Stephenson and I visited a summer fair

Which was being held on the dry yellow fields

Which were once part of  the Blue Pigeon Farm

I was again wearing my William Morris frock

Which I thought best suited to the heat of this perfumed summer

The stalls were offering a variety of homemade cakes and jams

Others sold outgrown toys and bears so pretty in their gentle seduction

I found Stephenson at the white elephant stall studying all things retro

He then spotted a handmade theatre full of Shakespearean puppets

We purchased it on the spot and we carried it back our cottage

On closer inspection we found that had been constructed in 1916

By George Painter the farmers son who had died in the Great War

He had made it for his siblings to keep them occupied in his absence

It was named The Blue Pigeon Theatre which one could see above the faded curtain

 

 

Jane of the Red Manor (2022)