When the garden group returned to Barton Cottage, they found most of the rest of the Pemberley attendees waiting for them on the front steps.

Barb had arranged a special dinner in a private dining room, so we headed back to the James Bay (right around the corner) to get ready. After a glass of wine and some catching up, Myretta went upstairs to fetch the tardy. Soon, Candace, her friend Barbara and Kathleen(Kaf) had joined us to make the group complete.

After dinner, we all headed back to Barton Cottage. There, we found a table laden with wine, soda and all manner of "women food". We were finally given a chance to sample the differences between M&Ms and Smarties, but there was no clear winner.

We settled into the drawing room and formed teams of three to play The Bios Game. Each team drew the names of three Jane Austen characters and then wrote a Pemberley style bio for each character. We then had to guess the characters based on the bios and email addresses.

The evening continued long after the game was done as Pemberleans caught up with and met each other. As always, it was as though we were friends of many years.

This was Martine's first Pemberley annual meeting and it was a delight to have her there. We all remarked on Kaf's and Clare's incredible weight loss and tried not to be too jealous. Terese berated Myretta for spelling her name wrong on her name tag. And we teased Darlene about her Mr. Darcy obsession (just as if none of had ever experienced it ourselves).

Watching a roomful of grown women tossing paper, hissing and waving flowers was too funny to miss. (It's not your mother's Austen!)
Susan K
Saturday morning we were back at Barton Cottage for coffee juice (and whatever was left over from Friday night). We sat around and woke up, some more slowly than others and discussed the rest of the day.

We had seen horse drawn sightseeing tours all over downtown Victoria and Kaf had the wonderful idea of hiring one for our trip to the Empress for tea that afternoon. As she went off to make arrangements, we began drawing names for prizes.

Many people had brought give aways for our name drawing. Kathleen(elder) had found some great Jane Austen key rings and Darlene had had some Darcy mugs especially made (as well as a Colonel Brandon mug for Barb). There were also some off beat prizes: Pride and Prejudice paper dolls, a lady's cap made by a Canadian JASNA member which Susan K. drew.

When the prizes had all be distributed, preparations began for the Rocky Horror Sense and Sensibility viewing. Laraine (with the long distance assistance of Hil) made a wonderful set of props for each participant.

Everyone received a bouquet of hothouse flowers and one of wild flowers, a handkerchief with Edward Ferrars' monogram, Brandon bucks, a stick with ribbons and foil wrapped chocolate coins for the wedding procession (and of course, everyone brought their squirt guns for the rain).

There was some coming and going during the Rocky Horror view. The smokers congregated on the front steps and mourned the absence of Nan. Others wandered around seeking air. An overcooked bag of popcorn occasioned a rush to open windows and doors.

During the showing, Kathleen(Kaf) had been successful in her search for a carriage to take us to tea. When we left Barton Cottage we were instructed to meet the equipage outside the James Bay Inn.

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