flowers — Page 274

A Chatty Post

July 25, 2013 at 8:46 am by Claudia

♦ Well, who would have known that so many of you have a Detroit or Michigan connection? I am continually reminded of what a small world it is! Thanks for all the Vernors and Detroit love, my friends.

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♦ Psst! Don’t say anything because you might jinx it, but the temperature here went down to the fifties last night.

What??

Surely this will be short-lived, but I am determined to enjoy these coolish temperatures while they last. On the agenda today: mowing. With all the lawn we have, mowing is on the agenda at least 4 out of 7 days of the week. Soon Don will be taking over that job. I’ll miss it, it keeps me in shape.

I haven’t begun to pack because I’m in denial. And because Don has the big suitcase. The suitcase transfer will take place on Sunday.

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♦ While in Hartford, I’ll be staying in the same apartment I was in last spring. I requested it. Remember the adventure with the mattress in the middle of the night? Since I wrestled that softer mattress down the hall and into the apartment at 3 am, I think I deserve to use it once more, don’t you?

Two months. I’ll return home on my dad’s 90th birthday, September 28th. Yikes.

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♦ By the way, Don has heard that his American Experience will air sometime in November. I’ll keep you posted. Since individual PBS stations often air programs at different times and days, you’ll have to check your local listings.

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♦ I very seldom buy magazines anymore because so much of the content is a repeat of what I’ve already seen on the web or is uninspiring or the darned magazine costs too much. This is a big change for me as I used to buy tons of them. I know, however, how great it is to be featured in a magazine, as it has happened to me twice. It’s a big thrill. Two of my friends have recently been featured in Romantic Homes.

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My dear friend Judy, of 20 North Ora, has a two page spread showing how she made a vintage dress form into a thing of beauty: Miss Begonia. Congratulations, Judy! Stop by and visit my friend. She and her dear husband John have been battling illness in what has become a very tough time for them. Judy has to be one of the most generous and loving people I have ever had the privilege to meet and she can use our prayers and support.

And in the same issue:

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Dear Jane of Blondie’s Journals. Congratulations, Jane!

♦ To those of you who participate in A Favorite Thing: After this week’s get together, I’m going to take a little break from the weekly party. I will be in Hartford for two months where I will be coaching two plays at the same time. I expect to be working long hours. That, along with my daily blog posts, will consume most of my time. Adding the party to the mix will be difficult, if not impossible. I can’t guarantee that I would have any time to visit the links. Frankly, this weekend will be tough as well. I’ll be in the Berkshires all day Saturday, will be packing on Sunday and traveling to Hartford on Monday. So, my dear friends, a two month sabbatical is on the docket. I hope you understand.

But, just to be clear, I will continue to blog every day, like clockwork!

♦ I’ve been slow in choosing the winners of the book giveaway. Apologies! I kept forgetting. This is a rare treat; I am able to give away 5 copies of The Last Camellia. The winners are:

• Nancy Blue Moon

• Patty

• Judy Ainsworth

• Grace

• Donnamae

I will be sending you an email. If you read this post before you get the email, drop me a note with your mailing address. Congratulations!

Happy Thursday.

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Somewhat Random

July 23, 2013 at 8:49 am by Claudia

T minus 6 and counting.

I’m off to Hartford in less than a week. I can’t linger on that thought for too long or I get sad. The garden is looking pretty gosh-darned abundant, my husband is about to return home and my little girl will once again be confused and sad. So what’s wrong with this picture?

Two months away from the cottage this time.

I’ve got a lot to do between now and Monday. Finish work on the scripts, get my hair cut, find a new pair of shorts that isn’t torn, mow, figure out what to pack (don’t have a project in mind yet,) write up an extensive list of the chores that Don has to take over, and there are many; most of them to do with watering potted plants, filling birdbaths and watering the seedlings. Oh, and a reminder (again) on how to empty the canister on the vacuum which he simply ignored last time I was away. Plus I have to drive up to the Berkshires on Saturday to watch a run-through of Much Ado About Nothing, followed by attending the closing performance of Pygmalion and packing Don up to bring him back home.

The latest visitors to check in at the birdbath:

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A catbird and a male house finch. Finches sit on the edge of the birdbath and sip the water. Catbirds plunge in and dunk themselves with great exuberance.

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Sort of blurry, sorry, but I wanted to show you the elusive yellow-colored finch. I have tried to photograph this little guy so many times I’ve stopped counting. He always flies away before I can haul out my camera. According to my research, he’s another adult male house finch, yellow variant. Some males are yellow rather than red. Unless it’s a pine warbler. Or a goldfinch. Or a yellow-throated vireo.

I clearly have no idea.

This guy is often at the birdbath solo. Seeing him with another bird is a rarity.

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The liatris is just starting to bloom.

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More daylily beauty.

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A bench on the porch. The porch on which it’s been too hot to sit for more than a minute or two. Still humid here. Scout does not do well in humidity so I’ve had to turn on the A/C. But I leave it off for a while in the morning – just because I’m so sick of it. And because I’m dreading the next electric bill.

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Miss Scout. She’s barking because she does not like it when I disappear, camera in hand, while she’s outside. She’d like me to let her back in the house, thank you very much, and where am I? Taking more pictures of my gardens.

The nerve.

One of you commented on that tarp that lies on the ground, just to the right in the photo, saying it looks like a dead body. It does. But in reality, it’s a pile of hay we use to cover the ground in the dog corral in the muddy, rainy days of spring. The tarp keeps the hay under control so that it doesn’t fly all over the property.

Today: Shorts shopping. T-shirt shopping. Perhaps a summer dress shopping.

I do not like shopping for clothes. No sir. The combination of a body that no longer looks as thin and svelte as it used to, fluorescent lights, and very little patience for the whole thing makes for a potentially frustrating experience. I used to love shopping for clothes. But my life out here in the country calls for T-shirts and jeans. And comfortable shoes. What have I become?

Ah well.

Happy Tuesday.

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Butterflies, Coneflowers and a Bit of Swooning

July 22, 2013 at 8:18 am by Claudia

Saturday was sort of magical. Almost at every turn, I saw a butterfly. It was a day of swallowtails. From the den window:

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Flitting, floating, flying through the air while I was working in the garden.

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At first I thought it was the same swallowtail I’d seen from the den window, but this one’s wing is torn. It seemed to have no effect on this beauty’s ability to fly.

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Thank goodness. Because she was clearly hanging out with me. I thanked her for the visit.

My coneflowers have self-seeded. There’s a patch of them right by the maple, a hop, skip and a jump from a group that I did plant.

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There are more and more in this little patch every year. And then there is this lone coneflower that sprung up in the dog corral a few years back.

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Every year, I almost yank it because I think it must be one of the many weeds that grow alongside the chicken wire fence. In the space of time between summer and spring, I forget that it grows there. And every year, when I see this tenacious flower, I’m so grateful I didn’t.

This group, planted on the other side of the house, is giant in size and amazing in color.

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I did not do one bit of retouching or enhancing. This is their true color.

If I was starting a garden and I was unsure as to the quality of my soil and I was strapped for money (wait, I am strapped for money!) I would plant coneflowers. They are extremely tolerant of all kinds of soil. They self-seed. They last a long time. They look beautifully cottage garden-y. And if you leave them intact at the end of the season, the birds will thank you as they snack on them throughout the winter.

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Bees like them, too. What’s not to love?

On to another topic.

Because both Don and I have worked in the theater for years, plus lots and lots of television and film for Don, we’ve worked with a lot of well-known and in some cases, quite famous, people. It just goes with the territory. If I made a list of them all, I think you’d be quite impressed. But I won’t, because it’s no big deal. We’re used to it.

Do you remember the television series, Medium? We were big fans and never missed an episode. Both Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber, who played the two leads, had a natural, easy quality on the screen that was a testament to their formidable acting chops.

I had a little crush on Jake Weber. Husky voice, easy smile, good actor. Don’t worry, Don knew all about it.

Guess who was performing in a play at Williamstown? Yep. Jake Weber. Don got to know him and they had some good conversations. Jake’s play closed yesterday afternoon (he was excellent in it, according to none other than my husband) and when my phone made that little ‘ding!’ that means I have a message, look what I saw:

don&jake

Oh boy. My crush and my husband. Together.

Don later informed me that he told Jake he had to take the picture because ‘my wife has a crush on you.’

So, even though I’m not easily impressed or awed by ‘famous’ actors, I must admit to a little swooning here. Never mind that Jake is about 15 years younger than me. Or that my adored husband is in the same frame.

They’re both smiling. At me!

I’m swooning.

Happy Monday.

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A Chatty Post

Somewhat Random

Butterflies, Coneflowers and a Bit of Swooning

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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