Claudia — Page 1288

On Sunday

March 16, 2014 at 9:04 am by Claudia

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You had to know I’d be taking pictures of the flowers I bought the other day. I’ve been deprived of that pleasure for several months.

Ice Station Zebra, meet some wonderful things called ‘flowers.’

Yes, they do exist. I’m not kidding.

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They look especially pretty against the white of the snow that has become a seemingly permanent part of the landscape here at Ice Station Zebra.

But wait. The snow has actually been melting. That’s a wonderful thing.

But wait again. Hugs amounts of melting snow = Mud. Lots of it. The kind of mud you slip and slide in. The kind of mud that gets all over Scout’s feet. And that has to wiped off her feet every time she comes in the house resulting in a struggle as she tries to elude my grasp. Yesterday she tried a move to the side and I barely managed to catch her.

There is mud everywhere, along with the snow still on the ground. Yesterday I grabbed some straw and covered some of the paths with it. I still have more to go.

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It helps a little.

As someone who tries to steer away from 24 hour cable news, I have to admit I have been mesmerized by the disappearance of Flight 370. The mystery seems to deepen every day, with some clues that seemed promising fizzling out and new clues taking their place. I cannot begin to imagine the agony the families of the missing are going through as more and more time elapses since the plane’s disappearance. It’s a real-life mystery that I can’t put down. Have you been following this story? It seems impossible that they are still alive, but there is always the faint chance that the plane landed somewhere. I hope that is the case.

And since I have been watching so much cable news, I have to once again say how much I dislike pharmaceutical commercials, which push a drug while including an endless list of possible or probable reactions from taking that drug – including death. Every time we hear one of these lists, Don and I roll our eyes: Really? This is supposed to make me want to take this drug?

And now they’re trying to be hip. Low testosterone is called “LowT.” Hepatitis C is called “HepC.” Medical conditions have become the equivalent of a rapper’s nickname.

What??

Another head shaker from yours truly.

The winner of a copy of The Accident is Kathy. Congratulations!

Happy Sunday.

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An Escape from the Cottage

March 15, 2014 at 9:16 am by Claudia

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Smile.

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Another smile.

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And another big old smile.

You’ve probably gathered that I did indeed make my trip to Trader Joe’s yesterday. Yes, I bought some food but the first thing I did was grab three bouquets of flowers. $3.99/each. You can’t beat their prices and the bouquets aren’t skimpy, like many I see. At this time of year around here, a bouquet like the one above would easily be $15.00 or more. Hello. It’s a no-brainer.

Driving to either of the Trader Joe’s that are closest to our house takes about an hour. This time I was adding in IKEA which is in the same area as TJ’s but a bit further south (both are in New Jersey.) So that means I have to calculate a driving time of 2 hours round-trip, Scout’s mealtimes and, ahem, elimination needs, and I have to move quickly once I’m in those stores. If Don was here, I would have been able to be quite a bit more leisurely about the whole thing. But…I did it. It was so good to get out of the cottage and on the road. And I clocked in at just over 4 hours. Excellent job if I do say so myself.

IKEA kept cropping up in my head because I had seen a lamp that I liked – you guessed it – on several blogs. I thought it would be perfect for my sewing table. I’ve never been thrilled with the one I’ve been using (also from IKEA) and I have plans to transfer that one to the desk in the guest room/studio/office. But I was unsure of the dimensions and, for some reason, IKEA didn’t include that information online. So I just bit the bullet and went there. I always have fun at IKEA, but there were the usually crying toddlers and big groups of people taking up the whole aisle so that I couldn’t get past them. And my eyes started to sting from the lighting.

I digress.

Here’s the lamp.

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It’s powder coated in white with neat darkish brassy looking accents and a fabric covered cord. I really love the look of it and it seemed perfect for the sewing table. I figured that if I didn’t like it there, I would use it on my bedside table. (It’s called the Ranarp, if you’re interested.)

I really like it. And, like everything at IKEA, really inexpensive, which suits my budget rather nicely.

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I suppose it would be a good idea for me to actually do some sewing after all of this work in the studio.

I also got a couple of cooking pots for the kitchen and two sets of these:

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I need them and the color is self-explanatory, don’t you think?

Then I came home, accidentally knocked over Riley’s Dish Garden, which now needs some work, put something in the refrigerator overnight that should have been put in the freezer, and dealt with an insanely hyper Scout for about 4 hours. She pushed every last one of my buttons.

Ah well. If you play, you pay.

Or so they say.

Happy Saturday.

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Chatty on Friday

March 14, 2014 at 9:16 am by Claudia

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• Weather-wise, we were fortunate compared to some of you, who I know got lots more snow. We got a lot of rain, then sleet, flash freezing and ice, and a dusting of snow. The ice continues to be a pain in the tush for Scout. That poor girl has to navigate a dog corral that one moment is squishy and slippery with mud after a 57 degree day and the next moment is full of treacherous ice patches because we had a flash freeze. This morning she stopped right behind an ice patch that was outside the kitchen door and just stared at me with an expression that said, “I have to deal with this again? Enough already.”

I get it, my girl. I echo your sentiments. I have more than had it with this bizarre winter. I feel like most of the time Don has been away, I have been putting all my energy into coping with the elements. Chopping ice, shoveling snow, figuring out how to get the ice dams on the roof to melt, trekking through four foot high snow drifts to rake the roof, salting, clearing several feet of snow to find the downspouts and gutter extensions, worrying about the weight of snow on the roof.

I might not be cut out for the role of a pioneer woman.

• I’m feeling a bit stir crazy here at the cottage. I’m contemplating a trip south to IKEA and Trader Joe’s. I need a change in scenery. TJ’s has the best deals on fresh flowers and heaven knows I could use some around here. And sometimes I simply need to take a jaunt through IKEA. Today might be the day.

• I’m reading The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith. It’s a very well written mystery that got great reviews in Great Britain when it was published. Then it somehow got out that Robert Galbraith was really J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series. She wanted to publish something under another name, free of all the expectations that would come if she published a new series under her own name. She is a wonderful writer.

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• The Seagull by Anton Chekhov opened Wednesday night in Boston. Here’s a photo of Don with Kate Burton (a wonderful actress and the daughter of Richard Burton.) Now all the rehearsals and long days are over and Don can settle into the run of the play.

I love Chekhov. I was in The Three Sisters when I was an actress and it remains one of my favorite experiences. I’ve coached several different productions of Chekhov’s plays. He was such a wise man, so attuned to the complexities of the human spirit. And very funny, as well.

Check out those mutton chops on Don!

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• My girl with a look in her eyes not unlike the look she gave me this morning. She’s a beauty. And a handful. She misses her dad. We would go visit him, but he’s staying in an apartment that is only reached by stairs – a lot of them. She just can’t handle that many stairs these days. And she’s too big to carry. So we have to stay here. If only there was an elevator there! There is Don, in the city where I lived for many years and still love, and I can’t be with him. (And no, we really can’t afford a hotel.) Ah well. It’s frustrating, but Scoutie’s health and well-being has to be our top priority.

• On a very sad note, my brother-in-law lost his mother yesterday, just two weeks after he lost his brother. Gracie was a wonderful woman who was the proud matriarch of her family. Loving, strong, wise – she was a role model for everyone. At what one would consider an ‘advanced’ age, she was helping build houses for Habitat for Humanity. John adored her, as did Meredith and my nephews. Rest in peace, Gracie. You will be missed by so many. We are blessed to have known you.

That’s all for now.

Happy Friday.

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On Sunday

An Escape from the Cottage

Chatty on Friday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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