Downton Abbey Movie

My hubby and I went to an early showing of the Downton Abbey movie last night, and loved it!  I laughed, cried, and enjoyed every minute.  If you liked the television series, you'll love the movie.  It was so nice to see all the cast again, and King George V, Queen Mary, and Princess Mary's appearance was a special highlight.

I took some photos of movie-goers in costume.  It was a drizzly, British-like evening, so kudos to them for braving the weather in costume.  Roaring 20's attire prevailed.

An introduction recapped the six seasons of the television series which was nice, and then the movie began.  So grateful I got to visit Highclere Castle in person in 2015.

  

I won't give any spoilers, but the movie [in my opinion] was so good I plan to see it again.  

I've changed my mind three times about what I'll wear to The Whitney Downton Abbey tea, and have finally settled on a more elegant outfit as opposed to a Roaring 20's look.  My tiara arrived in the mail last week. 

For local readers, watch The Whitney website and Facebook page next Wednesday, the date the Downton Abbey Tea is supposed to be posted.  They won't take reservations until it's posted, so please don't call early.  City Fest is still in progress and they're waiting for a lot of the events to be over before publicizing the Downton Abbey tea.

Ladies' Homecoming Tea

After a hiatus from coordinating Afternoon Teas for the ladies of my church and their friends, I got back into the groove and scheduled another one that took place yesterday, Saturday, September 7th.  I called it a Homecoming Tea because I knew summer vacation activities were over and ladies were back home and settling into the fall season.

The place was Sycamore Hills Golf Club - a lovely venue I've used several times.  Hopefully, the next tea will be in our brand new church facility.

Jerry and I arrived at Sycamore Hills a few minutes before 11:00 a.m. to get everything ready for the ladies arrival at noon.

Sycamore Hills had the sign in the foyer to direct our ladies to the right room.

I did a Paris themed tea for our ladies in 2009 at a different venue, and called it Springtime in Paris [it was held in May].  A teacher in our congregation taught French and had taken students to Paris several times, so she told us about all the sights in the 'City of Light.'  Since ten years had lapsed and I still had the Eiffel Tower centerpieces, I decided to go with a Paris theme again, only this time I used Julia Child for the program.  She lived in Paris from 1948 to 1953, and it's where her culinary career and love of French cuisine began. 

My sweet girlfriend, Lori, arrived early to help put the finishing touches on the tablescapes. I bought a large picture frame so my hubby could use it to take photos of all the ladies when they arrived.  The ladies had fun with it.

I got the pink Paris top [below] eons ago and finally had the perfect occasion to wear it!  ;-)

Pink and black was the color scheme, and inside the pink and black nylon bags at each place setting was Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers - Julia's favorite snack food.

My daughter-in-law, Sharon, granddaughter, Brooke, and Sharon's mother, Sheena.

Two ladies came wearing a hat [the other one isn't pictured].  Karen even wore glove.  I loved it!

You can see the ladies had fun with the picture frame. 

Sycamore Hills was great to provide the French menu I gave them.  I made the tea - French Caramel Creme Brulee - and the meal began with a cup of delicious French Onion Soup.  Julia did a PBS French Chef program demonstrating how to make it, and, of course, it's in her cookbook.  It was also her last requested meal before she passed away.  

The main course was a Chicken Salad Croissant and a mini Quiche.

Dessert was a Cream Puff [French choux pastry] filled with Vanilla Ice Cream topped with Hot Fudge Sauce.  I only had a taste of mine because while the ladies were eating theirs I changed from my Paris outfit into my Julia Child outfit for the presentation.

~ My girlfriend, Sandy, and me ~

This was my fifth presentation about Julia, so I felt pretty confident talking about her life. Each time I tweak it a bit so it's not identical, but nobody at church had ever heard me speak about her, so it wouldn't have mattered.  Lori and Sandy heard the very first presentation I did about her in 2015, but Saturday's had a lot of new and different information.

The tea was well attended [50 ladies], and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, so I went home happy and thanking Jesus for His blessing on the afternoon.

The post about the 2009 Parisian Tea can be viewed here.  It took place before I started blogging in 2012, but I included it after the fact. 

Enjoying a Few Days Off

School resumes the day after Labor Day in Michigan, so going to tea at The Whitney isn't a top priority for moms with school age children, and has caused the Afternoon Tea program to experience a brief lull.  Happily, I was off yesterday and today and got a lot things done for this Saturday's ladies' church tea.  

Jerry and I took some time today to go to Ann Arbor to get some items at World Market. Their closest store to me is 58 miles away, but it's worth the drive because of their great selection of international products. 

My biggest purchase was five bottles of Belvoir Elderflower Cordial for the upcoming Downton Abbey tea.  It's a nice non-alcoholic alternative.  I enjoyed it this spring for the first time when Jerry and I went to Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena, California, and they began our tea with a glass of it.  It was very appropriate for their British tearoom since it's imported from England, and it'll be perfect for the Downton Abbey tea too.

It's normally $8.99 a bottle at World Market, but is on sale right now for $7.99.  It's a great price compared to Amazon's $14.99 a bottle. 

I also got a box of yummy British cookies that are perfect with tea, and a few other food items.

They have the Downton Abbey teas by Republic of Tea, but I already ordered mine directly from Republic of Tea.  The sales girl said their other Downton Abbey merchandise will be arriving in a week or so.  I think I see another trip to Ann Arbor in my future!  I'll be keeping a watchful eye on their website.

We had a gift card to P.F. Chang's that was sent to us for our anniversary, and there was one right close to World Market, so we had lunch there.  Thank you, Frieda!  Jerry's standing in front of the white horse in the photo below, but you can barely see him.

They didn't have any white tangerine tea that I usually order, but our server told us they had a new white pear tea so we ordered a pot of that. It was SO good. I liked it even better than the white tangerine. Our server kindly gave me a tea bag to bring home.  Their tea source is Revolution Tea in Phoenix, Arizona. 

We got an order of Lettuce Wraps - Chang's signature dish.

I'm normally very predictable and order Sweet and Sour Chicken, but today I decided to order their Honey Chicken Bowl, and it didn't disappoint.

A fortune cookie concluded our meal.  My fortune said: "No need to worry.  You will have everything you need."  I don't worry, because there's a promise almost identical to that in the Bible.  

To close this post I'm sharing a picture of my granddaughter, Brianna, that was taken over the weekend.  She loves sunflowers, and so do I.  They're so cheerful and make me smile just looking at them.  They're also a sign that the fall season is upon us.

First Post of September

I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day holiday.  Mine was spent at our son and daughter-in-law's house [Steve and Sharon] with almost all the family.  Life is busy for everyone, and it's the first time we've been together in a while.

Ellie was with us Saturday morning thru yesterday.  She had fun, but was glad to be with her parents and siblings again.  While she was at our house her Papa taught her how to play checkers and she loved the game.

Four of eight grandchildren were at the holiday festivities. Brianna's in Nashville, and Brandon & Venessa, Tiffany & John and their two little ones - Evie and Juliette, and Marissa didn't make it.

[Landon, Izzy, Brooke, and Ellie]

The guys played corn hole on boards Jerry made for Steve last Christmas.  Michigan State, of course!

The girls watched while waiting their turn.

Before the clouds dumped rain, we drove over to the nearby church property to see the progress.  All the underground work is completed, and the land has been graded.  The curbs are in for the circular driveway and parking lot.  Next we'll see the building going up.   We're so excited for our permanent place of worship.

See what I mean about rain clouds?  Shortly after we got back to Steve's house it poured. 

 No more outdoor games, so we shifted to the indoor game of Catch Phrase.  Fun!

We celebrated Brooke's 17th birthday and Lori's 52nd birthday.  Brooke's maternal Grandpa Conn teased her about the holes in her pants, and Sharon said Brooke paid big bucks for those holes!  How times change.  When I was a kid, holes in pants were a sign of poverty or being unkempt, so holes either got patched or the pants were tossed in the rag bag! Today, the bigger the hole, the more fashionable.  Who are these modern-day fashion designers? Are they related to those who designed the mini-skirts in my teenage years [1960's].  As I recall, adults disliked them too.  ;-) 

[Lori and Dave]


[Brooke, Izzy and Samantha]

I woke up this morning to these pictures of the four youngest grandchildren's first day of school.  It made me get a lump in my throat to realize how quickly time is passing.  Brooke is a senior this year.  I told them all to shine for Jesus this year at school.

Izzy's first day of high school - 9th grade.  More 'fashionable' jeans with holes in them!  ;-)

~ Landon - 5th grade ~

~ Ellie - 2nd grade ~

For those who have an interest in Jeremy's Simple Victory short YouTube videos, the next two in the series are: Simple Victory - Mindset and Simple Victory - Purpose.