Claudia — Page 740

This and That

November 14, 2018 at 8:58 am by Claudia

Not only are we getting a lot of snow tomorrow, we’re also getting ice Thursday night.

Apparently, our first snowfall won’t be pretty event. I’m already sick of winter and it hasn’t officially begun!

Today will find us moving the A/C units out of the windows, cleaning up the porch, buying salt and getting the snow shovels out of the shed. I have a lot to do today!

This little mustard pot/crock arrived yesterday. It was an impulse buy, but I’m glad I went for it. It’s probably from the late 1800s – early 1900s and it’s got great graphics and an appropriate amount of rust. They don’t make packaging like this anymore, do they?

Since I have a marmalade crock from the British Isles, I figured I needed some sort of crock from France, too.

What else is new? Don is singing in a concert in Manhattan on Sunday evening. It’s to be a concert version of new musical that is in development called Johnny and the Devil’s Box. The music is bluegrass. One of the music directors from Margaritaville is working on it and recommended Don, as well as Don’s co-star, Rema Webb. It’s being done live with an audience with the intention of getting a good recording of the entire score.

I’m still working on Anastasia, but won’t be back there until November 20th. A young Australian pop star is coming in to replace the male lead and we’re working together to get him ready to take over the role at the end of November. Then I have another project starting up in December, a bit of work on a production of A Man for All Seasons. It’s all good.

Okay. Have to get moving. Time for work outside and it’s cold out there!

Happy Wednesday.

Transition to Flannel & Snow

November 13, 2018 at 10:01 am by Claudia

Two days ago, I marked an important transition here at the cottage: I changed over to flannel pajamas. I held off as long as possible, but this week has shown a marked change in the temperatures and I can no avoid them.

Actually, I love wearing flannel pajamas and would stay in them all day if I could. In fact, right before dinner last night, Don said, “You should go upstairs and change into your pjs.” I never got around to it, but that guy gets me.

Perfect scenario: I’m wearing flannel pajamas, reading a good book, and drinking hot chocolate.

That might happen later today. If it doesn’t happen today, it will definitely happen on Thursday when we are due for 3-5 inches of snow.

Yes, indeed. I know many of you have already been blessed with the white stuff, but we haven’t. I have mixed feelings on the subject. The first couple of snowfalls are awfully pretty. But I’m not a fan in the long run. Tomorrow, I have to clean up some of the porch, move the rakes, shovels, etc., back in the shed and move the snow shovels to the porch. Oh, and we have to take the air conditioners out of the windows. As usual, we procrastinate about these chores and then we find ourselves running around at the last minute, trying to accomplish everything.

But today it is raining. It rained all night long. I’m almost halfway through my current read and I’ve kept to my goal of reading first thing in the morning. I usually read for a couple of hours and then it’s my turn to make our second cup of coffee (Don makes the first), which we drink on the loveseat in the den, coming together to chat about the day ahead. (See first photo.)

We had a lovely time at R & D’s yesterday. Our friend from back in the day at the Old Globe was visiting and I haven’t seen him in about 23 years! He’s such a nice guy and, as usual, the conversation was terrific and we laughed a lot. Sam is also doing well and made sure to demand affection from all of us. Love that dog.

I know these posts must seem incredibly boring after all the posts about the trip, but that’s daily life back home for you!

Happy Tuesday.

Shuffling: Indoors and Outdoors

November 12, 2018 at 10:30 am by Claudia

Available cubbies are getting limited. Book now.

Sometime this week, I have to grab my museum wax and use it to adhere each egg cup firmly in place. At some point soon, I’m going to have to pull the cabinet out to get to the cupboard under the stairs, which I open about twice a year. I store some outdoor cushions there as well as the small white Christmas trees that I use. Which reminds me: where am I going to put the plants that are currently on the bistro table when I need to move them out of the way for the Christmas tree? I don’t decorate until mid-December, but I’d better start thinking about that particular problem. Small house = no storage, no usable basement, no attic, no mud room. The result? Constant shuffling of items from one room to another.

Anyway, I have sliders which I’ll put under the cabinet. I think that I’ll stow the cushions in there next week and take all the Christmas stuff out and store it upstairs in the office until I’m ready to decorate. Then I’ll only have to move it once more to put everything back. And that will be it until I need to retrieve the cushions in the Spring.

Now that I’ve bored you to tears, thanks for all your comments yesterday. I see that we’re all coping with this same problem to one degree or another. I was fairly successful yesterday. I finished the book by Michael Connelly, read a short novel that I bought in London – finished that, and started on the newest by James Lee Burke – Robicheaux. I’ve had it for a few months and am just now getting to it. What a poetic and lyrical writer Burke is, an amazing feat when he’s writing about murder and corruption in Louisiana! He’s one of the best.

Today we’re having brunch at Rick and Doug’s. A colleague from our days at the Old Globe is visiting.

We talked on the phone with Little Z last night, who lost his two front teeth in an hour’s time – one after another! The adult teeth are coming in right behind them. He’s so adorable, even more so with the gap in his smile.

That’s about it. The potted impatiens bit the dust last night – we had a hard freeze. I’m not sure of the status of the other porch plants, but I am going to have clean all of that up this week, do some more shuffling (into the shed, into storage) and get ready for winter. Yikes.

Happy Monday.

This and That

Transition to Flannel & Snow

Shuffling: Indoors and Outdoors

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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