Confessions

Right, it's time to come clean. I've actually been absent from home for the past month, traveling in the U.S. As much as I know the U.S. readers like to know about life in Britain, I'm afraid I'm going to have to journal our experiences of this trip. 

We began on the 2nd of September by leaving home and staying at a hotel near the airport to make a 6 AM flight / 4 AM check-in. That was probably the best hotel we had the whole trip, with a lovely bed, being pitch black at night and silent, in spite of the overhead flights. Perhaps the wine we had with dinner helped out a bit.

My large suitcase was only half full at the start, though I was to learn that weight, not size, was the critical issue for airlines and trains alike. Confusingly, different weights mattered for each, as did number of bags by various airlines. Each jump to a new place was a bit fraught. 

We flew from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Dallas, picked up a car and drove four hours to our first destination: McAlester, OK. You might think it crazy to fly several thousand miles to look up dead people, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I've also had the pleasure of sharing my findings with family all over the world these past couple of days - practically my first priority after unpacking.

U.M.W.A. - United Mine Workers of America

Don't worry, I won't bore you with endless family history stories, at least not many! Besides writing posts, there is updating my family tree and my UK tax return is due the end of October. Also catching up with laundry, Who Do You Think You Are?...and with Downton Abbey! 

Tredegar House - Downstairs

As I mentioned, one grand house blends into another without something special to see or some personality to remember. The downstairs portions of these places are fairly predictable as well, though I'm always open to being surprised. There was one house we visited on this same trip where the kitchen would have been the envy of most modern chefs if only for the architecture. 

Otherwise the standard features include the bells that called the servants to the various rooms in the house. I never see these without thinking of Downton Abbey. (BTW, the next series of Downton Abbey is being filmed at Alnwick Castle, of Harry Potter fame. I'm looking forward to seeing if I recognise anything in common between the two films. Also, must find out how to visit inside Alnwick Castle, not just visit the gardens - it's not a National Trust Property. Have a feeling it might need to involve running their 10K race, but even that could be fun, exploring the grounds!)

There is almost always some sort of fake food around, hopefully to help children's imaginations. Everything I've read about living in grand houses is that the food was definitely not great. By the time it got transported from kitchen to dining room and served it was almost never hot. Which would help all those ladies stay skinny, right?

Better than the fake food, I love seeing the rows of copper pans. Those alone would cost a fortune, surely?

Of course there is always some hulking great stove - or two. 

I am particularly fond of menus. Usually there are not a lot of things there I would be excited to eat, if I even knew what they were. I'm more intrigued by the idea of knowing how to make those things and to present them beautifully. One day I'll have to do a series on 'Master This Menu'.  This is the menu for the Servant's Ball in 1921. Surely it must have been a buffet? One does find that there was an extraordinary amount of meat eaten back then, veggies being what poor folks could raise and eat. Also there seems to be a lot of desserts. My tummy hurts just reading the list, though I could fancy a bit of 'cream vanilla'.

Loved the art nouveau pattern on this platter. Art nouveau preceeded the inter-war years, but if anything I love it even better than art deco...

These 'jelly moulds' would likely have been as much for savory fare as for the gelatin and fruit concoctions I recall from my grade school days. Can't say I would be terribly excited about cold meat served up in cold gelatin. It wasn't until I moved to Britain, where vegetarians are quite common, that I realised gelatin was an animal product, even the stuff used to capture fruit. Doesn't bear thinking about, so I don't; I just eat it.

That is one of the things in my pantry shelves that needs 'used up', packets of gelatin. Can't wait to see the expression on Bill's face...

Today's News

All going to plan, Bill will be off doing the Great North Run today, with about 40,000 other runners.  He didn't actually enter, his son-in-law, Martin, had the entry.  However, owing to the birth of Bill's granddaughter, Charlotte, it turns out Martin wasn't able to come over here to do the race.  I think we all sort of predicted this, but Martin's enthusiasm makes him forget that he doesn't really run his own life any more...  Anyhow, Martin offered up his number and Bill snapped it.  I'd worry about Bill just haring off to do a half-marathon (13.1 miles), but he cycles, walks, runs or races most days of the week and so I expect he'll finish comfortably, if not with a PB.

The other big news is that Downton Abbey's third season starts tonight.  I'm allowed to be a bit goofy about a TV programme, given that I rarely watch anything at all.  The only other show Bill and I put ourselves out for is Who Do You Think You are.  Which leads me to my next topic.

Source

I've been trying to track down details about my Mom's cousin Tom, the only cousin on her father's side she ever used to talk about.  I have the impression that she liked him or that he was good looking, or maybe both.  I've never met him and I have no photos of him.  The evidence suggests Tom was married three times.  This lady was his wife at the time of his death. 



 Doesn't she look incredible at 73?

She, too, is now deceased, but - frustratingly - her obituary says nothing about her husband or his family; it was written by her daughter, from a previous marriage.  (I fit right in here with all these marriages!)

Said daughter had an unusual name and when I Googled it, came up with this man (now deceased), a former Republican U.S. Senator from Wyoming with a unique ancestry. 

Said daughter was one of his four wives; I'll not burden you with the details, but he's worth reading about if only for the pleasure/ horror, depending upon your politics. 

My point - and I do have one, Beryl - is that this man's sister is the Dowager Countess of Carnarvon, being the mother of the present Earl of Carnarvon.  (She has only been married once, in 1956).

Source

Said Earl lives at Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is filmed.  So, I'm related to Lord Grantham -  I mean Lord Carnarvon - by marriage...and divorce...sort of.  He was born - as it happens - the same year as I was. 

I've not yet added all these people to my family tree, mind.  I thought I'd wait until Bill and I were invited round for a weekend in the country and all that. 



Source

I'm sure the invitation will be in the post just as soon as he and his lovely wife read this post.  When we go, I'll be sure to take loads of pictures to share with you, OK?

Deuxième Service

I don't think I've ever mentioned having read a book called  Mad World:  Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead, by Paula Byrne. I was lucky enough to buy this for only 99p thanks to a coupon my friend Vivien sent me. From it I learned that Waugh and his friends had visited Highclere Castle (where Downton Abbey is filmed).   They - the Mitford sisters, Waugh and other of his 'set' tended to use a lot of slang of their own invention and and 'Highclere' was their word for anything very fine or elegant. So it's not just me.

If you are interested in the lifestyle of the middle and upper classes during the inter-war period then I would guess Mad World might interest you, as well as Brideshead Revisited, which is considered the best depiction ever written about life at Oxford during that time.

Ever since I read the latter book, about this time last year, I've wanted to immerse myself a bit further into understanding some of the many references it makes to the period.  And not just that, I've wanted to visualise how things looked.   So from time to time, I may share some of what I discover here.

As to the title of this post?  Well, I have to admit I drafted it a while back when I first learned that there would be a second series of Downton Abbey.  You'll understand how exciting that new was!  Also, the phrase deuxième service shows up in BR early on.  It means 'second service' and it refers to the practice of some restaurants of booking an early seating for the evening meal, followed by a stated time at which there will be a second service.  We run into this all the time on board the ferry to Amsterdam, where there seems to be a nearly infinite supply of food, but only a very generous number of tables. 

I never heard this phrase or experienced the concept until I came to Britain.   Just one more of those funny little differences.  Then again, it may be that I just didn't frequent the right sort of places in the U.S.  Then again, perhaps it's not the right sort that does this, as apparently at least one person in Australia wasn't happy about this.

Are you used to booking a table for the evening or for a seating?

Coming Christmas Day!

Bill was kind enough to forward the information that there will be a TWO HOUR special Downton Abbey!  That will be bliss...

I won't share any more in case American readers aren't up on the developments of Season 2.  I think of DA as just one more in a long list of perks of living in Britain!  The article did suggest that Season 2 would be the last - also that DA could go on for years.  I guess it can go on for as long as Julian Fellowes can be bothered.

I was just the other day taking an afternoon (post-TOO MUCH FOOD-luncheon) break and re-watching my Season 1 videos.  I find that putting the captions on the second (forth, sixteenth) time around adds a new interest, if the clothes, the house and the dialogue weren't sufficient.  However, I did notice an error that I thought I should point out.

When Mrs. Crawley and Matthew first come to dinner and the discussion turns to the local hospital where Mrs. Crawley might do some volunteer work, the subtitle says 'college hospital', when it should be 'cottage hospital'.  I was pretty sure it should be 'cottage', but then later when Mr. Carson thanks Mr. Bates for not discussing an embarrassing incident, they are standing in front of the sign that clearly says 'Cottage Hospital'.

'Old Cottage Hospital, Ledbury'

This was a phrase that made me quite nervous when I first arrived.  I love antiquity and all, but not associated with my medical services.  On the other hand, Bill says cottage hospitals tend to be 'nursing beds' with 'visiting GPs', which makes sense for convalescent stays and such.  These days they tend to be called 'community' instead of 'cottage' hospitals.  If they haven't been made over into flats.

Uptown Downstairs Abbey

I've mentioned several times that charity is big business in Britain.  Also that Brits have rather a strange sense of humour; give them an excuse to do something goofy and they'll leap on it.  Put those two ideas together and you get Red Nose Day (which raised £74 million?), which was last Friday.  My guess is that productivity across the country dropped to it's usual annual low, but then it does on Jeans for Genes Day as well, not to mention the McMillan Coffee Morning.  I used to wish I could work from home more often, but that's just me being my usual mean and grumpy self.

However, Bill found this video advertising the Comic Relief programme that will air tonight and knowing what a fan you are of the whole Downton Abbey / Upstairs Downstairs thing, I thought I should at least try to share it with you.  Victoria Wood, Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Saunders - it doesn't get better than that! Oh, and Kim Cattrall as the American wife...

And you might try this link to some hilarious behind-the-scenes interviews.

No doubt the show tonight will be a riot, but we won't be watching.  Today is Bill's birthday and I'm taking him out to dinner.

Downton Revisited

I have finally sickened myself on the Downton Abbey videos; I know the script by heart and I've paused a million times to study the details of the clothing.  So I will put it all away and come back to renew my pleasure at a later time.  Before stepping off the fantasy train, however, I checked out the place where the series was filmed. 

Highclere Castle is located in Berkshire (that's pronounced Bark-sure by the way).

View Larger Map

Between London and Bath, Oxford and Southampton, it's a 'good address' I suppose.  If you're at all curious, best enter their postcode "RG20 9RN" into Google maps and browse to your heart's content.  I can recommend the Highclere Castle website as well, giving all the information one needs to time a visit and a stroll.  I should warn you that the video on that website is a bit of a jolt.  Several of the actors, the author and the owners - as in the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon - are  shown in real life.  Let's just say they are a stark contrast to the appearance and behaviour portrayed in the television series.

If the name Carnarvon rings a bell, well it should.  George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon was involved with Howard Carter and the discovery of the Tomb of King Tutankhamun.  It sometimes strikes me that my life runs in circles - pardon me, please, whilst I digress.  Just the other day, Jg. commented about my word, pentimento, and introduced me to another:  conflation.  I chewed on it a bit and decided it might be a bit rich for my diet, but then I ran across it again here, courtesy of Delia.  I was very pleased with myself for recognising it.  In another slightly vaguer but similar circle, Egyptology is the background theme of the Amelia Peabody series, written by Elizabeth Peters, that I've been working my way through.  Let me reassure you here that I do still know the difference between fantasy and reality, but you could be forgiven for wondering at times.

Finally, Bill was struck by the Highclere website as well, given that his family tree eventually links him to the Carnarvon family.  It's a tenuous and dangling twig, that connection, and I confess to being a tad skeptical about that.  In spite of the fact that the present Earl is just my age, and I'm sure the Countess and I have loads in common to talk about , let's just say we're not likely to be calling round for tea.  I'm afraid I much prefer the television series viewed in the comfort of my own castle, thank you.  We might wonder over for a stroll through the estate, however, should we find ourselves in the neighbourhood.  I'll be sure to take my camera, I promise...

Obsessed

I'm sure I've bored everyone rigid every time I say 'We don't watch much TV'. We watch quite a bit of BBC I-Player and loads of select videos; I'm a movie buff and can watch my collection repeatedly if I just space them a bit. The time when we're most likely to channel surf is after a video has finished and we can't quite rouse ourselves off the chaise lounge. I was doing just such a thing last Sunday when I stumbled onto Downton Abbey.

I'm aware that the romance of the whole Upstairs-Downstairs thing is a bit naff, like the way of life on Southern Plantations is dressed up in fluff.  I know fine well that had I lived in those times I would not be amongst those wearing the elegant ballgowns, nor would most of us.  I might just manage middle-class, but for women in those times it was all about whom one married and from what I've told you thus far, you'll know my record in that area isn't great.  Nevermind, TV is about escapism, right?  So, these are the reasons I'm loving Downton Abbey:

• It's a costume drama - the clothes have me drooling.
• It is set in 1912-14, not quite interwar but an interesting period nonetheless.
• The setting is a breath-taking Edwardian country house in an English village.
• It has Maggie Smith in it, which alone would make it wonderful.
• There are other stars I recognise, such as Elizabeth McGovern. I must admit I've never thought that highly of her acting but she's excellent in this role. Another main character is Michelle Dockery, whom I recognise as the grand-daughter in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather video, which we have to watch every Christmas along with White Christmas. Anyone who make Pratchett more palatable must be extraordinarily gifted.
• Last and probably the most important is the screenwriter for this series is Julian Fellowes, the screenwriter who created Gosford Park, which I've also professed to love in every 4th post here. 

If you've never read his book, Snobs, you've missed a treat. 

(While I'm at it I'll recommend Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen, as the two seem to go hand in hand). 

In my usual fashion, I've discovered this series halfway through its next-to-last episode; I never discovered the TV series M*A*S*H until it went into re-runs.  (I'm the same way with new fashions - I learn to like them just as they are going out...). British TV series are only for 6-7 weeks and I've never adapted to the brevity. Last I knew US series tended to run 12-13 weeks, don't they?  Ironically, the show airs on Sunday at 9pm, our usual bedtime. 

I understand the DVD set for the first series is or is about to be released, but I'll not put it on my Christmas list for now (I'd rather wait a while for the price to drop).  In the meantime, I can feed my addiction to the clothes on YouTube.  'Periodxdrama' has posted 8-9 minute clips that just about satisfy...but not quite.  I'm hoping that you can see these in the US if this sort of thing appeals.  I'd be amazed if it isn't available in the US; Fellowes is no fool.

If anyone hears about the next series coming up, please let me know!  I'm just going to have to stay up late on Sunday to get my last fix before it disappears!