Loving Me Some Dowton Abbey . . .

Ok, so I can become a completely obsessive person. With that being said, a lot of the time, once I make my mind up, there is no stopping me (remember I painted 18' high walls!?!?!).  So I was sitting down to fold several loads of laundry and I turned on the TV. With nothing being on, I switched to Netflix and came across Downton Abbey. For those of you not in the "know," it's a PBS fiction series set in a grand house in England beginning in 1912 with the sinking of the Titanic. It follows the lives of the wealthy family who live in the house and the servants who are at their beck-and-call. Little did I know, when I innocently played that first show, that the next 36 hours of my life would be in front of a TV and computer! I was completely hooked in the first five minutes (I am a bit of an Anglophile).

I love the grand home (they use the real English estate Highclere Castle) . . .

the amazing costumes  . . .

A staff (who wouldn't want a staff???) . . .

the great, can't-stop-watching storylines  . . .

Shirley MacLaine as a sassy, outspoken, ridiculously wealthy American . . . 

but best of all, Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham 

(Lady Grantham)!

Every family needs a dowager. Here are some of my favorite lines she has spouted -

Lady Mary: "Sybil is entitled to her opinions."

Lady Grantham: "No. She isn't until she is married, then her husband will tell her what her opinions are."

Lady Grantham: "You are quite wonderful the way you see room for improvement wherever you look. I never knew such reforming zeal."

Mrs Crawley: “I take that as a compliment.”

Lady Grantham: “I must have said it wrong.”

Tom: "They turned everyone out of the castle. Lord and Lady Dromgoole, their sons and the servants. And then they set fire to it."

Edith: "What a tragedy"

Lady Grantham: "Well, rather yes and no - that house was hideous. Of course, that is no excuse."

Lady Grantham: "I do think a woman's place is eventually in the home, but I see no harm in her having some fun before she gets there."

Robert: "They do say there is a wild man inside all of us."

Lady Grantham: "If only he would stay inside."

Lady Grantham: "Parenting is difficult enough even when you like the child."

Lady Grantham: "Don't be defeatist, dear. It's so middle class."

Sir Richard: "I am leaving this morning Lady Grantham, I doubt we will ever meet again."

Lady Grantham: "Do you promise?"

Lady Grantham: "Judas was only trying to help."

Lady Grantham: "I will applaud your discretion when you leave."

Lady Grantham: "I do hope I am interrupting something."

So, needless to say, I watched Season One on Netflix. Immediately had to switch over to Hulu.com (signed up for a free week, watched my stories and then canceled it) since Netflix didn't have Season Two. After watching Season Two (took a short break to sleep), onto Amazon Prime (free membership for 1 month) to watch Season Three. All that rushing (literally would have been a page turner if I was reading it) and now I have to wait until January 5, 2014 for Season Four. Bummer! Something MAJOR happened in last minute of Season Three but I won't be a spoiler. Go see for yourself! It's really good!

Now off to get something finally done but that is for another post!