Drama! Drama!

Fact: I am a great sucker for BBC and Masterpiece Theater dramas.

I was first introduced to the epic mini-series, Pride and Prejudice, by my girl's Bible study group at age 16. Fresh from swimming in the pond, shooting snakes, and driving the tractor, I thought the girls were a bit nuts when they told me their favorite movie was a 5 hour British mini-series. One night at a sleep over, the show was played and I was hooked. This was a pivotal moment because from that point on, my craving for British drama only intensified.

Not too many years ago my family went on an incredibly long kick of watching BBC and similar type dramas. We devoured Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, North and South, Wives and Daughters...whatever we could get our hands on. Dad even joined us! As much as he made light of it before, he grew a quick appreciation for the wit of British humor.

Once we'd seen the staples, it was always a sort of treasure hunt to find new dramas to watch with Mom and my sisters. We'd get a lead from friends on a new-to-us series and soon enough it would become our latest favorite. Cranford was one of the last discoveries my sister and I made before leaving home.

When Andrew and I were creating our wedding registry, the one movie I had to add to the list was P&P. Fear not dear friends, it was THE version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. (Is the any other?!) Andrew registered for some movie with Clint Eastwood that I'd never heard of..."Dirty Harry". THAT should have been one of my first clues that I shouldn't expect him to sit down with me over a cup of tea and savor the lines of Jane Austen for 5 hours. He's a good sport about shorter romantic movies, but when it comes to 5 hours of it, I appreciate and respect his manliness.

A couple months before Olivia was born, I discovered that Cranford had a sequel! Delighted, I immediately added it to our dvd cue and was later asked by my husband "What in the world is Crandford?!". He saw a little bit of it one evening as I lay on the couch in my whale-like state and surmised that the lack of sufficient female drama in my own life, having moved away from Mom and my sisters, was being made up for through this type of show. From this point on he referred to "Cranford" as "Lameford".

Not too long after I saw "Return to Cranford", I got a recommendation for a new mini-series called "Larkrise to Candleford". At the time I was unaware that it was a FORTY PART SERIES, but after enjoying the first show, lined up the Netflix cue and anxiously awaited the arrival of the following dvds. I watching the mailbox like a hawk in between keeping house and studying up on all things baby. My husband was kind enough to let me temporarily dominate the dvd cue, but I think I had it on rough terms because he relentlessly referred to it as "Larkrise to LAMEford". Har-har, very funny.

Now that Olivia is here, I plan to indoctrinate her from an early age. We will dress up and have tea. Our humble home, urr...estate, might be called something like Weatherfordshire. Not to be confused with Worcestershire. We will exemplify the most admirable qualities of Elizabeth Bennett, and try our hardest to avoid any feelings of pride or prejudice. We will wear our nicest frocks for visits with company (or shorts and t-shirts...minor details), and write letters to our family in our finest hand. Perhaps in the winter, when the days grow very cold, we will snuggle together under a blanket and enjoy a good movie together. One this is for certain, when my new little buddy begins to speak, "Lameford" will NOT be part of her vocabulary.