BritBox Pride and Prejudice, Darcy Shirt, Jane Austen House

We love all things British - especially British tv programming. We’ve seen everything on Masterpiece. We have had Acorn for over a year and most recently decided to get BritBox. Each has its own positives, and we delight in the shows we have been able to watch. Pride and Prejudice is celebrating 25 years - the series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It has been remastered to HD quality on BritBox. We have watched this series so many times and started watching it again. Every time we learn something new - especially when closed caption is on and you know exactly what was said. It’s just a happy story - something we can all use right now. When we were in England we visited Jane Austen’s house in Chawton, where she wrote this masterpiece. Using a quill pen and ink, I wrote a note to her when we entered the building about how happy we were to finally be there. We also saw her last home in Winchester and where she is buried in Hampshire in Winchester Cathedral. Ironically, the Folger Shakespeare Library in DC had a Jane Austen exhibit. And wouldn’t you know there was Mr. Darcy’s shirt in plain sight. We went in after a morning walk to visit it! I’ve read just about all of Jane Austen’s works and love every one of them. She has come to life for me in her books, television programs, and by visiting her homes and burial place. If you haven’t seen this wonderful series please do take the time and watch. It’s simply unforgettable. 

The Cardinal and All Things Red

My favorite bird is the cardinal. I hear them all the time when we walk through the park, but don’t get to see them much - until this week. There was what must have been a youngster sitting on the path in front of us. Then he flew to a low lying branch nearby and just sat there - waiting to be photographed. I could also hear the chirps of his companion as they always hang around in pairs. It was so lovely to get a closer up view of this fine feathered friend. Then I wondered what else have we seen in the color “red” lately and randomly scrolled through my camera roll for the last nine photos with that color in them. There was a beautiful sunset, Jane Austen’s brick house, furniture in our old condo, leaves in the US Botanic garden, berries in the park, bridesmaid dresses/pants at a colleague’s wedding, red pepper flakes and tomato can, a bandanna I painted on the last custom portrait, and a spray bottle for water. It was an interesting exercise and something to write about. Wonder what the next subject will be? 

Capitol Hill Condo For Sale

It was hard to believe - or maybe it wasn’t so hard to believe. We sold our Capitol condo a year and a half ago to move to northern Virginia. I was surprised to see that it was for sale in such a short period of time. We lived in DC thirteen years; however, I would say half the tenants in that building moved in very short periods of time. It’s tough living in an 1890’s structure! When I looked at the photos of the interior on the website I was amazed at what had been done to the unit. We installed a Murphy bed/tv combo and made the “closet” in to a monks room with a twin bed, blackout shade, and storage shelves. Everything was completely changed and the Murphy bed disappeared. I only hope that it wasn’t ripped out and thrown away, but taken somewhere for good use. It was custom built and very expensive and took me a long time to consider our best option. We had no place in our new condo for it to fit so it was very disappointing to see it gone. Everything about the redecoration, paint, and style was so not our taste. One of our neighbors there had mentioned he was surprised at what she had done to it - “to each his own.”  For someone who did so much to redo the unit goes against wanting to leave it in such short order. I am certain it will sell in a week, but definitely in a month’s time. It’s sad to see, but not really unexpected. 

Eisenhower Memorial

We’ve walked and driven by the construction site of the Eisenhower Memorial for about two years? It’s located across from the Air and Space Museum on Independence Avenue, not far from our old condo on Capitol Hill. The fence surrounding it was finally removed and the memorial was dedicated about two weeks ago and finally opened after being commissioned by President Clinton all those years ago. Last Sunday we drove by it and last Tuesday we decided to take our morning walk to it. What’s nice about it is that it is more like a park where one can easily pass through it without a lot of inconvenience. It even has a little outdoor shop and restroom - something quite unusual near the National Mall. The backdrop is supposed to represent the Normandy Coast, but it’s difficult to make out against the building behind it. It’s quite simple and pleasant all around. We have visited Eisenhower’s home in Gettysburg, and his boyhood home and library in Abilene Kansas on our road trip west to California. Eisenhower is probably the first President I recognized as a youngster. We will need to come visit again in the evening when the lights are aglow. It is supposed to be stunning - particularly the tapestry behind and the uplights from below. There was a lot of fuss about this memorial of which I don’t know the specific details. Whatever they were, you would never know it. 

Dofash Bobbie Pins

It’s one thing I never thought I would ever need again. I have always had short hair and routinely went to the stylist every six to eight weeks for as long as I can remember. Just last year my hair was the shortest it’s ever been having had my asymmetrical bob cut off to a pixie - a haircut I wore as a youngster. My last haircut was at the end of February, and I haven’t been back to the hairdresser since. That, after just having moved to northern Virginia, I was only to the shop a couple of times. So now my hair is the longest it’s been and not at all what I like. So over the last few months I have had to get things to keep it in check. First, it was headbands. Then, it was elastic rubber bands. Of course, my hair is not quite long enough to put it all in a bun or pony tail. And it is extremely “fine” so I really need child size rubber bands. So I finally decided to get some Bobbie pins. It really didn’t matter what kind except they needed to be grey or white. I ended up with Dofash pins. They don’t have a lot of “give” but serve the purpose. Sometimes I just want the hair out of my face or off my neck. And because it’s getting longer I also need a hair conditioner to keep it from tangling. I find that I don’t wash my hair as often either because it’s a real pain. The only way it looks half way decent is to blow dry it, but it frizzes out that way but looks so much worse if I let it air dry. I never liked my hair anyway. When I was in college I always wore a bandanna to cover it. Maybe that will be the next purchase. 

Caraa Tailored and Sport Face Masks

Ever since we have been wearing masks, Caraa and Vida have been our go to companies. As this pandemic drags on, so do the styles and wearability of non disposable face wear. Since we are in the “at risk” age group, we always wear a mask whenever we go outside - which us primarily for morning walks. Caraa’s first masks looked like disposable surgical masks - only made of cloth, had a nose wire, a pocket for a filter, and lately ear adjustments. Now, there are tailored masks and sport masks. One is a thicker material with a vertical wire that keeps the mask away from your face, also has a filter, and a wire nose piece. The sport mask has a different sort of material and is supposed to reduce the sweat element. When they arrived last week they were sorted based on color - my husband is picky about being completely neutral. Caraa does have a great color selection. They also have the little plastic pieces that can be put on the string to adjust the ear fit - in case you have masks that don’t have that feature. But, they didn’t provide an adapter to get it on the strings. Anyway, we have tried both masks and they do fit very well - almost too well when the filter is used. We now have enough masks to last about two weeks. When we come home they go in to the mesh bags by the washer and dryer and the filters are removed on wash day to be used about eight times each. Hopefully these new masks will wash well and we have enough now to last for awhile. I know this isn’t going to go away any time soon. 

US Botanic Garden

It was a beautiful fall day this week when we decided to take a ride in to town for our morning walk. The sky was a beautiful blue and the air was crisp - so much nicer than the heat and humidity of summer in the swamp. After parking in our old Capitol Hill neighborhood we walked to the Supreme Court where everything had been cleared away in preparation for the Ginsburg funeral. Then we passed by the Capitol building on our way to the newly dedicated Eisenhower memorial across from the air and space museum. On our way back to the car we walked through my ever favorite US Botanic garden. Most of the vegetables have been harvested, although there were some beans still in view. The Bartholdi fountain was splashing away in all its splendor. We have walked through this place a million times and every time there is something new to see. The indoor gardens probably won’t be open for a while yet but at least it’s nice to be able to walk through part of the outdoor loveliness. This is one part of our old neighborhood that I miss the most. You can see why.