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You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Finds Lost & Instagram

November 18, 2015 at 9:53 am by Claudia

11-18 coffee table

Life at the moment.

Chapped lips need Carmex.

Reading glasses.

Michael Connelly’s newest, The Crossing, which I’ve just started.

The newest scarf in its very beginning stages.

In a rare reversal, Don was up and about much earlier than I. I slept in, partly because I had trouble getting to sleep last night. I rarely sleep in and when I do, I find I’m groggy for a good while. Still groggy and it’s 9:40 am.

11-18 parrish

Oh, yesterday. Yesterday, I decided to go to the antique barn and see if that Maxfield Parrish was still there. It was about three weeks ago that I first saw it. It was gorgeous and a good price. But I couldn’t afford it at the time, so I passed, thinking I might buy it in a week or so.

Well, of course, I left for Florida suddenly and was gone ten days and then I came back and it wasn’t until yesterday that I roused myself enough to go back to the antique barn. I was thinking that it would make a good birthday present – either from me to me, or from Don to me.

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know what happened.

It was gone.

I searched every inch of that barn. Twice.

Someone wiser than me snapped it up.

I can’t explain the sadness I felt, except to say I cried. And then I cried again when I told Don about it. I had been thinking about it all this time, and though I knew the chances of it still being there were slim, I held a secret little hope that it would be. I could see it hanging above my desk in the new office/studio space that is yet-to-be.

I’m still sad. You know that feeling when you are absolutely sure something was meant just for you? That’s how I felt. Silly, but real, nonetheless.

As I said on Instagram, it’s a lesson learned, or rather re-learned. If you see something you want at an antique store or a flea market, grab it. We all know this, don’t we? I certainly do. But I didn’t follow my own advice. At the time, several of you suggested trying to put it on layaway. I didn’t follow through, but to be fair to myself, I flew off to Florida a few days later.

Still….

If you see it and want it and can afford it, get it.

This is one I’ll regret for a long, long time.

By the way, do you do Instagram? I reluctantly got on board a while ago, and I really love it. I don’t post all the time, but I post fairly regularly. I’ve found lots of interesting accounts to follow – everything from animal rescue organizations to farmers with gorgeous sheep to McCoy collectors to fellow bloggers to readers and friends of this blog. It’s visually stimulating and fun. I often pull out my phone when I’m waiting somewhere and scroll through my feed.

A lot of people seem to be using Instagram as a blog nowadays and sometimes the captions under the photos are rather long. If they’re too long, I usually move on to the next one. I like short and sweet. Longer is for blogs, in my humble opinion. But I’m getting used to reading longer captions (yes, even I can change) and do my best to comment when I can. I tend to use my iPhone for my photos instead of anything shot by my big girl camera, though lots of Instagrammers use professional, styled photos.

It’s a wonderful way to connect with all sorts of people who don’t blog and who are incredibly creative and interesting and with bloggers who share moments of their day that might not necessarily be covered in a blog post. If you want to follow me, you can click here or you can click on the camera icon at the top of my sidebar.

I like it a lot.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

Filed Under: instagram, Maxfield Parrish 32 Comments

Blooming: Geranium, Gone: Bed, Made: Scarf

November 17, 2015 at 8:58 am by Claudia

11-17 geranium 1

My little geranium is blooming. I thought it was done for the season.

This makes me happy.

11-17 geranium 2

I’ve been covering up the impatiens with a sheet on the nights the temperature drops below freezing. To tell you the honest truth, I don’t know whether I’m up for overwintering all of them again. I’ve done it for two years running, but there is only so much space in this cottage and I don’t know where I would put them. And I have more to overwinter this year than last.

If I had to choose just a few it would be too hard for me, as I’m a sentimental sap about my plants. I almost wish Mother Nature would make the decision for me.

Bad Claudia.

I suppose it’s because of a combination of things but mostly because I’m in mourning and I just don’t have the energy. We’re going to do very little Christmas decorating this year. We’re not even getting a big tree. I just don’t have it in me. My birthday is Saturday, but the awareness that this is my first birthday without a living parent is overshadowing the day. Last year, Dad forgot my birthday – the first time that has ever happened – and, of course, it was my first birthday without my mother. But right before he was re-admitted to the hospital we had a phone conversation in which he mentioned my birthday, “You have a birthday coming up!” and I remember thinking that he was going to remember it and it would be great to hear from him on that day.

Bittersweet.

Let’s change the subject.

Announcement: We gave away the guest room bed. It’s gone. I took some pictures of the bed and we each ran posts on Facebook saying we were giving away a good, rarely used, mattress/box spring/frame. And one of Don’s musician friends offered to take it, which led to Don and I trying to get the danged mattress and box spring down the stairs. It’s a full size, and there’s no split box spring, as there is with our newer mattress. It took some creative moves on our part and a lot of cursing. But we got it downstairs. Our friends strapped it to their car and off they went.

Now we can make that room a functioning office/studio space for both of us. Of course, each of us would rather have a room to ourselves, but that ain’t happening in a two bedroom cottage. So, we’ll play nice and share.

I just have to save up for a desk. I’ve picked one out (from IKEA) and when I can afford it – hopefully soon, please – we’ll get it. In the meantime, we can start rearranging things in that room.

11-17 scarf in progress

Scarf in progress.

11-17 etsy scarf blog

Scarf finished. It’s in the Etsy shop. Soft, beautiful yarn in a colorway called Reef. I really love this one.

Edited to add: Sold! Thank you so much! If you see a scarf you like and are thinking about it, my advice is to act quickly!

I’ve been crocheting like a madwoman. The scarves are fun to make and they give me something repetitive and comforting to do with my hands. And they bring in a little extra money, which is more welcome than I can say.

For those of you who have purchased one in the past, if you get to the point where you want to revive the basic shape, just lay it out on a flat surface, spritz it with water and play with it a bit. That’s what I do after I finish each scarf.

Forgot to add that there’s a new post at Just Let Me Finish This Page, a mini book review of Broken Monsters  by Lauren Beukes.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: crochet, decorating, etsy, flowers, grief 20 Comments

Sharing a Sweet Moment

November 16, 2015 at 8:32 am by Claudia

We’ve been very busy around here lately. I’ve been traveling back and forth to Manhattan on a theater coaching job. My husband has been on the road performing. All well and good of course, as we love our work, but all of that activity means we’ve barely seen each other.

Life goes by rather quickly, especially when we’re busy. And when that happens, it helps to find a pocket of time in which to stop, sit down, share some conversation and in our case, something sweet. A sweet moment in time, made all the sweeter by Marie Callender’s Frozen Desserts.

Oh, yes, indeed.

We made a trip to our local grocery store and brought this beauty home with us:

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Marie Callender’s Frozen Pies are simply scrumptious, with a homemade quality that makes them irresistible. The Chocolate Satin Pie has a rich chocolate filling, a made-from-scratch chocolate cookie crust, and it’s topped with real chocolate curls.

10-23 chocolatesatinpie1

Hello there! I’m here to tell you that this pie is unbelievably good. Oh my goodness! If you’re a chocolate lover, as we are, you will think you’ve died and gone to heaven.

It’s so beautiful I almost couldn’t cut into it. But somehow I managed, and if the sighs of happiness coming out of my husband’s mouth were any indication, this has become his favorite pie.

10-23 chocolatesatinpie3

I managed to take a photo before it was devoured by two chocolate lovers who needed a quiet and sweet moment together. That would be my husband and me.

We got it, that’s for sure.

Marie Callender’s also makes a Coconut Cream Pie and a Dutch Apple Pie that are equally wonderful, with made-from-scratch goodness in every bite.

It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of being busy, busy, busy. It’s far too easy to fall prey to all the demands on our time and forget to take some time to savor the moment. Whether that moment is solitary and quiet or a conversation with a dear friend or family member, one of Marie Callender’s frozen desserts will make it even sweeter.

There’s one piece of the Chocolate Satin Pie left. Will we share it or will one of us grab it on the sly?

I’m hoping we’ll share it. Fingers crossed!

You can find out more about Marie Callender’s Frozen Desserts here.  

What sweet moment can you share over pie? Leave a comment for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.

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Tagged With: Marie Callender's pie, sponsored postFiled Under: life 107 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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