Downton Abbey: Season 5, Episode 6

What Happened (A Very Short Summary) 
The Dowager Countess visits the Prince with news that she hopes to find his wife;  he asks Violet to run away with him.  Back at home, Violet has problems with her new lady's maid.  Edith receives word that Michael Gregson is presumed dead in Munich.  She also learns that she has inherited Gregson's publishing company.  Bates discovers Mary's contraceptive device and book that Anna is keeping for Mary.  He assumes they belong to Anna and they quarrel.  Later he confesses to Anna that he chose not to harm Green.  Cora and Robert have it out about Simon Bricker, and she stands up to him;  he returns to their room.  Barrow is ill, and Baxter convinces him to see a doctor.  Dr. Clarkson assures him that he will be fine (he was taking saline) and is kind and reassuring.  Lady Mary bobs her hair.  When she unveils her new look at a family gathering (which includes Rose's new friend, Atticus), Mary and Edith have a fuss.  Tony Gillingham, Charles Blake, and Mabel Lane Fox arrive for the steeplechase.  Romantic sparks fly between Tony and Mabel.  Edith tells the truth to Mrs. Drew and leaves with baby Marigold.  Isobel tells Violet that she accepted Lord Merton's proposal.  Carson suggests to Mrs. Hughes that perhaps they should invest in a property together, for when they retire. 

Line of the Week
"All this endless thinking!  It's all very overrated."  -- the Dowager Countess
 
Character Of the Week 
Edith received the tragic confirmation of Michael Gregson's death, and mustered her wits to plan a life for herself -- and their child, Marigold.  I like Edith and have hoped she would find happiness.  I hope this is the beginning for her.

 Most Striking Visual 
 Mary's bobbed hair is a small sign of the way things are changing, moving toward modernity.

 "Oh My" Moment 
Bates' confession to Anna that he had the opportunity to pursue and harm Green, but chose not to, was quite a surprise.  I truly thought he had been involved in his death.

What I Hope Will Happen Next (All Speculation - No Spoilers!) 
I hope that things progress for Mary and Charles Blake and for Rose and Atticus.  I hope Edith and Marigold have a happy life together.   I hope Isis (who was not feeling well) is okay!

What did you think of tonight's episode?  What do you want to happen next week?

Book Blitz and Giveaway: Bricks by John Davidson

Bricks

by John Davidson 

Release Date: 02/03/15

Anaiah Press

Summary from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year old Cori Reigns learns that not all tornadoes take you to magical places. Some take your house, your school, and life as you knew it. Struggling to put the pieces of her life back together, Cori learns to rebuild what the storm destroyed by trusting family she didn't know she had and helping friends she never appreciated.

Amazon│Barnes & Noble

Married to my bride for twenty-four years, I have an amazing son and a wonderful daughter.

Born and raised in central Oklahoma, I work in education, first as a teacher now in technology curriculum. I write. I read. And in the summer I make snow cones.

Author Links:

  

Excerpt:

We found Leo in the third floor waiting room, just where Slim said he would be.

With just a cursory glance, it was easy to see he’d made the corner of the waiting area into his own private room. A blanket draped over one arm of the chair, with a pillow tucked beneath when it was needed. He had a cup of water and a box of fish crackers on the stand. The bags beneath his eyes looked like they’d been carved with a chisel as he stared at the TV with the sound off.

I marched over and fell around his neck. His hand rested on my back like an anchor while his breath warmed my neck. Letting go, I sat back on to the plain wooden coffee table, his hand still in mine.

“How are you?” I was tired of hearing it myself, but sometimes words are what they are no matter how fancy we try to dress them up.

He nodded, as I expected him to. I’d never known Leo to complain. He played an entire football game with a broken arm once. “Really?” I prodded. “It’s us, Leo. Talk to us.” Slim slid in beside me.

“I’m no worse than anybody else, you know? I’m alive. Dad’s alive, and he’s not getting worse.”

Ah, Leo’s optimistic way of saying his dad wasn’t getting better. I squeezed his hand. “I’m going to go look in on Sara. But when I get back, I want to get you out of here for a while.”

His eyes widened and he sat up and swallowed.

“Just a little while,” I assured him. “I promise. We’ll get something to eat. A snow cone, maybe.”

He settled back in his seat with a still frightened gaze.

“It’ll be fine,” I said. I let go of his hand, and it fell like a rock to his lap. Maybe Slim could perk him up while I was gone. As I made my way down the hall to the room the nurse had given me, I felt a little awkward since I didn’t have a gift to give her, but I brushed it aside. We saved Sara’s life. Considering our history, that’s a pretty big deal.

 
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Book Blitz and Giveaway: For Sure and Certain by Anya Monroe

For Sure & Certain

by Anya Monroe 

Release Date: 02/05/15

390 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

***She knits, cans jam, and lives in the city. He’s an Amish college student, breaking the rules. They're so right, it's wrong.***

Marigold, a recent high school graduate with a shady past, is looking to redefine herself. She doesn’t know what she wants exactly, but college isn’t it.

When she meets Abel, an Amish guy on Rumspringa, his ‘running around’ time, she doesn’t plan on falling for someone wearing a straw hat and suspenders. But she can't help it, Abel is the breath of fresh air she's been waiting for.

Abel, who’s moved to the city for a summer program at Jamestown, never imagined Marigold would be drawn to the life he was trying so hard to avoid. His family expects him to take over the family farm; college parties and dorm life don’t quite fit in with their plans for him.

Opposites attract, but nothing is easy with love. When they trade places for the summer they learn a life together isn’t as for sure and certain as they thought. 

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Excerpt:

“I’d like to take you out again, if you’ll have me. I know there are a lot of differences between us, ja? And maybe it’s a bad idea, knowing I’m here for just a summer before I’m supposed to go back home. But you make me feel at ease, it’s not like that with everyone. I don’t want to miss out on a good thing because of an unknown future.”

She looked down at his hands, realizing she’d already assumed there would be another date. More of these hands on hers, and maybe his mouth on hers, too. She pushed that thought away, realizing she was in no position to kiss someone so different than her.

As far as the future, she didn’t even know where she’d be by the end of summer. For now she’d find ways to be happy. Abel was one of them. She knew seeing him again wasn’t even a question. Of course she would.

“For sure and certain,” she said, remembering the Amish words he’d said before.

The simple words brought a huge grin on his face, and she matched his.

 

About the Author
Anya Monroe likes to write stories and paint words on her walls. She believes in love at first sight and fights for happily-ever-afters. As a wife and mom to six kids, she carves out time to write between carpool pick-ups and date nights because words are her heartbeat. She lives a ferry ride from Seattle and is a total Pacific Northwesterner who drinks chai lattes and wears Birkenstocks and has dreadlocks. She's a cliché, but doesn't mind it. Not even a little.

She documents her lovely-messy life on IG @anyamonroe. Find her there!

Author Links:

  

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Book Spotlight: Mimi’s Adventures in Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

About the Book

Mimi's Adventures in Baking is the first storybook cookbook that creates a fun and interactive way of learning how to bake. Follow Mimi as she learns to measure, mix and bake her way to her very first batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Learning how to bake can be easy and fun with Mimi!

Navigating your way through a kitchen full of tools, ingredients and of course safety measures are brought to life in this storybook cookbook. No more flipping through endless recipes and boring procedures. Mimi makes baking fun for the whole family. Let your child take control and become the chef they always wanted to be!

Mimi’s Adventures in Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies releases

in March 2015!

Pre-Order now:

Amazon Hardcover
Barnes & Noble

On Goodreads

---

The Author

Alyssa’s Website / Twitter / Facebook

Chef Alyssa has been baking since she was a little girl in her grandmother's kitchen. Since graduating from the Culinary Institute of America she has worked for famous chefs and elite companies such as the Ritz Carlton, Tom Colicchio, Norman Van Aken and Gray Kunz. She currently is the Executive Chef at Riverwalk Bar and Grill on the Historic nook of New York City, Roosevelt Island. She also has a boutique custom cake company called AllyCakesNYC where she creates cakes to appease the imagination. Through her journey of baking she developed Mimi, her very own miniature version of herself.
  
As a child she loved baking and everything that came with it. As an adult and food lover she realized there was something missing when she frequented bookstores. A interactive children's cookbook. And we are not talking about a boring old cookbook for kids with lots and lots of recipes, and some pictures. Children these days have just as much interest in the kitchen as there parents do, but the ordinary cookbook is just not going to cut it. She created Mimi's Adventures in Baking  to give children and adults a way to get into the kitchen and allow the child to become the chef and the adult the assistant. With each book has one recipe and an interactive storyline the child can read, and at the end go into the kitchen and do what Mimi did!  And for the "non-baking" parent, these elite pastry chef recipes are tested and ready for even the most inexperienced baker! Impress other moms with Mimi's creations!
    
Mimi's Adventures in Baking will also teach children how to measure, mix and bake their way through the kitchen while also giving safety tips along the way. No more boring cookbooks! Now there is a fun, exciting and educational way to learn how to bake!

Follow the entire Mimi’s Adventures in Baking Tour HERE

Hosted by Worldwind Virtual Book Tours

Authentic Arts: Venice Travel Guide by Laura Morelli - Book Spotlight, Guest Post, and Giveaway

 Authentic Arts: Venice Travel Guide

Every traveler to Venice wants to go home with a special souvenir--a carnival mask, a piece of Murano glass, a handcrafted piece of lace. But selecting which mask or which goblet to buy can be an intimidating experience. How do you know if you're buying something authentic, something made in Venice, something made in a traditional way? How do you gauge how much you should pay, and how do you know if you're being ripped off? How do you determine if you have fallen prey to one of the city's many tourist traps?

Laura Morelli, an art historian and trusted guide in the world of cultural travel and authentic shopping, leads you to the best of the city's most traditional arts: Murano glass, carnival masks, gondolas, lace, paper, and more. This indispensable guide includes practical tips for locating the most authentic goods in one of the busiest tourist destinations in the world. Packed with useful information on pricing, quality, and value, and with a comprehensive resource guide, Laura Morelli's Authentic Arts: Venice is the perfect guide for anyone wanting to bring home the unique traditions of Venice.

Artisans of Venice is the companion to Laura Morelli's Authentic Arts: Venice, A Travel Guide to Murano Glass, Carnival Masks, Gondolas, Lace, Paper, & More. Put both books together and you'll be the most knowledgeable traveler in Venice!

Artisans of Venice: Companion to the Travel Guide

Going to Venice? Don't buy anything in Venice until you read this book!

Buyer Beware: Venice is full of tourist traps and mass-produced souvenirs passed off as authentic. Do you know how to tell the treasures from the trash?

In Venice, it's not easy to tell the treasures from the trash. This is true now more than ever before, as increasing numbers of carnival masks, glass, and other souvenirs flood into Venice, imported from overseas and passed off as authentic. There is no substitute for an educated buyer. Laura Morelli helps you locate the city's most authentic artisans--those practicing centuries-old trades of mask making, glass blowing, wood turning, silk spinning, and other traditions. Wouldn't you rather support authentic Venetian master artisans than importers looking to turn a quick profit without any connection to Venice at all?

Venice boasts some of the most accomplished master artisans in the world. Here's how you can find them.

Laura Morelli leads you beyond the souvenir shops for an immersive cultural experience that you won't find in any other guidebook. Artisans of Venice brings you inside the workshops of the most accomplished makers of Venetian fabrics, Murano glass and millefiori, carnival masks and masquerade costumes, gondolas, Burano lace, mirrors, marbleized paper, hand-carved frames, and other treasures. This book leads you to the multi-generational studios of some 75 authentic master artisans. If you're reading on your Kindle device, tablet, or smartphone, you can click directly on their street addresses for an interactive map, and link to their web sites and email addresses directly from the guide. A cross-referenced resource guide also offers listings by neighborhood.

Laura Morelli, an art historian and trusted guide in the world of cultural travel and authentic shopping, leads you to the best of Venice's most traditional arts. Laura Morelli's Authentic Arts series is the only travel guide series on the market that takes you beyond the museums and tourist traps to make you an educated buyer--maybe even a connoisseur--of Florentine leather, ceramics of the Amalfi Coast, Parisian hats, Venetian glass, the handmade quilts of Provence, and more treasures.

Bring Laura Morelli's guides to Venice with you, and you'll be sure to come home with the best of Venice in your suitcase. 

Guest Post by Laura Morelli

Shopping Tips: Venice

Over years of uncovering Venetian artisans following authentic, centuries-old traditions, I have developed a few strategies to help guide you through the minefield of shopping in the world’s most touristy city.

Before you travel to Venice, read up on its handcrafted traditions. What sparks your interest? Carnival masks? Glass? Have you considered handmade paper? Go online or to the library and read up before you go. Even a cursory education will help you avoid impulsive and reckless purchases that you may regret later.

As soon as you arrive in Venice, start with the museums that display collections of authentic traditions such as Burano lace, Murano glass, and other handcrafted works with a long history. I am not suggesting that you should go home with a museum-quality work or an antique. The point of starting with the museums is to train your eye. After spending a short time in the local museums, you will begin to absorb the colors, patterns, styles, and forms that are traditionally Venetian. Most of all, you’ll be better equipped to spot high-quality, traditionally made wares when you begin to hunt for a souvenir. You can find a list of great museum collections of Venetian arts in the Resources section at the back of my Venice guides.

In Venice, stick to Venetian-made objects. In other words, it’s not a good idea to buy Italian goods made elsewhere, like Florentine leather handbags or Roman marble, because those items are neither traditional nor locally made. They may or may not have been made in Italy, and, purchased out of context you will never know.

There are at least two good reasons for buying Venetian works in Venice. The first is that you are more likely to get greater value by buying from the source. The second—even more valuable in my opinion—is that you are more likely to make a connection with the person who made it, and that will become part of an immersive travel experience that you will carry with you forever.

Author's Bio:

Laura Morelli holds a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University, where she was a Bass Writing Fellow and Mellon Doctoral Fellow. She authored a column for National Geographic Traveler called “The Genuine Article” and contributes pieces about authentic travel to national magazines and newspapers. Laura has been featured on CNN Radio, Travel Today with Peter Greenberg, The Frommers Travel Show, and in USA TODAY, Departures, House & Garden Magazine, Traditional Home, the Denver Post, Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, and other media. Recently her art history lesson, “What’s the difference between art and craft?” was produced and distributed by TED-Ed.

Laura has taught college-level art history at Trinity College in Rome, as well as at Northeastern University, Merrimack College, St. Joseph College, and the College of Coastal Georgia. Laura has lived in five countries, including four years in Italy and four years in France.

Laura Morelli is the author of the guidebook series that includes Made in Italy, Made in France, and Made in the Southwest, all published by Rizzoli / Universe. The Gondola Maker, a historical coming-of-age story about the heir to a gondola boatyard in 16th-century Venice, is her first work of fiction.

Connect with Laura: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ about.me

Where to buy the book:

Amazon: Venice Travel Guide

Amazon: Artisans of Venice

Giveaway:

The baùta or baùtta

The baùta is the quintessential Venetian mask, worn historically not only at Carnival time but any time a Venetian citizen wished to remain anonymous, such as when he may have been involved in important law-making or political processes in the city. The simplest of the traditional Venetian mask types, the baùta is a stark faceplate traditionally paired with a full-length black or red hooded cloak called a tabàro (or tabàrro), and a tricorn hat, as depicted in paintings and prints by the Venetian artist Pietro Longhi. Most baùte were made of waxed papier-mâché and covered most of the face. The most prominent feature is a distinctive aquiline nose and no mouth. The lower part of the mask protruded outward to allow the mask wearer to breathe, talk, and eat while remaining disguised.

Colombina

In the Commedia dell’Arte, Colombina played the role of maidservant. The Colombina is a half-mask that covers the forehead down to the cheeks, but leaves the mouth revealed. Originally, it would have been held up to the face by a baton in the hand. The Colombina is often decorated with more feminine flourishes, from gilding to gems and feathers, but both men and women may wear it.

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