Wuthering Heights and Olden Days Frocks.

Just a quick drop-in to say hello and that I haven't gone visiting on the blogsies much lately due to other commitments and distractions. I have a huge pile of stuff to get through at the moment, and am only moving at half-speed through it all due to health issues.

But! *hyperventilates with excitement*, a number of you may be aware of just how much I adore all things Austen and all things Bronte. I tone down my obsession here, but this was the scholarky (it's a word, because I hath deemed it so), path I was heading down at one point, except that it wasn't considered a "new and original" enough topic by my fellow academics, and thus would be less likely to attract the PhD scholarship my actual topic did. Should have stuck to my guns, but I was young and self-doubting. Anyway, this is despite the fact that my Honours thesis, which was on E.B's Wuthering Heights was praised as being a "beautiful new reading of the novel" *snorts tea through nose along with a goodly amount of skepticism*. How's that for a little shameless boast? Oh well. Blame it on the excitement. But the point is, is that it's absolutely possible to bring something new to a reading, and there is always an unfinished element to reading and interpreting a story, and we shouldn't be daunted by the monolithic status of certain novels...and look at the fun they had with Lost in Austen and Bridget Jones (which didn't do much for me, but I'm glad it's there).

Tangent! See the thing is, I have never seen a half-decent production of WH. Maybe I'm just being too picky, (quite possibly), but I have despised the ones I have seen, and they have completely failed to capture the elements of the novel, or they have been anaemic versions of the story. This could be at least in part due to the novel embodying a kind of Nature Mystery, and a circular time-space collapse/head-f**k; and also so many of its elusive elements are enacted off the page/screen. Yet I have always felt that a deft hand could produce a breathtaking screen adaptation of Gothic deliciousness that could avoid the usual lazy and frankly banal devices that are mostly preoccupied with the straight love story aspects of the novel ("ooh - will she choose the rich boy or the poor brutal scruff "? That kind of thing, which is only a part of what EB was getting at. *Stops briefly to genuflect at creepy shrine of EB in the corner of the room*).

Cathy and Heathcliff, (ITV version)

So, this Sunday night, being the optimist that I am, will find me parked in front of the teev in order to view a screening of the latest ITV production of Wuthering Heights. I have greatly enjoyed some of the ITV Austen productions/confections of these past couple of years: S&S, MP, NA, and the very lovely Persuasion. So, I'm so wanting this one to be a good 'un.

And if I had my way, I wouldn't go back in time, but I'm happy to weave elements from time's past into my life now. Tea cups smothered in roses (and leisurely afternoon teas), and the frocks! Oh the frocks...

In fact, I'm off to sew a frock that is just a little Austen-esque. I am attending the wedding of the Preciousssesss** next weekend, so I had better get cracking on this little number.

The pattern is a fave I've had in my stash since I made it 15 years ago, (I never let go of patterns). It's so comfortable and feels so lovely on.

I'm making it out of the loveliest grey lawn, strewn with subtle but sparkly flowers, and it makes me think of a watercolour sun-shower.

And because the lawn is see-through, I have the most buttery soft muslin to line it all with, (can't go shocking the punters now can we?). And it's all done on a very meagre budget, so I am feeling a bit smug.

I am always happy to drift around in "olden days" (as The Moon refers to any period prior to the year of my birth), dresses and have never been at home in jeans. Long hair and sprigged muslin is kind of where it's at for me. I suppose that makes me an anachronism. But I have never been a great follower of fa-fa-fa-fashun. I am the Anti-hip.

Now, a very quick question (if you've managed to make it this far). I'm tinkering behind the scenes. So, dear reader, I ask thee: Blogger or Wordpress? And is Wordpress ok for dummies? I mean, really? Or would I have to contort myself into all sorts of scary html knots? Advice appreciated!

**me darlins Sol y luna and the Ginger Hobo.