Don — Page 200

Chatty On A Friday

March 22, 2013 at 8:49 am by Claudia

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• Some unwelcome snow requires a cheery addition to the kitchen. I made a garland to hang on the cupboard. (I have the same garland in my shop.) I think I will make some more and change out the colors according to my whim of the moment. Right now, as I write this, the morning sun is shining on the cupboard and it’s as if a spotlight has been aimed right at the garland. Ahhhh.

• ‘Chatty’ reminds me of a doll from my childhood – Chatty Cathy. Remember her? I never owned a Chatty Cathy, but I had friends who did. It was a kick pulling that string and hearing her talk. Did any of you own one?

• Scout thanks you for all your kind comments on her post. She knew you would understand. At the moment, she’s in the tunnel having her ‘I just got up after a long night’s sleep, went outside to take care of business and now I’m sleepy’ morning nap. Writing a blog post leaves her physically and emotionally spent.

• Don thanks you for your kind words, too. We managed to fax all the necessary paperwork yesterday – not easy with our slightly wonky fax machine. But it’s done and now he’s waiting for the script to arrive. Since this is for American Experience, the script will be part narration, part documentary, part re-enactment. We’ve seen a photo of the man Don is portraying and he looks a lot like him. The producers must have loved seeing Don walk in the door for his audition!

Yes, I wish I could tag along. But, as you know, we freelance and to say our budget is tight would be a huge understatement. A round-trip flight to Prague? No. Have to pay the mortgage. It’s okay. I’m so excited for Don that it doesn’t matter.

• Blogkeeping: I wrote about the demise of Google Reader last week. I set up Google Reader quite a long time ago but I didn’t really use it. I tend to follow blogs in a variety of ways. I have my blog roll, which can be accessed in the menu under my header. I also bookmark lots of different blogs. There’s the blog update through Google Friend Connect (Blogs I’m Following) that can be accessed when I sign into Blogger. And then there are the blogs I discover through other bloggers’ blog rolls. Yikes. It works for me.

So, a couple of things: The blogs that you follow through Google Friend Connect are different from those you follow in Google Reader, though you can also opt to read them via Reader. I don’t know what plans Google has for GFC. As far as I know, they haven’t announced any plans to discontinue it. So don’t panic about that. If I find out differently, I’ll let you know.

I have never really liked Google Reader except as a way to see what blogs have recently posted – that’s why I hardly ever used it. For me, the blog reading experience is about seeing the whole blog. I’m a very visual person. I want to see the design, the header, the sidebar. Most bloggers work very hard to create the look of their blog and I want to honor that. Also, as I have said before, if a blogger depends on ad income, she will need me to click on her blog directly – not through a reader. And then there are stats – how many visitors, etc. Visiting a blog directly can matter a great deal to that blogger.

It’s the same reason I don’t subscribe to blogs via email subscriptions. To me, a post loses all its life when it’s transformed to an email. But, that’s just what works for me. I know that many of you subscribe to this blog via an email subscription or a reader and I’m grateful that you do! I know that lots of you prefer the convenience of those options. And it’s important to offer those options to our readers, as everyone has their own particular preference as to blog reading. We’re all busy and a reader can be a convenient way to get all the updates from your favorite blogs. The same for emails.

There are other RSS Readers out there that are ready and willing to help you transfer your Google Reader feed. I remembered this week that I had set up an account at Bloglovin several months ago and then promptly forgot about it. I decided to see if I could transfer my Google Reader feed easily to Bloglovin. Short answer: yes. It couldn’t be easier. Bloglovin does it for you. You get this message:

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Basically you click on import reader and it’s done. What I like about Bloglovin is that the interface is very user friendly and when you click on a particular post, you get the whole blog, design and all. Plus, if you are interested in discovering new blogs, you can search in a particular category.

I’ve added a Follow This Blog with Bloglovin widget to my sidebar, so if you are interested, click away!

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Ah. More egg cups. More bunny rabbits.

Left: A cute little bunny peeking around the corner of an egg house.

Center: Another bunny hanging around outside of his little house.

Right: One of my favorite bunny rabbits – because she reminds me of Scout. Same huge pink ears, same facial expression. She’s my Scoutie Egg Cup.

More to come.

Happy Friday.

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Good News and More Egg Cups

March 20, 2013 at 8:31 am by Claudia

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A pretty picture for this snowy Wednesday morning. And why not?

Much shoveling yesterday, but made so much easier by the presence of two of us! The snow was heavy and wet. Such a strange day; while we were shoveling, it was sleeting, then raining, then snowing, as if Mother Nature couldn’t quite make up her mind what she wanted falling from the skies.

I rewarded myself with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate.

We’ve had some good news here at the cottage. Don has been cast in an episode of American Experience for PBS. This episode, tentatively titled Murder by Poison, is based on the bestselling book, The Poisoner’s Handbook. It’s a fascinating book that tells the story of two men, Charles Norris (the chief medical examiner of NYC) and Alexander Gettler (a toxicologist) who, in the early twentieth century when murder by poison was the perfect crime and corruption in the coroner’s office was a fact of life, “set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice.” (From the publishers’s blurb on Amazon.)

Don is playing Charles Norris. And he looks a great deal like him. He’s growing his goatee as we speak. Whoops, Don tells me it’s a Van Dyke.

He’s filming in Prague.

Prague!

Oh my goodness! I’m so thrilled for him. (Can I somehow miniaturize myself so that I can hide in his suitcase? I’d love to see Prague.) He leaves on Easter and is there for about 9 days or so.

Isn’t that exciting news?

Don goes to Prague. I go to Hartford (but not until he gets back). Hmmm. What’s wrong with this picture?

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Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry…..

Today’s egg cups:

On the left: a duck holding up an egg and looking a wee bit tired.

Center: One of my favorites (but then again, I have many favorites) a chicken eating seed and a duck who is peeking? hiding? holding up the egg? Whatever, it’s adorable.

Right: A rather elegant goose pulling an egg cart.

Happy Wednesday.

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A Little of This, A Little of That

March 14, 2013 at 9:25 am by Claudia

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• Don’s been back home for almost a month now and I’ve noticed a change in Scout. She’s been with us over 13 years and has lived through the prolonged absence of one or the other of us many times. It comes along with working in theater and film. She doesn’t like it when one of us is gone, but she’s pretty resilient. This time, however, when Don leaves the house to run an errand or go into the city for an audition, she goes into a funk. Though she hangs out with me for a little while, mostly she waits for Don. She goes into the living room and stares out the window. She parks herself on the floor of the kitchen facing the door. She starts at every noise, thinking it’s him. I will call out to her and ask her to come in the den with me, but she won’t. She never used to be that way.

More evidence that she’s getting older, that these things aren’t as easy for her anymore. She lost her brother recently, then Don went away for a long time. It’s too much for my little girl. Now I will be going away in a month. We really have to take her into account now as we make decisions as to who’s working where and for how long. We always have, of course, but now she is more needy, more vulnerable than ever. She’s our child and her comfort and peace of mind has to be a top priority.

• I’m finishing up an Obsession Scarf which will soon be on its way to a customer. Then I will start on more banners as they are currently sold out! Wow. I’m so glad you like them. Thank you to everyone who purchased one. Meredith and I just made our 99th sale on Etsy! How can that be possible?

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(I just realized that the color of this vase matches the color that’s used in my menu and the titles on the sidebar.)

• I want to steer you toward one of my favorite blogs – that of my friend, Martha. It’s called Poetry and a Cup of Tea and it is simply wonderful. Martha loves poetry and literature and all sorts of other things. She writes beautifully and shares her heart in every post. She also has a great sense of humor.

I think we were separated at birth. I cannot tell you how many times she has written about something that I remember from my childhood, or an author that I was sure no one else loved as much as me. Yesterday she wrote about The Fighting Prince of Donegal, a Disney movie from our youth, and the Scholastic paperback version of Disney’s story that she still has.

I had that book, too. And I watched that movie countless times when I was a kid. I had a huge crush on Peter McEnery, who played the lead.

And I thought I was the only one.

She’s written about The Barbie Game (yes, I had one) and The Girl of the Limberlost (one of my very favorite books ever.) She tells a great story and she always shares a poem with her readers.

Stop in and say hello. I’m crazy about her.

• I often talk about my grandmother and her skill as a needlewoman. She was a strong influence in my life and the life of my siblings. My sister, Meredith, just wrote a post about her. Click here to see some of my grandmother’s incredible handwork.

• Did you know I almost always respond to your comments? Yep. Right there under your comment. If you’re interested, you can either check back here or you can put a check in that little box that says you want to see the response via email. Then, as if by magic, my response is sent to your inbox. I can’t guarantee something profound every time, but I do my best!

• Today is your last chance to be entered in the giveaway for a copy of Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright. Just scroll down and leave a comment on that post, if you are interested. I’m picking the winner this evening.

Happy Thursday.

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Chatty On A Friday

Good News and More Egg Cups

A Little of This, A Little of That

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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