Who's a pretty bird?

Well, after ~6 mos. of research, negotiation and questing, we finally have a new family pet: meet Gerry, the baby cockatiel. I have to say that's it's way more fun to have a bird than I expected! He's pretty and friendly--happy to sit on one's hand or knee or shoulder (or head)--and yet happy to go into his cage with a sheet over it all night. (nb: the boys named him after Steven Gerrard, captain of the English football team. Why? I have no idea, but it suits him).

Austen-land

I'm back from England. Despite my diffidence, it was a really wonderful trip--as everyone except me told me it would be.

I went to a conference, which was surprisingly interesting. Along with everything else, it was lovely to be treated as neither a domestic nor an administrative drudge (these days, I think of my paper-giving persona as my professional avatar, and I'm always shocked by how differently people treat her than "me").

Then I spent an amazingly sunny weekend in London seeing old friends and doing a little bit of sight-seeing. It was an English "heat-wave" at ~82F, and everyone was pretty much stripped down to their underwear. Since it was 101F when I left NC, it was a cool and lovely respite for me. I didn't go west of the Tate Modern or north of Clerkenwell--mostly, I just walked up, down, and across the truly magical Thames.

Jane Austen's writing desk, Austen House, Chawton.


Ivory letters (like in Emma)


Austen's hair, and some topaz crosses:


Austen's house.


Graffiti in the Tower of London.