Escape to Margaritaville

Counting Down

December 20, 2017 at 10:25 am by Claudia

The inevitable bokeh shots of the tree. It’s a little harder to do with such a small tree, but I managed to capture a bit of it in this picture. The key is to focus on something other than the tree, which results in the round circles of light on the tree. I’m going to play around with it a bit more in the coming days. Because it’s fun and challenging and I like a challenge.

Then this morning, an early morning shot focusing on the objects in my sightline.

I went to the dreaded mall yesterday and felt every bit of energy I had drain out of my system. And it wasn’t even that crowded! It’s just…the mall. Too much for yours truly, who, when she was a young twenty-something, liked nothing better than to go to our local mall. Now? I will do anything I can to avoid it. And here’s the kicker: the object I was looking for wasn’t in stock. The only plus was that I got to stop at Whole Foods and grab a few things.

Still trying to finish gift buying for Don, who mentioned something this morning that he would like. So, off I go today in search of it. I, on the other hand, am having problems giving him any ideas, which happens when you have a birthday relatively close to Christmas.

We’re figuring out the menu for Christmas dinner at Rick and Doug’s. I think we will be bringing stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies, Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider, and of course, my grandmother’s biscuits. Two old friends of Rick’s will be there as well, one I’ve known for a long time and one I haven’t met yet. It should be lovely.

This was posted on the Instagram account @buffettmusical yesterday:

Whoo hoo! (Shouldn’t have put my watermark on the picture as it’s just confusing!)

My husband is going to be part of an Original Broadway Cast Album! Since I started out in musical theater and used to own hundreds of original cast albums, this is a big, big deal to me. And, though he tries to be casual about it, to Don.

We’re so excited!

Okay. Have to get a move on. I hope you are hanging in there as the countdown to Christmas continues. I also neglected to say Happy Hanukkah to those readers who celebrate that holiday. Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Wednesday, as well.

Shakers of Salt and Zz Plants

December 5, 2017 at 9:38 am by Claudia

I’m still feeling under the weather as all of this crap has gone into my chest. Yuck. It’s just the natural progression, nonetheless, I want it gone.

Poor Don. He comes home, is shocked at the bleakness of the landscape, then we end up having all-day-long-fog yesterday (that never happens) and today it’s raining.

Welcome home, Don!

In Escape to Margaritaville (musical and song) Don is the one who sings the line “Searching for my lost shaker of salt” to which the audience responds, “Salt! Salt! Salt!” One of the guys who is part of the musical direction for the show (the same one who helped me get a ticket to Hamilton) gave him a hand painted salt shaker on a piece of wood. It’s really cool looking and we decided we would hang it in the kitchen when Don got home.

We hung it above Stella. We have now come to the conclusion that nothing else should hang there. We had been thinking of a vintage sign, but it would take up too much real estate. The kitchen has lots of windows and those, along with the cupboards and china cabinet, make for not a lot of wall space. This sunny patch of yellow needs to stay relatively unencumbered by ‘stuff.’ Plus, as Don says, then the emphasis is on Stella.

As it should be, right?

By the way, for those of you who claim to have a black thumb, I’ve got just the plant for you. It’s the Zamioculcas zamiifolia or ZZ plant. (My pal Suzan first recommended it to me in a comment on this blog.) It can take all sorts of neglect and it will keep on ticking. I’m not kidding. It’s got dark green glossy/waxy leaves and it’s very attractive. It even thrives in low light. I have two of them right in front of the big picture window in the den, which, since it gets less light because of the porch roof and is west-facing, stays darkish most of the day.

They’re thriving here. You’d never know there’s a lack of light. I water them once every two weeks or so.

This was taken this morning. Two new shoots are emerging from the soil. It’s really quite amazing. Zz needs even less care than a pothos. And it has a lovely sculptural quality that makes a nice statement.

Anyway, you can get them in big box stores now. I got this one at Lowes. I got the other at a local chain. They’re readily available.

Think about it!

Edited to add: The wildfires in Ventura and Santa Paula are horrific and our friend Vicki’s house is in danger. It sounds dire. Please pray for Vicki and for everyone else in the path of this devastating fire.

Happy Tuesday.

Sun and Color

November 30, 2017 at 9:50 am by Claudia

I don’t think I’m going to get around to painting that wall in the kitchen this week. Don’s one-day-earlier arrival is throwing a spanner in the works, plus, to be honest, I don’t want the hassle of moving everything around and besides, I can start in on all of this in January when he’s back in the city for Margaritaville. (That was a long run-on sentence!)

Speaking of Margaritaville, my cousin and her husband were in the audience last night. They drove down to Chicago from their home in Northern Michigan to see it. Hopefully, though I haven’t spoken to him yet, Don met up with them at the Stage Door after the show. Actually, Don and I haven’t ‘spoken’ very much at all as he’s babying his voice this week. We speak in texts. Thank goodness for technology. When I had vocal problems as an actress, I didn’t have that option.

Forgot to show you these Rae Dunn pots that I picked up a few months back. I wasn’t sure what to put in them until I saw little sansevierias at Terrain (they’re marketed for terrariums) that I thought would do nicely. I need to do a little more excess soil removal!

Sunny pictures from the kitchen and living room:

I like color. I like sunny, bright, and welcoming rooms.

I like my house.

Though we could use a lot more storage and a mudroom (still dreaming about that possibility) the truth is, we’re fine. (Oh yes, and a garage!) If we never get those things we’ll be okay. We’ve been okay for the 12 years we’ve lived here, so all indications are that we can handle it indefinitely. That doesn’t stop me from dreaming, however.

I won’t even go into yesterday’s news. I had to talk myself down last night in order to fall asleep.

Happy Thursday.

Counting Down

Shakers of Salt and Zz Plants

Sun and Color

claudiahillsparks

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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