The 16th December marks the birthday of Jane Austen and we took a trip to her cottage in Chawton which was serving mince pies and drinks in celebration. An extra delight was that we had our first snow and it fell thick and fast, covering the garden and the cottages in the village. It was a scene straight from a Christmas card.
We also had the pleasure of chatting to the Jane Austen museum’s writer in residence, Rebecca Smith. Rebecca is the great, great, great, great, great niece of Jane and it’s lovely to think of a direct descendent writing in the cottage today. Read her lovely blog here.
Chawton House looked especially beautiful and the churchyard at St Nicholas – where Jane’s mother and sister are buried – was silent and snowy.
Then it was on to Winchester where the final chapter of my novel is set. The cathedral was wonderfully quiet and I sat by Jane Austen’s grave in the north aisle, making some notes for my book.
Happy Birthday, Jane! You’re one of the best Christmas presents ever given to the world!
Hi Victoria, this is Isa Merino from Málaga (Spain). I follow your blog. It´s amazing. I adore Jane Austen, her books, her sites and so on. Last year I visited Chawton Cottage in Alton. I was very happy for that, so my blog is named like Jane´s home in that place.
In a few days I´ll travel to Bath for Jane Austen festival. I was talking about this one with Jane Odiwee. (Great blog too). Jane told me that you and She will be in Bath the same weekend that me. She told me we can see each other early in the Abbey. I´ll try to recognize both of you and if you don´t care I´ll say hello to you and meet you for a moment. It will be a pleasure for me and a great illusion. So, I´m waiting for that moment.
Sorry for my English is not as good as I wanted.
Kisses
Isa Merino
See you in Bath.
P.S. I´ll stay in Bath from 17 to 19th september.