Before I describe today's activities, I thought I should mention a few items unintentionally omitted from some of my earlier posts. Less than a mile from our cottage here in Chawton is the Chawton House and St. Nicholas Church. The former is the large, manor home owned by Jane Austen's brother, Edward. Unfortunately, on the day we hoped to visit the home it wasn't open for visitors, but we were able to enter the nearby church. In the churchyard are the graves of Jane's mother and her beloved sister, both named Cassandra, and buried side by side. I've included several photos below, two of the church and one of the two graves -- Jane's mother on the left and her sister on the right.
Another omission was yesterday's visit to the Winchester Museum. A small museum, it displays artifacts of the city's changing populations from Roman times to the present day. The displays are spread over three floors and are presented quite well - definitely worth a visit if you ever get to Winchester, especially on a rainy day.
Traveling throughout the southern US, I've seen a lot of local pottery. Among the more interesting items made by some southern potters are face jugs. You can imagine my surprise to encounter one in the Winchester Museum and discover that it dates to medieval times. I had no idea they'd been around so long. It was really quite well done with several different glazes. See the photo below...
Oops...Dear Diane has just informed me that it was a long day today, it's getting late, and we have an early and full day tomorrow. Sadly, our week-long stay at Clinkers Barn comes to an end in the morning. Tomorrow we head west, first to make a quick stop, and perhaps lunch, at Lyme Regis. (If you've read Austen's Pesuasion, you'll recognize the name.) Then we drive north to Bath where we'll spend the weekend. But first we have to pack and also make an effort to leave the cottage in good condition.
I'll try to describe today's activities tomorrow evening. Just a little preview: we went first to Arundel Castle, a magnificent place owned by the Duke of Norfolk; then drove east to Beachy Head to view the dramatic cliffs. As I said...more tomorrow.
In the meantime, keep us in your prayers. Driving over here is no problem now that I've gotten the hang of it once again, but there's something very wrong with having stop lights on 70 mph highways. Tomorrow we'll spend a good four hours in the car.
God's peace...
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