A Restorative Holiday

Once when Miss Marple was poorly, her nephew arranged for a restorative holiday to the Caribbean.

She stayed in a seaside resort and while recovering, engaged in people watching – which, for a large portion of her life, led her to make many observations about human nature and even led to solving many crimes.

She enjoyed her stay, relaxing in her basket chair, admiring waves and picturesque sunsets, eating delicious food, and visiting with the other guests. No doubt she did a little knitting and birdwatching.

Although I did not visit the seaside this year, my family did rent a house on a lake with requisite tourist town. Miss Marple would perhaps have enjoyed a guided bus tour, taking a ferry, eaten delicious seafood, and purchased trip momentos for her nephew and God babies. I do not, however, envision her fishing or bouncing along on a golf cart!

Miss Marple’s Jumble Sale

In Miss Marple’s world, arranging and attending jumble sales was a regular occurrence. Donations to the cause, be it the Women’s Institute or the church’s roofing fund, were displayed and villagers would sort through the ‘jumble’ of goods, and partake of tea and baked goods like scones and rock buns.

I personally like to attend sales and look for the things that give my home its vintage cottage look. Some of the treasures I have procured include silver, vintage tablecloths, Homer Laughlin china, candlesticks, flower vases, and linen napkins.

Miss Marple Visits Somerset House

On several occasions I have heard Miss Marple exclaim “Somerset House, of course.” in a voice of sudden inspiration.

In former times, England and Wales’ records of marriages, births, and deaths were archived in an actual building – Somerset House. Copies of these records could be obtained and in this manner Jane Marple actually gathered information that led her to solve murders.

Somerset House is featured in four Miss Marple mysteries.

Body in the Library
4:50 from Paddington
They Do It with Mirrors
Greeshaw’s Folly

Somerset House is located in London, England on the river Thames. It was closed as a government office in 1970 and is now an art museum.

Bird watching with Miss Marple

Miss Marple was known to be a keen bird-watcher. She spent many hours in her garden with binoculars hoping to catch a glimpse of something interesting.

I have bird feeding stations and a bird bath in my garden to help entice visitors year-round. My little wooded area is adjacent to a black walnut tree and a pear tree which feed my squirrels, a chipmunk, and myriad birds. This week I have sparrows, finches, a woodpecker, cardinals, pigeons, robins, and dark-eyed juncos.

I have been enjoying birding with the help of a ‘bird song app’ on my phone – Merlin Bird ID. It helps identify birds by their song with the microphone on my phone.

I especially enjoy using this app on vacations.

English Springtime Blossoms

The English springtime blossoms assure us that winter is truly over. I was scouring my garden for those very assurances and I noted sprouts of narcissus and crocus! I had last week plucked some forsythia branches and placed them in a vase of water. A few weeks in a sunny south-facing window should give me rows of yellow flowers on each branch.

As an experiment I also placed a branch of a budding blueberry shrub in water to see if it can be forced to bloom indoors.