Claudia — Page 1022

A Treasure Trove: Mini Gifts and Peonies

June 1, 2016 at 9:12 am by Claudia

I’m about to launch into a little story about some gifts that arrived in my mailbox. But first, let’s just stop for a moment.

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Yes, it’s the first week of June and my peonies are ready to open. Like clockwork. This one will fully open later today.

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My favorite flower. You’ll get more photos this week, you can count on it.

My friend Susi lives in Amsterdam. She is the miniaturist who built the amazing record shop that deservedly won an award this year. I still go back and look at those photos; her work is simply extraordinary.

Building a record shop means stocking lots of records and Susi eventually wrote a tutorial about making mini albums. Fully prepared to tackle that task, I wrote to Susi to ask her about the kind of paper she used. She wrote back, giving me all the information I needed, but in addition, she offered to send me the leftover albums she didn’t use in her project. I offered to pay for them, but she would have none of it. I’ve not yet ‘met’ a miniaturist who isn’t generous, whether it is with information, advice, or minis.

They arrived in my post office box over the weekend. At the same time, my blogging friend Heidi sent me some album covers that she thought I might be able to use. (I love them, but they may be a bit too small for this project, so I’m keeping them for a future project, Heidi. Thank you!)

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Stacks of albums! Whoo hoo!

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Susi also sent some printables that I will be able to use in my projects. She uses a laser printer. Note to self: Your printer stinks, so maybe when you replace it, you should go with a laser printer.

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Also included were these two lovely gifts: a thimble with a cow on top and ‘wooden’ shoes in a beautiful delft pattern with a windmill in the center. I love them. Oh, Susi! Thank you so much! What a sweetheart you are!

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Look, it’s full!

I was so sick of pulling this shelf unit out from the wall only to have the records fall out the back, that I made a back out of mat board yesterday. Much better!

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The extras are over by the turntable.

I’m so excited! 23 days and counting until someone’s big birthday celebration.

Today would have been my parents’ 70th anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I trust you’re uncorking the bubbly and celebrating your incredible love story. We miss you every day.

Happy Wednesday.

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Happy: I Love This Time of Year

May 31, 2016 at 10:09 am by Claudia

Slow start this morning! That may be due to a bout of lawn mowing during the most humid and hot part of the day yesterday. What were we thinking? I don’t think we knew it was that humid when we decided to mow. And by the time we realized it…it was too late. We were really tired at the end of the day.

I also made Don get the older air conditioner that we used to use in the office (formerly guest bedroom) out of the shed. That room was impossible to work in because of the incredibly hot temps we’ve been having. Sweating, just having finished mowing, we lugged it upstairs and put it in the window, all the while crossing our fingers that it would work.

It did, thank goodness! We didn’t want to buy yet another a/c unit.

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Wildflowers blooming right under the kitchen window.

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The clematis is blooming like crazy!

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Wild roses, which are blooming all over the property. They are so delicate and beautiful. The rest of the year I curse them, of course, as I get stuck by the thorns. But right now? I love them.

I am so happy when I can work in the gardens, mow the lawn, look at our beautiful property that we love so much. Yesterday, as I was mowing, I kept saying to Don, “Isn’t it beautiful?” I’m very grateful. Tired…but grateful.

At the end of the day, we had the most spectacular sunset that turned the whole sky orange and lasted for at least 30 minutes. It went on and on and it was glorious,

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You can see it reflected off our neighbor’s solar panels. Gorgeous.

The winner of a copy of June is Joan. Joan, I have sent you an email asking for your mailing address. Congratulations!

I’ve posted some more photos of Postmark Books on Just Let Me Finish This Page. Stop on by!

Happy Tuesday.

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Bakelite, Books & Rain (Finally!)

May 30, 2016 at 9:18 am by Claudia

I know a lot of bloggers don’t post on a holiday or simply post specifically about that holiday. I, on the other hand, like to read blogs every day of the year and just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean that every moment of my day is taken up with that holiday. When the pickings are slim, I feel let down. It’s like that ‘nobody’s around’ feeling in a neighborhood. Sort of unnerving.

So, what the heck, I’ll post as if it were any other day. Sort of.

We went to our neighboring town of Rosendale yesterday to have brunch at my favorite vegetarian restaurant – or almost vegetarian – the Rosendale Café. (Don has played there several times.) Oh, what a scrumptious brunch! Great music in the background; it sounded like Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt and it was perfect for a leisurely Sunday brunch. Then we stopped by our friend’s shop, the same shop where we found our chair last week. I came home with these pieces of bakelite flatware.

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Yes, another thing I collect: Bakelite. I actually haven’t purchased any bakelite in a long time, but these three pieces were intriguing. Love the serving fork on the right and the grapefruit knife in the middle. Any ideas what the piece on the left is? A whip? A potato masher? If you have any ideas, share them here!

Then we went to visit Jesse at Postmark Books, my new favorite bookshop. And this time, I actually bought some books.

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Jesse pointed out the Scandinavian mystery on the left. It looks very interesting. And I’ve been wanting to buy Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me for a long time. I’ve heard nothing but raves about it, with one blogger going so far as to say if you were only going to read one book this year, this should be it.

I took more photos of the shop and I’ll most likely post them on Just Let Me Finish This Page tomorrow. Oh, and Jesse does ship, for those of you who asked.

It’s rained all night long and it’s easing up now. More rain and storms tonight. I’m happy that the plants are getting some much needed moisture.

Here’s a picture of the two gadabouts:

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(Taken at the Rosendale Café.)

I’m getting grayer by the minute. So is Don.

Of course, we remember today all those who lost their lives in combat, in war, and under friendly fire. All of them gone too soon.

My fervent wish: No More War.

Happy Monday.

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A Treasure Trove: Mini Gifts and Peonies

Happy: I Love This Time of Year

Bakelite, Books & Rain (Finally!)

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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