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You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

I Found It

September 18, 2016 at 9:39 am by Claudia

Yesterday found me searching for a copy of an old contract, which I ended up not finding. That search took me to my file cabinet in the office, long ignored, and I tossed tons of paper, documents, and old files that are no longer needed – that kind of thing.

But I did find something I’ve been searching for. I probably should wait to post this until our official anniversary, which is October 12th, but what the heck!

A photo of Don and me on the day we met, during our very first conversation:

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There is Don, with an impressive tan (he’d just finished working on a play in Arizona). There’s the shirt he has worn on each consecutive July 4th, and only on July 4th.

We’d spent the day at our friend Kathy’s house at the beach. At this point in the day, it had become much cooler outside, so I threw on my BU sweatshirt. I’m not sure what’s on my jeans – looks like paint. That’s my dear friend Rick next to me. We worked together at BU, were hired at the same time to work in San Diego, and he still heads up the MFA program there. (We both found the loves of our lives right around the same time. Isn’t that lovely?)

There’s the photo date stamp in the lower right hand corner.

I didn’t know this photo existed until about 5 years later, when Jonathan McMurtry, a wonderful actor that we’ve known for years, put it in an envelope and left it in my mailbox at the Globe. Needless to say, we were thrilled that we had some documentation of the day that quite literally changed our lives.

Gosh, I was skinny in those days!

We’d been having a conversation about the fact that we were now in our forties and we couldn’t believe we were that old.

Oh, Don and Claudia! Now you look at this photo and think how young  you were!

I’ll share it again on our anniversary. Promise.

Nancy asked for a photo of the zinnias. Here’s one. I’ll take more.

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Today I counted 13 morning glory blooms. It’s a rainy Sunday, so I didn’t take a picture of them, but I do have more to share with you over the coming days.

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Like this one.

We took a trail walk yesterday, where we saw our old friends munching on their dinner.

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They’re shy. When they saw me, they turned their heads away from me. One of them is the mother, the other is the son. Aren’t they beautiful?

Rest in Peace to the great Edward Albee, a playwright who had an enormous influence on a young actress finding her way in the world of theater. I acted in his plays, I loved his words. I heard him speak during my time in Philadelphia and I’ll never forget that day. Bravo.

Happy Sunday.

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Filed Under: animals, Don, flowers, garden 32 Comments

A Plethora of Pretty

September 17, 2016 at 9:04 am by Claudia

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I counted 23 morning glories this morning. I mean! My bumper crop is blooming in abundance, which I suppose means that they’ll be finished blooming sooner than I expected. But that’s just fine. I’d rather have them bloom fast and furiously, rather than have the frost catch them, which is what happened last year.

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Such an interesting contrast; all the leaves on the ground and flowers blooming. The gardens and lawn start to look rather tatty at this time of year, but the morning glories and zinnias and a rose here and there are providing lots of beauty. This was taken by me early this morning.

In my pajamas, of course.

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In the process of opening.

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Be still my heart. Three beauties nestled together.

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Sigh.

The birdbath was hopping yesterday. A robin plopped herself right in the middle of the birdbath as about 5 catbirds tried to come in for a landing. At one point the mourning dove was perched on the rim, facing away from a catbird who landed on the other side of the rim. Later on, I saw a catbird vigorously dunking herself – one, two, three times.

I’m glad they’re still here. Don’t leave yet, okay?

This morning, right after I got out of bed, I heard the honking of Canada Geese as they flew over the house, a sure sign that autumn is here.

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Mustn’t forget my Sentimental Balloon Flower. It’s still blooming, as well.

We’ve been trail walking this week; yesterday and the day before we did the 2 mile version of the walk – much easier to do when the humidity is gone.

And there we are. It’s a Saturday in September. I’m starting a little project for my sister (something she asked me to do a while ago) and we already have to clean one of the gutters on the porch. Too soon!

Happy Saturday.

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Filed Under: flowers, garden, morning glory 22 Comments

Assembling, Walking, Listening & Reading

September 16, 2016 at 8:58 am by Claudia

The heat went on this morning. I don’t mind telling you, I was shocked!

NO! I’m not ready yet, thank you very much.

Yesterday was gorgeous, a simply lovely day. We took a two-mile trail walk late in the day. Earlier in the day, I put this together:

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It wasn’t hard – once I got into the rhythm of it, the construction ran very smoothly. I really love it. The wood is beautifully finished. The two holes you can see are there in case you want to hang it on the wall.

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Now I’m on a furniture finding mission – that will be fun! I want to gather enough pieces together to give Little Z a choice. I’m visualizing them in a big box with his name on it, where he can reach inside and sort through them, picking what he wants on any given day.

We wrote our little letter yesterday morning and sent it off to Zachary’s school. We won’t be there for any celebration, that is happening in the next week or so. Mere and I were laughing during our phone conversation yesterday – if I know Little Z, he won’t even be listening to the letter when it’s read aloud, he’ll be thinking or doing something else entirely. That’s how he rolls.

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Here’s the little Bose wireless speaker. It’s seven inches long and about 2½ inches high. Great sound! It sits on a charging station.

I finished reading Martha’s Vineyard: Isle of Dreams  yesterday and I felt like I was ending a visit with a very good friend. I didn’t want it to end. Susan Branch has that wonderful, warm quality to her writing. You feel like you could plop down on a chair in her kitchen and talk the day away. That is no mean feat. Are you following along on their journey to England? They should have docked by now. I’ll have to catch up today.

Actually, we have a lot in common, Susan and I. We’re both late bloomers and we didn’t meet the loves of our lives until later in life. Both of us thought that the chances of that happening were nil. And then, when you least expect it…there he is. We’re nesters. Gardeners. Romantics. We love Fred Astaire (I used to be rather expert in all things Fred Astaire.) We love old standards and the Great American Songbook. We love birds and animals and vintage and collecting. We love old movies; many of her favorites are also my favorites.

I feel like she’s a sister I’ve never met. I bet lots of you feel the same way, because she writes about things that are important to so many of us. I’ve followed her a long time. Maybe some day, I’ll get to meet her.

P.S. If any of you are being redirected to an update Adobe Flash site, please let me know. It’s been happening on my end and my suspicion is that it’s due to an ad. I’ve also got my security guys checking into it. If it ends up being an ad, I’ll disable them until we get to the bottom of it.

Happy Friday.

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Tagged With: Susan BranchFiled Under: books, dollhouse, Little Z, Susan Branch 40 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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