Don — Page 131

Back in Town

January 26, 2016 at 8:54 am by Claudia

I’m back in Hartford. My trip back included a stop at the post office to mail the green scarf to its new owner, a stop at the gas station to fill ‘er up, a stop at my local supermarket to buy some Peet’s FR and Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa as well as fresh vegetables, brown rice and other essentials, and a stop at Trader Joe’s for a couple of things, but mostly fresh flowers.

I pulled into the parking lot at the apartment building at 4 pm. Perfect. I like getting back in time to relax, have dinner, take a bubble bath and get a good night’s sleep so that I’m fresh and ready for the next day’s work.

As I was taking my trash bag to the trash room, I saw this (I ran back to the apartment to get my iPhone.)

1-26 sunset over the capitol

Sunset over the Capitol Building.

1-26 red alstro

More flowers.

1-26 white stock

And more flowers. I now have three vases full of beautiful flowers and oh, what a difference it makes in a temporary living space.

I also grabbed couple of smallish potted plants at the grocery store, loaded them into my cart, and they are now sitting in front of the windows. I’ll get some photos of them today.

I’ll be here for another month, so the more I can do to make this space home, the better. But I only purchase things I’ll also use at home. The plants will probably end up in the shared office space back at the cottage. (I said a brief hello to it yesterday. Sob.) Everything else that I’ve added to this space has been brought from home. I’m fortunate in that I can load my car up and drive everything here. But even when I was spending ten weeks or six months coaching in San Diego, I managed to do the same thing. I sent a couple boxes of things from home that I wanted around me and I filled in the rest with a couple of visits to IKEA. Everything I purchased there has since been used in the cottage. No waste. If it won’t work in both spaces, I don’t buy it. (If the job is less than three weeks, I’ll usually refrain from bringing anything, though I’ve been known to pick some wildflowers and put them in a jar.)

One other addition:

1-26 Wayfrum

Wayfrum Holmes. After apologizing to him profusely for actually considering being here without him, I nestled him in the car and here he is.

For those of you who are newer readers, several years ago – in 2009 – I had to work away from home for six months. Don gave me this little bear so that I’d have someone to cuddle when I was missing the dogs and him. When I mentioned that he needed a name, Don came up with Wayfrum Holmes. Usually Wayfrum is accompanied by Maggie Rabbit and a little lamb, but this time, I decided that Wayfrum and I needed some quality time together – just the two of us.

Thank you for your kind words yesterday. It’s a tough time right now, with some good days and some bad days for our girl. Yesterday was a wee bit better for her. Lately, the stuff of life has been a bit too much for yours truly.

But, I’m very grateful for my work and the opportunity to work here on this beautiful masterpiece of a play. That is a blessing. As is my supportive and incredible husband.

Happy Tuesday.

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Between

January 25, 2016 at 9:16 am by Claudia

1-25 scoutie

I arrived back home around 1:00 to find this girl waiting for me. She was sleeping. Frankly, she was having a bad day, poor girl. I spent a lot of time lying beside her on the floor telling her how much I love her. She’s not doing very well at the moment. And I imagine the very cold weather is very hard on her. I’m just grateful there hasn’t been a lot of snow and ice this winter.

We know that we don’t have that much longer with our girl, so we’re treasuring the time we do have.

It’s lovely being home, but it’s strange. As always in this situation, I feel like I’m between two worlds, my life here at home and my life on the road. Not quite here, because I’m only here for about 24 hours, and not quite in Hartford, because it isn’t my permanent home. But since I’m working in Hartford and I have a lot more work to do there, Hartford has the pull at the moment. Don tells me to just enjoy it and he’s right. It’s a gift to be able to just concentrate on doing my work, without the distractions that are always present at home. And by the time my work in Hartford is winding down, I’ll be ready to come home and stay home for a long while.

But Scout is worrying us. And that pull, that worry, weighs on me when I’m in Hartford, as it weighs on Don at home. She was in the den with me yesterday afternoon and she kept raising her head to look at me as if she wanted to make sure I was still here.

And I’m leaving again.

It’s a good time for us but it’s also a very tough time. Add to that my ongoing grief for my father, the moments when I am taken aback by the tears that appear suddenly in my eyes and that I try to hide from everyone when some part of the text in Romeo and Juliet speaks of death, or when I’m driving home, as I was yesterday, and I remember moments in the last hours of my dad’s life, how everything changed so suddenly, when I’m reminded of the look in his eyes as he knew he was dying – in those moments I gasp at how quickly I am overcome with sorrow.

I have to work and I love my work. And, to be perfectly honest, sometimes the distance that living temporarily in Hartford provides is welcome. There is an escape from worry, from grief, from facing the inevitable, as I concentrate on doing my job. Losing myself in my work, in getting to know the actors I am coaching, in attending to the task at hand, is a much appreciated respite.

I’m so grateful that Don is here taking care of Scout, keeping the drips going in the taps as the temperatures go well below freezing, watching over the house, salting the driveway, all the things that need to be done. But especially taking care of our girl.

I am reminded, when I am in Hartford, of my last stay there when Scout was with me. When she was still able to enjoy a walk in the park, when she loved meeting lots of people and dogs, when she magically galloped under the glow of the lamps in the park with a power that astonished me. Lovely and precious memories, though bittersweet. There’s no way I could have her there with me now.

Anyway. It’s lovely being home. It will be lovely to back in Hartford as well. And there you go.

See you back in Hartford.

Happy Monday.

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Presenting: the Office

December 30, 2015 at 9:06 am by Claudia

Goodness, I’m so happy with my little corner of our shared office space! Yesterday, I put it all together and except for a piece of that plastic stuff to put under the chair (it doesn’t roll around easily on the carpet) and a bulletin/pin board, I’m open for business.

The days have been dreary and cloudy, so I did the best I could with my picture-taking.

Let’s take a little tour:

12-30 facingthedesk

It’s the classic work triangle. I pictured this in my mind for several months and it’s all come to life beautifully. The desk is the Malm from IKEA. You can place the drawers on the left or the right. I chose the left because I knew I would be moving back and forth between the desk and the work table. The desk has a very large work surface, which was number one on my list of requirements. I do a lot of research when I’m coaching which involves a lot of books and paper and I need space for it all. Part of the impetus for this space was the fact that I was so sick of trying to do that work within the confines of the kitchen table. It was incredibly frustrating.

The chair is also from IKEA – the Lillhöjden in a gray check. How could I resist those ties on the back?

12-30 pinkcabinet

The pink cabinet moved from the hallway into the new space. The girls maintained their perch on the top of the cabinet.

12-30 wallpockets

My birdie wall pockets are hanging on the side of the cabinet.

12-30 cornerminipottery

Framed program from the Broadway production of “Claudia” circa the Forties. Shelf unit full of miniature pottery. Lots of supplies stashed against the wall.

12-30 wickerbasketstorage

The wicker flower basket holds wood trims for mini making.

12-30 glovebox from don

The vintage pink glove box was a birthday gift from Don. He thought it would be a neat bit of storage. It is.

12-30 containers

The pottery holding pens and pencils was a gift from my friend Tina. The framed Friends motto was a gift from Lori, my friend who owns Vignettes in San Diego. And you recognize the Roseville piece, right? It’s the one that arrived in pieces and has been glued back together.

12-30 chair

The other side of the chair.

The desk lamp is Ranarp from IKEA. I have the white version on the table by my chair in the den. It’s a great utility lamp and provides a lot of light.

12-30 slopingceiling

Yes, we have sloping ceilings upstairs – in both rooms. So we have to work around them and every piece of furniture has to be measured within an inch of its life.

12-30 miniaturemaking

The other side of the triangle. This is the sewing machine table that was formerly in the niche in the hallway. When we decided to open up this space by getting rid of the bed, I immediately envisioned it as an extension of the desk. I can move it in to the wall when I don’t want it taking up as much space and I can move it even further out than it is in this picture, as well. The cart is the Råskog Utility Cart from IKEA. It somehow manages to corral almost everything I need when I’m working on the TSP.

I should add that normally the TSP is covered with a remnant of barkcloth so it remains hidden from my husband. I took advantage of his absence and unveiled it for the photos.

The plant is one of my overwintering impatiens.

Don’s guitars in the distance.

12-30 viewfromtheTSP

The view from the other side of the TSP.

12-30 eggcups

The mantel and eggcups have also moved from the hallway niche to this new space. They make me smile. The card with the word Heaven on it was the birthday card from my parents that Don gave to me.

The calendar you see hanging above the desk was a $3 find from Target.

And let’s see who joined me in the office:

12-30 lamb

The lamb with the party hat. Now the space is complete!

If we ever get a sunny day again, I’ll take more photos for you. I promise.

This was done on a budget, of course. Is there any other way? Not for yours truly!

The Malm desk: $159.00
The Lillhöjden chair: $79.99
The Ranarp desk lamp: $39.99
The Råskog Utility Cart: $29.99

Total cost: $308.97

I assembled the chair, lamp, and cart. Don and I assembled the desk – it was definitely a two person job, as was moving the big pieces into the room from the hallway.

To say I’m thrilled is an understatement. I’ve wanted this sort of arrangement for the ten years we’ve lived here. The rest of the room? Still under construction. We moved out my grandmother’s trunk and some other pieces. They are now in our storage space (huzzah!) so we have much more room to play with. Don has to rethink his part of the space. He wants to clear some clutter.

And we’re thinking a vintage loveseat would be really cool in this space. We have all sorts of plans!

I hope you like the new space! Something tells me you’ll be seeing it fairly frequently.

Happy Wednesday.

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Back in Town

Between

Presenting: the Office

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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