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You are here: Home / Archives for Don

A Blue Christmas

December 23, 2012 at 9:08 am by Claudia

sunparakeet

sunlamp

sunmonty

sunrileydish

sunpiano

sunsnowglobe

sunjumpingjacks

sundollhouse

suntree

Yesterday was raw and windy and the cold seemed to penetrate my bones and heart. All day long, relentless wind, which always leaves me feeling edgy and restless. I watched old episodes of The Big Valley and The Rifleman, which I found strangely comforting.

I’m feeling blue. As the day draws nearer, the realization that Don and I are going to be apart on Christmas has finally hit me. Our Christmases are never elaborate, always simple. We are used to being away from our families on the holidays. My family is spread out all over the country. Don’s is out in California. And, though I missed them all terribly, I knew that I had our Christmas to look forward to. Our little nuclear family.

This year, everything is different. There is a place right in front of me where Riley should be resting. He isn’t here this Christmas. He should be. I miss him so very, very much.

We made this choice, Don and I, because the job opportunity was such a good and rewarding one. And I’ve stayed positive the whole time, becoming the cheerleader I never was in real life, saying ‘yes! you have to do this,’ downplaying the Christmas part of the whole thing. But it’s caught up with me. And I’m blue.

That’s where I am on a Sunday morning.

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Filed Under: Christmas, Don, Riley 108 Comments

Christmas and Coffee Cake

December 17, 2012 at 7:42 am by Claudia

coffeecake

The Christmas Coffee Cake that I bake every year and that is an annual Christmas-morning-in-between-opening-presents-tradition had to be moved up on the calendar this year. I couldn’t let Don leave for California without a few warm yummy pieces of coffee cake in his tummy. So I baked it on Saturday, put it in the refrigerator overnight (this step is essential) and warmed it up on Sunday morning. And again this morning.

Best coffee cake ever.

I only make it once a year. We decided it must be this way. Otherwise, it would no longer be special.

The story of the coffee cake: When we were living in California, we used to shop a lot at Whole Foods. (I’d still shop there a lot if one was nearby. Sob.) One day, I grabbed a free holiday recipes booklet at the checkout and took it home to peruse. This particular recipe looked promising, so I made it for Christmas morning.

A huge winner.

We couldn’t believe how yummy it was, how moist (due to lots of sour cream), how perfectly perfect it was. Our annual tradition began that day. Fast forward a few years. We moved to New York. As I got things ready for that first Christmas out East, I realized two things. We had inadvertently put all the boxes of Christmas ornaments in storage (all decorations that year came from the local drug store) and I couldn’t find this recipe. Anywhere. I looked through all my cook books. I scoured every box in the eaves. I looked everywhere. Nothing.

In a panic, I emailed Whole Foods. I explained my situation and what booklet I thought the recipe had been in and asked if they had a record of it somewhere. The lady I was in contact with looked everywhere. She had no record of it.

I explained to Don that there would be no coffee cake this year. There was disbelief on his part. On mine, too.

I resigned myself to finding something else, though I knew it could never be as special, as tasty, as magical. A few weeks later, I got an email from that same lady. She had been cleaning out some shelves and, lo and behold, there was the booklet. She kindly copied the recipe for me and sent it my way. I’ve hung onto it for dear life ever since.

We’ll have another piece this morning and then, later today, I take Don to the airport. He’ll be gone for two months.

Scoutie and I will miss him terribly. She adores Don. So do I.

It’s going to be a little glum around here for a few days.

Happy Monday.

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Filed Under: Christmas, Don, food, Scout 50 Comments

Friday Free Associating

November 30, 2012 at 8:36 am by Claudia

I hung on to my porch plants for dear life this year. Countless cold evenings found me dragging them all indoors for the night. One by one, the impatiens are fading but I have 2 pots that are still blooming. The hanging plants lasted until yesterday when I forgot to bring them in for the night. Actually, I most likely forgot on purpose as the realization that it was almost December hit me. It ain’t going to get warmer, Claudia (I said to myself.)

I have this problem. I can’t let anything die if there is a way of saving it. Bug, spider, potted plant – you name it. I am Chief Rescuer here at the cottage. But this year, more than any other year, I hung onto those plants for dear life. It gets harder and harder for me to leave summer behind and move into the dark days of winter and besides, I love my potted plants. I guess this means porch life is officially suspended until spring. Sob.

Colder weather means more indoor life. More nesting. More scarf making. I don’t mind telling you, I have been on a roll with the scarves. Lots and lots of crocheting. I’m trying to add more stock to the Etsy shop for your Christmas-present-buying-pleasure. Speaking of Christmas:

Do you see that volume of George Bernard Shaw at the top of the photo? Pygmalion and Three Other Plays? Don is going to be playing Alfred Doolittle in a production of Pygmalion out at our old stomping grounds, The Old Globe. He leaves in December. Before Christmas. We’ll celebrate early, of course,  but this will be the first time we haven’t been together at Christmas since the year we met (when I went home to Michigan to visit my parents and coped with knowing looks exchanged by my mother and father when I would leave the room for yet another long phone call with that mysterious ‘Don.’)

It will be strange. And bittersweet.

And for those of you have been kind enough to check in, Scoutie is back to her old self again. We’re so thankful. She’s feisty, naggy, funny, and full of herself. The antibiotics are doing their magic and my girl with the poodle-like front legs is once more the Princess of Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Don has a friend who has a Border Collie who is 18. Scout will be 14 in January. So, you see, I plan on another 4+ years.

I am totally in love with my girl. And I miss my Riley. Christmas won’t seem right without him.

It promises to be a very different holiday season this year.

If you check in on my blog roll, don’t panic, it’s still here. It’s now on the navigation bar at the top of the page under “Blog Love.”

I’ll be back at 8:00 EST for A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday,

Filed Under: Christmas, Don, life, Scout 47 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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