The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life RationallyLoudon, Mrs. (Jane)
General
The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally
Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Cooking; Country life; Home economics
I will now take your objections to your residence in detail; and we
will try if some remedy cannot be devised for them. I am glad your
house is large. In town, we are often content to put up with the
inconveniences occasioned by want of room, as we know that space is
valuable, and cannot always be had; but, in the country, where we
feel the free air, and see no houses before us, it seems hard to be
confined. You may also find it convenient, in the winter, to have room
to take exercise within doors; and I hope you have a good-sized hall or
gallery to play at battledore and shuttlecock in; for that is a game
not to be despised in the list of country amusements. The trees are
certainly an objection. Our ancestors seem to have had strange ideas
about planting trees in front of a dwelling. It is true, that the
modern conveniences of blinds and verandas were then probably unknown;
and, therefore, a few trees were judged agreeable to shade the windows
from the glaring light and heat of the sun. At least, this appears
to me the only way of accounting for the strange manner in which we
often see trees placed close to the windows of an ancient manor-house,
as though purposely to intercept the prospect, and to impede the
entrance of two of the greatest blessings of nature, light and free
air. I should hope that your husband will consent to have these trees
cut down, or at least thinned out; and I am sure he will find the
sacrifice amply repaid by the air of cheerfulness which will be given
to his rooms. I have also no doubt that when these rooms are better
ventilated, and the sun is permitted to reach them, you will find them
warmer; though I confess that a country-house is generally colder than
one of the same size in town. I do not mean from the size of the rooms,
for large rooms, having fewer draughts, are less difficult to warm
than small ones; but because houses in the country are more exposed to
the wind, and the air round them is colder than in towns. In some old
country-houses the rooms are small, and there are numerous long, narrow
passages, which are sure to produce draughts: but to cure this evil,
thick curtains may be suspended over the doors, care being taken not
to prevent the doors from opening freely; or there may be double doors
and double windows.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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