Don — Page 98

Forty-Eight Hours

August 20, 2017 at 10:44 am by Claudia

I’m home for 48 hours. I got home in time for one of Don’s great dinners (how I’ve missed his cooking!) and The Manchurian Candidate on TCM. I’ve seen it many times, but I’ve watched it twice since Trump took office and its chilling premise is not far off from our current political climate. What seemed only faintly possible at the time it was released is happening in its own way now. Frank Sinatra had to hold the release of the film at the time as the assassination of President Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald, who had Russian connections, was so devastating that the subject matter of the film would have been too much.

It’s always been chilling. It’s even more so now.

Don found some treasures in our ongoing archaeological dig in the corral:

Another portion of a plate with gold edging and blue flowers, another piece of the plate, and a white marble. Pretty soon I’ll be hiding these in a tree just like Boo Radley did in To Kill a Mockingbird.

The hollyhock that I planted this year has new growth near the base of the plant with flower buds. By the way, everything needs to be weeded here. There’s been a lot of rain in the last week and I can tell! Some of it was so heavy that it beat down some of the phlox and coneflowers. And a nest fell out of a tree.

Morning glories – this morning.

And zinnias.

Lots to do here today. Work on the sticky floor, laundry, weeding and weed whacking.

Finished the Michael Connelly on rehearsal break yesterday – it’s excellent! I started Karin Slaughter’s newest but it’s a bit slow going at the present. I’ve learned to trust her writing, though, because she knows what she’s doing.

Happy Sunday.

Great Reads & The Cottage

August 19, 2017 at 9:37 am by Claudia

The weather was quite strange yesterday with threatening skies most of the day and, by the time I left rehearsal, very heavy, oppressive and humid air. It rained more than a few times back home but it didn’t rain here until after I went to bed. I know this because I was reading the latest Michael Connelly – The Late Show – in bed and was so engrossed that I read too late and couldn’t sleep for a while.

Anyway, sunny skies today.

I have an afternoon rehearsal to attend and then…I’m headed home for two days! I’m taking advantage of having both Sunday and Monday free, a rarity when I’m working out of town, and I’m headed home to the cottage.

We want to put down some pavers next to the shed, I have to work on that sticky floor, and I want to clean our current stove.

Mostly, I want to spend time with my husband.

By the way, The Late Show is great. Connelly introduces a new character in this series – Renée Ballard, a Los Angeles cop – and I really like her. As always, Connelly is a master of this genre and he writes seamlessly. He can build tension like nobody’s business.

Louise Penny’s newest Inspector Gamache novel, Glass Houses, is being published on August 29th. That’s a Tuesday, so yours truly is hoping she has the morning free to get to the bookstore and purchase her copy. Yes, I know I can order it online, but with her books, I like my little ritual of walking in the bookstore, looking for it on display, picking one with a dust jacket that is pristine and holding it in my hand as I walk to the check-out counter.

Okay, my friends. I’m off to hit publish, drink my second cup of coffee and finish The Late Show.

Happy Saturday.

The Shed And The Stove

August 18, 2017 at 9:12 am by Claudia

I’m so glad that Don is home and that he can coordinate everything to do with the stove. In addition, he’s been watering the gardens and the porch plants and cleaning out the area next to the shed, which looked like a dump. He made several trips to the recycling/transfer station. In the midst of all of this he found a tarp full of old shingles – it weighed a ton, old chicken wire, various buckets and one of our used air conditioners. Some of it we put there, much of it was tossed there by previous owners. Nothing exciting like the antique plate, but interesting, nonetheless.

Now, keep in mind that our shed needs a new paint job, but we’re not in any hurry to do it. It is what it is at this point. Here is what it looked like when Don finished the cleanup.

We really are on ‘the edge of wild’ here. There are woods behind the shed and woods to the left of this view of the shed. We’re thinking of putting pavers there. You might have noticed some items hanging on the side of the shed.

Don found this scrap of wood and made a sign. After all, Henry does live under the shed and we love him. In fact, Henry came out onto the ramp, not knowing Don was nearby. Once he saw Don, he scampered back underground.

The fish is made of paper and covered in plastic. Don found it buried under the dirt. We have no idea who dumped it there. But it sure looks adorable on the shed. I have a Michigan license plate that Don gave me – that’s going to hang there, as well.

Don has a strong streak of ‘whimsical’ and I love that about him.

I may be able to get home on Sunday and Monday – certainly Monday, but I’m thinking Sunday, as well. I want to clean our current stove and have a go at the sticky floor, because our vintage O’Keefe and Merritt is crated and ready to ship. We paid the balance (gulp) and the shipping and it should be picked up on Monday.

Antique Stove Heaven sent us lots of instructions, along with a couple of pictures of the stove right before it was crated. Do you want to see?

Our girl is almost on her way to her new home!

We’re thinking of a name for her. That will come, I’m sure, once she’s ensconced in our kitchen. Meanwhile…we wait. Don has lots of instructions from ASH as to what size dolly to rent, how to load her on the dolly, how to get her safely in the house. We have to do all of this ourselves because it’s not like we bought her from Sears or some retailer. If we were in Los Angeles, ASH would take care of all of that for us. It gives me butterflies, just thinking of it.

Deep breath, Claudia.

I have a lighter day today with just one coaching session. Robyn, our great stage manager, managed to get everyone in for an initial session yesterday and the day before. Tomorrow, a work through of the first half where I can see just what Darko has been up to. Any maybe – fingers crossed – home for a couple of days on Sunday.

Happy Friday.

Forty-Eight Hours

Great Reads & The Cottage

The Shed And The Stove

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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