agnes were the school teachers at the local school and lived in the house adjoining the school. Upon retirement they moved to a cottage by the sea, but they return to visit with their friends and catch up with local gossip. The book opens in spring and takes us through the course of a year, and some of the other stories that are followed are the on-going search of farmer Percy Hodge for a wife, the worrisome aging of another resident and how the new school master and his family are settling in. Some of these stories take a very serious turn as both senility and alcoholism play a major part.

Friends at Thrush Green was another engaging story about this idyllic village and the wonderful characters that live there. ( )

What can I say that I haven't already said about Thrush Green? This is my village and these are my friends. ( )