Category: British countryside
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Setting the Stage
For a JAFF author, the plot is queen. A simple statement, I think, revealing a fundamental truth about our genre. An author can comfortably use the geography supplied by Austen to offer stories to readers thoroughly familiar with the lay of the land or building. Hundreds of stories have spoken of Pemberley glowing in the…
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A Rose by Any Other Name: Mr Collins’ Garden
“In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love” – Alfred Lord Tennyson It’s the middle of May. The sky is blue, the birds are singing, and rather than love, my fancy is lightly turning to thoughts of gardening. I have no particular talent for such an endeavour, and my vast…
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“The Most Perfect Creature from Heaven”
Scottish Deerhounds combine a nobility of spirit with massive size and superb athleticism. What better dog could there be for Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley?
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No Phones, No GPS: How People Navigated England Before Maps Were Standard
One of my favourite 1-star reviews of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice was left on Amazon in July of 2010. It reads as follows: “Just a bunch of people going to each other’s houses.” Now, can you argue with that, really? It’s a very apt description of the main action and plot devices in our…
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Beekeeping is all the Buzz!
My mother spins honey all summer long as she and my stepdad have a honey business. She used her own honey when she made mead after I wrote the blog After Dinner Drinks, and I can vouch that many recipes in The Elder Scrolls: The Official Cookbook were as delicious as we had hoped! Having…
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The Peculiar History of Clay Pipes
Almost as soon as the English settlers in Jamestown figured out how to feed themselves, they figured out how to make money growing tobacco, that seductive and pernicious weed. Old Father Thames, back in London, is still feeling the effects of that discovery
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A Bud of This, A Leaf of That
For all the intent of my wishing to write a blog on a favorite recipe for tea in the Regency, I did not locate one; rather, I saw the hostess would blend the tea to her taste. That did not help me decide what one to try, so to the kitchen gardens I went. I…
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The Spring is Coming
So, March is upon is; the power of winter is broken. To us, it means that the sun is growing brighter, and the clothes are growing lighter; it might also mean such things as the spring cleaning, the May holidays… however, beyond these factors, our lives are not likely to be affected by the changing…
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Clarkson, Anning, Austen Ring
Of Jane Austen’s known jewelry, her topaz cross came from her younger brother, Charles, who bought one each for his sisters with his first navy prize in 1801. Her turquoise bracelet probably came from another brother, Edward, as a memento relating to the death of his beloved wife Elizabeth in 1808. But what is the…
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What did Regency landowners actually do?
When reading Regency-set fiction, we are used to encountering mentions of the hero owning estate of a certain number of acres, or an estate bringing him X amount per year. However, what did those rolling acres represent in practice, and, most importantly, how did one manage to make them bring one that yearly income? Well,…