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Sayers, Sugar-Free Dilemmas & Winter

November 14, 2019 at 11:00 am by Claudia

I had to rearrange things to find a place for the bowl I bought in Paris. There is a lack of available wall and surface space here at the cottage, so if one thing changes or is added, like dominoes, everything shifts. In this case, the potted plant that was in this window moved to the kitchen table. I rather like it there because it adds some height. Fingers crossed that the plant likes it there, as well.

We’re back into our normal routine around here. It’s very nice and we like it, but it’s sure not as exciting as Paris. Don is feeling better, slowly but surely, but I have to remind him to take it easy. You know, you get to that stage in an illness where you feel better and you’re restless, so you want to go and do  a few things, but you find out that you have limited energy to do those things.

That’s where he is.

I miss my hot chocolate (which I’ve stopped drinking because of its sugar content) so I’ve been drinking herbal tea and honey in the afternoon. While he’s been sick, Don has been drinking it, too.

It ain’t hot chocolate. I’ve been trying to put a positive spin on it, but I’m fast getting tired of it. I’m not a fan of tea, though I try to be, as my tea-drinking grandmother would be disappointed. But I am what I am, I suppose.

I tried a sugar-free hot chocolate mix, but the sugar substitute, whatever it was, was so darned sweet – and artificially so – that I stopped drinking it after about two sips. I’ve searched for other options and will keep doing so, but so far I’ve been frustrated. Any tips would be welcome. I really do miss having that ritual as a part of my winter late afternoons.

I’m just about to finish Gaudy Night  – about 100 pages to go. I’m so taken with Dorothy L. Sayers’ style that I now want to read all of her Peter Wimsey books. This one takes place at Oxford, which makes it all the more interesting. I wonder if my wee local library has any editions? I’d like to read them in order, if at all possible.

In the meantime, I have to read an autobiography to review next week.

It’s cold. The trees have lost their leaves. When I walked back up the driveway from the mailbox yesterday afternoon, I heaved out a big sigh. I miss my gardens. I miss green, though the lawn is still pretty green because we’ve had so much rain. We’re now in that sepia/brown stage that gets old very quickly.

Ah well.

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: antiques, books, Don 52 Comments

Sun, Books & Potential Bookshelves

November 13, 2019 at 10:16 am by Claudia

It’s very, very cold, it’s windy, the porch plants are now dead, BUT it’s sunny.

I’ll take it. There is a distinct difference in my mood and my engagement with just about anything when the sun is shining.

Stella likes it, too.

So does the piano.

Don’s beginning to feel a wee bit better. He had a spurt of energy this morning and now he’s crashing. It just takes time, doesn’t it? He booked out (through his agent) for the week so he can kick this thing to the curb. In the meantime, we’re having hot soup, hot herbal tea with honey in the late afternoon, and the afghan is back in business.

I must share something with you. I had to hold off until the Paris posts were complete. A package was waiting for me at the post office when I returned from Paris. It was from reader Kathy from Iowa.

Two paperback versions of To Kill a Mockingbird – one in Russian, one in Hebrew.

Amazing! My collection of TKAM in different languages is growing and I’m thrilled.

Thank you, Kathy!

Wouldn’t it be cool if I eventually have an entire shelf full of these?

Speaking of shelves. Don’s old vintage dresser (which is currently falling apart) is in the upstairs hallway at the top of the stairs. My vintage dresser (not quite falling apart, but a bit of a pain in the tush) is in our bedroom. Available space, as always, is an issue in this house.

Don wants to get rid of the dresser. I’ve had my eye on an IKEA dresser that has clean lines and drawers that open and shut easily. We could fit two of them in the bedroom.

I’ve always envisioned that little niche at the top of the stair (which used to be my ‘studio,’ remember?) as a great place for a mini-library. We know that we need more bookshelves. I’ve got stacks and stacks of books sitting around and now that Don is reading rather voraciously, we’ve got his books, too. So we’re toying with the idea of installing shelves on both sides of the wall, with a little chair or ottoman in the middle. It would really make that area pop and it would allow us to have even more shelf space.

Perhaps it will be a winter project.

Stay warm.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: books, To Kill a Mockingbird 24 Comments

A Rainy Tuesday

November 12, 2019 at 9:54 am by Claudia

It’s a gray and rainy day here. Tonight, the temperatures are going to plummet and I may have to face reality – never easy – and let my porch plants go. There are too many 18 degree nights coming up for me to continue to cover them. It seems colder here than it usually is in early November. I hope that isn’t an ill omen for the coming winter.

I spent hours and hours yesterday trying to figure out my photo editing dilemma. Too involved to explain, but at the end of the day, I had a newer version of Lightroom and I succumbed to Adobe’s (the creator) required new subscription servic. Even though I owned my version of LR outright, having paid for it years ago, it is no longer supported by Adobe (which means they leave us no choice) and Apple is also going to stop supporting apps that have 32 bits rather than 64 bits. Just in case you think I know what that means, I don’t. I only know I got a warning from Apple the other day saying it would soon be impossible to use on my computer. And then I screwed up royally on something else to do with editing which made for a lot of hassles. I had to make the decision whether to upgrade to something that would eventually not work or bite the bullet and upgrade to a better solution now. Oh, and I upgraded to the wrong plan, had to cancel it, and then subscribe to the right plan. This took up most of the day.

Oy.

At the end of the day I was sore from hunching over my keyboard.

Don is still under the weather. On Sunday, when we went to the bookstore, he was feeling better. Yesterday and today, he feels worse. Chest colds are such a pain in the tush. Or more aptly, the head and chest.

I’m currently reading Gaudy Night  by Dorothy L. Sayers. For some reason, I’ve never read any Sayers, even though I’ve always known about her and well remember watching the BBC/PBS series from 1987 about Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey. It starred Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter, both of whom were wonderful. Years later, I had the chance to meet Petherbridge (such a lovely man) and see Harriet Walter on stage in London. And – in life’s strange twists – Walter eventually ended up marrying Guy Paul, a friend of ours who was the original Grinch in the stage production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which premiered at the Old Globe Theater (and also starred my husband.)

As always, it’s a small world.

Back to the book…it’s wonderful! What a stylish writer Sayers was! I’m deep into it and am enjoying it very much.

I’m also about to start a nonfiction memoir that I will be reviewing next week: Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood  by Maureen Stanton.

There’s a lot on my plate including a couple of days of coaching in the next few weeks. I have to do some prep work.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: blog, books 19 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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