Sewing is very popular in Australia. Plenty of places to buy machines, fabrics and general haberdashery. I don't sew now but used to make clothes for my daughter, mainly simple sleeveless shifts which were from an easy pattern and could be adapted to use small remnants which were sold cheaply. It is now so reasonable to buy children's clothes from China that it isn't worth the bother! I made a couple of Regency items for our 150th Anniversary of settlement in Western Australia but cheated by remodelling a Laura Ashley print long dress and cut up another short one for a spenser. A straw sunhat cut and resewn at the back to a bonnet shape with long ribbons completed the outfit! I was so lucky in Bath getting to stay in a room in the Royal Crescent and being shown over the house with its curved sitting room. I felt like a Heyer heroine!

-annpan that is an AMAZING story! Vanity Fair is one of my favorites for several reasons. First is that I adore Thackeray's subtle condescending humor. Second is that this book changed me in some ways. I am sure that sounds funny (especially considering what book it is), but it is true. I know someone who is a lot like Becky Sharpe, but worse. I was fooled by this person for a long time. Perhaps I simply choose to ignore how truly cruel they were. I also found myself being rather like Mrs. Bute Crawley (aka. 'the toady') to this person. I did not like seeing myself this way. So I changed, and can now see the person for who they are. As a book, Vanity Fair had its faults. One was how there were a great many parts in which nothing happened. It was certainly not the most exciting book to read, but I enjoyed the humor. And I appreciate its effect on me. Have you read anything else by Thackeray? I have read 'The History of Henry Esmond Esq'. I didn't much care for it. It was hard to get into, especially since I did not know much of that particular time in English history. I plan to read 'The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon' in the future. There is also a book about Thackeray at the library I plan to read someday. It is called 'Memoirs of a Victorian Gentleman: William Thackeray", by Margaret Forster. I have not seen the TV program of Vanity Fair. I have only seen the movie with Miss Witherspoon. I did not care for it. Thackerays special 'moralizing' wit was lost on it. CMK

I like what Annie was suggesting, but if you have the room, I would love a round table and chairs and maybe a wingback or other reading chair in the bay (possibly a couple of swivel chairs that can turn either way in the area between the two parts of the room). Or maybe a pair of chairs and table between them and an ottoman. I'd start with that part of the rom and move out -- feature it since it is wonderful and unique and then move out rather than backing onto it as a limited afterthought. Then look at sofa or sectional in the main or older part of the room and go from there. I would keep the bookcases -- would love to have them myself and agree with keeping them wood and cleaning them up as needed if they are nice, consider painting if they are not. i am reluctant to paint brick and don't think you need to. You might try washing a section and seeing if it changes color (it can trap dust). I was considering painting my fireplace brick, but we discovered that painting the walls had a huge impact on how the color of the brick looked. Painting brick is a difficult thing to undo, so I would wash it, get furniture in the room and even consider changing wall color before I painted the brick. I don't dislike the mantel so much as wonder about it being shorter -- closer to the width of the arch -- maybe just outside of the arch rather than all the way across.

I'm currently watching Sanditon. We canceled our cable TV a while ago but I can watch it with Amazon Prime. I like it. It's not remotely authentic Jane Austen, but if you put that firmly out of your mind, it is an entertaining piece of historical fiction. Of course they have the hair all wrong. No young woman old enough to go on a visit away from her family would wear her hair down outside of her bedroom, a fault shared with the otherwise excellent new movie Little Women. The sexual themes hinted at no doubt occurred just as frequently in Jane Austen's era as in our own, but I doubt she ever discussed them, certainly not in her novels. Austen seemed pretty comfortable addressing seduction (Sense and Sensibility) as well as adultery and homosexuality (Mansfield Park), but there is a bit more than that being hinted at here. I'll leave it at that not to be coy but to avoid spoilers. Then there is the issue of race. The character of rich Miss Lambe from the West Indies is being used to explore race relations in a way Jane would never have faced so openly. I don't complain. It is an issue that needs to be addressed, and I have already stated that this is not really Jane Austen. I've seen the first two episodes. I'm interested in seeing where this goes. Has anyone else been watching? If so, what do you think?