I refuse to be shocked

We watched the rest of series 4 of Downton Abbey today/tonight. It’s been recorded for ages and was just waiting for us to get time to watch it. We now have the Christmas special to look forward to. Interestingly, it didn’t rain in any of the episodes we watched, something hardly likely in real life…unless it never rains on the aristocracy.

To put things into perspective, the weather was appalling this morning. Crazy wind, lashing rain, pretty much the opposite of Downton.

Subsequently we spent the first half in the house. There was a moment when the fence between us and the Crazies bent and buckled under the hurricane conditions. I ended up tying it to a big blue flower pot.

Then, like something out of a disaster movie, the sun came out, the clouds vanished and the world seemed new born. We quickly grabbed the dogs and, like just about every dog owner within five miles, we took off around the Park. It was a lovely brisk, wet under foot, tramp and the poodles loved it.

The recent storms have left their mark on the park with raging rivers and the occasional bits of shattered tree. It all looks quite wild and wonderful.

We were no sooner back at the house than Mirinda announced we were going to visit a kitchen place to look at options for the new one for our extension.

Optiplan is just up the road from us and always provides us with a laugh because we think it should be an optician. No such thing though. The showroom is massive.

It’s a converted house but instead of having normal rooms, it’s full of kitchens. One of them even works – it’s where they serve you a cup of tea while you discuss your needs.

We spent a lovely hour (or so) chatting, drawing and redrawing various designs. We wound up with a completely featureless, glossy white kitchen with lots of wonderfully bare surfaces and without any handles. Gorgeous!

We left with our drawings, beautifully produced brochures and a promise to call back with definite plans as soon as we were sure. Best of all, it’s within our budget.

It’s all getting very exciting.

Oh, and the title refers to a line in Downton, delivered by Aunt Rosamund (Samantha Bond) when confronted with a possibly shocking bit of news from Edith. I think it makes a lovely motto.