A Victorian Lady's Darkest Fantasies, - from author Antoinette Beard...

Friday, February 20, 2026

"Out Of Africa"...

I simply LOVED this movie!... Of course, it won lots of awards, including the oscar for best picture. >>> In 1913, after being turned down by a Swedish nobleman, Danish aristocrat Karen Dinesen suggests a marriage of convenience to the nobleman's brother, Baron Bror Blixen. They plan to move to Nairobi, British East Africa, where Bror intends to invest Karen's money in a dairy farm. She will join him a few months later, and they will get married. On her way to Nairobi, Karen's train is stopped by big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton, who knows Bror and entrusts her with his ivory haul. Farah, the Somali headman Bror hired, greets Karen at the railway station. She is taken to the Muthaiga Club. She enters the men-only salon seeking her future husband, but is soon asked to leave. Karen and Bror immediately marry and Karen becomes Baroness Blixen. She learns that Bror has changed their plan and instead bought a coffee farm, but it is at too high an elevation to be very productive. She needs Bror's help managing the farm, but he is more interested in guiding big-game hunting safaris. Karen comes to love Africa and its people. She looks after the Kikuyu people who live on her land, establishes a school there, helps with their medical needs, and arbitrates their disputes. Meanwhile, she attempts to build a formal European homelife on par with that of nearby upper-class colonists. She befriends a young woman, Felicity (whose character is based on a young Beryl Markham). Eventually, Karen and Bror's mutual feelings deepen, and they do consummate their marriage. However, Bror keeps pursuing other women, while Karen fills her evenings socialising with neighbor visitors. As World War I approaches East Africa, colonists form a militia led by colonial patriarch Lord Delamere, which includes Denys and Bror. A military expedition searches for forces from the neighboring German colony of German East Africa. Responding to the militia's need for supplies, Karen leads a long, exhausting expedition to find them and returns safely. Karen contracts syphilis from Bror, then goes back to Denmark for treatment and recovery while Bror manages the farm in her absence. After Karen's return, Bror resumes his safari work. They live apart after she finds out he is still a womanizer. A relationship between Karen and Denys develops after a tentative kiss at a New Year's party, with them eventually moving in together while he travels. Denys buys a Gipsy Moth biplane and often takes Karen flying. When Bror mentions he wants to divorce and marry another wealthy woman, Karen asks Denys to make their relationship official, but he prefers his independence and keeping the status quo. When Karen finds out Denys is taking Felicity on a private safari, she confronts him about his refusal to be monogamous. He assures her he wants only her, but marriage doesn’t matter to him. This eventually drives them apart. The farm eventually produces a good harvest, but a fire destroys it along with the factory, forcing Karen to sell out. Before leaving Kenya for Denmark, she appeals to the incoming governor to provide land for her Kikuyu workers and sells most of her remaining possessions at a rummage sale. Denys visits the now-empty house, saying he no longer feels comfortable being alone and that his feelings for her have changed. He asks to join her on her journey back. Denys departs for a safari scouting trip, promising to fly Karen to Mombasa upon his return. Soon after, Bror arrives to inform Karen that Denys' plane has crashed in Tsavo. Karen organizes his funeral, during which she recites an excerpt from an A. E. Housman poem about a celebrated athlete who, like Denys, died young and was not meant to grow old. Before leaving, Karen visits the Muthaiga Club to arrange for her mail to be forwarded. The members, having come to respect her, invite her into the men-only salon for a toast. Karen gives Farah the compass Denys had given her and asks him to say her name so she can hear his voice one last time. Later, Farah writes to Karen, telling her that a pair of lions often visits Denys's grave. An epilogue reveals that Karen became an author, publishing her works under the name Isak Dinesen, and never returned to Africa. --- Wikpedia. ^^^ Too bad these deleted scenes weren't included. I think they would have added meaning to the movie. I wish there was a director's cut.

The History Of Yardley's English Lavender...

>>> The business was established by the Cleaver family in 1770, which is the official date displayed on its product labels. According to the company's website, an earlier incarnation existed prior to this, but most records of the earlier business were lost in the Great Fire of London in 1666. >>> William Yardley The company is named after William Yardley, who purchased the business in 1823 from the sons of the founder, Samuel Cleaver, who had gone into bankruptcy. The business became known as Yardley & Statham in 1841 when Charles Yardley, son of William, took on William Statham as a partner in the business. At the time, the firm sold perfumes, soaps, powders, hair pomades and other toiletries. In 1851, the firm, which was still known as Yardley & Statham, exhibited at the Great Exhibition in The Crystal Palace. That same year, the firm changed its name to Yardley & Co. The firm exhibited soap and perfume, including a soap called Old Brown Windsor, which was embossed with a picture of Windsor Castle and was one of their first production soaps. In 1913, the firm adopted Francis Wheatley's Flowersellers painting, from his Cries of London series, as its new logo. The primula vulgaris being sold in baskets in the painting were replaced, in the logo, with sheaths of lavender. ???Yardley English Lavender Talcum Powder Yardley's signature scent is English Lavender, which was launched in 1873. English Lavender was popular during the Victorian era in England, and it was exported to the USA during the 1880s, where it became popular in American households. The variety of lavender that Yardley uses in its products is lavandula angustifolia, which is specially grown for Yardley in the south of England. Lavandula angustifolia was selected by the company in the 1930s, after a several year search for the finest variety. Due to the growing popularity of Yardley soaps and cosmetics at the turn of the 20th century, the firm opened a shop in 1910 on Bond Street in London. The original Yardley shop on Bond Street was at 8 New Bond Street, but it later moved to 33 Old Bond Street. --- Wikpedia.