Wordless Wednesday

Going Inside Downton Abbey

Like many Americans, I am addicted to the BBC series, Downton Abbey. I have already seen all the episodes of season three (my daughter, with her computer know-how, was able to find it for me online and I watched it over the Thanksgiving Day break) and I am watching it again (like everyone else, on PBS television, every Sunday evening) but this time I am taking notes. I have to.

Martha, my doctor (PhD) friend, has talked me into co-teaching a course with her for a local college's Adult Continuing Education Program (or should I use the British spelling...programme?).

Our course is entitled: Upstairs, Downstairs Psychology. The classes will he held on Fridays (Jan 25, Feb 8-22) from 3:00-4:30 p.m. There will be tea served at each class (in bone china cups with scones and everything!).

Our goal for this course will be to analyze the mindset of those who lived upstairs (masters) and downstairs (servants) in English country houses like Downton Abbey. We will explore the dynamics of the master/servant relationship. We will also revisit episodes of Downton Abbey.

Martha and I have started a blog that will go hand-in-hand with the course.

I have been watching British television programmes since the 1970's. I remember seeing some of the original Upstairs, Downstairs series back then.

Last year Martha watched every episode of Upstairs, Downstairs as her broken arm was mending. She admits to burning out her Kindle Fire and having to get a new one. Now that is an addiction! She told me I just had to watch the entire series. I did, on Netflix, and had I had a Kindle Fire, I probably would have burned mine out too.

Julian Fellowes, the creator/writer of Downton Abbey, must have watched Upstairs, Downstairs in the 1970's also because some of his story lines are very similar. I would recommend watching Upstairs, Downstairs (the 1970's version, not the recent one, I tried to watch that and lost interest) to everyone who enjoys Downton Abbey.

I am looking forward to co-teaching the upcoming course. Who wouldn't like talking about a favorite television series over a "cuppa"?

2013

Happy New Year!

Ode to 2012

A roller coaster of a year has just gone by

One big low but many a high

The death of my dad filled me with grief

It will be anything but brief

His passing helps me appreciate life more

So I look forward to what 2013 has in store

Merry Christmas

Celebrating 125 Years!

The little town I live in celebrated its 125th birthday on December 7th. There were all kinds of activities going on around town the week before.

The Colonel and I helped to hang a timeline of the city's history in one of the downtown buildings. The timeline was visited by many people and was featured in the local paper.

 A luncheon and dinner were held too. The Colonel, his parents and I attended the luncheon. The food had a southern flair: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, rolls and for dessert, banana pudding.

As we were eating our lunches, a 25 year-old time capsule was opened.

Below is a picture of some of the items that people thought were important enough to put in the time capsule back in 1987. Someone had put in a roll of toilet paper with a note saying, I don't know what you use now, but this is what we used. I hardly think cleaning the human backside would/could have changed all that much in 25 years. Notice the Big Gulp cup...someone knew back in 1987 that a Big Gulp would be an endangered species in some parts of the country now.

There was also entertainment. A local choir group sang some Christmas carols. They were pretty good.

On the day of the actual birthday celebration, several activities were planned and they would begin around 7 p.m.

There was one activity that The Colonel and I visited that was not part of the birthday celebration activities. Since it was December 7th and the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of the local cemeteries was having a memorial service with over 2,000 luminaries spread throughout the grounds. We did not watch the memorial service; we walked around, appreciating all of the luminaries.

As we walked around I spied a statue of St. Matthew. As I got closer to the statue I began to laugh and called The Colonel to me. St. Matthew had some Spanish moss growing out of his nose.

I picked St. Matthew's nose and freed it from the epiphyte. Now he could breathe easier.

We headed into town for the birthday festivities. There was Christmas music, birthday cake (enough to feed 2,000), lighting of the town's Christmas tree (32-foot tall with 9,000 lights), a parade with the local high school band and Santa and the Mrs. in a fire truck...and snow (bubbles)!

This is Bob "Fig" Newton. He was instrumental in getting the town's Christmas tree last year. He campaigned and raised the $33,000 to purchase the tree. It is the same kind of tree that can be found at Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios.

Santa and Mrs. Claus exited the fire truck at another one of our town's pretty Christmas trees.

The Colonel and I enjoyed our evening...we love our little town. 

Wordless Wednesday