Welcome to
The Morning Star Update!
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Happy Labor Day Weekend! Can it really be that summer is almost over? I've noticed that the days have gotten shorter. It is pitch black in the morning when I take the dogs for a walk. But the days have been warm and sunny, the garden still looks vibrant, and winter is still a long ways away - right?! Changing the subject, yours truly has several photos in the upcoming Manhattan Area Photographers Exhibit at the Manhattan Arts Center. I hope that you can see the show!
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Chocolate Rum Raisin Cookies
with Two Icings
I've been posting a lot of photography on my blog lately, but make a point of including recipes every now and then. This one is from my cookbook, Confectionately Yours! You can find the recipe for these delicious cookies on my blog. Enjoy! A special bonus, I have the Confectinately Yours on sale right now for $17.50 (regularly $23.99). You can order yours here. |
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Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by
The Countess of Carnarvon
A big fan of Downton Abbey, I was excited when I discovered Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey. The book is about Almina Wombwell, illegitimate daughter of industrialist Alred de Rothschild and the artistocratic Carnarvon family into which she married. As protrayed in Downton Abbey, British nobility often needed infusions of money and so often the men (i.e. the heirs of the estates) aimed to marry wealthy women to shore up the families' finances ... which is exactly what happened between Almina and the 5th Earl of Carnarvon - solving both her problem of respectibility and his financial problems. Alfred de Rothschild possessed what strikes me as in incomprehensible amount of money and bestowed it lavishly upon his illegitimate daughter; and I found the descriptions of her spending simultaneously mind-boggling and off-putting. Her husband, a world-traveller and Egyptologist, in time became famous in his own right for his role in the expedition that discovered King Tut's tomb. The part of the book that I found most fascinating, however, was the considerable portion dedicated to WWI history, especially the accounts of battles at Gallipoli and in the Middle East, and the Battle of the Somme, and also of Lady Almina's hospital for treating wounded soldiers. In part I found this so fascinating because my maternal grandfather was injured while serving in the British army in the Middle East during WWI; and though I think that I would have known if he had recovered at Highclere, it was interesting to read about what some of his experiences were probably like.
Apparently, however, this book has been challenged for what is claimed to be its "sanitized treatment" of Lady Almina's exploits, and yet the reviews that I have read have not challenged the historical accuracy of the book. It seems she was probably not quite so saintly as the book makes out; yet if you are a fan of Downton Abbey or someone with an interest in WWI, you too might find this book very interesting. Besides, if you have already read Below Stairs by Margaret Powell, which was the inspiration for Downton Abbey and which I discussed last November, you already have a servants' perspective on the wealthy.
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 Autumn Planting
Early autumn is a good time for planting shrubs. The weather is cool enough that new plantings don't suffer from heat stress, with any luck they receive some rain, and yet they have time to establish roots before winter's cold and short days. So, I thought that I would feature one of my favorite shrubs: Crape Myrtle "Tonto". It blooms most of the summer and into early autumn, sets interesting seed heads during autumn, and at 8' tall and wide, adds a nice, tall structural element to the landscape. It functions well in a shrub border, dividing one yard from another and yet providing an attractive backdrop to other lower growing shrubs or perennial flowers. And really, can one beat that color?
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As always, thank you for reading The Morning Star Update! I hope that you enjoy what is left of summer and have a lovely September!
Sincerely,
Laurie Pieper
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Antiques are Here Again
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One of the questions that we often hear from guests is, "Where can we go antiquing?" And for a while, we haven't had much to answer. But a few antiques shops have recently moved into the neighborhood. Caravan Antiques, which holds irregular hours, but is open also by appointment is located on 4th Street just north of Poyntz Avenue. Manzanita Art & Antiques, where I took the photo above, is just around the corner from us at 427 Poyntz Avenue. I was in there just today, and you know that I had fun shopping! They had a nice selection of Polish pottery, clocks, conversation pieces, this-and-that's, and local artwork. So once again, our guests can go antiquing right in the neighborhood. Thank you to Tim from Manzanita
for letting me photography some of the pieces in the shop!
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Happy Labor Day!
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Here's a Root Beer Float toast to a happy Labor Day! I hope that you get to enjoy a day off!
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Dates to Remember
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through October 12th: Manhattan Area Photographers Exhibit, MAC
September 7th: Rural Cemetaries of Northeast Riley County Automobile Tour, Riley County Geneology Society September 7th: K-State Family Day
September 10th: Lou Douglas Lecture - A Kansas Guide to Health Insurance Changes, K-State Student Union
September 12th: Margaret Wertheim - Making Space, Justin Hall
September 20th: Night of Wonder, Beach Museum
September 21st: Rural Cemetaries of Northwest Riley County, Riley County Geneology Society September 26th: Behind the Scenes - Library of Wonder Panel Discussion, Hale Library September 27th - 29th: Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival September 27th and 28th: 40th Annual Pumpkin Patch Craft Show, Cico Park September 27th and 28th: Aggiefest, Aggieville September 27th - 29th: Oztoberfest, Wamego September 29th: Konquer the Konza 25K, Konza Prairie
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