"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery"

"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery" (Jane Austen, Mansfield Park).

Hels at Art and Architecture has included this blog in her nominations for the Excessively Diverting Blog award, a meme created by the authors of the Jane Austen Today blog; thank you Hels.
My reputation at Court can only be enhanced by this fortuitous event! I will go immediately to the Long Water at Hampton Court and dive in fully clothed, in the manner of Mr Darcy.

Here is a selection from my blogroll that I nominate for the award in that they "uphold the highest standards in the art of the sparkling banter, witty repartee, and gentle reprove".

With an English historic slant, I give you:

1. Philip Wilkinson's English Buildings; always turning up quirky buildings with the story behind them.
2. Samuel Pepys Diary: Phil Gyford's blog version of Pepys' account of London in the 1660s, mixing matters of state with nefarious socialising.
3. Got Medieval Carl Pyrdum's "tonic for the slipshod use of medieval European history in the media and pop culture", complete with medieval on-line shop.
4. Unmitigated England, Peter Ashley's witty ramblings around the buildings and countryside of England, "with a leaning toward the slightly odd and neglected"
5. Wonders and Marvels, by Holly Tucker of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN "A community for curious minds who love History, its Odd Stories, and Good Read".
6. The Story and the Truth, Anna French and Dan Hartland's wide-ranging blog covering novels, history and much more.


As this is a Meme, winners are invited to nominate up to 7 blogs that they consider meet the criteria for the award to spread the word......

CW.

Pepys tries DIY...and regrets it.

Phil Gyford's Diary of Samuel Pepys blog is a fantastic resource, with many comments and annotations by contributors. In the entry for 7th February 1666, Pepys records what happens when he tries a little Do-it-yourself around the house.