Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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I’m home.

After an amazing, emotional, and powerful final day of filming, we wrapped at about 12:30 am Friday. Well, I guess it was technically Saturday morning. I felt strong emotions coming on during Thursday’s filming and knew right then that Friday was going to be quite a day.

It was.

It will take a day or so – maybe longer – to process everything I’ve been through for the past six weeks, but I’ll share more of that with you as the week progresses. Short version: I am profoundly grateful. My heart is full.

This is dear Annie, my former student and dear friend, who rented her top floor AirBnB to me during my stay. I adore her. We took a long walk together (along with her adorable dog) last Sunday and ended up in gorgeous Prospect Park. She has written a play that is going to be performed very soon and I couldn’t be prouder of her and her work as an artist and educator – not to mention a mom of three wonderful kids.

Part of the Video Village gang on wrap day. One of the producers left early, but this is basically the gang I sat with day after day as we watched everything that was filmed on the monitors. Second from the left in the back row is Todd, who is Jim’s husband and one of the producers. And that’s Michael Ausiello next to me, the author of the book this movie is based on. It’s his story and Jim is playing him on screen. We became very good pals during this adventure and I adore him.

Jim, me, and Ben on wrap day. Ben is the actor I’ve been coaching for over three months. I adore him. I adore Jim. My heart is so full of love for these two guys. Ben wrote the most beautiful note to me and surprised me with a bag full of miniatures from Tiny Doll House in NYC! I couldn’t believe it! I spent some time back behind one of the sets just talking to these two as the final scene was being filmed – a special moment with just the three of us. I’ll miss them so much, especially Ben because he’ll soon be back in England. At least I can see Jim and Todd as they’re just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

And finally, I came home to this addition to my ‘family.’ Say hello to Zoe, who looks a little bewildered.

She was made by Tiny Blythe Things and she came all the way from Moscow. There’s a story behind her, which I’ll share with you later. As Don repeatedly says: “They’re works of art!”

Isn’t she adorable?

Okay. I’m really, really tired but I hope to get our Christmas tree today. We’ll see.

Back to regular blogging!

More later.

Stay safe..

Happy Sunday.

 

 

One More Week To Go

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Another insanely busy week has passed and after taking yesterday to recover, I am able to put words together and write a post.

I really have no way to describe the erratic hours and long days that happen during filming. It’s different every day, especially when we’re on location where light is a huge factor. On Thursday we moved to the soundstage, which is a more controlled environment. But by the time we moved there, we were in a cycle of starting later in the day (there has to be a 12 hour turnaround between the end of filming and the start on the next day) so by Friday, I got home at 1:45 a.m. The soundstage is way out in an industrial part of Brooklyn – not the safest area – so the Manhattan and Brooklyn contingents are able to catch vans that takes us there. The only problem is when I am dropped off after 11;30, I have to call an Uber to get the rest of the way home as the subway line doesn’t stop at my station overnight.

The logistics of getting to a location or to the soundstage are always a challenge. Let’s just say I know the subway system much better than I did – and I already knew it pretty well.

I don’t have to be on set tomorrow, so I get an extra day off. Though I will have to go into Manhattan to get a Covid test in order to be cleared for Tuesday, as tomorrow is a testing day on set. We’re tested 3 days a week, with a PCR test and an antigen test on Monday, and an antigen test on Wednesday and Friday. So far, I’ve had 20 Covid tests.

Today I’ll drop off my laundry for the last time. Annie (my former student/landlady) and I plan to take a walk together, as we’ve hardly seen each other. She is one of my favorite people. Tomorrow, I don’t have to be on set so I have another day to recover, then it’s four more intense days and…we wrap. Don picks me up on Saturday and I’m back home.

I don’t think I’ll be able to process all of this for a long time. It’s been so intense, so all-encompassing, that I’ve really had no other life than this. And there’s a lot I can’t share with you simply because we are bound to an agreement of secrecy. I had one unexpected adventure which I’ll share with you one day. It was pretty amazing.

I’m just about to finish The Madness of Crowds  by Louise Penny. That’s how busy I’ve been. Six weeks and one book finished.

I don’t think I’d do this again, simply because it’s exhausting and I’m 69 years old. And what made this special was working with Jim again. And Ben, of course. It was personal, not just a job. I’m so very grateful for the experience and I definitely don’t want to wish the last week away, I want to savor it. But I’m also longing to go back home and be with my husband in our cottage.

And get our Christmas tree.

After 13 years of blogging, it’s been strange to sit here on a Sunday and not immediately think about posting. I have to remind myself to post! I’ll get back into the swing of it. I miss you all and I miss the daily rhythm of posting.

One more week to go.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Sunday

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Every time I think I should go here or there, I end up staying home. I am so, so tired and I have to listen to my body and rest. I often fall asleep sitting up on the sofa. Last night I went to bed early and slept 8 hours. I imagine it will be much the same when I go back home – several days to recover.

Anyway, I stayed home yesterday. I worked on the puzzle that I started when I first moved here and that I’ve barely had time to touch since. And I finished it!

It’s called “At the Strand” as in The Strand bookstore, a beloved shop in NYC, just south of Union Square. It’s the one bookstore I haven’t made it to this trip. Jigsaw puzzles are very zen-like for me and having the luxury of time to work on it this weekend is just what the doctor ordered. Today, I may pop over to a toy store I visited a couple of weeks ago – they have New Yorker puzzles in stock.

So far this weekend, I’ve watched movies that make me happy. I’ve watched Charade  twice, How to Steal a Million (with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole), and Casablanca. Today might be You’ve Got Mail  and tonight on TCM?  One of my all-time favorites – Pillow Talk, with Doris Day and Rock Hudson.

Seen on a walk past a restaurant on the corner:

What the heck happened here? Sad.

You know that I brought a stack of books with me, and have purchased even more since I’ve been here. I have yet to finish one. All my visions of reading time have gone up in smoke. When I do have time, I’m just too tired to concentrate. This experience has been exhilarating, inspiring, fun and grueling. Right now, all I can remember is the ‘grueling’ part of it, but soon those memories will fade away and I will remember only the good things – and there are many, many good things.

I have to drop my laundry off today and run an errand or two here in the neighborhood. Mostly, I’m going to take it easy as I have to be on the set by 6:30 am tomorrow and it’s way up on the Upper West Side.

And so it begins again!

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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