cottage — Page 11

Home For A Brief Visit & The Chair

January 8, 2017 at 9:53 am by Claudia

Oh heavens, it’s cold here! This morning it was 15 degrees, but it felt like 2 degrees. I’m sure it’s the same in Hartford. It’s supposed to hit 50 degrees on Wednesday. Go figure.

I successfully dodged the snow yesterday and made it home by about 11:30 am. There were snow showers along the way, but no accumulation. Don was here when I got home and after I unloaded the car, I saw a large box in the den containing…my new chair! When I ordered it from Pier One, I had it delivered to our local store, rather than pay the addition $150 to have it delivered. Cripes! No way. I figured that if it was too big for the CR-V, Don could borrow a friend’s truck and bring it home. It arrived on Wednesday and I got the message from the store while I was in rehearsal. I called them back to tell them Don would be picking it up in the next couple of days, but Don, that good guy, surprised me and picked it up the same day.

So we unpacked the box. But first, we took the chair it was replacing out of the den and managed to drag it upstairs to the studio. That chair is vintage and it’s very, very heavy. (I am determined to get it reupholstered because the lines are really lovely – I’ll take a photo of it sans ill-fitting slip cover later today.) It would be the perfect chair for Don to use downstairs in the living room.

We then attached the legs and I vacuumed the floor, and there it is:

Taking a photo in the den is somewhat difficult, as there are windows on three sides of the room. This was taken late in the afternoon yesterday. Isn’t it pretty?

And with the lights on. It’s very firm and for me, that’s good, because it gives great back support. It also sits a little higher than the other chair – interesting, because I was worried it would sit lower – and I really like it. Of course, my back has been having to adjust lately to two different beds, two different sofas in the apartment, neither of which has any support, and chairs in the apartment that are not meant for lounging, so it’s been complaining a bit.

Here is the profile of the chair:

That’s a sort of faux leather on the side.

Gosh, I’m crazy about it!

Today, there is laundry and cleaning to be done. And I have to take down our pretty white Christmas tree, which has been up a bit longer than usual due to the fact that I’ve been out of town and Don doesn’t want to mess with it. I brought the Christmas decorations I used in the apartment home with me, and I’m going to store them in the cupboard under the stairs.

We watched the documentary about Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds that premiered on HBO last night. It was lovely. But it was so bittersweet and poignant in the face of their deaths within a day of each other. The whole thing doesn’t seem real.

Tonight, Sherlock with my husband and then tomorrow, it’s back to Hartford for tech rehearsals.

Happy Sunday.

“For There’s a Change in the Weather…”

November 20, 2016 at 9:47 am by Claudia

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Do you recognize those lyrics in the post title? Or am I the only one who remembers that kind of thing?

For there’s a change in the weather, there’s a change in the sea,
So from now on there’ll be a change in me.
My walk will be different, my talk and my name,
Nothing about me is going to be the same.
I’m going to change my way of living if that ain’t enough,
Then I’ll change the way I strut my stuff,
Cause nobody wants you when you’re old and gray.
There’ll be some changes made today, there’ll be some changes made.

There was a “change in the weather” last night and today we’re having blustery winds and snow showers. Our warmer than normal weather has moved on. Now I have to figure out which plants on the porch to try saving and which to let go. There’s only so much room here in the cottage and I have to remember that Don will be in charge when I’m in Hartford. That translates to: I don’t want to overwhelm him and I’m a little nervous about presenting him with a complicated watering schedule.

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We finally removed the window air conditioners and stowed them in the shed. Now I will have to do some porch sorting and move the cushions and pots back in the shed for the winter. Sometime this week, I think.

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I had a dream last night in which Scoutie was walking toward me to tell me that her water dish was empty. Right after the dream, I woke up.

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There’s nothing like taking a picture of a gallery wall to show you that the frames need straightening!

Nothing exciting to report today, my friends. Don’s out at the moment getting a copy of the Sunday New York Times. In the current climate in which freedom of the press is being threatened, think about subscribing to a newspaper, if you don’t already. Since we live upstate of NYC where buying the print version of the Times is more expensive, a daily subscription would be prohibitive. But I think we’re going to subscribe to the weekend editions of the Times – Friday through Sunday. I might subscribe to the digital version of The Washington Post, as well. Whatever your choice, newspapers need our financial support now more than ever. As do magazines like Newsweek and Time and Mother Jones, where investigative journalism is the thing they do best.

I’m going to do that today.

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Last night’s sunset. If you look closely, you can see Don down by the street, iPhone camera in hand.

Happy Sunday.

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Random on Friday

November 4, 2016 at 9:16 am by Claudia

It was quite warm yesterday, actually a little too warm. But after a rainy morning, the skies turned blue and it was quite lovely.

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Driving home from running some errands, I passed one of the seemingly hundreds of apples orchards around here.

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Apple trees and the mountains in the distance.

It’s a good 20 degrees cooler today and – yes – I will have to bring the porch plants in tonight. It’s going down to 31. I’ll do it again on Sunday and then it looks like there will be a stretch of days where they can stay outside. If the weather pattern doesn’t indicate a long stretch of freezing temperatures, why rob myself and others of seeing pretty flowers? Right?

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The view from the hallway into the studio/office (I will never figure out what to call this space!) This cabinet serves as our linen cabinet. We got it for $20 at auction when we first moved in here. But, let’s face it, I could use a larger cabinet. Hmmmm. I’ll keep my eye out. The quilts are stacked on top – not very elegantly, I’m afraid. Most, but not all, of them were made by yours truly.

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On the door leading into the studio/office: a chalkboard with a quote from Leonard Cohen, and my dad’s golf hat. It was hanging on a hat rack in the entrance hall of their condo. I like it here. It’s as if he’s guarding my space.

A big story today in Newsweek, by respected journalist Kurt Eichenwald: Why Vladimir Putin’s Russia is Backing Donald Trump. This is about as alarming as it gets.

Oh, except for the rogue faction in the FBI getting involved as well.

And Wikileaks and Julian Assange.

How can this election be any more insane?

The stress level in the Hill-Sparks household is through the roof. To be fair, the stress level is a little higher with me. I am obsessed with Twitter, DailyKos, Huffington Post, MSNBC. I can’t stop. I know my sister is just as obsessed. We talk about it all the time.

I need a break. Calgon, take me away!

Happy Friday.

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Home For A Brief Visit & The Chair

“For There’s a Change in the Weather…”

Random on Friday

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