Letter No. 5

Dear Ashleigh

Thank you so much for hosting the third Jane Austen Tea.  It is exceedingly generous of you to open your home to the readers and non-readers of Jane’s work at a time in your life when every moment is filled with the needs of your wee Angus.  Our reading guests found Persuasion to be a great source for discussion.  We covered feminism, insensible parents, rejection, meddling, and types of carriages.  Our non-readers took home prizes!  The Elliot-Wentworth cake is a keeper.  Perhaps you have a picture?

I have thought a great deal about invisibility since spending this time reading and listening to Persuasion.  Anne Elliot is so invisible to her family and many of their acquaintances.  Frederick Wentworth appears to not see her but we learn that he is conscious of her presence at every moment, unknown to Anne.  The tension is heartbreaking as Anne moves through her daily life doing what she reliably does, all the while thinking about Frederick, what is taking place with the flirtatious Musgroves and what might have been.  She tells no one, unable to talk with her friend Lady Russell assuming that she will not approve since she separated them 8 years before.   Is Anne the loneliest of Jane’s characters?  Fanny Price has Edward’s friendship and Eleanor has her family.

Persuasion presents us with the best example of the stable and experienced marriage in Admirable and Mrs. Croft.  They have travelled the world together, lived in small spaces, and seen wars and storms.  I am sure that they have had lively conversations with each other on many topics.  We see Mrs. Croft challenging her brother on his outdated attitude about women. We can only project compatible and congenial relationships between Darcy and Elizabeth, Jane and Bingley, Col. Brandon and Marianne, Emma and Mr. Knightly and Eleanor and Edward and so on.

You have heard me say that the best confrontations are in Pride and Prejudice and the most extraordinary apologies are in Sense and Sensibility.  Persuasion has unrelenting tension: the arrogant, self -centred people; the agony of past rejection; loss and grief; a head injury; deceptive people; a friend who is destitute; misunderstandings; and rules of conduct associated with the time and class.  That might explain why the movie has Anne running through Bath like a mad woman in search of Frederick!

Have we picked out book for the next Tea?  I have forgotten.  As you know I went off the road into a snow bank after our tea.  That would not have happened had I been in one of the 5 carriages mentioned in the book.  I hope wee Angus has a good sleep this night.

Yours truly,  Anne

Letter No. 4

Dear Anne,

Thank you for your letter. No need to apologize on your delayed response. I can well understand the distractions of life. I too have been delayed. I feel my "year off" for maternity leave is most certainly the most consuming employment I have experienced - being on duty 24 hours a day, and trying to keep a haphazard baby alive and all.

I thought on it, and off the top, aside from Aunt Gardener, I can only think of Mrs. Dashwood, as far as reasonable, older women go. Though she may have been unreasonably eager to see her daughters married off. Perhaps Jane had some deep seated issues with the older women in her life!

It got me thinking about the cast of Jane's novels, and with whom I identify with. When the TV series Sex and the City was all the rage, women everywhere were identifying as Carries, or Charlottes, or Mirandas, or Samanthas, or all of them at once. I feel I am a little bit Lizzy, a little bit Darcy, a little bit Mr. Woodhouse, and even a little Sir Walter Elliott. I think you know me well enough to know how I identify with the bulk of that list, but I may have you wondering over the last. I will be posting soon about my resistance to retrenching.

Speaking on relating to people of our respective generations, I can't think of any Austen enthusiasts of my generation, among my acquaintance.  It is a sad, lonely feeling for me. I am quite looking forward to our upcoming Jane Austen Tea, to include others in our Austen discussions. Though the guests of my generation have agreed to attend out of obligation, or a love of preserves, I know there will be many others who have a great deal to contribute to the day's discussion.

I must be off to prepare for this afternoon's Art-a-Thon. I hope to see you there!

-Ashleigh

A Dreary Yarn with an Appropriate Name

This is my favourite yarn that I have spun so far. I finished it weeks ago, but could not post it, because I could not think of an inspiring name. I tried my best for an Austinian reference, but I couldn't think of anything so dreary with Jane. All I could imagine were exposed, snow-squalled landscapes of leafless, stunted shrubs and lichens over bare rock. And when we think of such dark landscapes, I am sure we all immediately think of Wuthering Heights.

It is a woollen spun blend of two mystery wools from my friend Linda, and my standard white Poplar Dale Shetland fleece. It is mostly fine (at times super-fine, at other times sport-weight) yarn, with under-spun "snow-squalls" strewn throughout (and perhaps a few over-spun "crags").

Behold Heathcliff.

Jane Austen Tea

3^rd Annual Jane Austen Tea

You are cordially invited to the 3^rd annual Jane Austen Tea, 
to be held from 2pm-4pm, on the 6^th of April, 

at the Sauvé-Broad manor, 19 The Drive.

This year, we hope to use our best persuasive powers to persuade you to read Persuasion. 

Guests able to demonstrate an understanding of the work will be entered into the lottery. 

There are several film adaptations that may suffice for some to feign knowledge.

A fine selection of delicacies will be served.

Warm regards, Miss Anne O’Connor and Ms Ashleigh Sauvé

Please RSVP at your earliest convenience to

ashleigh.sauve@gmail.com

(705) 257-8712

19 The Drive, Sault Ste, Marie, Ontario, P6B1B8

April 6th, 2013 awaits the 3rd annual Jane Austen Tea.

Our annual teas feature fine delicacies, hot tea, cold punch, great company, frilly aprons, and captivating discussion.

Though 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, for fear of seeming too contrived, we are discussing Persuasion.

Please forward the invitation along to any Jane Austen enthusiasts in your acquaintance - we fear not strangers, for any friend of Jane's is a friend of ours.

~

Below is a photo from our first Jane Austen event. We decided to celebrate it by watching the Royal Wedding, live, at 5:00am. Out of respect for the 17 guests, that arrived in full regency attire, who may not want their photo shared publicly, I will just post this photo of the lovely spread. If you are a Facebook friend of mine, you can view the full album here.

Our second Jane Austen Tea was held at a more reasonable hour, and celebrated Jane and all her works.

Art-a-thon - Pledging Accomplishments

Here is a perfect opportunity for everyone to become accomplished. This Friday, March 22nd, Sault Ste. Marie will be taken over by the Artathon - a fundraiser for the local programming of  National Youth Arts Week.

Stations will be set up all over town for participants to explore different art mediums and participate in creating things, and you don't even need to be an artist! Mediums include fibres, creative writing, Aboriginal art, music, print making, and drawing. If you are looking for a good time Friday afternoon, come find me at Dish Espresso Bar, where I will be hosting the Fibres group, while knitting and spinning yarn. I will even provide instruction for those looking to learn.

There are several ways to support the Artathon, including; collecting pledges for your art-making, pledging someone else's art-making, or bidding on auction items.

You can sponsor my knitting and spinning efforts by pledging me with either a flat rate, or you can pledge a certain amount per hour - but things might get wild - you may be shocked at how many hours I will knit for, if childcare is provided. I am aiming to play with fibres for 25 hours between now and March 29th, when funds need to be submitted.

If you are feeling artistic, collect some pledges for your work! You don't even need to do art on Friday - you can pick your own time and do it anywhere you want!

There are also two auctions that are part of the Artathon. Here is a link to the Facebook site where you can find all the info, along with the Materials, Tools and Instruments auction, that closes on Friday. There are some brilliant items up for auction. The second auction is an Original Works auction of pieces submitted by Artathon participants after Friday, that will be auctioned during National Youth Arts Week.

Here is the Shaw Cable interview highlighting the event and auctions.

Marianne and Colonel Brandon Capelet

I recently married two patterns.

I started off loosely following Sally Meliville's Knit-Round Scarf pattern, and by about three rounds in, I couldn't commit to a plain, crew neck collar on a plain capelet. I suffered with grand finale thoughts throughout the entire progress up to the neck, when it came upon me to Google a pattern for a scalloped edge.

Lovely Ingrid modelling the capelet

Here is my friend Ingrid modelling for me at the Circle of Creative Arts gallery on Queen. It looks so lovely on her, that I struggled with taking it back from her. Alas, I need something for my table at an upcoming sale!

The reserved, quiet body pairs with the complicated, romantic neckline, not unlike the way Marianne and Colonel Brandon pair in Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility. The style along with the natural taupe 100% virgin wool, lets us reasonably imagine it as something Marianne may have cozied up in while recovering from her illness, when she at last fell in love with the Colonel.

Elizabeth at Pemberly Yarn

It was Anne's birthday last week, and on account of my lent-related austerity measures, I could not purchase her a gift. I had just spun my Pemberly Spencer yarn, and thought it could be a good opportunity for me to try my first "Art Yarn". I honoured the entire previously-thought-ugly outfit by plying the Pemberly Spencer with Evalyn's leftover white yarn, then added some blended tufts of dark brown and rust.

I hadn't gauged the amount of white yarn left on the spool well, and so I hope Anne can find some occupation for her slim 45 yards.