Don — Page 109

Is That The Sun?

March 29, 2017 at 9:41 am by Claudia

I see sunlight. It’s been pretty dismal here since I got home. Lots of gray skies and, yesterday, lots of rain. Believe me, the sun is welcome. I shot this through the kitchen window (you can see the reflection of my phone.) The snow on the back forty is always the last to melt because it’s a higher elevation.

I really miss my husband. Since I can’t really do anything outside yet, I occupy myself by doing a bit of hand quilting, cleaning and reading. It’s awfully quiet around here and Don’s absence is palpable. He had his first rehearsal yesterday; lots of people to meet, costume and set designs to see, and a read-through of the play. Jimmy Buffett was there.

Don found a Peet’s coffee shop – yes, they have them in California, we had a local Peet’s in San Diego – and he sent me a picture of it. I’m jealous!

The time change makes it difficult for us to talk more than briefly. He didn’t get home last night until I was just about ready to go to bed. It’s the new normal for a few months. But I’m really happy that he’s having this adventure, working on a new musical in a warm and sunny place. I tried to get him to take pictures of his apartment and hopefully he’ll do that when he has some time.

Today? Gathering tax info, mailing it off to our tax person in California, recycling, a trip to the bank.

Thanks for the great discussion yesterday about HGTV. Your comments were so interesting – it seems we are not their demographic. Of course, they wouldn’t be where they are without us, as we were viewers in the early days of the network. But, in the end, it’s a business and they don’t really give a hoot about all of that. So, I’ve moved on.

Here’s to the sun!

A new book review is up on Just Let Me Finish This Page: Conviction by Julia Dahl, one of my favorite authors. Click here to read it.

Happy Wednesday.

Random on Tuesday

March 28, 2017 at 10:27 am by Claudia

• As I work on this quilt, ensconced in my chair, I often channel surf. Since Don isn’t here, I sometimes stop and see what’s happening on HGTV.

Sigh.

I find very little of interest there. I really used to like HGTV, especially in its early days. There were shows about quirky and interesting homes. There was content based on actual real life decorating. Now, ever since they hit on their formula for House Hunters, it seems as if every show is just another variation. Formula: Find 2 or 3 properties, pretend the ‘buyer’ is actually making their decision in real time, though we now know they’ve already made the decision before filming begins, then show a lot of construction shots, problems that crop up that are magnified to hold the viewer’s interest through the ensuing commercial, and staged scenes of the private life of the buyers and/or flippers, i.e., a scene of Chip and Joanna doing something with their kids or the Property Brothers or the sweet blogging couple in Home Town bowling with friends to coordinate with a visit to a bowling alley to get old floors for a countertop. It’s all so predictable. I find I can’t get past it. I tuned into Home Town because it’s a new show and I know of the blogger and her husband who are behind it. I’m cheering them on, of course, but I was so disappointed – not in their work – but in HGTV’s choice to do more of the same. Same formula as every other show. I think they deserve better.

Yesterday there was show based on the House Hunters formula – called House Hunters Renovation. When I saw a scene (obviously staged) where a couple walked into a beautiful Craftsman home, looked at the stunningly beautiful original tiles(!) surrounding the fireplace and basically said they were ‘too vintage’ and needed to be ripped out, I screamed at the television and turned it off.

Okay. End of my rant about HGTV, which used to be really neat (to yours truly) but is now bland and boring (and sometimes enraging.)

• I received another Nancy Drew in yesterday’s mail. If this one looks different to you, you’re right. It is. Russell H. Tandy designed four covers (#23 – #26) that were done in the forties and were obviously part of one of the many changes in design over the years. The font at the top is different, no longer in script form.

The spine has also changed. Numbers 1 through 22 have a white spine. Starting with #23, the illustration wraps around the spine.

I must confess I like the white spine versions the best, but since I’m collecting all of Tandy’s cover illustrations, I am making an effort to find #23 – 26. The Mystery of the Tolling Bell is #23. It’s in great condition.

• I’m watching Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, reading updates on Twitter. To me, there is nothing more important right now than what is happening with Trump/Russia and the changes he is making to all those programs that were Obama’s legacy – laws that protect our water, air, land, children, education, health, quality of life.

I trust that, in the end, the whole lot of them will be brought down. I’m already planning my celebration party.

• Don messaged me a photo last night. He was standing in front of the end of Route 66 sign in Santa Monica. Congratulations, husband – You did it!

Happy Tuesday.

Back at the Ranch

March 27, 2017 at 9:55 am by Claudia

Back home. I was really tired yesterday and getting packed, hauling everything to the bus station and the ride back home took all my remaining energy. I was very happy to see the cottage, where the snow, though still evident, has melted a lot since I left last Tuesday. It’s a rainy and gray day here and I’m told it will be that way all week long.

Yuck.

Of course, I came home to a cottage that was empty and the fact that Don is gone really hit me. His absence is felt, believe me – as he tells me when I’m away, the house just isn’t the same without him. As far as Don’s journey, he’s in California today and will arrive in LaJolla in the afternoon. First rehearsal is tomorrow.

When a new musical or play is in previews, it’s still in rehearsal. So, while public performances are going on at night, the afternoon is for rehearsing, rewriting, restaging. I know that some of that is on the agenda for Anastasia, so I will no doubt be back in NYC at some point. But for now, I have some time off.

Today is for mundane things; buying some groceries, picking up the mail, sorting through tax stuff so we can file an extension – that sort of thing.

And for reading. I took two books along to the city but I was so busy that I hardly read at all.

These are the two pieces I got at Fish’s Eddy. I said they were vintage, but I now know they were made within the last twenty years. This is a part of the Restaurant Ware line – made by Homer Laughlin (creator of Fiesta.) Homer Laughlin is still going strong today. I looked up the marks on the back of the saucer and it looks like it was made in 1999. I love this pattern – though there were only a few pieces left.

Awfully pretty restaurant ware, don’t you think? Since I really don’t need or have room for any new china, these two pieces are all I allowed myself.

Now…where to put them?

Missing Don, missing Anastasia, but happy to be home.

The winner of a copy of Garden Design is Melissa! Melissa, I’ve sent you an email. I need your mailing address.

I have one more book to share with you and I’ll do that sometime this week.

Happy Monday.

Is That The Sun?

Random on Tuesday

Back at the Ranch

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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