flowers — Page 217

Wet Lilacs. Wet Everything.

May 4, 2016 at 9:13 am by Claudia

Weather forecast: More rain. I’m feeling soggy just thinking about it.

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The poor lilacs are trying to open, but the relentless rain is beating them down. We’re sick of the rain here at the cottage, though we certainly realize that this is nothing compared to the terrible rain and flooding in Texas. It’s inconvenient and not at all fun, but it isn’t dangerous. (Just keeping things in perspective.)

Last night I had trouble falling asleep. That might have been due to watching a certain someone speak (incoherently, of course, and always with ‘me, me, me’ as his focus – ‘they were good to me’ ‘I won by this much’ ‘I’m wonderful, I’m the best thing since sliced bread.’) No details as to how he’s going to accomplish what he so blithely promises. No seeming realization that the government has checks and balances and three branches and, therefore, he can’t just do anything he wants. Did he ever take a class in government? Demagoguery, of course, appeals to fears and prejudices, not to any rational argument. I don’t know about you, but I like my presidential candidates to be a wee bit more prepared for the job. And when I say wee, I’m being about as sarcastic as I can be. The “Party of Lincoln,” as I so often hear it described, is rallying around a huckster, a megalomaniac, a narcissist, and a liar. I had to narrow it down to 4 adjectives. There are a whole lot more. Misogynist, bigot – I’d better stop.

By the way, I’ve ordered my Woman Card.

Consequently, I tossed and turned for a while. I can only imagine what the rest of the world is thinking. Actually, I don’t have to imagine – I read a lot of commentary on the subject. We look like fools.

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Today, I’m off to Hartford to spend the night. I was hoping not to have to do that, but the run-through tomorrow morning is at 10 am and, if I left tomorrow morning, there is no way I could guarantee getting there on time during the morning rush hour. I-84 in Connecticut really is a mess during rush hour. So…off I go to spend the night in Hartford once again. The hotel screwed up, by the way, and billed both of my previous visits to my card, rather than Hartford Stage. It took a while before I figured that out. Eventually, it was resolved, but that means I have to make sure that this visit is billed to the theater, as in “I want proof.”

I’m looking forward to the run-through, as I’ve never seen the whole show and they’ve been doing a lot of rewrites in the past week or so. It will be fun and exciting.

Happy Wednesday.

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Lilacs, Orange & Movies

May 1, 2016 at 9:14 am by Claudia

It is going to rain for the next three days, so I ran outside yesterday to check on the ‘status of the lilacs.’

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Oooh! They’re blooming!

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You’d better believe I was getting as close to those flowers as I could in order to get a whiff of that heavenly scent.

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Now that the daffodils have bloomed and the lilacs are just about to be in full bloom, I can say that Spring is finally here.

Yesterday we did something we rarely do. We went to the movies, and not for the discount matinee. The back story is that a movie has just come out that features a close friend of ours and we knew we had to see it. We wanted to see it. So we drove across the river to a neighboring city to catch the 12:10 matinee. Tickets? $20.00. A bottle of water and a modest size of popcorn? $13.00.

What the heck?

$33.00 to see a movie? This is why we don’t go and instead, wait for the movie to be On Demand on our cable network or on Netflix. How do people who routinely go to the movies afford it? We sure can’t.

And then we had to sit there and watch a bunch of commercials and previews for television shows. Really?? I can see that at home. Unbelievably annoying and, unfortunately, no mute button (something we freely use during commercials.)

More and more I feel like one of those older people who say, “Back in my day…” Heck, I remember going to matinees when I was a kid – double features, no less – for a grand total of 25 cents.

Another reason not to go is the noise/texting/selfie ridiculousness that goes on, but thankfully, there were few people in the audience and they were all older, so no problem on that front.

On the TSP front: (Don, stop here.) I had an epiphany about a color choice, but now that I’ve executed the whole thing, I’m having some doubts. I may have to change it out.

I made two table tops for a working desk/console. Don likes color and, as I mentioned before, I have been thinking that the other side of the room needs color. And I want it to be cheery. So I made two table tops and painted them turquoise, which is a color Don really loves. So far, so good.

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Then, to weigh them down and keep them from warping, I used an old standby:

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It helps to have a heavy volume of the Bard on hand.

Earlier in the week, I had purchased a couple of dowels at Michael’s and I decided to use one for the legs on the table. Now, unlike a lot of miniaturists, I don’t have any power tools (except a 25 year old drill) and no place to store them even if I did have them, so I have to resort to a hand saw or my trusty Easy Cutter. I measured out eight legs and cut them as best I could.

Here’s where I think I made a mistake – paint color. I was debating whether the legs should be black or silver or white when I thought…”Orange! Like the fireplace!” Turquoise and orange look great together so why not? I grabbed my can of orange spray paint and went to town, then I glued the legs on (a pain in the tush) and let them dry overnight.

You see, I wanted the studio to be cheery and bright and full of color – an inspiring place in which to create.

Here’s the end result.

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Does this look too circus-y to you? Keep in mind that there will also be a computer monitor and a mixing board on top of the longer table. I took the legs off the keyboard because I’ve seen so many home studios with just the keyboard on the work surface and I like that look.

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There will also be a modern swivel desk chair (in black) at the desk, which will help to cut some of the color. And there will be guitars somewhere on that wall, as well as some artwork, all of which might help to balance out the orange legs and end up making that whole wall look quite colorful.

Which I like. And it does help to define the working/recording area of the studio as opposed to the lounging area. And the eating area. There will also be a rug on the floor, though I’ve not made the final decision on which one I want to buy.

I could always change out the legs, but I think I will hold off for a while until I tinker with the rest of that side of the studio.

Now, I’ll close so I can go upstairs and stare at the desks. And ponder.

Happy Sunday.

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Daffodils & Espresso

April 30, 2016 at 9:04 am by Claudia

Due to the freakish and unexpected snow and ice that hit my gardens and plants as they were already coming out of the ground, some things haven’t bloomed and I don’t think they will this year. For example, my yellow daffodils that live on the edge of the woods. I check them out every day.

Nothing.

But my other daffodils – the ones that are in the big garden bed – don’t come out of the ground as early as the yellow daffs, and I was hoping against hope they would bloom for me.

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They have. I must admit giving a little squeak of happiness when I saw them. They’re so delicate and pretty.

Getting these shots required some precarious balancing on my part. Worth it.

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Slightly different angle, different setting. These were planted long ago by a previous resident. Thank you!

We mowed the front part of our property yesterday – what we call ‘tag-team’ mowing. Since our front yard is very expansive, one of us will do about 4 long passes, then the other will take over, etc. Since we alternate, it doesn’t get nearly as tiring. We can only do this, of course, when both of us are in residence. We still have to attend to the Back Forty, but it rained all night last night and the grass will be really wet, so we’ll probably wait until tomorrow.

Don: Stop Right Here!

A couple of items arrived in the mail the other day. The little kitchenette has some updates:

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The light wasn’t entirely cooperating with me, as it was just about to start raining, so it’s a little less crisp than I would like, but you get the idea.

Expresso for the resident, as well as a stool to sit on while drinking coffee and munching on cookies. I love that pop of lime green on the stool.

I’m working on something else, which should (fingers crossed) be finished today. If it is, I’ll take some pictures for you. I’m very excited about this little project. I got so excited yesterday, I could barely contain myself and I have to wait until June 24th to reveal it to Don.

Deep breath, Claudia. You still have some more projects to finish before this can be considered finished.

I love miniatures.

Happy Saturday.

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Wet Lilacs. Wet Everything.

Lilacs, Orange & Movies

Daffodils & Espresso

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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