The last two days have been spent in company with all the very dear folk we know in Bournemouth – right up to the last minute when everyone was so tired they almost fell asleep where they sat.
Sis and I drove up from Bournemouth this morning, breaking the journey to Gatwick at Jane Austen’s house and museum in Hampshire. Always worth a visit! I benefitted from hitting my head twice on the low lintel of the door leading in to the shop – it served to awake me fully to the charms of the gardens and cornucopia of Austen items for sale:
And inside the main house we even found costumes to add some authenticity to our appearance.
Afterwards we enjoyed lunch in the tearooms across the way.
And now I’m relaxing at a hotel at Gatwick where we will stay overnight before flying to Tirana, Albania on the morrow.
Hen & Ink 
How fun! I spent a very enjoyable day at Chawton the last time I went to see the in-laws 4 years ago. Nearly bumped my head on the very same gift shop lintel, admired the same tulip bed and had a bite at the same sandwich shop! They had people cosplaying Austen contemporaries the day we were there, and there was a dance and music recital in the back garden as well. So, glad you enjoyed your visit there, and thank you for reviving my pleasant memories as well.
Really looking forward to “our” next stop…a place ai have not ever seen. 🙂
Safe journey!!
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What a great time, though I would have been afflicted with PTSD at the Jane Austen house museum . I got food poisoning in Rarotonga in 1974 whilst trying to read Pride and Prejudice for school. Jane may have said (through Caroline Bingley), “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” but that enjoyment can be seriously diluted by a violent dose of The Rarotongan Revenge. In my mind, Jane Austen is now permanently welded to that event.
Speaking of food poisoning, Helen looks like she is about to lunch on two cakes of soap, which is very hygienic and should become your staple in Albania.
I love the water-colour!
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Oh dear! That is all a little close to home, John. Things being a bit unsettled since we arrived. And- by contrast – I’m getting a pain in my head with any thought of Austen.
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