My Visit to Downton Abbey

I love costume dramas and I love Masterpiece on PBS, so it's no surprise that I also love Downton Abbey, currently showing on Sunday nights.  What was a surprise was my first glimpse of the exterior of Downton Abbey during season one.

"That looks like Highclere," I said.  There was some general murmuring from the husband, sort of a "yes, dear, whatever you say" kind of thing.  But, sure enough, the series is partially filmed on the grounds of Highclere Castle outside London.

Here we are in 2007 walking toward the house.  We don't look much like the Crawleys/Granthams of Downton Abbey, do we?  Sorry about the quality of this photo.  It was taken with an early, not-very-good digital camera.  Can't find the original file either, so this is a scan of a bad print!

Highclere Castle was our first stop on a trip to England in 2007.  We were in our rental car on our way to Stonehenge when we stumbled upon a sign pointing us to Highclere.  We had never heard of it, but we had no timetable, so why not?  We didn't go in, but we wandered the grounds before continuing on our way.

Sheep on the grounds of the Highclere estate.

It was a lovely first stop on a wonderful journey that took us as far north as Inverness, Scotland.  Seeing Highclere Castle masquerading as Downton Abbey on Sunday nights brings back the memory of that trip.  I understand a third season is in the works.  I'll be watching!




Linking today to Mercantile Muse.

What a Zoo!

These will make your tail wag!

Look at these cute dog prints I found at Michael’s.  I put them in inexpensive clip frames, and voila! bathroom art.  They are by Ken Bailey, an artist from Washington.  You can see more of his art at www.kenbailey.com. 

A golden retriever always adds class

What is it with me and animal art?  I love it!  It all started with a print of chickens.  The original was painted by an acquaintance of my mother’s, a lady named Elsa Lockert, who ran a gallery and frame shop in Ashland City, Tennessee some thirty years ago.

We have a lot of windows and not a lot of walls, so we put artwork up above.

Close-up of the originals

Over the years, the kitchen barnyard increased by two more chicken prints, bought at art shows, and a chicken painting my daughter bought from a street artist in London’s Hyde Park.   All this fowl artwork is set off by chicken wire wallpaper, which I love for its whimsical graphic punch. 

I have two more fabulous chickens, painted by a friend, in my dining room. One of these is painted on the seat of a chair.   

The dining room also houses two bucolic sheep prints, both of which were done by an Iowa artist, Connie Bieber.  Looking at her peaceful sheep makes me want to be a shepherd!  Aren't these beautiful?

Both sheep prints have been cropped here to straighten
 them up.  I had to angle the  frames to reduce glare from the glass.

The collection of advertising signs in our family room also adds to the critter count with a Crow’s rooster, a Pilch DeKalb chicken, a Finck's pig, and a Red Goose Shoes goose.

Then there are the jointed wooden animals.  Two chickens (natch!), two frogs, a cat, and a zebra.

On the landing window sill

This pretty much rounds out the menagerie for now.  But I’m always on the lookout!