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You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Dreaded Chores, Flowers & Garden Life

August 15, 2019 at 10:53 am by Claudia

It’s time to add up our deductions and send them off to our tax preparer. We always file an extension and I can put the whole thing out of my mind until…da, da, DUM…August. And now we’re here. So that’s what I’ll be doing this afternoon and tomorrow. Of course the amount of deductions we as performing artists can take has shrunk to next to nothing, but New York State still allows them. So we still have to do the same amount of calculating.

Sigh.

A little bit lobelia has popped up in my geranium pot. There’s a big pot of lobelia nearby and it self-seeded here in the geraniums. I love those little garden surprises.

My yellow garden spider is still here.

I’ve never seen one stay in the same place for so long.

We had another one hanging on the siding next to our kitchen door, but it was particularly windy that day and the spider was constantly buffeted by the winds, so it moved on. Where, I don’t know.

So today, it’s deductions and other chores. We’re headed over to Rick and Doug’s for dinner, as three of our former students will be in town. Can’t wait to see them! They were members of the last class that I taught at The Old Globe/USD. Jim Parsons was one of their classmates. It will be fun.

As for Las Vegas, I plan to be indoors most of the time I’m there. I’ve never had the least desire to visit but my hand has been forced. Since I’ll be working much of the time, it should be fine.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

Filed Under: flowers, garden, spider 18 Comments

A Good Day

August 14, 2019 at 10:52 am by Claudia

Well, this was alarming.

Mother Nature: I’m happy that it’s cooler right now, but don’t assume that means I’m ready for Fall. I will be soon, but please don’t rush me. Okay?

Yesterday was a strange and good day. Don drove down to New Jersey to buy more film for his Crown Graphic camera. Fuji has stopped making it and, consequently, it’s getting more expensive. There are photographers who swear by it – and it’s really true, there’s nothing anywhere near the quality of this film for polaroid photography – and they hoard it knowing that the supply is finite. There’s someone out there trying to develop an alternative and we have our fingers crossed that he succeeds.

Anyway, on the way back he called me with the news that he had booked the job he auditioned for last week. It’s a small role, just a day’s work, but it’s significant because it’s the first job he’s booked since Margaritaville. He needed that. We were celebrating when an email came up on my laptop from the Anastasia National Tour asking if I was available to coach a couple of actors next week – in Las Vegas, no less.

So, while I was talking to Don about the job he just booked, I booked a job myself!

Good news for the Hill-Sparks household.

I’ll be jetting off to Las Vegas next Wednesday and I’ll return on Saturday. Crazy, right?

It’s always a good day when two freelancers book a job. In the 25 years we’ve been together, we’ve never booked jobs on the same day.

Just saw our pair of mourning doves. One is looking for food on the ground, the other is sitting on the edge of the birdbath. They were there yesterday evening, as well.

Okay. I got a late start this morning, then I had a phone call with Darko, and I’m just now getting to the blog!

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: Anastasia, Don 44 Comments

A Delightful Dilemma

August 13, 2019 at 10:54 am by Claudia

Tuesday is turning into a rainy day, which is fine with me – I won’t have to water the seedlings. So far, it’s a gentle rain, though I think we might have some thunderstorms, as well.

There were lots of acorns to be gathered on our walk yesterday. I love acorns. They remind me of my childhood. I lived in a neighborhood filled with old trees; elms, maples, and oaks. Gathering acorns was one of my favorite things to do. For many years I lived in San Diego, where oak trees were nonexistent. We have a couple of them up in the woods on our property and there are lots of them in our neighborhood.

An acorn is a perfect little treasure. I never tire of seeing that little ‘cap.’

I’ve walked by this neighbor’s house many, many times, but this is the first time I noticed this:

Succulents (Hen and Chicks) growing out of a massive rock. If that isn’t Art, I don’t know what is.

I’m about 2/3 of the way through The Overstory. I should finish it by tomorrow, although I don’t want it to end. My next read will come out of this pile:

I’m not sure which one I’ll be in the mood for. I could call this my official To Be Read stack, but I have several of those! This one is the most recent, however, and the one that excites me most. Nonfiction or Fiction? I’m leaning toward Bookworm, but The Bookshop of Yesterdays  is also tempting. By tomorrow, I may be leaning toward something else. There’s also The Paris Architect, which I neglected to include in this stack. And Twenty-Five, a vintage Penguin paperback that just arrived from England. It’s by…drumroll…Beverley Nichols. It’s an autobiography written in Nichol’s twenty-fifth year.

What to choose? A delightful dilemma.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: books 30 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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