Is it sad that I couldn’t wait to bundle the kids off to school this morning so that I could finally watch Sunday night’s episode of Downton Abbey in peace and quiet? And it certainly didn’t disappoint. What a show. I just love it. I get a thrill just thinking about it, sad though that admission is!! I really got into the storylines this morning and could have whacked Lady Mary for not understanding Matthew’s point of view and being all ‘you’re not on our side’. Then there’s Tom and Sybil…my view is that he may soften in his Republican you-are-all-the-oppressors stance the more he’s at Downton…will this lead to an internal struggle??

And dear old Lady Edith (above). I do hope she gets her beau even if he is a good bit older than her. Of course the ladies who really steal the show for me are Maggie Smith (aka the Dowager Countess) and Penelope Wilton (as Isobel Crawley) whose spats have entertained me greatly. What will they make of Shirley MacLaine (very top) is thrown into the mix as Martha Levinson, Cora’s mother? She’s already come out with some good one liners…I see sparks flying between the three later on.

That’s not the only programme I’ve been glued to recently. Apart from the World War II Farm (I’ve watched most of those series, they are very good), I’ve been emersed in The Bletchly Circle starring Anna Maxwell Martin as Susan, Rachael Stirling (who was on Radio Scotland yesterday promoting her play at The Citizens’ Theatre in Glasgow later this month – I didn’t know she had been brought up in Stirling up here!) as Millie, Sophie Rundle as Lucy and Julie Graham as Jean.  It’s superb. Had me on the edge of my seat. I can hardly wait for tonight’s episode. It’s the last one. The killer has Susan in his grips and the other ladies are busy looking after poor battered Lucy (who really needs to leave that horrible husband of hers)…will they get to her in time before he  makes her his 13th victim? Oh the suspense.

Am still reading The Family Fang and quite enjoying it. It reminded me a bit of The Royal Tenenbaums, a film I really like and find quite sad but amusing. Then I read a testimonial at the back of the book which said something along the same lines…ie it was a bit like the Royal Tenenbaums, not the sad/amusing bit. Still don’t find it hilarious. Am wondering if I’ve lost my sense of humour or if I’m just a different type of person to those sited on the book jacket as finding it so funny? I think the latter. However, I am enjoying it and am looking forward to getting back to it tonight.

Apart from watching telly, I’ve been doing a bit of writing today on my adult book and attempting to save the life of my daughter’s favourite thing…an old cot blanket known in the house as Blankie. Basically it’s one of the types of blankets that have holes in it…you know what I mean? And it’s now so old (well she’s nearly eight and it’s been everywhere with her) that it’s falling apart one loose strand at a time. I find bits of it all over the house and have what we in Scotland call a nanny rooney (ie got fairly angry) with her for not picking it up. Meanwhile, poor old sad Blankie continued to fray and shrink. So I’ve put a chenille fabric backing on to it and folded over the edges so that it makes a neat edge. It took me about two hours to do it all this morning (with a brief lunch break) and I broke my sewing machine just as I finished (the feeder feet won’t work…sigh). Hopefully all that trauma will mean no more bits of Blankie (they’ve actually turned out quite useful as proof to where she’s been in the house!! She can’t say ‘It wasn’t me.’ or ‘I wasn’t there.’ if a small bit of Blankie is lying on the ground saying otherwise!) dropped on the floor and no more fraying. I doubt it!

Anyway, I’ll need to sign off just now until next time.

Dawn xx