A Downton Abbey Birthday

About a month or so ago, Mary and I started watching Downton Abbey.  I realize we are a little behind since the series debuted in 2010!  I had heard so much hype about it back then, but as my mother used to say, "I don't care much for period dramas", so I never had much interest to watch it.

But quarantine can make you watch things you never thought you'd watch.

I was hooked in the first 5 minutes.  We fell in love with every character.....yes, even Barrow and O'Brien!  We would mostly tune in early in the morning and watch 1 or 2 episodes before everyone else in our house was awake.  Soon after, we'd catch an episode in the evenings while Bill and Matthew would sit and watch with us.  Even they enjoyed it.

Mary and I would text each other gifs with characters from the show, sip tea from fancy china cups, and play the theme song throughout the house.  I think I even walked a little taller, used words like "rather" and "perhaps" more frequently, and decided undoubtedly that I must go live in a castle somewhere. We lived and breathed it for a whole month. (#quarantinelife).

We sadly finished the series, but excitedly looked forward to watching the Downton Abbey movie that came out last year.  We decided to watch it on Mary's upcoming birthday and make the whole day a Downton Abbey themed day.

I used everything I already had on hand.

First, I set up my desk in case she wanted to write some 'correspondences'.  The little gift you see is a pen set, a stocking stuffer that I forgot to give her last Christmas and had been saving.

Next, I set up the bar in the foyer.....or should I say, the Great Hall.

that's iced tea in there

For lunch, I set up the dining room like this.

We had crackers with jam, and tea sandwiches (cucumber and cream cheese/cream cheese and jam) that Ann helped me make, and (iced) tea.

Around 4 pm we dressed and came down to the Drawing Room.  It was time for Afternoon Tea.

I set the dinner table and had found a Downton Abbey Trivia on Pinterest.

Dinner arrived around 7, courtesy of Lord Bethlum. 
The Footmen (Billy, Tommy, and Matthew) were excited to serve us. (and *THAT*, my friends, is the greatest form of sarcasm you've ever read)

Mrs. Patmore had the night off. 😉

Only Mary, Bill, and myself actually
watched the movie.  We enjoyed it and it was a fun day all around.

Not to be forgotten are the usual birthday events....morning doughnuts and cake and ice cream.

Happy 19th birthday to our very own Lady Mary.

And an extra special thanks to all of our good sports for playing along - Children AND Dad alike.