back again

Had to post my little sweetie's face here. if you wonder what she's thinking, she's thinking, "Can I come out too?" She tended to break out of the back gate (my burglar dog!) and come find me, which ws not a good thing. Not very safe.
In case this turns out to be helpful to anyone else, if you have a cat that doesn't like bubble gum flavored antibiotics, these can be nicely hidden in tuna fish. I know vets don't recommend this as a steady diet, but for the sake of getting the antibiotic down her and for my sanity (Annie was terrified by the whole process of forcing meds down her throat) this will work for two weeks.

Am reading Jane Austen-related books. We have some old books in the library where I work, and one of that was a woman who talked about the little that was known about Jane Austen's life. She mentions that Jane Austen's brother George was thought to be mentally disabled, and that he was basically put away. Turns out he had fits (epilepsy) and she speculates that Jane learned to talk on her fingers (her expression) for his sake, so that they could communicate. Interesting book & full of lots of information. She also comments that Cassandra, Jane's older sister, burned all her letters so that family information couldn't get out & heavily blacked out parts that they didn't want outsiders to find out, which is why we know so little about her life & her own opinions.

I should list the books here, before I forget. Only a Novel : the Double Life of Jane Austen by Jane Aiken Hodge. (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc, NY, 1972).

The two I mentioned in an earlier blog : Jane Austen by Margret Kennedy. (Alan Swallow, Denver, 1950), which talks about the period that Jane Austen lived in, the novels, etc. Very tiny book. Speaking of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and GB Stern. (Harper & Brothers publishers, NY, 1944. Verso says that this book was published in England under the title Talking of Jane Austen. The book is lighthearted, pokes fun at popular concepts of Jane Austen, and is a little snotty. Both women are authors, writing around the very early 1900s.

The other really tiny book is: Jane Austen: Selected Letters -- 1796-1817, Selected & edited by R.W. Chapman (Oxford University Press/Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1955). Let's see if I can cook all the food for the family reunion (first week in April) AND finish all the books.