Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Dishing on Downton


On this past Sunday's episode of Downton Abbey, the house was opened up
to the public to raise funds for the hospital.  I had to laugh when some 
members of the household questioned who would want to pay money to
visit the house?

Who???  Well, I for one would love to take a tour!  




As the full fledged Anglophile that I am, I would be happily taking in 
the visual banquet of the grand estate.  Wouldn't you?  So many of
us are so in love with houses and decorating and consider home tours
to be greatly entertaining.  

People have always tipped the butler to see the house.
Even Elizabeth Bennet wanted to see what Pemberley 
was like inside.
~ Isobel Crawley




Of course, what amazed me about the Downton tour was that so many
of the family knew so little of the history of the grand house they call
their home.  The family stumbled over questions such as these:

Who knows about the history of the house?
What about the architect?




Or ~
Tell us about these people?

By the way ~ that's me I think ;-)  Yes, it is.  I remember the hours
I spent posting for this portrait.  I was itching to get back to the stable!



Lord Grantham thought the idea of touring his estate for money
was crackers,  yet he was quite delighted by the little lad who decided to
take his own self guided tour and ended up in Lord Grantham's bedroom.
He referred to the young lad as a philosopher.



Have you ever wondered if any of the Crawley's dogs ever napped
on the sofa?  That's Bentley's question.




People are curious about historical homes.  At the Mardi Gras party we
attended last Saturday night, there were many members of the Victoria
Historical Preservation.  They had all been on the tour of our home back
in April 2013, just one month before we purchased this house.  They knew
more about my house than I do!

Victoria, Texas has many grand old homes.  You can visit many of
them here.




Imagine ~ charging money to have people snoop around our house.
Of course they will happily do so!



I for one would want Mrs Patmore to give me a tour of the Downton 
kitchen.  I love all the beautiful copper pots and the great table where
the work of rolling out pastry and such is done.  

When Mr Mason sent a basket of fresh veggies to Mrs Patmore, she
responds by saying …

I'll make soup and stock and all sorts.

The guests always do end up in the kitchen and that's where we
will end up today.  The Ash Tree Cottage kitchen where dinner
will be prepared tonight.  See y'all tomorrow.


Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley





15 comments:

  1. I love Downton Abbey and it was fun to imagine how the tours started at these great old homes. Have you ever visited the blog of Lady Carnavon? (www.ladycarnavon.com) It's the official website of the Countess of Carnavon at Highclere...she has some interesting reads...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I have been there and yes I love everything Downton!

      Delete
  2. I smiled too when I heard someone on Downton Abbey say "who would pay money to tour our home?". Your home is beautiful, by the way, and now I will visit Lady Carnavon's blog. Thanks for the link.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm quite sure that the Crawley bunch will come to the realization that the only way for them to sustain the estate is to offer tours. I can only imagine the taxes!!!

      Delete
  3. It's funny because I watch the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice at least once a month, and we had watched it on Saturday night - so that line thrilled us to no end.

    I am with you - if I should ever get the chance to see Highclere Castle (happily pay to do so) I should like to see the kitchen - though the one Mrs. Patmore works in is just a filming stage and not the kitchen there. :-(

    Anyway, hate it's the last season, but sure am glad Lord Grantham lived through that bloddy ordeal - yikes!

    Have a wonderful week full of love! ♥♥♥

    PS If that is really you in that portrait, you are adorable. Green eyes, eh? Lovely!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is me at sixteen, and yes I do have green eyes. My Daddy's eyes were blue and my Mom's eyes were green. I was born with blue that turned to green. Interesting ~ my Mom's eyes turned blue later on, so thats what I may end up having.

      Delete
  4. I loved the humor in the fact that the girls and Cora didn't know the history - I had a feeling that was coming! That is a lovely portrait! To be treasured for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can you imagine just taking all that history for granted? I could not!

      Delete
  5. My second comment, ha ha. I visited www.ladycarnarvon.com the current lady of Highclere and she has a lovely blog. Be sure you put TWO r's in the blog name. Also, I like the portrait of the pretty blond lady, is she getting ready to go on a ride?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The pretty blonde lady was just a girl and she was me ;-)

      Delete
  6. Haha, that was a great episode. Yes, I want a tour!
    Karee

    ReplyDelete
  7. I missed Sunday's episode and am hoping they will show it again before the new one coming up this week!!
    I love all things 'Downton Abbey!!!'

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great post! LOVE your PURE BUTTER PLATTER!!!

    ReplyDelete

Oliver and I LOVE and read every comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...