I found tonight's episode of Downton Abbey as satisfying as last week's was unsettling.
The show opened with a striking image of a woman walking, in profile, toward the castle. This set the stage for an episode about women and secrets.
Anna has chosen to keep the rape secret from Mr. Bates. As a result, there is tremendous tension between them, and she has decided to move back to the servant's quarters since she feels unworthy of him. Mrs. Hughes knows, but is keeping her secret. I hope that Anna will decide to tell Mr. Bates everything, and if she doesn't, I hope that Mrs. Hughes will intervene. Mrs. Hughes does try to talk to Anna, but Anna is not ready to listen. I was waiting for Mrs. Hughes to say that Lord Gillingham's valet should be reported because not only has he committed a violent crime, but he could do this to another woman, since he is clearly a dangerous and disturbed person.
There is also tension between Edna Braithwaite and Tom Branson. I am not sure if she actually slept with him when he was drunk, or if she pretended to in order to blackmail him. Tom is very troubled and feels guilty about what happened, and he also confides in Mrs. Hughes. She calls Edna out on her behavior and her schemes, and Edna leaves in a huff. Before she exits, there is a wonderful little sniping conversation with Thomas. And then she leaves -- good riddance to bad rubbish! This was one of the highlights of the episode for me.
Edith has gone off to London to see Michael Gregson before he leaves for Munich. She signs a paper for him. I believe he says this gives her control of the paper. I must admit that the signing of the paper made me nervous -- what else is she agreeing to by signing it? I still do not trust Gregson. Edith has a walk of shame back to Aunt Rosamunde's house, and Rosamunde calls her on coming in at six a.m. Rosamunde says what I have been thinking -- that Edith is risking a lot for a man they don't really know. I want Edith to be happy, but something about Gregson doesn't add up for me. I hope I am wrong.
Mary is visited in London and at Downton Abbey by Tony Gillingham. He has fallen in love with her and wants to marry her, whenever she is ready, whether it is a year or two or three. There is a scene in the gardens where they talk and he kisses her. He has told her that she fills his brain. She says that her brain is still filled with Matthew, and she wants it to stay that way, because she isn't ready to let go of him yet. Gillingham leaves to move on, as originally planned, with the woman he was about to propose to. Later, when Mary is talking to Branson, she says that she has done something that she thinks she will regret for a long time to come.
In other news, Mrs. Crawley is volunteering with the doctor (whose name I always forget!), and it seems like they might get closer. I hope so. There is also a sweet scene between Mrs. Crawley and the Dowager Countess, who are surprisingly becoming friends.
There is a lovely scene between Mrs. Hughes and Carson, when she presents him with a framed picture of his lost love, Alice. He has one of the most poignant lines of the night: "The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end, that's all there is."
There is much more back and forth with the younger servants working at Downton (the quadrangle of Alfred, Daisy, James, Ivy). These young folk with their electric mixers and cloakroom intrigue! Yawn.
Rose is continuing to look for fun, including a brief flirtation with a family friend in London, and sparks of interest with a jazz bandleader, Jack Ross, who happens to be black.
Thomas informs Lord Grantham that he has an older woman to recommend as a new maid for Cora. It will be interesting to see who she is, and what Thomas's angle is -- because I'm sure there is one.
What did you think of tonight's episode? Do you think Mary made the right decision about Tony Gillingham? Do you think we have seen the last of Edna Braithwaite? What do you think about Edith and Michael Gregson? What about Anna and Mr. Bates -- can this marriage be saved? What storylines interest you the most?
I hope you'll leave a comment and share your thoughts!
Welcome to my first ever Friday Faves! Each week will be just a little pocketful of happiness.
My faves this week are:
Gingerbread Spice Tea by Celestial Seasonings. This is a holiday tea, and it really does remind me gingerbread, with a nice cinnamon accent. I am a longtime fan of Celestial Seasonings. Their teas have all-natural ingredients, a wide range of flavors, and beautiful packaging.
GarageBand for iPad. This is the most addictive app ever! With the free edition, you can play the piano, guitar, or drums. Coincidentally, these are the three instruments I have actually played at some point in my life. It is so much fun! I love playing by ear, as I used to on an actual piano, and adding chords for accompaniment.
American Idol, Season 13. This truly seems like a new and improved Idol, with the new judging panel of Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Connick, Jr. The judges seem to really care about picking singers who have talent and potential, and the auditions have seemed much kinder than past seasons. I like the way Harry Connick, Jr. offers constructive criticism (and it is truly constructive) when he lets a singer down. There have only been two episodes, and I haven't seen a singer who really stands out for me, but I'm hoping there will be someone this season, like some of my past favorites: Candace Glover, Phillip Phillips, Adam Lambert, Casey Abrams, Jason Castro, Melinda Doolittle, Clay Aiken. Idol is back! That is a happy thought on its own.
January is the month of love at Birdhouse Books, as I list lots of great vintage Valentines. I really enjoy working with vintage Valentines for children, and have posted photos and links many times over the past few years. I wanted to share a few previous blog links with you (photos of the fun vintage cards at each link):
1940's Valentines for children - My favorite is the little Shirley Temple girl with her Scottie dog.
Baby Boomer Die-Cut Valentines - Especially love the "hoppy" frog card.
Photos of vintage Valentines - Be sure to see the mechanical tango dancers, and the unique older handmade card.
More 1940's Valentines - The soda fountain is just too cute!
1920's to 1930's vintage Valentines - The Red Riding Hood card is so charming!
1950's to 1960's Die-Cut Valentines - They are all cute, but I think I like the bowling Terrier dog most of all.
Baby Boomer Valentines - The top card pictured, of the little girl painting with her dog, is especially cute.
Whitney Made Valentines - These cards from the 1920's to 1930's are among the most beautiful, with detailed illustrations. The last card pictured, of a little boy and girl under an umbrella, is so sweet.
More Baby Boomer Vintage Valentines - The first card features a little girl and her Dachshund. I collect vintage Dachshund cards and have one of these in my collection.
Sweet 1950's Valentines - The little girl painting is an especially sweet illustration.
Vintage Valentines for Children - The first and last cards pictured are mechanical cards featuring children and dogs, with Charles Twelvetrees illustrations.
Elephant Bride Valentine - This card sold long ago, but I'm glad the photo is still here at the blog. I believe this is a Jason Freixas illustration. It was a spectacular card!
Anthropomorphic Train Valentine - The anthropomorphic cards are fun!
Carousel Valentine - I love vintage carnival and fair items, so find this especially appealing.
Mechanical Valentine of a Little Girl and Her Dog - A little girl plays the piano while her dog helps by "singing."
And, of course, if you want to see more Valentines, you'll find hundreds at Birdhouse Books.
Before we start talking about Downton Abbey, I have to say that of course both my beloved pups, Barney Fife and Abby, watch the show each week curled up beside me. Barney, being a wise senior dachshund, usually agrees with Carson in all things Downton. Abby wishes to be referenced in all Downton posts here, since the title includes her name - sort of.
Also, this post contains SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! for Episode 2 of Season 4. Do not continue reading if you have not seen the episode yet.
Sigh. This was the episode I had heard whispers about. I had only heard that something bad was going to happy to Anna in this episode. I didn't have details, but figured it out early on tonight. Sigh. I hated this storyline. Absolutely hated how dark and dreary it was. Poor Anna. She's been through enough, with Bates' jail sentence and their separation.
Also -- I am ready for Braithwaite to leave already. She is up to no good with Tom, who is my favorite of the Downton men. He was already struggling tonight, feeling out of place at the formal dinner. (But wasn't he handsome in white tie?)
On a positive note, Lord Gillingham is charming, and it was nice to see Lady Mary connect with him on the basis of a longtime friendship. I hope, since it is so soon after Matthew's death, that this will remain just a friendship for a while.
Gregson did a good turn outsmarting the card shark to win back the money that Lord Grantham and the others lost. I still worry, though, for Edith, especially after seeing the trailers for next week.
As usual, the Dowager Countess had several wonderful lines. My favorite was: "If I were to search for logic, I should not look for it among the English upper class." I was also delighted that she quoted Christina Rosetti when talking to Mrs. Crawley: "Better by far you should forget and smile/ Than that you should remember and be sad."
My favorite scene was at dinner, when Cora found that famed opera singer Nellie Melba would be dining alone in her room. After Cora left to smooth things over, Lord Grantham looked at Carson and said: "I blame you." Absolute perfection! They are both so enamored with the decorum of the past.
On a visual note, the glimpse of the garden was striking. I love the greenery arches!
One question from this episode -- why was one of the footman (James?) measuring the distance from each chair to the table? I'm sure there was some reason based on etiquette and vintage dining customs.
Overall, this wasn't my favorite episode, but of course I still like lesser Downton over anything else on television.
What did you think of this episode? I hope you'll leave your comments below (without any spoilers for future episodes, if you have already seen the UK edition). What do you think of Lord Gillingham? What will happen with Anna and Bates? How do you think the Braithwaite storyline will resolve?
"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose
and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen
at its height. Live in fragments no longer."
- E.M. Forster, Howards End
Lately it seems I'm spending more time off the computer and communicating via phone and iPad. As a result, I find myself looking at the social media sites and thinking about whether they work for me.
My beloved Pinterest is the same on computer or iPad - a stream of beautiful, whimsical, funny photos.
Facebook is also fun in any medium -- a chance to catch up with friends and family, read updates, share photos (and, okay, I will admit it - play Songpop as well!).
Twitter, though, is another story. I am finding that I end up reading long streams of items for sale, books promoted, but very little actual conversation.
I have been doing Twitter wrong. As a vintage seller, for years I have scheduled item tweets with Hootsuite (a lovely program for organizing Twitter reads by lists and stream). Unfortunately, this means I wasn't really talking on twitter, except for brief conversations with personal friends and dachshund community buddies.
I'm going to try something different. I have some Valentine tweets scheduled (one a day) but after these run out, I am not going to schedule tweets, but will interact regularly. Of course I will still tweet some of my vintage items, but I will do so live online, and on a much smaller basis. My new motto is to talk more and promote less.
The same goes for massive retweets. I was retweeting sometimes 25, 50, or more vintage tweets at any given time. Yikes! I participate in a link exchange with a small group of longtime eBay friends, and I will still do that, but that is again on a small scale, resulting in just a handful of tweets.
I don't know how this will change things, but I'm looking forward to finding out. I can't promise that my tweets will all be pithy or interesting, but I can promise this: they will be real.
