Jane Confides How She Fell in Love with Mr. Bingley

  What better way to start the year than to focus on one of Jane Austen’s most beloved characters. Join Austen Variations as we spend January looking into the lovely Jane Bennet.   When the theme for this month was announced, I thought the perfect piece for me to share would be this scene from …

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Darcy Reflects on his Parents’ Marriage by Mary Simonsen

Netherfield Park, Hertfordshire – November 15, 1812 Tomorrow I am to be married, Darcy thought, as he enjoyed a glass of port in his bedchamber. Although delighted by the prospect of sharing his life with the woman he loved, his thoughts turned to another couple—that of his parents, David Darcy and Lady Anne Fitzwilliam. As …

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The Finale of the Christmastide Season

  Though the holiday season is ending, I’d love to send it of with one final hurrah. So, Jan 5-6, A spot of Sweet Tea is FREE on amazon. Who can resist a holiday party? In the Regency era, the party of the year would generally be held on Twelfth Night, the culmination to the …

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Jane’s Poetic Admirer

  What better way to start the year that to focus on one of Jane Austen’s most beloved characters. Join Austen Variations as we spend January looking into the lovely Jane Bennet.   “I do not like to boast of my own child, but to be sure, Jane — one does not often see anybody …

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P&P: Behind the Scenes – Darcy and the Harlequin

              While in London, Darcy attends a Christmastide pantomime with the Bingley sisters.   Dec 30, 1811 Darcy laid his newspaper aside. Miss Bingley should not have worried, her little dinner party hardly garnered any notice at all. A few brief words of Sir Andrew’s and Lady Elizabeth’s attendance …

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Welcoming in the New Year with Tea and Jane Austen by Mary Simonsen

Freeze warning looms for Phoenix, blizzard in NM sparks misery Source: MGM Online PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) – While Phoenix braces for a freeze warning Sunday night, travelers are finding blizzard conditions in New Mexico creating roadway misery. Eastbound Interstate 10 reopened shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday at US 191 after hazardous conditions forced its closure. These …

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Regency Theatre

The season in Regency England was not just balls and Almacks. The theatre in Regency times was an important place for those who spent the season in London, and those who ventured to the theatre did not attend to simply watch a play. They dressed to the nines and sat in long carriage lines to …

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Pass the Water…Umm…okay, Pass the Wine?

Did you know that in as late as Victorian times water was considered dangerous? In fact, one of the main causes of death in children was tainted water. Adults avoided a similar fate by mixing wine with their water—nothing like a little alcohol to kill the germs! So, if you eliminate plain water, what was …

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P&P: Behind the Scenes – Christmas Dinner at Longbourn

    Christmas Dinner at Longbourn with the officers and the Gardiners proves interesting. December 25, 1811 Later that night, Elizabeth paced the very clean drawing room, waiting for their guests to arrive. Fresh evergreen and holly filled the room with the season’s fragrances, tied with cheery red bows. It should have been a very …

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The 12 Days of a Jane Austen Christmas – The Christmas Wish

The parlour at Netherfield was bursting with cheer as my family enjoyed Jane and her Mr. Bingley’s first Christmas Eve celebration. The newly wed couple sat side-by-side on a sofa across from where I stood near the window and whispered to one another as they observed those around them. Jane’s countenance was blissful as was …

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