SPENDING TIME WITH JANE...

WELCOME...

If you have a little time to spare,

 I would love for you 

to come over to the Cottage today.

 

 The smoke

 from the fires around California 

has driven us inside once more

 so I thought it would be 

a pleasure to spend some time 

with Jane Austen.

"You cannot imagine 

- it is not in 

human nature to imagine- 

what a nice walk we had 

round the orchard".

May 31, 1811

I am hoping 

that you will find this little visit

 of interest to you.

 

 Jane was a woman 

who knew the meaning of a good word and 

she traveled in 

comforting but exciting 

circles.

"We dine at

 Chilham Castle tomorrow and 

I expect to find 

some amusement".

November 3, 1813

Friends were very important 

to Jane and her way of life, and 

she also knew 

what it meant to keep

 a happy home and 

to enjoy the time 

that she spent there.

"The Milles of Nachington 

dine here on Friday and

 perhaps the Hattons".

June 26, 1808

Jane would have been a terrific blogger. 

 What she could have told us

about her travels and her way of being. 

 I wonder how she 

would have decorated 

her home for fall.

The last paint by number painting finally finds a place.

"There are more 

gooseberries and fewer currants

 than I thought at first. 

 We must buy currants 

for our wine".

June 6, 1811

I have gotten a bit more energy 

these last few days.  

I have been cleaning and 

polishing bits and pieces 

in the sitting room. 

 The thought of Jane, 

and all of you, 

coming to pay your respects 

was just too much

 for me to ignore.

"They say that 

there are a prodigious number 

of birds hereabouts 

this year".

September 1, 1796

The blue jays 

that spend time 

in the old walnut tree above the Secret Garden

 have been beside themselves 

this past week.  

When our power was turned off,

 we used our generator for the first time.

  It sits right below 

the tree and makes quite a racket, 

but the birds squawking

 could be heard

 over it all.

"For elegance and 

ease and luxury, 

the Hattons and Milles 

dine here today, and

 I shall eat ice and

 drink French wine".

June 20, 1808

All our ice melted 

during the black-out and 

it sure would have been nice

 to have some of 

Jane's French wine.

"We drank tea again yesterday 

with the Tilsons, and 

met the Smiths. 

 I find all these 

little parties

 very pleasant".

April 18, 1811

If this cool weather

 that we are now having keeps up, 

I think we will be serving tea 

in front of 

the fire soon.

"The widgeon and

 the preserved ginger 

were as delicious 

as one could wish".

December 27, 1808

I have to admit

 that I looked up 

the definition of widgeon. 

 I would be too embarrassed 

to show my ignorance to Jane,

 by asking it to her face, 

 so I googled it. 

 I had never heard the word before.

 As it turns out, 

Jane and company

 had duck with preserved ginger for tea.

 All I could come up with

 was oatmeal raisin cookies,

 store bought even!

"We have got 

the second volumne of

 Espriella's Letters, and 

I read it aloud 

by candlelight".

October 1, 1808

In just a few short weeks 

it will be 212 years 

since Jane lit that candle.

"Yesterday was

 a very quiet day with us,

 my noisiest efforts

 were writing to Frank, and 

playing shuttlecock 

with William".

August 24, 1805

As I mentioned earlier, 

the weather these last few days 

has been very strange.

  The skies are filled with smoke and

 the temperature went from

 high 90's down to the 60's. 

 I am not complaining at all,

 except for the unsettling reason being

 the destructive fires all over. 

 We are not that close

 to any one of them,

 but it is amazing 

how far the smoke

 can travel.

"I do not know

 what is the matter with me today,

 but I cannot 

write quietly".

June 11, 1799

We switched chairs 

from the parlor and the sitting room.

 I really like 

the blue ones in the parlor and 

the flowered burgundy ones

 fit nicely into the fall scheme 

in the sitting room. 

They are especially better

 when our poor backs

 need a straighter

 sitting position.

"You often wore

 a white gown in the morning

 at the time of all 

the gay parties 

being with you".

January 3, 1801

I hope you enjoyed 

your visit here 

at the Cottage with Jane.

  I wish we could always 

have a guest like her. 

 I feel so fortunate

 that she had time 

in her busy schedule to spend with us, and 

it was just the experience I needed 

to get the sitting room 

all done up for fall.

 

 Now

 that the excitement is over and 

we go back to our "normal" lives,

 Jane leaves us 

with a parting comment:

"There is nothing like 

staying at home 

for real comfort".

Jane Austen

I second that.

Stay smart, 

stay well,

and 

in case you hadn't heard...

 

Last week I told you 

that one person had died 

as a result of that wedding 

in the small town in Maine.

 The number now stands at five dead.

As I reported at the end of July, 

our little county had 242 cases, 

we are now 

topping out at 500.

Wear your masks, please.

...Judy...

All quotes from Jane Austen came from my old copies of Victoria magazine, way back in the 1900's!

All other nonsense is my own.

Who can answer this question:

Where did my header photograph go?

Who had permission to change it without asking?  If you can answer this please do.

At some later time, I will let you know if I like it!!

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