Yes, Friends, are YOU hooked on the latest historical costume drama to come out of TV studios - "The sisters of Darington Manor?" It hasn't actually debuted yet, but just the reviews of the preview (or the preview of the reviews, whichever you prefer (!)), as reported in the local Onion News today, is exciting enough for me and my wife Lois, here in little, semi-bucolic Liphook, Hampshire this morning!
Heavens to Betsy, as they say !!!!
Wowee!!!
That's what Lois and I call a real "humdinger", and "The Sisters of Darington Manor" is certain to push the BBC's current Jane Austen-esque blockbuster "The Other Bennet Sister", out of the top ten, to put it mildly!!!! That series, about the only Jane Austen heroine, Mary Bennet, who isn't pretty and can't be easily "married off", is currently "riding high" in the ratings, but is destined to end up in a ditch - no pun intended!!!! - pushed roughly aside by this sexy new arrival or "Darington", as it's already being called!!!!
the new ratings war which looms, dubbed by the press "the Battle of the Necklines",
between "The Other Bennet Sister", and the brand-new "The Sisters of Darington Manor"
Lois and I have been suckers for historical costume ever since our visit, with our two young daughters, to Williamsburg, Virginia during our 3 years in the States back in the early 1980's. Williamsburg, the town which has been called a 'living museum', encourages as many visitors as possible to "party like it's 1799", and Yours Truly couldn't resist the chance to "strut my stuff" in my featured brand-new size 7 and a half "tricorn", and our two young daughters seen here sporting their shiny new "mobcaps", which was nice!
flashback to 1983: Yours Truly in his shiny-new 7.5 size "tricorn",
and our daughters Sarah (6) and Alison (8) in their shiny-new 18th century
'mobcaps', outside the "JC Wetherburns" (!) in Williamsburg, Virginia,
the tourist town that's been dubbed "a living museum" !!!!
my wife Lois and me - a recent picture
Petersfield, Hampshire UK, like Williamsburg Virginia USA, is known for some of its colourful historical characters, like its town crier Faye Thompson and its deputy town crier Martin Johnson (Faye's husband!!!!), and we're hoping to see the couple strutting around today, while Lois buys some veg in the town's bustling market square before delivering some of her delicious Easter hot cross buns to her church's drop-in centre in the town.
And no sooner has Lois got her veg in the market square, than we catch our first glimpse of colourful town-crier and deputy Faye Thompson and Martin Johnson, "loitering with intent" (!) at the entrance to the historic "Rams Walk", which is nice!
(left) Lois perusing the veg at a bustling stall in Petersfield's market square, and (right)
our first sighting of town crier Faye in red, with her husband and deputy, Martin, in black
And I'd like to say that deputy town crier Martin's colourful headgear "knocks my Williamsburg tricorn into a cocked hat", except that I don't want to be accused of indulging in cheap puns!
[It's never bothered you before, Colin! - Ed]
(left) We pass quickly on from Rams Walk in Petersfield Town Centre,
before (right) dropping some of Lois's delicious home made hot cross buns
at her church's drop-in centre on the High Street.
Busy busy busy!!! Retired now for 20 years, Lois and I are wondering, not for the first time (!), "How did we ever find the time to go to work back in the day?!!!!"
12:00 Finally we get back home for a welcome cup of coffee, and our first chance to look at Lois's copy of "The Week" magazine, which gives a digest of the week's news from home and abroad, wand which "plopped" through our letterbox yesterday afternoon, although, until now, we literally haven't had a moment's peace to really examine it, which is a pity!
Busy busy busy!!! And Lois and I have hardly
a moment to sit down and relax these days!!!
It's the news from abroad that captures our attention today, including news of Hungary's upcoming general election, where liberals are hoping that arch-plutocrat, or "kleptocrat", Viktor Orban can finally be "turfed out", after 16 years, by newcomer Peter Tisza.
Lois and I always follow the news from Hungary with close attention, having visited the country several times starting in the 1990's, and still having many good friends there.
flashback to 1998, in front of our friend István's house in Pécs,
Hungary: (from left to right) our British friends "Magyar" Mary
and "Magyar" Mike, Lois, István and wife Mária, and me
Today's article in "The Week" is quietly optimistic that the days of Orban's "illiberal democracy" may soon be over, but the article also sounds a cautious note that this may never happen, in view of Orban's control of the media and his shameless tweaking of electoral rules to favour his own party. Oh dear!
the story in this week's copy of Lois's magazine "The Week", with (bottom right)
a gold toilet brush, like the one bought by one of Orban's cronies, bank chief Matolcsy (inset)
Orban is often compared to his friend Donald Trump, another friend of plutocrats and billionaires, who's continuing to hold on to his job as US President. And, also in Lois's magazine this week, there's a summary of an interesting article by David French in the New York Times.
A lot of people seem to say that Trump will be safe in his job, as long as he doesn't dive too far down in the approval ratings. If that happens, his supporters in Congress may decide that he's a liability and even go down the impeachment road, maybe?
We live in exciting times!!!!
It's good for stress levels:
It's also good for the heart:
Lois and I already have 4 cups of tea a day, but it's nice to have confirmation that it's quite okay to have it with milk or sugar, if you want. We have it with milk, but gave up sugar long ago. Also, unless you have other reasons to avoid caffeine, you don't have to choose a decaf option. Plus, there's no need to choose a herbal tea, unless you prefer the taste, which is reassuring!
One thing Lois and I don't do is to always use fresh water in the kettle, when making a cup of tea, something about the oxygen in fresh water, apparently! We routinely re-boil old water to save money on our water bill, would you believe! So the answer is probably just to measure out the water we need with the cups we're going to drink it in. If we put just that much water in the kettle and no more, there'll be no wasted water, and Bob's your uncle!
But your views welcome - postcards only !!!!!!
Will this do?
[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!
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