I've just finished watching the last few episodes of Upstairs Downstairs and must say I am the tiniest bit bereft to see the doors of 165 Eaton Place close one last time. I didn't realize I had become so attached to its residents whose lives I've followed from 1903 until 1930--through marriages and deaths, a war, labor strikes, an influenza pandemic, affairs, heartbreak, loads of elegant dinners and an endless parade of silk dresses, starched aprons and the tinkle of bells ringing throughout the house.
When I first started watching so many months ago, I thought it seemed quaint if a little dated. Produced in the 1970s on what appears to be a small budget it doesn't hold a candle to the likes of Downton Abbey in terms of pure lushness and visual opulence, but the more I watched the more it grew on me. Between the aristocratic Bellamy family upstairs and their mostly loyal servants downstairs there was no lack of drama for the sixty-eight episodes I've had the pleasure of watching.
Now I'm wondering what I'm going to follow it up with? I like the ongoing story of a long running series, and season two of Downton Abbey doesn't air until mid-January 2012. Maybe it's time to watch Inspector Lynley again or maybe another go at Aristocrats or Horatio Hornblower. I guess I like escapism in my movie viewing as well as my books.
You might remember I started this sampler a few weeks ago?
This is what I've stitched so far, mostly while watching Upstairs Downstairs. Can you spot the section I'm working on in the larger sampler? I didn't realize that most of the words are going to be stitched in that grey-ish color you see in the upper letters. The color is called London Fog--isn't that great? Overdyed floss always has names to describe the colors--like Cinnabar, Hibiscus and Scuppernong. So far I've used Putty, Amber, Gold and Sweetheart Rose! I'm quite enjoying stitching this.
In bookish news I've finished Mary Stewart's My Brother Michael, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Another title to add to my (ever growing) list of books I need to write about. I'm afraid I didn't get in much of that this weekend, but there were other things I wanted to do rather than sit in front of the computer, and I'm sure you know how that goes sometimes. I, of course, want to pick another Mary Stewart book out to read immediately, but I will be good and turn my attention to one of the books on my pile that I am so close to finishing. My Brother Michael is set in Greece sometime after WWII, and each chapter begins with quotes from Greek classics, which I am wholly uneducated in. Another gap in my reading I should remedy someday.
I've got another ghost story lined up to read, which I will hopefully squeeze in before the weekend finishes, and I hope to write about it in the next few days. It's cool and grey and drizzly out, so perfect reading weather for something dark and atmospheric. Where do the weekends go?