Author: kimbelle1
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Absolutely Scent-sational!
Continuing the stillroom theme, I decided to dig more into making scented waters. I wanted to know how likely it was that households of moderate means could make these wonders. It turns out that it was not only possible but likely, for they were made from three essential ingredients: I discovered that it was not…
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A Stillroom’s Tools of the Trade
One room that fascinates me most for a Georgian household is the stillroom. Though a genteel lady was considered poor if she could cook, for it was considered a servant’s work, ladies were encouraged to spend their days working in the stillroom. I discovered that the stillroom reflected the mistress as much as any other…
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The Bygone Art of Letter Writing
My dearest friend, who has been at my side for over thirty years, would tell you that this blog was only a matter of time coming. I have spent countless hours writing her letters, at times filling notebooks. From when I was stationed overseas and she was in college, her housemates likely rolled their eyes…
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Book Borrowing During the Regency
I cannot think of a time when I did not have books tucked into the cubby on my headboard, eventually accompanied by a Walkman. I had a shelf full of books to reread beside a small desk I bought with babysitting money. It was not long before the works of Stephen King, Anne Rice, and…
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Celebrating “A Fortuitous Wager: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary” Release with a Giveaway
“Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.”—Pride and Prejudice, Chapter VI After another disappointing Season fending off matchmaking mamas and grasping debutantes, Fitzwilliam Darcy has given up hope of finding a wife. His business partner, Edward Gardiner, suggests a sojourn into Hertfordshire to escape the machinations of Town—and meddlesome aunts who take every…
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The Usefulness of Retrimming
Though I do not like to wear bonnets or gowns, I have learned others have enjoyed them immensely. What I noticed as a commonality from one Austen Fan Fiction novel to the next novella, variation or vagary, is that the girls are ever retrimming bonnets, exchanging the ribbons for a gown, refreshing garments with changed…
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The Garden Most Valuable
With a grandmother who loved her gardens and would spend a dozen or more hours each week tending them and growing up weeding my mother’s kitchen garden, I love the fresh herbs and vegetables in a farmers market. When I read about fresh herbs and produce in Regency novels, I smile, wondering about they may…
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When Chocolate WAS a Breakfast Treat
There is not a day that I do not wake with the anticipation of my first sip of coffee. The fourth cup, for me, is as delicious as the first, be it at noon or eight in the evening, just before I go to bed. I think of this very pleasure when I read a…
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The Purse is the New Sewing Basket
As I looked into my purse, where there was a small wallet, a glasses case, mints, a pass for work, an international driver’s license, money from three countries, a small bottle of Advil, et al., I started to wonder how it would all fit into a reticule. Look at the one below, which would hold…
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Avoiding the Winter Doldrums, Austen Style
Those that know me can confirm winter is not my favorite season. While it makes for an excellent time to cozy up with a book or sit and write, I’m hard pressed to agree any day that freezes the water in your eyes before you can blink is better spent outside than in. However, I,…