One must have a home for one’s umbrella- tossing it uncaring on the doorstep or even worse- on the floor would be unconscionable. Miss Marple would have had an umbrella stand near the front door and another likely by the back door.

I imagine Jane Marple would have owned a sturdy black umbrella that she would have carried with her everywhere.

Her particular umbrella would have been a stick-type, that would be carried and used like a cane or walking stick and made of polished chestnut worn smooth with time and use- no cheap plastic umbrellas here!

The collar of the umbrella I imagine to be silver and quite possibly engraved with her initials. (The collar is the connector between the curved wood handle and the stick portion).

There are many fine old umbrella shops in London where I imagine her umbrella would have been made.

This is an interesting place to look for both quality umbrellas and a bit of umbrella history!

It is a cold and wet day in Ohio, admittedly a long ways off from England, but we share in the task at hand which is to keep dry and warm.

Locating an umbrella will be the first order of the day. This morning I opened my 3rd umbrella of this year- one broken on its first outing and another (my favourite) lost in the hubbub of my son’s first day of college (alas, not a red brick institution).

This new umbrella is nothing like the one I’m sure Miss Marple would have owned- so my first task as a student of all things Marple will be to cruise the internet and search out the perfect English brolly. Miss Marple would have inquired at a milliners, I’m sure, or perhaps ordered by catalogue.

I shall undertake a study of the Agatha Christie character Jane Marple and endeavor to recreate such aspects of her life as it can be done within my ways (and means!)