In the Movies...

On April 19th I read that a Downton Abbey 2 movie will be coming out in two separate blog posts.  I am subscribed to Downton Abbey Cooks blog, and that's where I first saw the good news, but then later in the day I opened Lady Carnarvon's blog and she shared the good news too.  If anybody knows for certain that it's true, it's Lady Carnarvon.   She stated how happy they are to have the cast back at Highclere Castle again.

Since then I've seen several articles on Facebook.  According to Oprah Daily.com it will be in theaters on December 22nd and with the original cast, including Maggie Smith, as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham!  

Interesting, but not surprising, the picture that circulated on Facebook promoting National Tea Day on April 21st was from the Downton Abbey series.  There were so many beautiful tea scenes in that series.

News of a movie sequel prompted me to get out some of my Downton Abbey books and teacup I purchased when I visited Highclere Castle in 2015.  It has a teapot, cream and sugar bowl to match, but they weren't within my budget.  ;-)  

The trip with my daughter was wonderful.  We also went to Byfleet Manor for tea - the house used in the series as Violet Crawley's Dowager House.  I bought a bone china mug there with a quote of Violet's on it:  "Why does every day involve a fight with an American."

When the movie series was in progress, Cost Plus/World Market had Downton Abbey promotions a few times.  The first was a replica of Spode Stafford White china that was used on the set of Downton Abbey.  I didn't get the luncheon plates, teapot, sugar and cream pitcher or tiered server, but I did get the set of four teacups.  Later there was also a series of Downton mugs that I didn't get.

The last promotion they had was another teapot, cream and sugar set, which I did get.  The teapot has a quote of Lord Grantham's on it:  "Golly gumdrops, what a turn up!"

Cost Plus also partnered with Republic of Tea and came out with several flavors of tea dedicated to Downton Abbey characters.  I like Republic of Tea blends, but I mainly wanted the Downton Abbey tea tins. I have all 16 of them, but only photographed a few.  Are you a Downton Abbey fan, and did you collect memorabilia at the height of its popularity?

I got out my Downton DVD's too and have started watching them again.

In Oct. 2019 I did a Downton Abbey tea at The Whitney when the first movie came out.  Maybe I'll do another one when the second movie comes out.  It was so much fun!

Lady Mary even joined us thanks to our Detroit PBS station.

Speaking of movies... Have you seen the recent Hallmark movie "As Luck ☘ Would Have It"?  

I think I've seen it four times since it first aired on April 10th.  It's one of Hallmark's best movies [in my humble opinion].  Allen Leech [who played the chauffeur, Tom Branson, in Downton Abbey] stars as Brennan O'Brian in the Hallmark movie.  As always it has romance and a happy ending.

Without giving any significant spoilers away, the setting is the fictional town of Kilabbey, Ireland.  It was filmed in Ireland at multiple locations including Howth Castle on the outskirts of Dublin, and Lismore Castle in Waterford.  Ireland is the homeland of Allen Leech, so he was very familiar with all the locations.

If you haven't seen it yet, check the Hallmark movie schedule and watch it the next time it airs.  You'll be glad you did.