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Day Three Hundred Twenty-Eight

February 4, 2021 at 10:29 am by Claudia

Didn’t get to Stella yesterday, as I fell down the jigsaw puzzle hole.

I’ll take a better picture when I’m done. These grids consisting of book covers come together fairly quickly and they’re fun. In this case, the plus is learning about new-to-me titles and a reminder that I have The Phantom Tollbooth  in my TBR pile and I should get on it.

After I finish Winter Solstice, of course, which I allowed myself to read first thing this morning with a cup of hot coffee. That’s what I used to do every day, before personal computers and smart phones and social media. I’d make a cup of coffee, sit down in my favorite chair, and read for an hour or two. I’m starting to go back to that. I do my best reading in the morning before the rest of the day and its chores and responsibilities kicks in.

We made up another grocery list and Don will pick up the order tomorrow. Exciting, right?

Today is beautifully sunny, the first sunny day since the storm rolled in on Monday. We are going to enjoy it while we can because tomorrow brings rain and some snow. Sunlight reflecting off masses of white snow is like no other light. Even now, at 10 in the morning, the house is filled with light.

As the sun came up this morning.

I’m really staying away from the news, taking a brief amount of time to check in sometime during the afternoon. That’s it. I need peace. Don needs peace. Which brings to mind what I love about jigsaw puzzles – if I’m feeling at all anxious, I can sit down with the puzzle, lose myself in it, and the anxiety is gone. A blessing.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: jigsaw puzzles, snow 30 Comments

Day Three Hundred Twenty-Seven

February 3, 2021 at 10:20 am by Claudia

Yesterday was about snow blowing and shoveling and this morning was about more shoveling. All done by my hero, Don Sparks. We have over 2 feet of snow on the ground since we already had at least two inches in place before the storm came in. More snow on Sunday or Monday, but not a lot, thank goodness. March is supposed to be the month that comes in a like a lion, but let me tell you, February wins the lion competition this year.

So there’s not much to report, except….SNOW.

It’s rather a mess in the studio. I did some straightening up the other day, but, let’s face it, it’s still a mess. But a creative mess! In the next few days I’ll start in on the floor for the bathroom. I’m still not quite sure what I’m going to do with it, which is why I’ve been holding off.

I started another puzzle yesterday, one that was sent to me last year by a reader of the blog. It’s the kind that has a theme and shows book covers in a grid. This theme is children’s books. It’s quite lovely and I’m having fun with it.

I slept better last night (I slept very little the night before last) so I feel ready to tackle a day full of cleaning and watering plants and cleaning Stella. I clean Stella’s surface every night, but she really needs a deep cleaning, heck, she deserves a deep cleaning. And that’s what I’m going to do today, along with reading and puzzling and spending time with my husband.

Hope you don’t mind, but I never had a chance to get to the comments yesterday; I was too sleep deprived.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: life 22 Comments

Day Three Hundred Twenty-Six

February 2, 2021 at 9:16 am by Claudia

I’d say 20 – 24 inches.

It never stopped. It snowed constantly during the day and all night long. It’s still snowing. This was one of the more massive storms I’ve seen. And we’re getting more snow on Sunday.

Don just went outside to start up the snow blower. I’m encouraging him to take breaks. We don’t have to be anywhere.

I shot this through the front window this morning:

I’m calling it Ghost Furniture.

It got windy in the evening and throughout the night, so there’s lots of drifting.

February promises to be…interesting.

While that was going on, I fixed my wallpaper mistakes by adding this:

Since I have beams and supports downstairs, I figured I could get away with this in the bathroom. It is a very old English Cottage, after all. In the future, I will NOT wallpaper these sloped walls. I should have stuck to what I did in the bedroom but I couldn’t make up my mind what color to paint the wall, so I went with this.

Now for the floors and then the windows and trim.

A word about Hal Holbrook who passed away on January 23rd. His death was just announced today.

I knew Hal and I was blessed to have known him. When I first moved to San Diego to teach in the MFA program at the Old Globe/University of San Diego, Hal was performing in King Lear, as, of course, Lear. He was brilliant. His daughter, Eve, was a second year student in the acting program, so I became her teacher. Because Hal had a connection to the Globe and to the MFA program, he would visit Eve from time to time. That first fall, he came to watch a dress rehearsal of a show we were doing in the MFA program. I walked into the performance space and there was Hal, sitting in the last row. It was just Hal and me in that room and it was the first time I met him. We got to chatting. Hal was the rare person who was focused completely on whoever he was talking to. I felt that throughout our entire conversation. He wanted to know all about me, where was I from, what was my background, did I like San Diego, everything. We spoke about King Lear and he mentioned he’d like to try that role again when he was 80. We talked about Eve. We talked about Mark Twain.

He was enormously talented, but he was even more kind and compassionate and good. A few months later, we went to see him in Mark Twain Tonight  and met with him backstage. I will never forget that performance, nor his graciousness to all of us. I saw him several times during that first school year. Every meeting was a blessing.

Don had a similar experience during the summer before I met him. Don was performing in Morning’s at Seven (the show I saw him in before I met him) and Hal came backstage to Don’s dressing room, grabbed his hands and told him how great he was in the role. Again, focusing entirely on Don. Don has said he’ll never forget that experience.

Rest in Peace, dear Hal. Thank you.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: dollhouse, miniatures, snow 14 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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