The scene is Portsmouth, New Hampshire—just a stone’s throw from Maine. Seaside village. Cobbled streets. And the place where I found a gorgeous slate gray apron by Fog Linen in a sweet little shop called JaneGee.

I say slate gray, but I also mean rich, warm, earthy gray with a touch of mushroom. Stone gray. The gray of the sky at dusk on a rainy night. Irresistible gray.

I say apron, but this garment suggests something out of Jane Austen’s England. Or 19th century rural France.

Jane (I’m back to JaneGee)—who hails from Australia—and Emma—who is English—provided a warm welcome to our little entourage of four friends. We stumbled in from the rainy night to their warmth and kindness. The shop was white and light, filled with aged wood boxes, natural linen and hewn wood. It felt Scandinavian and English—both. We were all smitten by Emma and Jane.

I didn’t mean to leave there with an apron—but Emma was wearing one and it just called my name. The two women extolled the virtues of Fog Linen, the Japanese company who sources the finest Lithuanian linen for their line of beautiful clothes and items for the home. They extolled the virtues of the natural skin products Jane makes by hand. They were both artists and we talked about the satisfaction of making things by hand.

It was the last stop on a long and wonderful day with my friends.

And I left with the last gray Fog apron they had in stock.

Find Fog Linen near you.

JaneGee
107 Congress Street
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
1.603.431.0335