Downton Madness

Normally, in our home the TV gets tuned to either The Weather Channel or HGTV. If PBS has a good travel show on Sunday evenings we'll tune in for that and we watch every Phoenix Suns game, but there's so little of value on TV these days that we almost never find something to intentionally turn on the TV so that we can watch it.

Well, a couple of weeks ago the cover of "Parade" magazine was about the start of Downton Abbey's 3rd season. I'd heard of the show, but hadn't taken much note of it up until then. Given our general interest in European things, especially history, it sounded intriguing. There was a Suns game on that evening and when it was over I noticed the time and decided I'd drop in on Downton Abbey just to see what all the buzz was about.

We were instantly hooked. Never mind that we'd missed the first third of the program - or that we hadn't seen the first 2 seasons. None of that mattered. I set the DVR to record the repeat broadcast so we could catch up. Then the good knitters on Ravelry mentioned that folks in our situation could catch up by subscribing to the free 30 day trial of Amazon Prime. I found that AP has a program for the WII so we joined, installed the program and ventured into the brave new world of online streaming video.

The good thing is that we had a 3-day weekend for Martin Luther King day so we didn't need to worry about staying up late. Over the 3 days, we watched all of Season 1 and about half of Season 2. By last night we had finished Season 2, rewatched the episodes from Season 3 that we'd seen, and last Sunday's episode. We've also explored what an "entail" is, and I'm trying not to talk too much like Mr. Carson.

I think the biggest draw for us is the window it gives us into a fascinating time, which is often ignored by history in school. The transitions in both technology and society are intriguing to see. Maggie Smith provides the comic relief in each episode.

After catching up on Seasons 1 & 2, we watched a short "recap" of the first 2 seasons. I'm glad I didn't rely on this to be the way I got "up to speed" on things, but having seen the full seasons I found the recap to be a real hoot - enjoy!

Watch Downton Abbey: Official Seasons 1 & 2 Recap on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

Winter

December is always a a busy time in our family - 3 birthdays, followed by Christmas. A week later there's New Years and a week later it's Linda's birthday. There are lots of photos to process so I'm behind on posting things.

Winter of course brings snow, and although the most recent storm didn't bring Flagstaff much snow, the very cold temperatures have kept the snow from melting. The San Francisco Peaks have kept the snow in the trees for longer than usual after a storm. This photo was taken from near my office last Friday afternoon.

One of the joys of winter is winter food, and there just isn't anything better for winter food than a big pot of pea soup. I love the way Linda makes it - thick enough to stand the ladle up in the pot! When you pair it with a slice of fresh bread made with Waldkorn flour, and real butter, it just doesn't get any better.

This was supper last night. Not only was it wonderful, but it gets better with age so the leftovers will be even better!