This morning saw us eating our last brunch at the Holly Bush. The gardeners turned up first thing and, after receiving their instructions from Mirinda, we left for Frensham. It was a sad farewell for Gardener Dave. It was also a rotten day to work, weatherwise. Rain first thing and fierce winds blowing in showers every once and a while. This carried on all day. It was also a sad farewell to the pub…except the pub didn’t know it.
7 days to go
The weather also disrupted the cocktails and music planned for outside the tearoom at Chawton House. We were booked into a talk there and there was to be cocktails and a violin and cello to entertain the guests. Part of it included a walk around the walled garden.
When we arrived, amid another of the many showers, the terrace area outside the tearoom was deserted. Everything had been moved inside. Well, except for the garden. We made a vague attempt to visit the garden but were forced back inside by the wet.
It was part of the 20th anniversary weekend of activities at Chawton House to celebrate the completion of renovation work in 2003. Among other events held over the weekend, tonight’s was a chat between Clio and author Gill Hornby. Gill has written a couple of historical novels set around the homes that Jane knew and the people that lived in them.
We thoroughly enjoyed the talk. Ms Hornby is an excellent speaker and was very entertaining.
Before heading home, we popped into the library to have a look at a first edition of Emma that has Jane’s name in it. At first I thought it was Jane’s own writing but, no, apparently at the time, the publishers wrote the author’s name in them. Still, it was a personal gift. It was a copy she gave to Ann Sharp, the governess of Edward Knight’s kids. Edward was Jane’s brother who was ‘adopted’ by the Knight family.
Having discovered how Gill finds inspiration in old houses and what she thinks about AI, we left the house. And, of course, it was raining. Not heavy, just the same kind of drifting, drippy shower we’d been having all day.
Which reminds me. When we arrived in the car park at Frensham, the rain started. Mirinda, about to take the girls for a walk, checked her iPhone to see how long the rain would last. The app told her it would stop in 21 minutes and then the sun would come out. I thought this was quite the prediction.
I was sitting in the car reading when, exactly 21 minutes later, Mirinda sent me a text crowing about the accuracy of her iPhone. Outside the car, the sun was rapidly drying the wetness all around. I opened the car windows and went back to my book.
