L.L. Diamond

In my new book Unwrapping Mr. Darcy, Lizzy has a fluffy black cat named Grunt. I thought everyone might like to meet the inspiration behind Grunt, who is a little more mischievous than his real-life counterpart but was a lot of fun to write.

It’s been over a year ago that my husband decided my oldest daughter needed her own cat. We already had a dog and my second daughter had a cat so I was reluctant to take the leap. Due to my husband’s work, we move a good bit and moving a dog overseas was expensive. I didn’t like the idea of having to do that with a dog and two cats this time. In the end, he won out and the search began. Normally, I go to rescues for pets, but because of my husband’s job and how much we move, rescues don’t see us as reliable candidates to adopt in England. So, even though it wasn’t really the time of year for kittens, we started searching online.

About a week later, my husband drove my daughter a ridiculous distance to bring home this little black fur ball with grey eyes and a crazy whining meow she named Shadow. My oldest played with him and pampered him and as he became a part of the family, he turned the house upside down.

Layla, our dog, was afraid of him. She’d walk around him, but she doesn’t try to play with the cats at all. Flora, our other cat, decided he was an interloper and growled whenever he came near. We never let them be alone together until we were certain she wouldn’t attack him. She still growls at him from time to time but has never tried to hurt him.

As Shadow grew up, we discovered his adorable personality. He is the most loyal of cats. He likes me and the rest of the family, but he follows his girl all over the house. If she’s in her room, he’s in her room—unless someone opens a can of tuna in the kitchen (Even a cat has certain priorities!). If she leaves and walks to the living room, he follows—and I mean follows!

I have to smell!

He’s insanely curious and likes to sniff everything. When I’m in the kitchen, he’ll sit on the island and lean in for a sniff so I’ll hold out items for him to smell. He’ll sniff whatever you offer, too. What’s funny is when he doesn’t like it and he jerks back and crinkles his little nose. What smell has he hated the most? That’s easy! Mr. Etch black licorice markers.

So, what made me call him Grunt and add him into the book? Well, his quirks were so much fun, I couldn’t resist adding them into the story. I call him Grunt because sometimes when you pick him up, he groans. He’ll also make little grunting noises when you pet him, too.

Some of his quirks are a bit different than other cats, but in some ways the same. He is terrible about knocking over water glasses. We can’t leave any glass out or water will be everywhere. On several occasions, I’ve caught him trying to stick his head inside a glass, but he will also stick his paw in to lick the water off. He adores the kitty fountain we have. We also have a little fancy liquer glass my husband got in a gift set. That now sits on the kitchen counter, especially for Shadow. He’s the only one who drinks out of it and he will sit in front of it asking for a refill.

What other characteristics does he share with Grunt? He will definitely meet us at the door just like Grunt. I don’t know how Shadow does it, but when we come in at night from swimming, he’s on the stairs by the door, sticking his little head through the bannister. If he’s in a willing mood, he’ll give us a nose kiss before we put down our kit. He also knows what time my daughter gets home from school. About 40 minutes before, he will wake up from his nap (usually in the dog’s bed) come downstairs, and sit with me. He’ll ask for pets and snooze while he cuddles until his girl walks through the door, then he races to meet her.

Unlike Grunt, he showed very little interest in the Christmas tree this year. We put plastic and wooden ornaments around the bottom because Flora will bat them off but we didn’t have any more than usual this year. I admit to being frightened when the tree went up. Shadow was fascinated by the lights and made me wonder if he might try to bite the electrical wire.

As much as Flora pretends to hate him, we find them playing together a good bit these days. They sometimes take turns chasing each other around the house, making a rumbling along the floor when they are upstairs. I suppose no one can resist Shadow, which is why I created Grunt! I hope you love him as much as I do when you read Unwrapping Mr. Darcy!

Now on Preorder at Amazon, iBooks, and Barnes and Noble for $3.99!

Audley End house is a Jacobean manor just outside Saffron Walden in Essex. Once an abbey, it was given to Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Audley in 1537 by Henry VIII and was renovated to a home. Over time, parts of it have been demolished until all that’s left is what remains, which is approximately 1/3 the original size. It’s now in the hands of  English Heritage.

After we left Hitchin Lavender, we had a devil of a time trying to eat lunch. England was playing in a World Cup game that day and let me tell you, it’s hard to find a pub serving food on those days! They all looked at us like we were growing a third head when we asked, too!

We were headed for Audley End anyway, so we stopped into the cafe and found food we could all eat or snack on before we looked at the house and continued on home for the evening. We arrived fairly close to closing time so we didn’t have a huge amount of time.

I wish I could say that they allowed interior photography but they don’t so the best I can do is suggest you do a search for the interior shots because English Heritage does have them online since I can’t legally post them here.

The inside is ornate, particularly the ceilings like most Jacobean homes, and several famous names can be found on the artwork (Canaletto for one). The nursery was great with the toys and the dollhouse still remaining for viewers to see. The gardens were dry, but with the lack of rain we’d had to that point, everything was dry.

I know this wasn’t a very detailed blog post (and I apologise for that!!!), but without the interior pictures, it’s difficult to describe everything to you as a reader. Because of closing time, we didn’t walk many of the walks and it was a hot day. By the time we finished the tour of the house, we were ready to go home for the evening. I will say that if you’re in the area, I definitely recommend stopping by Audley End.

Next up . . .

I knew Jane Austen Regency Week would definitely be a different experience with Caroline Jane Knight, 5th great niece of JA, attending and I wasn’t wrong. Sunday morning she had planned the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Walk for Literacy fundraiser.

Everyone met in front of Jane Austen House Museum where we chatted and took pictures until it was time to walk a route Jane Austen walked often during her lifetime–from her cottage in Chawton to The Swan in Alton where she gathered the post.

Some dressed in their Regency finest for the occasion and some of us chose to wear our usual garb that probably would’ve shocked Jane while we walked, handed out flyers for the foundation, and gathered donations.

We weren’t a huge group but quite a number of familiar faces joined the walk with Caroline and her father Jeremy Knight. Cass Grafton, Joana Starnes, Julia Grantham, Mira (Obsessed With Mr. Darcy), and Sophie Andrews.

Once we made it to The Swan, we all chatted and had tea, coffee, or water until we made the walk back. We were a very merry party while we returned to Chawton and then all moved on to whatever plans we had for the rest of our day. I understand the walk raised more than £3000–a very successful day!

That evening, we attended the talk Caroline gave about writing her book Jane and Me: My Austen Heritage. She spoke of her feelings of being part of the last generation of Knights to grow up in Chawton House and how she found herself embracing her heritage and writing a book of her memories.

Caroline speaks well and has a way of drawing you into her stories and the history of Chawton House. I really enjoyed her talk and if you have the opportunity to hear her speak about her experiences, I definitely recommend it!

Next up! Tying up Regency Week 2018!

I adore Regency Week! Alton and Chawton are two of my favourite places and it’s amazing getting to catch up with friends I only see this time of year. I had a bit more time this year as opposed to last, so I drove down on Friday so I could be there bright and early on Saturday for Regency Day. My oldest daughter accompanied me again because she missed the ball last year.

In the past, I’ve been committed to a stall for Regency Day, but this year, I had no commitments, so it left me free to wander about and honestly, I had no idea what to do with myself. Luckily, a friend staying at St. Mary’s Hall with me, asked if we wanted to go to Jane Austen House Museum and walk around with her, which was perfect.

We started in Alton and walked around the stalls and checked out everything before backtracking and walking to Chawton for Jane Austen House Museum. I never get tired of the museum. They always have some new theme or some new Jane Austen artefact to check out. This year, JAHM didn’t disappoint. We found a few new items to wonder over and just enjoyed a walk through before heading back to Alton.

We walked once more through the stalls for Regency Day and then headed back to St. Mary’s Hall to get ready for the ball. Joan, our host extraordinaire even had Prosecco and hors d’oeuvres for us before we were dropped by Cass Grafton’s lovely other half at the door of the Alton Assembly Rooms for the evening. Cass even joined us for a short while to chat and so she could see the gowns before she headed off to dinner and left us to our dancing.

The ladies of St. Mary’s Hall toasting the ball

My daughter and host extraordinaire Joan 🙂

It was awesome to catch up with a number of people I hadn’t seen in a year as well as meet some new Jane Austen acquaintances, including Caroline Jane Knight and her father Jeremy (JA’s 5th great-niece and her father). Caroline had a beautiful gown as she channelled Lady Catherine for the evening. I’m certain Jane would’ve had a giggle at the notion!

The ball, as usual, was definitely a wonderful time and went off without a hitch. My daughter danced a number of dances, and though I’m not a great Regency dancer, I stood up for one dance before the night was over.

The night may have come to a close, but the week was far from over! Next up . . . the Walk for Literacy with Caroline Jane Knight and her talk “Jane and Me.”