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You are here: Home / Archives for flowers

Decorating and Flowers

September 27, 2016 at 9:03 am by Claudia

This is why we wanted the table in front of the window:

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The afternoon sun covers everything with its golden glow – especially the vintage table.

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I have to stop in my tracks when I see this. It’s so beautiful.

We really love this new look in our living room.

I’ve always loved to decorate, starting with my Barbie case and various shoeboxes when I was quite young. I still love to decorate. I just don’t feel the need to constantly  decorate. I have a good eye and, thankfully, so does my husband, which enables us to create spaces that we truly love on a very tight budget; often on no budget at all.

Usually that means that once a room seems finished, we’re fine with it for any number of years. Yes, a piece of pottery or two is added. Or a basket. Or, my favorite, bookshelves filled with books. It’s really only when a new piece knocks our socks off, like the vintage table, and we know that we have to reconfigure everything in order to have it in our home, that we do a major rearrange like we did on Sunday afternoon. Or when we repurpose a room, like we did when we changed the guest room to an office/studio. Otherwise, we tweak here and there, but that’s about it.

So, I love decorating, but I’m not thinking about it all the time, not by a longshot, and I choose not to talk about it all the time on this blog, even though I know that kind of post is very popular. My eyes would begin to glaze over and then what good would I be?

I don’t decorate for the seasons. I can see the seasonal change right outside our windows. Creating new vignettes is not my thing. Once I have settled on an arrangement it usually stays that way for a while. (Although I am currently drying some hydrangeas from the garden to replace the ones in the vintage ice cream maker which have been there a long time and are quite dusty.)

I will say that we have become ‘experts’ in dealing with a small space. After all, I’ve lived in three studio apartments, one of which was so tiny that I could barely move. Frankly, I’ve never lived in a large home. Never. I’ve only resided in studios and one bedroom apartments and homes that are less than 1000 square feet.

My childhood home? Two tiny bedrooms downstairs, an attic bedroom upstairs, a microscopic kitchen and dining room and a living room that was not much bigger. Only one bathroom for many, many years. Filled with two adults and four children and a dog. I learned at a very young age how to  cope with very little space.

I am getting the urge to shed some of the stuff I have stashed here and there in the cottage. No, not my pottery or my beloved collections or my books. But closets need to be sorted and those spaces need to be used more effectively. Containers need to be purchased and filled with things we want to keep and put in our storage space. I’m getting geared up to begin that process.

Starting with the dreaded closet in my office. I need to be ruthless. And then I’ll move on to the closet in the den. I’m looking forward to it!

Okay. Flowers.

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Hello, beautiful morning glory, slowing opening on a cold morning.

Zinnias that have just opened:

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I love observing them as they start to open. Thank goodness for zinnias and morning glories!

Happy Tuesday.

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Filed Under: decorating, flowers 41 Comments

Bad Dreams & Aging Flowers

September 23, 2016 at 8:43 am by Claudia

I had the most terrifying dream right before I woke up this morning. Absolutely horrifying. And I still can’t shake it off. I’m not prone to bad dreams – they happen rarely – but this one, this one was so vivid, so real, that I felt like I had to pull myself out of the depths of the dream to some sort of consciousness, and even then, I was half-in, half-out of it. Horrible.

This may be a three cups of coffee day.

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Three balloon flowers opened the other day. This is such a sweet plant.

I know I’ve been posting less often on my book blog, Just Let Me Finish This Page, but I’d sure appreciate your stopping by when I let you know that a new review is up. During the past year, with the death of my father and Scout, I simply couldn’t attend to both blogs as diligently as I would have liked to. Since MHC is the one I write every day, the book blog suffered. I’m doing my best to post more often and I hope you still find it relevant. I used to get more comments on that blog, which leads me to believe less and less of you are reading it and that saddens me. Ah, well.

I posted a review this week that you can find here.

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I post a lot of photos of pretty flowers, but I find aging flowers equally beautiful and I’m going to take more photos of them. This pink zinnia was one of the first zinnias to bloom this summer and it’s still hanging in there, less than perfect, but beautifully dignified.

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This red beauty has a couple of shriveled petals, but the rest of the zinnia is gorgeous. At least, to me.

I’m going to make another cup of coffee and try to shake off that dream. Oh, it’s a strange time. Good things on the horizon in terms of my professional work, my dad’s birthday next week, the anniversary of Dad’s death next month, and the change from summer to fall. Not to mention the election. Good and unsettling, at the same time. (The dream had nothing to do with my dad, by the way.)

Feeling melancholy on this Friday.

A big thank you to those readers who have donated toward our GoFundMe campaign for our friend. You didn’t have to – you don’t even know her – and I find that incredibly moving and life-affirming. Bless you.

Happy Friday.

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Filed Under: flowers, garden 31 Comments

Thoughts on Thursday

September 22, 2016 at 9:46 am by Claudia

• Thanks so much for the spirited discussion on yesterday’s post. I learned something from all of you and I thank you for that. Gosh, I love it when that happens! You are the best.

• Happy first day of Autumn. It feels like it out there. I stepped outside to take a picture and the air was rather brisk. This is what prompted me to venture outside in my pjs.

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I’m telling you, every morning is like this, give or take a few blooms. Was the secret adding fresh topsoil to this new garden bed? I’m not sure, but these are the most prolific morning glories I’ve ever had. (And there’s one bloom behind the fence that you can’t see!)

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I’ve titled this: Impressionistic Morning Glory.

Yes, I can’t get enough of them and if you’re sick of seeing them…well, you’ll have to find something else to read. Because I’ll be posting them as long as I can. All too soon it will be barren outside and I’ll be scrambling for something, somewhere, that is photo-worthy. Believe me, this happens every year. A panic sets in: what will I blog about now that all the flowers are gone??

Like clockwork.

• Mowing yesterday. Tired Claudia last night. But it looks good out there.

A couple of thoughts for you today:

• I believe that energy, both positive and negative, has more power than we realize. In this election process, I’ve realized that so much – almost all – of my energy has been focused on he-who-will-not-be-named. And that, my friends, is mother’s milk to him. (As is lying, but that’s another subject.) He laps it up – doesn’t matter whether it’s positive or negative. Negative energy puts the focus on him. And he is completely unworthy of my focus. So, as of this moment, I am focusing all my energy on his opponent – on helping her become President of the United States.

Positive energy for  her, rather than against  him. I refuse to give him any of my attention. He doesn’t deserve it. He is beneath contempt, he is everything I was brought up to believe is wrong and evil; so why even give him one microsecond of my time? Energy beamed toward someone who cares, who will help those in need, who has always worked for others, who has a 40+ year history of doing good? Yes and yes and yes.

• And, the other thought; succinct and to-the-point: #blacklivesmatter. I’m heartsick. Something has to change.

Do I even have to say here that the vast majority of police officers are good people who, I trust, do not racially profile our citizens? Because I guarantee you, someone out there will read #blacklivesmatter on this blog and immediately think I’m trashing all police. I don’t have much patience with that limited form of thinking. It comes from a defensive posture and limits any healthy discussion that might bring about positive change.

And yes, I have a family member who had a long career as a policeman in Michigan. It doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with what is happening now. There is something terribly wrong and it has to be addressed.

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• Don and I are currently running a GoFundMe campaign for our friend, Dawn. She is the most hardworking person we know. She cuts my hair as well as the hair of lots and lots of people in our small town. She works 12 – 14 hours a day and charges…get this…$10 for a cut. That’s it. It’s not uncommon for me to drive by her shop in the early morning hours – I’m talking 6 a.m. – and see her cutting someone’s hair. Not only that, she is kind, has a generous spirit and is always thinking of others.

She had to have serious kidney surgery last Monday. Very serious surgery. She will be unable to work for a month and she is the sole source of support for her family. So, last Friday, we started a campaign for her and we’re 2/3 of the way to our goal! Our intention is to donate enough money to give her some time to heal, time in which she doesn’t have to worry about bills and food.

• And finally,  I looked out the living room window yesterday and saw a hummingbird dining on the geraniums and managed to grab my older camera and get a quick shot. This is a biggie for me because I don’t have a hummingbird feeder and I usually can’t get to my camera quickly enough to get a picture.

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Immediately after this, he was gone. It’s not perfect, but I don’t care! I was so happy to get the chance to photograph this beauty.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: birds, flowers, garden, what I believe 40 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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