Agatha Christie’s character, Jane Marple, lived in a time and place in which a lady was rarely without a hat when not in her home.

There were special hats for church, black hats (with veils) for funerals, everyday hats for trips to the shops, straw hats for summers, and warm wool hats for winter.

I discovered that there are many things that I need to learn about hats.  These include which style of hat to choose, what materials they are made of, how to wear a hat, how to care for, clean, and store hats, and how to accessorize a hat to keep it fashionable.

Here is an example of a hat Miss Marple might have worn in the summertime, being that it is a lightweight, light coloured brimmed hat.  I love the classic black and tan design and the ribbon is very lady like.

 

 

 

In my home state of Ohio, the autumn leaves are ablaze with color.

Reds range from scarlet to rose,

Oranges from pumpkin to peach,

Yellows from sunflower to pale butter.

There are still greens – the evergreens

and those few majestics shrouded in green until the last.

Don’t forget the browns and the tans, so shy, almost beyond notice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rose hips are the orange or red fruits of the rose that appear after the blooming season.

Miss Marple surely would have brewed rose hip tea on an autumn day as I did mid morning today – for the first time!

I harvested a small handful and simmered the rinsed hips for a few minutes until I could lightly crush the pods with a potato masher, then poured the brew through a tea strainer into my cup, added sweetener, and enjoyed my first taste of rose hip tea. It was quite delicious and I will definitely look forward to drinking it again when more rose hips ripen.

Any fan of Miss Marple knows that she enjoyed her cottage garden.  At this time of year, most gardens are tucked in to bed for the duration of winter, but there are still important tasks to be done before the ground freezes.  Today my husband and I planted 2 types of Daffodils -both from Holland- pink mixed Daffodils and double blooming Replete Daffodils.

 

 

Miss Marple would have approved.

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!)