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You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Too Darn Hot

May 29, 2016 at 9:12 am by Claudia

Cripes. It’s been so hot here that we are under an air quality warning and have been for the past couple of days. It ‘felt’ – according the the weather report – close to 100 yesterday. Where the heck did Spring go? I’ve been staying in, just venturing out to keep water in the birdbath (they are drinking and bathing there almost constantly) and to water my seeds and potted plants.

All the rain that was predicted last week never materialized and we could really use some. I hope that tomorrow’s predicted rain comes. The birds, the animals, the plants, the grass – they all need a break.

5-29 catmint

The catmint has really taken off – purple blooms everywhere.

5-29 yarrow

Yarrow that has self-seeded over by the Chicken Wire Fence Garden.

5-29 clematisvines

Clematis twining and looping and blooming.

5-29 windchimes

Wind chimes moving gently in the breeze – when there is  one.

I read a book in a day and a half. It’s titled Security  and it’s by Gina Wohlsdorf. On my Kindle in eGalley form, it is un-putdownable. A high-tech thriller so well plotted and written that I was mesmerized. I’ll write a brief mini-review on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. It will be published on June 7th. Don was out doing a gig last night and there was nothing that interested me on television, so I just kept reading. And then I picked it up this morning and finished it. I love having a nice chunk of time in which to lost myself in a book. It’s the best.

Is anyone, other than Melanie, seeing ads that block the text or photos? I don’t mean the drop down ads that are sometimes above the first post. Those do open up and expand but are easily closed back up. I don’t seen anything on any of my browsers and I use Safari, Chrome and Firefox. I think it might be adware that’s on her browser, but I want to check with the rest of you.

Happy Sunday.

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Filed Under: books, flowers, garden 32 Comments

Opening Night

May 28, 2016 at 9:37 am by Claudia

I’m getting started very slowly today as we didn’t get home until 1 am from the Opening Night of Anastasia. It was a long day – driving there took almost twice as long as usual because of the Memorial Day weekend, I suspect. I almost gave up, thinking we should just head back home. But oh! I am so glad we kept going.

I cannot tell you enough how glorious this musical is. Opening Night was one of the most magical nights I’ve even been a part of, and I’ve been in theater for, ahem, many years. I am sitting here, this morning, in my blogging chair, remembering bits and pieces of the night, snatches of songs, magical moments onstage, the roar of the crowd at the end of certain musical numbers, the cheers and foot stomping and bravos that filled the theater. Don was completely enthralled. He couldn’t stop talking about it and said it’s the best show he’s seen in years.

I love the cast, a group of super talented actor/singer/dancers with big hearts and a wonderful, positive attitude. I love Darko, of course – his brilliance is a given. The music and lyrics, the libretto, the choreography, the music direction, the costumes, the set design, the lighting, the projections – are superb. I grew up acting in musicals. They are my first love. And what I love about the musical theater are the lush, gorgeous songs of the greats: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Jule Styne, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin….what I don’t like is the Pop sound in a lot of recent musicals. I avoid them like the plague. Musical Theater should be larger-than-life, it should take you to a different place, a place where the feelings and emotions in a moment are so big, so momentous, that the character just has to sing.

Anastasia  does that. Oh, how wonderful it is to witness something like this.

We spent some time at the party afterwards and then, about 11 pm, headed home. Not much sleep, but so worth it. It’s headed to Broadway sometime in 2017.

5-28 clematis

Before we left for Hartford, I noticed the clematis was blooming!

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As is the Lamium.

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With these 90 degree temperatures, I suspect a lot of blooms are going to pop open. Staying inside with the A/C on today. Don has a gig tonight, poor guy, so he’s trying to sleep in.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: Broadway, garden, Hartford, music, theater 34 Comments

Book Review: June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

May 27, 2016 at 9:27 am by Claudia

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Today I am reviewing June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore for TLC Book Tours. As always, I am provided with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

About the book (from the publisher): Twenty-five year old Cassie Danvers is holed up in her family’s crumbling mansion in rural St. Jude, Ohio, mourning the loss of the woman who raised her – her grandmother, June. But a knock on the door forces her out of isolation. Cassie has been named the sole heir to legendary matinee idol Jack Montgomery’s vast fortune. How did Jack Montgomery know her name? Could he have crossed paths with her grandmother all those years ago? What other shocking secrets could June’s once-stately mansion hold?

Soon Jack’s famous daughters come knocking, determined to wrestle Cassie away from the inheritance they feel is her due. Together, they all come to discover the true reasons for June’s silence about that long ago summer, when Hollywood came to town, and June and Jack’s lives were forever altered by murder, blackmail, and betrayal. As this page-turner shifts deftly between the past and present, Cassie and her guests will be forced to reexamine their legacies, their definition of family, and what it truly means to love someone, steadfastly, across the ages.

My review: This type of book, I suppose I would call it a romantic mystery, isn’t my usual sort of read. However, the opportunities I get to review books often open up reading possibilities to me that I would normally avoid and I’m happy to say I enjoyed this sweeping novel.

The story moves back and forth between the past, when June was a young woman and a movie was being filmed in St. Jude, and the present, where Cassie is dealing with the death of her grandmother, the news that she is an heiress, and the search to find the reason behind the inheritance. Beverly-Whittemore handles this moving back and forth in time adroitly, and the story has a lovely flow. There is a very real mystery that has to be solved; did Jack Montgomery know June? What was their relationship? Is Cassie related to Jack? What happened all those years ago? The author unveils that mystery slowly, bit by bit, until the reader finally puts the pieces together.

So, while we’re reading the here-and-now story of Cassie, we are also reading the story of June as it happened long ago, as told by June’s friend Lindie. And while Cassie and Jack’s daughters are searching for the truth, we are in on the mystery as it happened. It’s quite well done.

It’s a great summer read and you’ll most likely happily lose yourself in the pages of the book. The characters are well drawn. St. Jude and the family’s mansion – each a character in itself – are written with great detail, the images so rich that you’ll feel like you’re there.

A very good, lose-yourself-in-the-story, read.

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About the author: Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is the author of three other novels: New York Times  bestseller Bittersweet; Set Me Free, which won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, given annually for the best book of fiction by an American woman; and The Effects of Light. A recipient of the Crazyhorse Prize in Fiction, she lives and writes in Brooklyn.

One of you will be the lucky winner of a copy of June. Just leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner on Sunday evening. Good luck!

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: TLC Book Review 36 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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