Sunday Bookends: Remembering Maggie Smith, reading the same books, and some blog posts I enjoyed recently

/ Lisa R. Howeler



It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.



What’s Been Occurring

What a weird coincidence this week that Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs) and I watched a movie with Maggie Smith and a day after we posted out those she passed away. We had watched Ladies in Lavender with her and Judi Dench and wrote about it and then that night I was thinking how upset Judi would be when Maggie passed away. I also wondered which “dame” would actually pass away first – I thought it might be Joan Plowright.

The next morning Erin texted me to tell me that Maggie had died and I honestly felt like I had lost a friend. I haven’t even watched her very much in things like Downton Abbey or Harry Potter (though I did watch Harry Potter with the kids just recently). I stopped watching Downton when they killed Matthew off. It ticked me off so bad I refused to watch the show again.

I’ve seen Maggie in a few movies since then, though, and just sort of fell in love with her spunk and attitude, but also a tenderness I saw in her.

I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I cried more over her death than the death of my mother-in-law the week before – partially because I had more sentimental connection with Maggie – whom I’ve never met – that my husband’s mother. That’s a very long, sad story that I won’t go into here.

I was looking for clips of Maggie to share on Instagram since I had a clip of her and Judi and Joan Plowright from Tea With the Dames go viral last year on my Instagram, when I remembered I had seen that she’d been on The Carol Burnett Show one time.

If you want to see that clip, I’ll share it below in my What I’ve Been Watching section.

I’m really hoping to watch an Agatha Christie movie with Maggie that I just learned about Friday as well.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I was working on the third book in my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series last week so I didn’t read as much as I could have.

Therefore I am still reading the same books I was reading – Move Your Blooming Corpse by DE Ireland and Kristen by Dawn Klinge, but have added The Secret at Red Gate Farm, a Nancy Drew to the mix.

I finished nothing! Nothing, people! See above. *wink*




Murder Handcrafted by Isabella Alan (An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery)

The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

Little Miss and I are reading The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright via Hoopla.

The Husband is reading Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail 1972 by Hunter S. Thompson

The Boy is listening to Beowulf and a book of short stories.

What We watched/are Watching

Last week I rewatched most of Ladies in Lavender to write about it for our Comfy, Cozy Cinema, since I’ve seen it before.

I mentioned above that I enjoyed watching Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in the movie and then the next day Maggie passed away. It was heartbreaking.

Erin and I have a few movies with either Judi or Maggie or both in it on our Comfy, Cozy Cinema this time around and I swear we didn’t do it on purpose. We both chose movies on our own and then whittled the list down, not even thinking about who was starring in them. We both even forgot about Judi and Maggie being in a couple of the movies.

This weekend I’ve been watching some clips of Maggie from various shows or interviews, including this one from The Carol Burnett Show:


I had no idea Maggie sang until I saw this clip with her and Carol on YouTube:

I have also been continuing to watch Lovejoy, an old British show that sometime has a mystery and sometimes just a conman story.  I hated how this series ended so I’ve watched it before but seem to have forgotten some of the episodes so I am rewatching them. This is a show my husband always watched and turned me on to.


What I’m Writing

Gladwynn Shakes The Family Tree, of course.

On the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening To

Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett on Hoopla

Photos from Last Week

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

|| Review: Hillbilly Elegy by Stray Thoughts ||

(I appreciated this non-partisan and just straight review of J.D. Vance’s book. Not a fan of him as a politician but I’m also not a fan of any politician at this time.)

|| Words for Wednesday: Confined by Mama’s Empty Nest ||

(Boy, could I relate to this one.)

|| His Encouragement by Christian Fiction Girl ||

(A great reminder of God’s faithfulness during challenging times. )

|| Book Review: Cassie, Apron Strings Book Eight by Leslie’s LIbrary Escape ||

(This one is a little biased on my part, but this was a really nice review of my book Cassie.)


Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

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31 thoughts on “Sunday Bookends: Remembering Maggie Smith, reading the same books, and some blog posts I enjoyed recently”

  1. Gosh, I hardly even recognized Maggie Smith in those clips from the Carol Burnet show! I think I mostly associate her with Downton and Harry Potter but I too loved her spunk and spirit. It does seem to shine through in all her roles.

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  2. I totally understand how you can mourn the loss of a much beloved actor more than a problematic relative. For me, it was the loss of Robin Williams. The books in your Up Next pile sound good! I love the pics of your cat and the Morning Glories. I have some growing in my yard too.

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  3. Thanks so much for the mention! I loved Ladies in Lavender. I probably know Maggie Smith best from Downton Abbey, but I have seen her here and there in other films. I have enjoyed reels and clips people have been posting of some of her work–I think my favorite was of her as the older Wendy in Hook.

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  6. I adored Tea With the Dames, Lisa. I was trying to think, earlier today, what that show was called and who’d been in it with Dames Maggie & Judi. Thanks for providing the answers. I haven’t seen Ladies in Lavender, but I will watch for it. 💖📚

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  7. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that Dame Maggie had passed. She just seemed invincible. I have always loved her wit and comebacks…even if most of them were written for her. I absolutely loved watching them interact in “Tea with the Dames.” I’m so glad she had received her accolades before passing.

    I have finished two books this week! That’s almost a record for me. One of them was In Cold Blood, and the other was The Heiress. Let’s just say I liked the second much better than the first.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    • Ooh! Two books in a week is an accomplishment for sure.

      And yes, I was totally floored when Erin told me. I guess I knew she was old but not that old. I sort of thought she’d be one to live until she was at least well into her 90s.

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  8. I don’t remember ever seeing that Lucille Ball and Dame Maggie Smith piece before. So funny and sad at the same time! Thank you for sharing that! I’m adding Ladies in Lavender on my list to look for on the streaming services. Don’t watch too many things, but always keep a list anyway!

    I didn’t finish anything this week but a kind of silly audiobook!

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    • I don’t have much time to watch things some weeks but other weeks I have time to watch a ton. It just depends on what is going on. I try to choose lighter things when I do have time.

      My reading will be slow until I get the rough draft of my book done and then it will pick back up again.

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  9. I watched Ladies in Lavender last night after reading your review of it. I very much like Maggie Smith’s acting and have always been impressed with the poise and class she brings to her characters. That movie SO did not need a PG-13 rating, and it irritated me they threw in the one word to ruin an otherwise delightful mood and movie.

    When you mentioned Joshua Bell did the violin playing I became keenly interested–he was one of my primary inspirations to learn violin when I was a kid. Incredibly gifted.

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    • Yes about that swear word! It didn’t even make sense in the movie. It was absolutely stupid. It makes me think there was more to that scene and it got edited in the final cut or something.

      I was curious if the actor had performed his own violin so that’s how I found out about Bell. I thought that was very interesting too.

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  10. I happily watched Maggie Smith in both Ladies in Lavender and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel this month, and I was reminded of what a wonderful actress she was. Thank you for sharing the clips of Maggie Smith with Carol Burnett.

    I’ve often had The Cat Who series recommended to me, but I have not tried it yet.

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