The Buzzletter Blog: downton Abbey

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Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Saw: Downton Abbey: A New Era at the Theatre!

This past weekend we went to the movie theatre for the first time I can remember since the pandemic. The movie that brought us there was Downton Abbey: A New Era. We've been fans of the television show since it came out. We also enjoyed the first theatrical film released a couple of years ago and were surprised when this one was announced.

All of the characters returned (except Lady Mary's husband, so we assumed he didn't want to renew or he was busy). Like the first film (in 2019) and the television series, I loved this. Tom thought it was "okay." But any movie that can get me invested in the characters and make me smile or make me cry (this one did that - glad I brought kleenex) is a great film.

I really liked the storylines and the way the writers show the introduction of innovation, like silent films transitioning into "talkies." If you liked the Television series, you need to see this. I also think they perfectly wrapped up several character storylines that have been lingering. 5 of 5 stars for me!

ABOUT THE FILM: Some of the Crawley family goes on a grand journey to the South of France to uncover the mystery of the dowager countess's newly inherited villa. Meanwhile, the others deal with a 1930 film crew who comes to the estate.

VIDEO CLIP OF TRAILER: https://youtu.be/wN0Spmq610Q

Friday, March 28, 2014

Visited Exhibit: Costumes of Downton Abbey: Part 4: Costumes, Snarky Quote, Harem Scarem!

A Look at the exhibit

This is the final blog about our visit to the Downton Abbey costume exhibit. This entry has more costumes and our of our favorite snarky quotes from Lady Violet.

The Downton costume exhibition is from the television series Downton Abbey. The exhibit is currently at the Winterthur estate in Delaware. We got to visit it over the weekend of March 22-23 with our friend Cristina.

Lady Violet

Some of the lines from various episodes were painted on the walls of the exhibit to serve as a reminder of when a particular outfit was worn. Some were quotes from Lady Violet.

One of our favorite snarky quotes!

WHO IS VIOLET? - Sharp-tongued, witty Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham is the widow of the late Earl of Grantham, mother of Robert and Rosamund, and mother-in-law of Cora Crawley, and Marmaduke Painswick. She has three granddaughters, Lady Mary Crawley, Lady Edith Crawley, and the late Lady Sybil Branson

Lady Sybil's Harem Pants

L to R: Rob, Cristina, Tom

HAREM SCAREM - In one episode on Season 2, Lady Sybill, the youngest of the Crawley daughters (married to Tom Branson and whom died giving birth to a little girl) wore "harem pants." These pants apparently fell apart right after the filming of the episode! They were fastened together for the exhibit.

NEXT: TOURING WINTERTUR

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Visited Exhibit: Costumes of Downton Abbey: Part 2: Edith's Amazing Wedding Gown

L to R: Rob, Cristina, Tom at the Lady Edith Exhibit

This is Part 2 of our blog on: Costumes of Downton Abbey. This entry will look at Lady Edith's detailed wedding gown and has a fun fact about a costume for Lady Cora.

The Downton costume exhibition is from the television series Downton Abbey. The exhibit is currently at the Winterthur estate in Delaware. We got to visit it over the weekend of March 22-23 with our friend Cristina.

LADY EDITH'S WEDDING GOWN -

Lady Edith's Wedding Gown Exhibit

Note the designs on the train

Lady Edith Crawley is the middle daughter of Robert and Cora Crawley, sister of Ladies Mary, and the late Sybil. In Season 3, Sir Anthony Strallan proposed to Lady Edith and they become engaged. Some of the family didn't really approve of the marriage, but they allowed it for Edith's happiness. They are set to marry but Anthony has second thoughts and jilts her at the altar, leaving Edith devastated. The wedding gown that she wore was in this exhibit, and the "train" featured beautiful mirrored gems.

INTERESTING COSTUME FACT- One of the Lady Cora's dresses was actually made from a table cloth from the early 1900s that had embroidery around the edges! One of the docents told us that story and it was clear that the fabric was a former tablecloth! But on television you would never know. I didn't think to take a photo of it, but thought that the costumers were really amazingly creative.

NEXT: COSTUMES FROM MARY AND MATTHEW'S PROPOSAL

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Who I am

I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob

Rob's Book- Kindred Spirits: When a Spirit Befriends a Medium

ABOUT THE BOOK It's uncommon for a medium really get know a spirit so well that the living person considers the spirit a best friend. But that's exactly what happened to medium and paranormal investigator Rob Gutro. When Rob met his partner Tom in 2005, Ed's spirit came along for the ride. Rob never knew Ed in life, but Tom did. Now, Ed often communicates to Rob and has revealed his sense of humor, his heart, and helped solved the mystery of his passing.- Video short: VIDEO: https://youtu.be/_zUFsjrTrLg

Tracking Our Dog Rescue Assists

We work with Coast-to-Coast Dachshund Rescue (CCDR), Dachshund Rescue of North America (DRNA) and D.C. Weimaraner Rescues (DCWR) and Bonney Blue Rescue and foster or transport dogs as often as we can (and when they mix well with our 3 kids). Here's a list of the dogs we fostered or transported:

Gracie - Transported - a Beagle Mix adopted in western MD
2 Unnamed Dachshunds -Transported - rescued from a breeder (we watched for 3 days) sent on to permanent foster homes

Cooper#1 the Dachshund - Fostered - 2-26-09 -We fostered this lovable black and tan wire-haired, easy-going, lovable senior and he was Adopted by our friends Bob and Arlene in MD in April 2009

Buddy the Weimaraner - Transport 9-27-09 - We transported Buddy from no. VA to White Marsh, MD where we met Buddy's new mom Cathy from Philly.

Sprite the Dachshund -Fostered and We Adopted! 12-4-10 We picked up almost 14 yr old Sprite in Frederick, Md from a rescue transporter on 12-4-10 and we fostered him. We adopted Sprite in April 2011 when we learned of his heart murmur. (Sprite passed 7-8-13 at 16 1/2 years old)

Chance the Weimaraner - Rescue from shelter and Fostered- 6-10-12 - We freed Chance from the PG County Animal Shelter, and fostered through DC Area Weim Rescue. We covered his hip surgery and fostered Chance, while helping him walk again. He was adopted by our friend Whitney on 7-29-12. (Chance passed on 3-26-16)

Cooper#2 the Dachshund - Fostered 9-24-15 - We fostered this little guy and he was adopted by Shayne in MD after we had Cooper for just a couple of weeks.

Tuck (mix) - 5-7-13 - Transported Huck for Bonnie Blue Rescue. He came from a CT shelter, and we picked hi up in Baltimore and brought him to his new dad and mom, our friends Jon & Erin in VA

Tyler (Dachshund) - 12-17-12- FOSTERED & WE ADOPTED! Passed 7-29-25 https://rob-tom-dolly-franklin.blogspot.com/2025/08/tyler-passed-part-2-giving-him-best-day.html We took in and fostered Tyler a 2 year old black and tan dachshund who came from a kill shelter in NC. Our friend Robert drove there and picked him up. (read the blog: First Night with Tyler the Foster from 12-17-12) - We realized how he bonded with our Weimaraner Dolly, so we adopted him in May 2013 through the rescue.

Charlie (Dachshund)- Rescue from shelter and transported to foster mom April in Md. *April adopted Charlie!*

Rocco (Dachshund puppy) -Rescue from shelter and transported, we brought to foster mom Kristin in Oct.
Abu - (Dachshund mix) - Rescue from shelter and transported to Emily for foster home in Delaware in Oct.

Doc, now Duncan (Dachshund mix)- Rescue from shelter

and transported to Katie for fostering. Duncan was adopted.

Reds - Rescue from shelter and transported - This long-haired, senior red Chihuahua to Katie for transport to a Senior dog rescue in Virginia

Happy and Sami - Transported from College Park, Md to Springfield, VA (Jan. 2013)

Gus - Worked with at Rescue Event - April brought Gus to us to appear at an adoption event at Pet Value, Gambrills, Md.

Max -Transported. Part of a transport from White Marsh, Md. to Bowie, Md. to foster mom April in southern Maryland.

JJ - Transport to adopting family This tiny 8 pound dog was transported from Washington, D.C. to Towson, Md. where we did a home visit and completed the adoption to a great family
Jethro- Home inspection for DASH Rescue to place this doxie/chihuahua mix.

Grayson - Worked with at Rescue Event -Worked with this 12 yr old senior Weimaraner at the Pet Valu, Gambrills, md adoption event!

Heath - Transported. 9-2014 a 10 year old black/tan dachshund we fostered for 3 days (who wound up being afraid of men- and went to another foster home.

Mack- Fostered 10-2014 **Adopted in Dec. 2014!**
fostered from Oct. 27 until he was adopted in Dec. from Connie and Poul.

Saylor - transport 12-14-14 (being fostered in Annapolis, Md thru DASH Rescue.) ~ 15lbs, 2 years, male/neutered, red smooth doxie, Heartworm negative (thankfully) & up to date on vaccines ___ sassy little man!

Dapple - Transported. 12-14-14 (being fostered in Annapolis, Md thru DASH Rescue.)is a black and tan dachshund with some dapple coloring, and also 2 years old, 14 lbs. female/spayed, silver-dapple smooth doxie.

Phillie - Transported. 5-2-15 A 12 yr old, sweet brown, smooth dog, to foster care because his parents "have 3 small kids and can't handle the dog." We brought him from White Marsh, MD to Alexandria, VA. (Going from NJ to TN where he is being fostered through Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue

Harry - Transported. 5-23-15 the black and tan/dapple, 6 year old dachshund from White Marsh, MD to foster mom, April, southeast of Washington, DC-

Trooper- Transported. 6-12-15 - This brown dapple, 2 year old dachshund came from a kill shelter in Alabama and was headed to NJ to a foster home thru DASH rescue.

Milo and Max 8-2-15 Fostered and Transported *Adopted 9-1-15* This senior pair of Dachshunds came from a divorced home in Indiana and were transported to us through Ohio and our friend Scott "Bear" Elliott and many others. Milo was fostered by our friend April.. and we fostered Max and our friend April fostered Milo. They were BOTH adopted by Cindy! Adoption Story: http://tinyurl.com/osz2px8 (Max passed 6-19-18 of heart failure)

Oscar - Transported 11-21-15 - This precious senior 9 year old mini-Dachshund was given up by his family because their daughter "developed allergies." (The girl should've taken Benadryl and dealt with it). We were the first transporter and it was a heart-wrenching event. Story: http://tinyurl.com/zzjp9ln

Otis -Home Visit - March 2016 - We did a home visit to Nancy who adopted this handsome little Dachshund Mix through Dachshund Rescue of No. America.

Cleveland and Tommy- Sept. 2016 - We had these guys overnight a couple of nights, and drove Tommy to York, PA for his foster home. We also got Cleveland to his foster home in Maryland. Both were 5 yr old, sweet, red smooth Dachshunds.

Coco and Hansel - Feb. 2017 - We drove up to Delaware together to get them. and then wound up later transporting them locally to their forever home.

Winnie and Tuck - Spring 2017- We placed this mom and son in forever homes in Virginia and Maryland.

Hercules - July 2017 - He didn't go through the rescue because we learned of him through a friend of a friend, and our friends Bob and Arlene were seeking to adopt, so they did!

Hayley- May 2018 - we got to free and transport a sweet little 6 pound dog named Hayley from the local county shelter. Hayley went to foster care with our friend Shelley who works for the Dachshund Rescue of North America (DRNA)

July 2018- We took in a Foster Dog named DASH! - our friend Shelley of Dachshund Rescue of North America told us about a little senior Dachshund/Chihuahua mix and we freed him from the Anne Arundel Animal Control Center on July 21, 2018. He was there since June 10, and the shelter ran out of room... so he had to be fostered immediately. 10 years old, 8 lbs. Birthday: Aug. 22. We ADOPTED Dash on Aug. 10^th!

Sophie - March 2021 - We transported this 7 year old cream colored French Bulldog from Alexandria, VA to Baltimore, Md. to a foster home for K9 Rescue of the Eastern Shore.

Tyler

Tyler, our black and tan rescue Dachshund was the happiest dog we ever knew. Always wagging his tail. He passed within 5 days of a cancer diagnosis on July 29, 2025 at 14 1/2 years old. We fostered him and then adopted him, when he came to us at 1 year from a dachshund rescue. He was the happiest boy ever. He came to us at 1 yr from a rescue. 11/29/2010-7/29/2025 Link to story: TYLER'S BEST LAST DAY: https://rob-tom-dolly-franklin.blogspot.com/2025/08/tyler-passed-part-2-giving-him-best-day.html / LINK TO STORY: The Toughest Diagnosis: https://rob-tom-dolly-franklin.blogspot.com/2025/07/tyler-passed-part-1-toughest-diagnosis.html