What is a Weekend?

My latest obsession is the unreservedly snobby Lady Grantham of Downton Abbey, a British drama beginning pre-WW1 and centering on the Crawley family and their servants. Over the Friday to Monday I got a chance to catch up with her. I say "Friday to Monday" because as Lady Grantham enquires: "What is a weekend?"

Lady Grantham with Mary

You see, in the Dowager's world there is no work and every day is a similar round of luncheons and dinners and guests. So, no concept of a "weekend." Weekends, my dear, are beneath you. In fact the posh or "U" thing to say, even later apparently, was "Friday to Monday."

Downton Abbey is the most delectable of period pieces with upstairs downstairs tensions, hunting parties, glorious headgears, late-night dalliances and Dukes up the whazoo. The three sisters are beautiful and complicated, the butler has secrets and what will the sneaky first footman do next. But the star is undoubtedly Lady Grantham, played by Maggie Smith with a battery of icy stare-downs and delightful zingers. See below her encounter with the swivel chair...

In my newly-named not-weekend I stayed home with Jackson and Cy so they could do baseball try-outs. Kevin took Tallulah and Harley skiing.

Instead of boring you with a photo of me in bed watching the telly, here is a kinder image for your eyes... the model from last week's photo shoot, in our bedroom and gazing out to misty skies.

Model Alicia posing in our bedroom

I had hoped to post pictures of me at a wonderful round of parties... instead my dance card was filled with hours on the sidelines of a baseball field, battling whipping winds and rain and having the privilege of overhearing terribly interesting discussions about whether that little person's swing is better than that other little person's.

Jackson and Cy before the try-outs

One thing I don't miss about those Edwardian times though was the place of a young girl. Besides having no rights of inheritance there was a question mark over whether girls should be educated.

Lady Grantham: "Why would you want to go to a real school? You're not a doctor's daughter."
Sybil: "Nobody learns anything from a governess, apart from French and how to curtsy."
Lady Grantham: "What else do you need? Are you thinking of a career in banking?"
Cora: "Things are different in America."
Lady Grantham: "I know. They live in wigwams."

After watching the fashion shoot at our house last week, Tallulah, 10, said: "I'm adding 'photographer' to my list of things to do when I grow up." Her list already includes astronaut, dog-walker, singer and professional soccer player.

Definitely not a model says Tallulah: "There is too much food in the world to love."

Tallulah with her peanut butter sandwich at Alpine

As Lady Grantham would say: "Quite right, my dear."