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You are here: Home / Archives for flowers

Goldenrod

September 11, 2021 at 10:12 am by Claudia

A lot of the goldenrod has already bloomed but this particular patch in the former corral has newly opened and it’s gorgeous. When the golden sun of autumn hits it, there’s nothing lovelier.

Our maple leaves are turning earlier than usual and quite a few are on the ground. I wonder if it has anything to do with all the rain we’ve had? I suspect it might.

Today is gorgeous. The mornings have been cooler, which I like. There’s something very cozy about a cool morning. We’re going to take a walk later today and then I have to work on our deductions since we always file an extension on our taxes and it’s time to get that info to our accountant. Not my favorite thing to do, but as the Brits say, “Needs must!”

Something arrived in the mail yesterday for Miss Sophie:

Boots! Handmade by Crafty Cora who has an Etsy shop. I can’t believe she can make these. The detail is amazing. Everything is so tiny that I hesitated to tie the laces; frankly, I’m not quite sure how to do it. For now, she’ll be one of those kids who never tie their laces.

We share something in common, Sophie and I. I have a little/mole beauty mark right above my mouth – just like she does – in exactly the same place. I found an old wide toothed comb to comb out her hair and that’s been added to the shoebox that contains her clothes. Eventually, I’d like to get something nicer than a shoebox, but thank goodness I didn’t recycle the box my new Birkenstocks came in!

At least she’s meeting my eyes now. I think she’s starting to feel more at home here.

She may get her own Instagram account. Not everyone is into the doll thing.

Thank goodness for Don’s tolerance of my somewhat whimsical passions. He gets it, at least as much as a grown man can get his wife suddenly playing with dolls at the age of 68. He oohs and aahs over things like the new boots, and my demonstration of how her eyes work, and gets a kick out of watching me dress her in new outfits. He has grown used to Sophie sitting on top of the music cabinet in the den, and never blinks an eye when it looks like she’s watching us as we eat our dinner. Bless his heart.

Interestingly, I don’t like dolls in dollhouses, partly because they never look as real and accurate as the furniture and decoration does. Plus, for me, life in any dollhouse is in my imagination and that’s where it stays.

I have my dolls that I’ve rescued and, now, I have this thing for Blythes. But I draw the line at dolls in the dollhouses. Go figure. It makes sense to me, but it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else.

We’re not at all surprised it’s been twenty years since 9/11 since it happened a couple of months after we moved out to the Northeast and that was twenty years ago. We lived right by the Hudson River in Westchester County and, sadly, those planes flew right over us.

We’ll always remember.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, dolls, flowers, wildflowers 35 Comments

And Summer’s Lease Hath All Too Short A Date

September 6, 2021 at 9:53 am by Claudia

The title of this post was written by Shakespeare and it’s one of my favorites. It’s from Sonnet 18 – Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? 

I’m really feeling that this morning as I notice the coneflowers turning brown, the gardens looking ragged, the light changing. It’s still officially summer and will be until later on in September, but we all know that we think of Labor Day as the day we move on to autumn. It always leaves me feeling a bit melancholy.

It’s a quiet day here. There’s less traffic on our heavily traveled road. The sun has come out after a rainy day yesterday. I had a good coaching session yesterday and have another one scheduled for tomorrow. But today? I’m going to take it easy. Get back to my painting. Listen to the new vinyl version of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water  album. Don ordered it the other day because we started talking about The Boxer and how much we love that song and then realized it wasn’t on any of our CDs.

I hope you have a lovely day today. Enjoy.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: autumn, flowers, summer 18 Comments

Zinnias and Work

September 4, 2021 at 9:33 am by Claudia

Sunny, but with a golden quality to the light that tells me autumn is coming.

I’ve had to reschedule my coaching sessions at the last minute twice this week as the actor is filming a series in England and the filming has gone past the time originally scheduled. We’re going to work tomorrow on his day off. (Not his fault, of course!)

I also was contacted by the next Anastasia  tour – this one is non-union, as it’s the second national tour – and we’re trying to schedule some days where I come in and work with the actors. All of this conveniently falls in late September – mid October, before I start work on the movie. I am grateful for the opportunity to be the main source of income for the next few months. Really, really grateful.

As you might imagine, our lawn throughout the property is very overgrown because of all the rain. Today, we’ll start to tackle that. I’ve been wearing a mask when I mow because my allergies are so bad this year. I don’t know if it helps, but I do it anyway. Anyway, we have our work cut out for us this weekend.

Hopefully, I’ll get some time to paint. Fingers crossed.

Sad to see summer ending, but ready for fall.

Hope all is well with you.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Filed Under: Anastasia, flowers, garden 34 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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