Category: Uncategorized

VIDEO WEDNESDAY – CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND


Having spent a few Christmas’s in England, I can assure you that there’s no where else I’d rather be just now. Since that’s impossible (sigh) we’re bringing you some yuletide videos that we hope will warm the cockles of your hearts. **


Seasonal activities in London

How to flame a Christmas pudding

2010 Victorian Christmas Festival in Portsmouth

Flashmob of British Army musicians surprises Christmas shoppers in Gateshead’s Metrocentre

John Lewis Christmas advert 2014

Sainsbury Christmas 2014 advert remembering soldiers in 1914 – must see!

Victorian Christmas – make your own Christmas cards

How to make a Victorian Christmas pudding 

** Definition from www.smh.com.au – One of the meanings of “cockle” is the chamber of a kiln: in reference to the heart, it refers to the chambers, of which there are four (two atria and two ventricles). The heart has always been associated with emotions, especially love, excitement and fear, probably because when we feel a strong emotion we feel our heart thumping and beating faster. So when something “warms the cockles of our heart”, it is a reference to something pleasant that makes our heart beat faster and makes us feel good. It is probably also the origin of the saying that something gives us that “warm and fuzzy feeling.”



BYOC – THAT'S "BRING YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS"

BYOC – that’s “Bring Your Own Christmas” with Grub Club and Airbnb this 25th December

Home alone for Christmas? On 25th December, Grub Club and Airbnb are joining forces to

host the “Bring Your Own Christmas” lunch in aid of Crisis – the national charity for homeless

people.  Welcoming 40 guests in a stunning central London location, BYOC will be perfect for

those looking for an alternative way to spend Christmas Day.

Airbnb – the world’s largest community driven hospitality company- has scoured the city to

find the magnificent venue, which forms part of an old converted chocolate factory. Forty

guests will gather in this lofty space, with guests encouraged to bring their version of a festive

dish for four people and a bottle of the good stuff.

One of the only London events held on Christmas Day itself, the BYOC lunch will appeal to

those recently moved to a new city, stuck home alone, or simply looking for something

different to do.

Olivia Sibony, co-founder of Grub Club says: “BYOC exemplifies what Grub Club is all about

– bringing people together to share great experiences over food. And what better time to do

that than on Christmas Day? Rather than sitting at home, stuck in a festive rut, BYOC is a

chance to break the boring Christmas traditions for a feast to remember. We are excited to be

teaming up with Airbnb, who have really changed the face of travel by bringing a community

spirit back to its heart.”

Holly Clarke, acting Country Manager Airbnb UK, “We want to achieve an environment

where, whoever you are and wherever you are in the world, you feel at home. Being away

from your friends and family shouldn’t mean that you miss out on a great Christmas…

Working with Grub Club has created an excellent opportunity to create a home-from-home

experience that really brings London’s global community together. Besides, what more can

you want from Christmas Day than a belt-bursting feast, forty new friends and feel-good

festive fun?!”


To top it off Kabbee are providing the cabs as there is no public transport on the day…. And all of the money made from the ticketing goes to homeless charity Crisis


Bookings for the event can be made via www.grubclub.com.

The lunch will be held on 25th December from 12.30pm – 3.30pm

Food – BYOB, bring a dish to feed four

Cost – £5, with all proceeds donated to Crisis

For press enquiries, please contact Lauryn Cooke at Bacchus on lauryn@bacchus-

pr.com or 020 8968 0202

About Grub Club: 


Launched in 2013, Grub Club is dedicated to bringing unique dining experiences to life

through pop-ups and supper clubs, often in interesting and obscure spaces. Hosted by a

range of chefs – from talented amateurs, to Le Cordon Bleu trained and Michelin starred –

Grub Club also acts as a platform for new and aspiring restaurateurs looking to bring their

ideas to market, and facilitates introductions between chefs and venues keen to host an

event. Grub Club recently ran a successful crowd-funding campaign, raising over quarter of a

million pounds to put towards development and growth.


About Airbnb

Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted

community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around

the world – online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a

week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price

point, in more than 35,000 cities and 190 countries. And with world-class customer service

and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their

extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions. In Europe, Airbnb has offices in

Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dublin, London, Milan, Moscow and Paris.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE AUSTEN, AGE 239

Victoria, here. December 16, 1775, was the birthday of Jane Austen.  We celebrate it every years with teas, luncheons, and assorted presentations.  The fact that our venues are all decorated for Christmas gives us an especially festive style, but of course, the real intent of the day has little to do with the holiday season and a lot to do with our regard for Jane Austen’s life and work.

Jeffrey Nigro, Regional Coordinator, and Debra Ann Miller, Program Chair,
 at JASNA-GCR’s Tea at the Fortnightly, Chicago.
Jeffrey’s talk was entitled Favorable to Tenderness and Sentiment: The Many Meanings of Mary Crawford’s Harp, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mansfield Park.
Jeffrey brings the approach of a scholar and art historian to his love of Jane Austen.  And he presented several interpretations of the meaning of the harp and harp performance in the time of Jane Austen — approaches I had not considered.
George Romney, Lady Caroline Spencer, later Viscountess Clifden, and her Sister, Lady Elizabeth Spencer, 1786-92 The Huntington Library 
Young ladies of Jane Austen’s era were expected to have accomplishments, such as playing the fortepiano and singing.  They performed at gatherings of the ton where they were literally on display as part of the marriage mart.  The harp not only had a beautiful repertoire, it showed off a young lady’s lovely arms as she plucked the strings. 
Thus, it is an oft-repeated view of Mary Crawford as a siren playing the harp to attract Edmund Bertram by her seductive skills on the handsome instrument. Marie Antoirette, Queen of the French, was also known to play the harp, so in some eyes it was particularly associated with the ‘wicked’ French whose morals were not necessarily to be admired.
Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty
Marie-Antoinette jouant de la harpe dans sa chambre, 1777
Musée national du château, Versailles
But, as Jeffrey Nigro pointed out, there were other impressions of the harp, dissociated with the life of St. Cecelia, for example.  Might Edmund see Mary as a kind of St. Cecelia, patron saint of music,  at her harp?
John Singleton Copley, St. Cecilia, A Portrait
(Martha Crowninshield Derby), 1803
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC

Equally possible was the identification of the harp with the Celtic heritage of the British Isles. And a corresponding movement to glorify nature and those pastorals who lived in close harmony with nature.  As Jeffrey Nigro made evident, in art and literature of the time, the harp was part of many  strands of culture with which can challenge the view of Mary Crawford at her harp as the seductress with an eye toward capturing the devotion of Edmund Bertram.

The Fortnightly’s lovely tree

Speaker Sara Bowen with Trish Vanderhoef and Kathy Fish at
JASNA-WI’s Birthday gala in Nashota, WI

Sara’s topic Fanny’s Future: Mary’s Nightmare: Jane Austen and the Clergy Wife examined another aspect of Mansfield Park and Mary Crawford — How Mary would have made a poor wife for Edmund once he becomes a parish rector and how Fanny Price will excel in the role she wins.

Liz Cooper, Cynthia Kartman, and Vivian Walburn
at the Red Circle Inn

Sara Bowen explained what was expected of a clergy wife in Jane Austen’s day, mainly a  woman of moral sense — in the words of George Herbert, author of “The Country Parson,” a clergymen should make his “choice of wife by ear not eye.”  She was expected to have discretion, though not necessarily more religious fervor than usual at church.

A Toast to Jane Austen in celebration of her birthday
Mary Crawford’s repeated questioning of Edmund on why he wanted to become ordained might be a challenge to Edmund. Was perhaps his intent on converting Mary part of her allure for him?  But we know her sharp tongue, sophisticated (maybe even cynical) eye and her self-admitted selfishness would make her life as a rural clergy-wife unbearable.  Fanny, however, with her clarity of moral purpose and her love of nature and country life was much better suited to the role.
The Red Circle’s lovely tree

Both birthday presentations enlightened us in our 200-year-old admiration of Jane Austen’s novel, Mansfield Park.  Thank you Jeffry and Sara, and all the volunteers whose hard work makes JASNA so rewarding for its members.