This version of Poldark was much better than the original one which I watched some years ago - perhaps it's the brooding intensity of Aidan Turner. They are now filming season 2 and the BBC stated that Poldark might be the long running drama they're seeking as a replacement for Downton Abbey. There are 12 novels in Winston Graham's Cornwall series covering the years 1783 to 1820. No air date set yet but they hinted maybe spring 2016. Outlander is also filming and just switched locations. Ron Moore did a Q&A last week and said while he's not in charge of scheduling that we should anticipate late March or April 2016.

CindyMac, I have to retract my favorable comments re: Handmaids Tale as we just finished watching the 2nd season. Without giving anything away, some character's took a bizarre explicable turn which cheapened the story. And it was torture porn without any emotional relief. To lighten up, we are watching THE QUEER EYE on Netflix. Although some of the antics are a bit MUCH, the transformations are enjoyable.

For me, the absolute champion, never-to-be-surpassed series is Game of Thrones. Great acting, great writing, intriguing plots, and beautiful locations. True, it is very violent, so I - hating "blood 'n guts" - spent a fair amount of time peeking between my fingers with squinted eyes. That said, it is epic, a story of human foibles and weaknesses and occasional courage. If you can cope with limbs being lopped off, of everything that could go wrong being shown on screen, and if you can follow the convoluted plot and myriad characters - I recommend it. imo there's nothing else like it. The dragons! DH and I also loved Mad Men. We came to it toward the end of its run, so there was a lot of binge-watching to catch up. It would have been my favorite but for GOT. We've watched many of the above-mentioned shows, especially enjoying Foyle's War.

The title is okay with me, although it did startle me at first - I thought, "What have I done now?"!! I'm very much addicted to cryptograms, but I'm pretty quick with them now. My cable company does not offer DABL, and so I have to watch it on antenna TV, which means that I cannot DVR it, and so I can only watch it when it is on, which is three hours every weekday, which is more than enough! As for sewing - I had to teach myself how to sew because I was forbidden to use a sewing machine when I was growing up in central Texas. So as soon as I was able, I got my own sewing machine, bought some patterns, and learned from the patterns. I never felt that the patterns were any kind of bible, and so from the beginning I felt free to revise them to my own whim. Basically, I learned from trial and error, but I was very motivated.