So then I unfriended Julian

We can't even

****A few possible spoiler-type words follow; better skip it if you're not all caught up****

Well, what a season!  I guess we were WAY too happy at the end of LAST season when Matthew and Mary finally got engaged.  Following that tearful-cheerful-tearful formula, since they were officially broken up AND England went to war at the end of Season One, then NEXT year should end happily, right?  RIGHT?

Nope not yet

What do YOU think will happen?  Maybe some background episodes about Cora and Robert?  My spies hint at a new suitor for the Widow Mary, Edith is deep in her impossible romance, Tom is a free agent, Bates is just FREE, plenty of single people downstairs...the hard part will be waiting for it to start.  Your intrepid reporters are so dedicated to bringing YOU recaps (we have to know what is going on!) that we are likely to peek across the pond at the new episodes in September.  Of course--no spoilers will appear here until after each episode airs on PBS in the US.  We understand the element of suspense (we're just not very good at it.)

When Lillie and I decided to double-team these recaps we had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how long each one would take.  HOURS AND HOURS!  When PBS would sneak in two episodes on Sunday night we were never ready.  We hope to get a jumpstart on next season.

SO once again, thank you for joining us each week (or so) for these recaps.  We've LOVED writing them and look forward to opportunities to collaborate again.  Here's the recap:

http://www.anybodycandoanything.com/2013/02/downton-abbey-i-hate-you-julian-fellowes.html

And now, back to our regularly scheduled (or more likely, totally random) blog posts!

Wait--WHAT?  It's over?  For how long?

You must remember this

This post contains NO spoilers, unless your fingers can't help but clicking the link to Lillie's blog.

Mister Carson and a whole mess of pretty eggs from some chicken pals of ours.  

So last week PBS pulled a fast one and aired TWO episodes of Downton Abbey. Which would be great, I'd watch them all back-to-back if given the chance, but Lillie and I had only written one recap.  (We write them ahead so they're ready to publish the night the episode airs, or the next day if we have to change anything).  Also last week was SUPER busy for Lillie and we didn't have much chance to work on it.  FINALLY, here is the recap for the NEXT TO THE LAST episode.  The "Christmas Special" ( for the UK, anyway) airs tonight and we may or may not be able to get the recap out to you as quickly as we'd like [because we haven't even started it yet].  And since it's the last episode until fall (or January for you law-abiding Americans!), we want to give it the attention it deserves.

One of my really old neighbors (it's that kind of neighborhood) had to move into a care home and Friday there was an estate sale at her house.  I had been looking for a basket to put afghans and yoga mats in to keep in the living room, and I found this one.

Lillie scored a perfect set of four original pink and white Pyrex nesting bowls.

Here's the basket after I vacuumed out all the dust and pine-cone crumbs.  Perfect!

I also found this little dresser and talked them down to $35 (including the basket)!  It's in quite good shape, only a few dings.  It's nice heavy solid wood with dovetailed joints.  At 33" high, it's ideal for a night stand on the far side of my bed--it's just a little taller  than the mattress.   I have an old cedar chest there (made FOR ME by a boyfriend when I was still a teenager) which, although I love it, is much too low and not convenient for storing things like clothes.  If I shift a few things (and have People of Progress come pick up the cruddy old loveseat and coffee table from the library) several items can relocate to new spaces.  I plan to live with this dresser in its current state while I decide how I want it to look.  My tentative plan is to paint it white (maybe staining the top dark like my taller dresser) and replace the federal style pulls with glass knobs.  At some point there may have been a single center knob on each drawer, which seems peculiar for a dresser this wide, but who knows? I still plan to drag the emigrated-from-Chicago head-and-footbard into my room, and they are handsome wood that I want to keep.  A kicky color would be fun but I already have that  bright pink nightstand on the other side, and also I can visualize this dresser moving out to the living area someday.  Anyway, when I do decide, I'll make a post with some "after" shots.

In the meantime, Lillie and I are hard at work [starting and] finishing the LAST recap of Downton Abbey Season Three.  We don't think we can get it up before Wednesday, but a little anticipation now is good practice for the YEAR you have to wait for next season.  Maybe we will get a better headstart on writing recaps for Season Four ahead of the US air dates!

We both hope you enjoy our latest recap and are looking forward to the last one.  Your enthusiasm has been the impetus that has made this project so much fun.  See you in a few days!

A kiss is just a kiss

Downton Abbey Season Three, Episode Seven:

The end of Season Three is closing in.  I know you all thought you couldn't wait for the funerals and jiltings and suspicious lumps to stop already, but those things definitely kept us on the edge of our seats, now, didn't they?  This episode has it's share of excitement--no doubt about it--but somehow it was harder to write about this one than the last few.

To think we all couldn't wait for everybody to start kissing again.  Hoo boy!

Click over to Lillian's blog and see how we did.

PBS got a wild hare and decided to air TWO episodes tonight, and we were SO not prepared with our recap.  I don't know how Lillian will ever graduate from college if this keeps happening.  Back to the drawing board--we'll try to get the next one up in a day or so!

If I can get over the assumption that there is an ANNUAL CRICKET MATCH between the town and Downton Abbey.  No one has paid closer attention to this story than I have and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, nobody has ever mentioned the game of cricket, let alone have a dozen men dressed head to toe in cream wool and played an annual cricket game.  It's almost as hard to swallow as when "Cousin Patrick" showed up with burn scars and bandages, back in Season Two.

Beside each believer stands an angel...

--Catholic Catechism 336

Downton Abbey Season Three, Episode Six

Your writing team frantically pushing the deadline...(or; gracious my coffee table is a mess.)

Well, for a change, an episode that didn't make us cry too much.
For the first time this season we got through the entire hour without a box of Kleenex.
For our latest recap and all the previous ones, GO HERE.

That darn PBS!  Well not really because they actually did things right, but this episode has almost ten minutes of extra lines and even whole scenes that the UK version cut.
If you're watching PBS, rest assured you're getting the real deal.
Now I'm mad because even if I buy the series from Amazon, I won't get those lost minutes...
 I'll just have to watch the PBS ones as long as they're available...(Bougie problems)


If you're worried about spoilers, STOP RIGHT NOW!

Remember the Mary Tyler Moore Show?  Mary sat next to Murray, whose wife was named Marie?  I always loved that the writers did that.  Anyway, that's all I can think about now when the other  Mary and Murray appear in the same scene. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, I swear I think of Ted Baxter when Robert starts yapping about Catholics or whatever.  Oh, Robert, is this how far we have fallen?  I think between now and Season Four I'm going to have to watch all the MTM episodes again, if I can find them.

Not yet, but soon, you'll see!  Anna may get to wear that French garter after all.  They OWE me that. He's been in prison for, what, about ten years now?  Poor Mr Bates.  I've suffered too. We all have.

I've been enjoying watching poor Isobel as she waits for Ethel to to turn into a real cook.  Ethel finally calls in the big guns--she asks Mrs Patmore for some cooking advice. Nobody gets a bad meal on Mrs Patmore's watch.

It's nice to see these two being sweet again, but when they pledge to love each other until their last breath, I get a cold chill.  All these plot twists have made me really twitchy!

Oh man, only a few more episodes to go!  Go read our recap on Lillie's blog and I'll see you next week.