Ah, welcome back Downton Abbey!  Hello, Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson.  Greetings, Mr. Bates and Anna.  A friendly wave to Mrs. Patmore and Daisy.  A nod to grieving Mary and Branson, and a hug to little Sybil and George.  How nice to see you again, Lady Violet--glad to know your acerbic wit survived the long hiatus.  And Cora...really?  You have to be the easiest mark in the world...how can you not see through first O'Brien and now Thomas?  They are VILLAINS!  They are Crabby Appletons...rotten to the core!

Thank you all for gracing my home again last night.  We celebrated your return in style--Earl Grey hot chocolate, Lady Grey hot tea, Earl Grey cream parfaits and an English cake roll with tea infused whipped cream.  With a two hour premier we had plenty of time to stuff ourselves (politely, in proper English fashion, of course!).  

I used my "new" vintage tea cups that reminded me of the Downton Abbey tea cups currently for sale. Sorry for the blurry image, I just couldn't get a good picture of it in spite of many attempts!  

And we followed our thoroughly British repast with sherry from my husband's lovely new decanter:

for which we used my new DA coasters (thank you to my daughter for such a sweet Christmas gift--you know me oh so well!)

And after a lovely, lovely, lovely Sunday evening, I get to stay home all day today because of the cold! Cross stitch...here I come!

Enjoy your Monday, and wherever you are, stay warm!