Weekend with the Bellamys

Don't you just love getting away for a couple of days and catching up with old friends? Thanks to Netflix, I get to hang out with a whole passel of folks from my not-so-misspent-PBS-watching youth: the inhabitants of 165 Eaton Place: "Upstairs, Downstairs."  Even the theme song takes me back to my earth shoe-wearing days.

As nice as Richard and Lady Marjorie Bellamy are, it's really Rose, Hudson, and Mrs. Bridges that I want to spend time with. The "downstairs" friends always seem to have more intriguing stuff going on.

And secrets are being revealed that we Americans missed out on in the 1970s. I became suspicious when I discovered that six episodes  on the DVDs are in black-and-white, not color, and I couldn't remember ever having seen them. Come to find out, PBS didn't air the black-and-whites, and several other episodes from the first season.

A shame, too, because those first few episodes with Pauline Collins as Sarah are wonderful. She was cute as a button. Sarah comes back later, we know, but the lost black-and-white episodes are treasures. Such fun discovering new things about old friends, eh?

Anyway, with all the chores and running around that must be done this weekend, it's so nice to come home to Rose and Hudson keeping order at Eaton Place. And I look forward to reliving the years - theirs and mine - for weeks to come.

If only Mrs. Bridges had my supper on the stove.