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Chatting on Tuesday

December 3, 2013 at 8:33 am by Claudia

candleden

It’s a foggy morning here at the cottage. We woke up early, a little too early. But then again, the days are so short at this time of year that we want to grab all the daylight we can. It’s now December 3rd and I have yet to clean up the porch and stow things for the winter. Honestly, I seem to do this later and later every year. The reason? I tend to be a procrastinator about things I don’t want to do. This is one of them. It symbolizes the end of all things green and growing. Since I am about to decorate for Christmas next week, I think I’d better get a move on.

I included this photo because I have a candle burning this morning and you can see the flame reflected in the glass of vintage frame on the wall. And I didn’t have any other photo to share! Goodness, what will I do now that I can’t take endless pictures of the flowers in my garden?

You’ll notice that Scout is not in this photo. Since Don has recently started to get up at the same time as me, her ‘schedule’ has been thrown off. She goes back and forth between us. She settles on the loveseat in the living room where Don is sitting, then she comes into the den and gets in the ‘tunnel’ and, after about 5 minutes, she heads back up to the living room. She’s like the child of divorced parents, shuttling back and forth between houses. I think she’s fed up with both of us. But you know all of that, since she recently absconded with the laptop and wrote a blog post. That girl!

I’m in the midst of Daniel Silva’s newest thriller, The English Girl. He is a wonderful author that I discovered a couple of years ago and, like Lee Child, Deborah Crombie and Louise Penny, I ended up reading all of his books in chronological order. Don’t you just love it when you discover a new author and absolutely have to read all of their books? In order? Such an unexpected pleasure.

I love reading. I remember being a young girl and thinking to myself, “There are so many books to read and so much music to listen to that I will never be able to accomplish it all in my lifetime!” It was thrilling and overwhelming at the same time. While I might not say it quite as dramatically nowadays, I still feel the same way. I wish I had the foresight many years ago to record the name of every book I read and continue it right up to the present. Can you imagine how staggering it would be to see a list of every book you’ve ever read? Oh, darn it, I wish I’d done that!

Finally, a little teaser for you. The Poisoner’s Handbook (which Don filmed in Prague last winter) airs on PBS on January 7th. Just a little over a month away! Don’t worry, I’ll remind you about it. If you click on this link, you’ll see a preview!

We’re very excited.

Oh for heaven’s sake, I keep forgetting to post the winner of a copy of The Alligator Man. Missy, you are the winner. I’ll shoot an email your way.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: books, Don, Scout 62 Comments

Presents, Work on the Dollhouse and a Fateful Day

November 22, 2013 at 9:15 am by Claudia

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! You warmed my heart, but then you always do. Don had to go into the city for an audition, so I hung around the cottage with Scout and did something that makes me very happy: I worked on the dollhouse.

fridaycuttingpainting

I cut, I painted, I trotted back and forth from the dollhouse to the kitchen island. Scout didn’t quite know where to ‘settle.’ That order from Miniatures that I received the other day had several pieces of trim that I planned on using to trim out the windows in the bathroom and the office/craft room. But then I had an Aha! moment. I knew I had to do some trimming of the bits of wallpaper that extended beyond the walls, especially around the doorways. I was never happy with the way they looked. I was ready to pull out the exact knife (which I will do, eventually.)

Ummmm, Claudia? You might want to consider trimming out the doorways, just as you did the windows. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?  I grabbed the trim I had on hand to do this:

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firdoors2

Much better! There’s more on the kitchen side of the doorway and in the bedroom. I also added a lot of molding around the baseboards and ceilings. Still more to do on that front.

I cannot tell you how much I love creating this little dollhouse world. It makes me so happy!

Today I have to place an order to replenish my stock!

Don came home around 2:30 and we went out to dinner around 6-ish. We decided to go local and by local I mean just down the road. Incredibly, I’d never been in this restaurant in the 8 years we’ve lived here, even though it is local hangout. Lovely waitress…hold on a moment, is ‘serving person’ the correct way to say it nowadays? Anyway, it was Keri’s first day on the job, so we made sure to give the manager a thumbs up on her work. We had angel hair pasta with olive oil and tomatoes and onions and garlic, along with a salad and garlic bread. Keri surprised us with a mini pumpkin pie in honor of my birthday that was out-of-this-world-delicious!

Back at the ranch, I opened my presents. I like to open a wrapped present so I put the brakes on the idea of snow boots, which I would have had to select and try on, leaving the element of surprise completely out of the picture. Not that I was entirely surprised by my gifts, as I had specifically requested two of them.

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The newest Lee Child, as I have been on the waiting list for it at my local library for a few months and I’m still number 163 in the queue. And Mary Oliver’s newest book of poems, all about dogs she has known and loved. Mary Oliver is my favorite poet. She makes my heart sing. She is wise. She is a nature and animal lover. She speaks to me.

Scout’s present for me was that little Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes sign.

Speaking of cupcakes, Don had four of them waiting for me. They were decorated with my name – in icing! I haven’t had any of them yet as I was too stuffed from dinner. But, they’re waiting for me. Yummy!

Lots of Birthday wishes on Facebook and on this blog, so my cup does indeed ‘runneth over.’

Finally, like many of you, I have been watching a lot of vintage footage from the day President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember exactly where I was. I had just turned 11 the day before. I was in art class at my school when we were ushered back to our classroom with the words “The President has just been shot.” We were sent home and by the time I reached my house, which was just two blocks from school, the world knew he had died. We sat in front of our television for the next three days. We saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, as it happened. We cried and cried.

Such a terrible time, such a horrendous loss. I truly believe that everything changed from that moment. Nothing has ever been the same. Innocence was lost, hopes and dreams were crushed.

Fifty years.

Today, I’m honoring the memory of President Kennedy and of Officer Tippet, who was also gunned down by the despicable Oswald on that fateful day.

Have a good Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: birthday, books, dollhouse, Don, life, Scout 45 Comments

Miscellany

November 15, 2013 at 9:00 am by Claudia

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This is Scout sleeping on the floor in the living room. Check out the rug. She has taken to sleeping with her right rear leg thrust under the rug. I don’t know quite how this happens but I can assure you that the end result is a rug with the edge curled under. And I don’t mean slightly. Every day I try to smooth it out and get it to lie flat again, but Miss Scout, in her later years, has decided she likes sleeping this way and my efforts have proved fruitless.

She had a bath the other day and her coat is sort of wild and curly and matty. This girl hates to be brushed, so making her stay still for a few minutes of brushing is problematic. I’ll keep trying.

frilamp

The visit to the DMV was surprisingly easy. When I got the notice that I had to renew my license this year, I also got a notice that I had to have my vision checked. There were inserts giving all sorts of information as to where I could have the test done – eye doctors, pharmacies, etc., so that I wouldn’t have to wait in line at the DMV. It seemed complicated. I didn’t want to have to make an appointment elsewhere in order to read a basic eye chart and then deal with sending it all in to the DMV or filing it online.

We have a Mobile DMV unit in our county. Yesterday was the day it was scheduled to be in a nearby town, so I figured, why not try to get the whole thing done there? For once, there was a very short line. I think I waited 10 minutes for my turn. And in the end, all I had to do was read the bottom line of the eye chart. Which I did. Then I opted to have a new photo taken because the last photo is from 12 years ago. Unfortunately, I don’t look like that now. Five minutes inside the truck. Done.

Wow. A good experience at the DMV.

I finished How the Light Gets In and am now officially in mourning. Quite frankly, Louise Penny has made it exceedingly hard for other authors, including those I have to review. It’s quite an adjustment to go from her deep, richly textured, seamless prose to prose that doesn’t flow quite as freely, which seems labored in comparison. I have to shake her off in order to read a review book with an open mind.

Every once in a while, I consider trying to write a mystery. I started one several years ago. Anyway, as that little thought pops into my head, I read Penny and think….No way. Don’t even try it.

I bow at her feet.

friplants

Though most everything outside has bit the dust, I valiantly continue my battle with the elements for the sake of my potted plants. They’ve been indoors for three days and today is the day they can return to their positions on the porch. Until there’s another night with frigid temperatures. I almost let them go the other day, knowing it was going to go down to the twenties. But I couldn’t.

I hope they appreciate all this maneuvering. Note to the universe: I need a greenhouse.

And a fully paid for home. And another car. And some built-in bookshelves.

And finally, Don keeps asking me what I want for my birthday. The rather pathetic reply? Snow boots. Or work boots.

How boring. My shoe size has increased in the last two years and I have very few shoes that fit. But snow boots? Really, Claudia? That’s the best you can come up with?

Ideas, anyone?

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: birthday, books, life, Scout 42 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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