I think when you are in a country like South Africa, there is always the knowledge that those snow decorated images that are associated with Christmas are what Christmas is all about, and as some malls would have us believe, should be all about! (By bringing in snow machines and trying to ensure that everyone tries to live a second (probably tenth) grade Christmas as a result. Come on South Africa - we really need to find a way to make Christmas just as special in South Africa. There are some things that we can keep - but we do not have to keep all the things that really are a northern hemisphere thing!!! So, have got my thinking britches on, and we will have to start a new revolution!!
On Sunday I really had such a wonderful relaxing day with Vaughn and Andrea. Sunday evening I was even trying to hone my own knowledge about Farnham Castle as Andrea would have to start teaching it to her kids at school and we were playing with ideas in a way that was just so comfortably familiar!!
Then Monday, and Andrea's mum, Trish, offered to take me to Stonehenge and on our way back we would stop for a pub lunch followed by a visit to Jane Austen's house.
The environment definitely added to the mystique of Stonehenge. It was a grey morning, and as we got closer and closer, so the weather seemed to become more "biting". When we arrived at Stonehenge, it was definitely a case of one becoming more and more "beaten" by the elements. The cold wind came up (thanks SO much to Trish, who suggested quite strongly that I needed to take another fleece for Stonehenge - boy oh boy, did I both need and value having it!
We were both using the audio guide, and those are no longer the ones with headphones and so forth, they are now more like a cell phone. The hassle is that you have to use your hands to hold the thing to your ear, and when the wind was as cold as it was yesterday, I can say, without shadow of doubt, they are most impractical!! We both ended with hands that were so cold they were freezing! And to top it all, my wonderful Aunt Pam had presented me with a goodie bag, included in which were some very smart and warm gloves that I had thought about taking with me that morning, but for whatever reason I decided not to do so.
After the walk around the area and the commentary - which was fascinating, but as I said to Trish, I kind of wonder whether there will ever be any conclusive proof in terms of Stonehenge and what it is all about - we grabbed a hot chocolate each and headed for the warmth of Trish's car to enjoy those and a natter.
Then we travelled back towards Farnham and stopped at the nearby village where there is one of the houses in which Jane Austen lived. I think that in some respects this was a fascinating stop, but in others I kind of expected a little more for some reason.
I am going about things kind of backwards, but notice the autumn leaf covered creeping type thing mid-left of this pic?
On our way out, I commented to Trish that the brown autumn sap-drained flowers on the thing looked like it was a hydrangea. Trish wasn't too convinced, and then spotted a "name tag" - and blow me down if it was not labelled as such and the date either 1849 or 1879 - we could not recall. I think both of us were shattered at the fact that this was actually a hydrangea, and secondly that this was that old!!!
Anyhoo, back to the house. I think the problem that these people had with the house is that when Jane Austen was living here, she was actually the poor relation, and so no-one kind of expected things as such from her, so nothing was really seen as worth preserving, as it were. Secondly, after she and her family (mother, sister, and I think a sister-in-law), the home was then converted into something that would suit three families, and so changes were made internally to the home. So, the best that can be said, is that from her writings and what they have been able to piece together, all that we saw was actually possibly what things would have almost been like when she lived there.
They did have her original writing table - which was small - something that surprised both Trish and me! It is the tiny table on the far right that is surrounded by glass or perspex.
There was something surreal (there I go again, using that word!) about the fact that I was looking over "her shoulder" as it were when I looked at the table from behind the chair that was positioned next to the table.
I was fascinated by the very fine lacework that she produced, as well as by the fact that she was an accomplished piano player as well. I appreciate the fact that many women of her day (when they were I guess what one could call "middle class" - even if she was the poor relation being cared for by her brother who had inherited masses) were often in that situation, but, it was surreal.
Okay, Vaughn and Andrea back, so all for this evening!
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