books — Page 26

Sans Christmas Sweaters

January 3, 2023 at 8:58 am by Claudia

Pippa and my planners.

I give you a little Blythe content today because I’ve not posted about the girls in a while. Nevertheless, they’re still having adventures – how could they not? Sunday morning found me relieving the girls of their Christmas sweaters after hearing numerous complaints that they were a) too hot and b) they were sick of them. I’ll show you a couple of the changeovers today.

Olivia is now in a sweater dress. (I would like something like this.)

Madeleine is in one of my favorite dresses.

My goal was to find them something to go with the tights/socks and shoes they already had on so I didn’t have to open another suitcase full of accessories.

Zoe requested another sweater.

I’ll share a few more tomorrow. I only had 7 Christmas sweaters, so not all of the girls got to wear one.

Let’s see: real life. Not a lot going on. If you remember, I was so sleep deprived yesterday that I was barely functioning. But I got a solid one hour nap in yesterday afternoon while sitting in this chair and that made a big difference in the tone of my day. Thank goodness.

I should receive my copy of War and Peace today. I’m looking forward to reading the first three chapters. I’m still reading Desert Star by Michael Connelly. I’m trying to finish reading those books I have to return to the library as I begin my work on Darko’s project next Wednesday. I work four days next week and two days the following week and the days will be very, very long when you throw in the commute. I’ll be up at 5 am every day and I probably won’t get home until 9 pm. It’s the kind of schedule I couldn’t maintain over a long period of time unless I was staying in the city, but for 6 days I can handle it. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post. I’ll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, the books will be due during the time I’m in the city. I suppose I could always send Don to the library to return them. I’ll just have to keep track of due dates in my planner.

It’s a rainy day today and it looks like the rest of the week will also be rainy. Sigh.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

The New Year

January 2, 2023 at 8:33 am by Claudia

Well, I’ve been awake since 4 am, which means I’m not in the greatest mood. I won’t name names, but someone who lives here with me is responsible.

Anyway, how was your New Year’s celebration – if any? We were, as you would expect, very low-key, though we were somehow still awake at midnight. Go figure! We were asleep shortly after that, however. We had some sparkling cider and finally came to the realization that neither of us likes it very much. We no longer do carbonation and I think that’s part of it. So no more sparkling cider – just apple juice. Ninety-nine percent of the liquid we drink in this house is plain old water. Well water, which in our case, tastes better than any other water we’ve ever had. I remember my grandmother’s well water tasted very mineral-y. We’ve lucked out here.

I made another batch of the linzer tart cookies. It was a pain in the tush. But they taste good and Don loves them. Halfway through this second attempt I had a realization: this is a vegan recipe but we’re not vegans. We don’t have to use it. It needs a better binder than coconut cream. So I’ll search for another recipe and try another round. The cookies in the photo are Don’s. Mine don’t have any powdered sugar on top. There’s no sugar in the jam, either. It’s all fruit. And I use monk fruit sweetener instead of processed sugar for the dough. It comes in granules, just like sugar.

I received a lovely message on IG yesterday. It was from someone who had seen Spoiler Alert. She is a longtime oncology nurse and she told me my performance was ”spot on.” She also said the way I performed the scene was “genuine and authentic.” I can’t ask for greater praise than that. It was so nice of her to take the time to write a note to me – made my day. Spoiler Alert is the gift that keeps on giving.

You know, I have so many interests that I could have eight different specialized IG accounts. As it is, I have three. One is my regular account, another is for Blythes (because, let’s face, not everyone is a fan, and many of my professional colleagues might think I’d gone crazy.) And the other is for books and reading. I started it when I was still reviewing books. I no longer do that because it took the joy out of reading for me – too many deadlines, too many books, too many other commitments in my life. But I love reading about what others are reading and I’ve found many books over the years through that account.

A gentleman from England has started a War and Peace read-along for 2023. Turns out the chapter count is very close to 365, so a chapter a day is the goal. That’s entirely doable and not nearly as intimidating as it would be if I was looking at that big book and contemplating reading it. So I ordered it from Amazon and it will arrive tomorrow, whereupon I’ll read 3 chapters to catch up. I’m rather excited about this! There’s also a discussion group. I tend to stay away from book clubs and discussion groups, but I’m going to keep an open mind this time around.

Okay. Since I’m really tired and in a somewhat surly mood, this might be the perfect day to clean up my desk in the office. It’s a mess and I’m feeling ruthless.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

What’s on My Coffee Table: Books and Planners

December 28, 2022 at 9:03 am by Claudia

The scene just in front of me and to my right.

Lordy.

I’m nearly finished with Bad Actors. I renewed the Alan Rickman diaries yesterday so I don’t have to finish that as quickly as I thought. I also have more time available on the Michael Connelly, so my panic about finishing all of these before I had to return them has abated.

Also on this TBR stack (there’s another stack by the dollhouse and, of course, lots more upstairs in the bedroom) the newest Maggie O’Farrell, which I started but just wasn’t in the mood for at that moment, Louise Penny, and Something Wonderful, a book about Rodgers and Hammerstein. The title refers to the song from The King and I, a song I sang many, many moons ago when I was in a production of that musical.

Both of my planners are also on the table. I have a big A5 planner for everyday use and I love it. I also have what is called a ‘personal’ size (the one in deep red.) I haven’t used that one much in the last year but I resurrected it recently so I have something I can toss in a tote or handbag. The large A5 lives here permanently.

I’ve spoken before on this blog about planners and Filofaxes. I’ve been using some form of planner since high school. For years, I used a pocket planner, like the one I gave to Don for Christmas. They consisted of lots of little squares – too little, frankly – denoting days of the week. (My writing tends to be large-ish.) In the late eighties, when I was teaching at Boston University, I became obsessed with the Filofax. A woman I worked with had one – it was stuffed with receipts and a calendar and all sorts of things interesting things and I knew I wanted one. I didn’t earn a lot in those days – in fact, I’ve never earned a lot! – and I saved up for a planner cover that wasn’t a Filofax, but a wanna-be. It was perfectly fine for a while. Eventually, I was able to purchase an actual Filofax cover and boy, oh boy, I used that for years and years. I still have it. A reader of this blog graciously gave me a Filofax Malden a few years ago, which I alternate with the red cover you see on the table. She also gave me an A5 cover that I use for brainstorming ideas – it lives upstairs near the desk in the office. Deborah is so kind and generous. And I got a deal a few years back on the beautiful brown A5 planner you see here. I love it.

I tried electronic planners and they just don’t work for me. I need to write things down, to see it on the page in my writing. My planners work as a kind of journal as well, with a list of things that need to be done, yes, but also notes on the weather, quotes I discover that I want to remember, the books I’m reading, the programs I’m watching, rehearsal schedules, random thoughts, and the occasional sticker added to enhance a page. I keep all the pages at the end of the year, tie them up with a ribbon, and stack them inside the pink cabinet in the office. I often refer to them if I need to remember when I coached a certain production, when I was out of town, etc.

I also love to flip through the planner throughout the year and especially near the end of the year. I’ll do that this week. I look back through the days and I’m filled with memories – good and bad. Between the blog and my planner, I can usually track down anything I need to know. I don’t write in a journal, as you know. The blog and my planner are my preferred form of journal.

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t remember much of anything if I didn’t write it down!

Also on the table: a pine-scented candle, some souvenir matchbooks, two pieces of McCoy and a plant. My phone isn’t there, but it often is.

Side note: I’m currently eating a piece of apple pie for breakfast. Oh, it’s heaven.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Sans Christmas Sweaters

The New Year

What’s on My Coffee Table: Books and Planners

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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