life — Page 72

Painting the Garden

May 30, 2021 at 9:22 am by Claudia

Rain, rain, go away! It’s been raining non-stop for two days. It’s cold. It’s dark outside.

I’m over it.

I finished Nine Coaches Waiting this morning and then I proceeded to explain to Don just why this author has been so dear to me for over 50 years. And that I realize something new about her writing, her skill, each time I re-read one of her books. There are few authors who describe place and atmosphere better than Mary Stewart. I don’t think I realized that when I was 13, but I surely do now.

A pleasure.

I finished a painting yesterday. My interpretation of The Secret Garden.

You may like it or you may not, but I’ll be frank; Mary Engelbreit wrote to me and said, “I just love this, Claudia!” so I’m quite chuffed. My day is made.

I painted another mini piece, but I have a bit more to do on it today.

As you might suspect, my husband is my biggest cheerleader (besides Mary, of course). He takes in every detail and talks to me about what he sees.

I love him.

More reading, cleaning, laundry, and painting today. And rain, of course.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Saturday Morning Thoughts

May 29, 2021 at 10:33 am by Claudia

We are in for a rainy three days. I feel for everyone who was hoping for a sunny and warm Memorial Day weekend. The weather isn’t going to clear until Tuesday.

So, we’re going to lay low; read, make and listen to music, paint, and reflect.

An interesting thing has been happening. This has happened in the past, but not for a long time. Three separate letters have come in the mail, each of them from a different place, including Canada. They’re handwritten, polite, with a self-addressed stamped envelope inside, asking for Don’s autograph.

Now, Don has been acting on screen since he was twenty. He has a LOT of television credits, including Three’s Company, LA Law, Hill Street Blues, Cheers, Frazier, etc. When we lived in San Diego, and even in the early days out here, people would often stop us because they recognized Don from Three’s Company. And sure enough, all three letters mention that show, as well as others.

Don is good natured about that sort of thing and he will send off his autograph.

I, however, wonder how they got our address. I know you can get anyone’s address on the internet, but I must admit that it makes me uncomfortable. That’s the reason I use a post office box for anything to do with this blog. I assume someone found it and it’s published on some sort of autograph collector site – a group of fans, maybe, of Three’s Company. Each letter was written with respect and deference and was very polite. I have no issue with the letters themselves.

But nothing is private any more, is it? Having an unlisted phone number/address means exactly nothing. And of course, both Don and I have a presence on the Web through our professional work, Don’s music, my blog, and social media – some of it by personal choice, some not. So unless we erase all traces of ourselves (which is virtually impossible) from the internet, that’s the way it now is.

Just some thoughts this morning on the internet and the loss of privacy. The autograph requests are sweet and Don has no problem with them, as they are clearly sincere and well-intentioned.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Clematis

May 28, 2021 at 9:27 am by Claudia

More clematis because it’s so lush this year! It climbs up and into the boxwood, which I love.

All this, and the wild roses have started to bloom! Soon, the peonies and the catalpas will join them.

I’ll say it again: my favorite time of year.

Though it’s chilly out there! Only a high of 60 today and even lower for the next two days, accompanied by rain. Some holiday weekend! Though I’m not a fan of the three-day weekend. I used to be, however, when I worked 40 hours a week in an office.

I’m still pecking away on my iPad. A post goes like this: I upload photos to my editing software and then I export them to my blog, which I open on my laptop so that I can do a security check and upload those photos to a draft post. Then I save the draft, open my iPad and sign on to the blog again. I open the draft post and write the text, which takes twice as long as it does when I use the keyboard. I proofread, then publish, whereupon I refresh the blog on the laptop and proof it again, making any revisions necessary. All replies to comments happen on the iPad.

All because I don’t have a working “t” on the keyboard.

I have an appointment at the Apple Store for next Tuesday.

By the way, did I tell you that my husband took my car to a place where it was fully detailed? Since we’ve both been using the car for over a year, he wanted me to have a fresh car, inside and out. It now looks like I just drove it out of the dealer’s lot! Gorgeous!

Series recommendation: Bordertown on Netflix. It’s from Finland, it’s a police procedural but so much more than that, and it’s excellent. Incredible acting from one and all. Yes, there are subtitles. Truthfully, I prefer them nowadays. We never watch network television ( I exclude PBS from this category, of course.) We’ve seen such a high level of excellence from all over the world in the past year. Our horizons have been broadened. Bonus: other countries are not obsessed with casting beautiful young people in every role, along with one token character actor. They actually appreciate age, character lines, and realistic casting. I knew England did, but it’s good to know the same holds true in other countries.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Painting the Garden

Saturday Morning Thoughts

Clematis

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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