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And Away We Go

April 18, 2013 at 7:55 am by Claudia

forsythia

The forsythia is in full bloom – inside and outside. I think spring has finally arrived. It was a long, long time coming.

I don’t like leaving my family to go away and work for 5 weeks. But today is the day – this morning, in fact – that Don drives me to Hartford, drops me off (after unloading a boatload of stuff) and goes back home to Scout and our little cottage and our garden.

I love my garden. Leaving it at this time of year is especially hard. Thank goodness I can visit my home in a couple of weeks and take some time to marvel at all the growth that has happened in the time I’ve been away. Thank goodness I can take a couple of days to mulch and plant flowers and seeds. There have been other years where I have been away from the garden the entire spring, with no chance to snatch a short visit home.

newgrowthbokeh

Yesterday I was outside prowling around with my camera. This evidence of new growth on a hydrangea that I planted just last year was a welcome sight. I tried to capture the tiny little bud and ended up getting this rather amazing shot with lots of bokeh. I’m sort of in love with it.

Most everything is packed. You’d think I was going away for a year. With the addition of two boxes of fabric and tools and an Ott Light and my iron, plus the sewing machine, along with the usual bags of books and research materials, a suitcase, and bags of groceries….my goodness, there’s a lot of stuff. Even Don, ever patient, will nonetheless be amazed at all the crap he has to load into the car.

scoutpouncing

How am I going to leave this girl, caught by the camera in the middle of one of her joyful pounces? Gosh, I love her.

This job marks the beginning of a six month cycle where, except for a few weeks here and there, one or the other of us will be working away from home. Happy for the work. Not so happy to be separated for long chunks of time.

Feeling ruthless, I had about 4 inches chopped off my hair yesterday. It just touches my shoulders. I like it.

Okay. It’s time to get going, to eat some breakfast, take a shower, finish up the last minute bits of packing. See you in Hartford.

Happy Thursday.

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Filed Under: Hartford, On The Road 33 Comments

Guest Post: Don on Prague, Part 3

April 17, 2013 at 8:30 am by Claudia

What a fun time I’ve had visiting with you in these guest posts! I want to thank you for your wonderful comments, and I want to thank my wife for inviting me to share my time in Prague with you.

Whenever I had any free time from the film shoot, I would walk around and see as much as I could. I couldn’t use my iPhone to call back home, so it became a full time camera. I put it to work, because every time I turned around I would see something I wanted to capture! So many great images. Not all of them “touristy”,  just some hidden away places and vistas that caught my wandering fancy.

This first one, however, IS a big tourist stop. It’s in the Center Square of “Old Town” (kind of Prague’s equivalent of New York’s Time Square). It’s the famous “Astronomical Clock,”  first installed in 1410, the third oldest in the world and the oldest still working!

astrologicalclock

You can learn a good deal more about it by clicking here.

I could reach the Square in Old Town by crossing the Charles Bridge. Here’s one of the beautiful views it afforded me:

viewfromthebridge

Here’s another shot of the Old Town Square. Interestingly, the row of small red shops (unlike those in most “farmer’s markets”) are permanent structures and privately owned. One of them is where I found the beautiful painted eggs I bought for Claudia.

oldtownrows

I just love this little canal I found tucked away on one of my walks. Talk about a beautiful “alleyway!”

praguecanal

Finally, a story I can’t believe happened. While I was out and about one very cold afternoon when I was at liberty from the film shoot, I came across a young lady walking with her young son and carrying a guitar on her back. She was dressed very colorfully and I summoned the courage to talk to her, hoping she spoke a little English. I asked her if she was a performer and she told me that she and her son were a musical duo and were playing that night at a popular club. Her son was the guitar player and she played the violin. I told them that while I was in Prague principally as an actor, I was also a performing songwriter.

Turns out she was “hosting” the show of singers that night, sort of running the evening, and to my great surprise she invited me to come to the club and play a song! So…

Just a few hours later (and borrowing her son’s guitar) I performed before a packed and enthusiastic crowd! Yes, I’ve gone “international”!

donatclub

(Thanks to the kind Czech stranger who took my iPhone and was willing to take this shot!)

So, I hit the jackpot: here I was, an actor filming in a beautiful European city who was also lucky enough to play his music at a cool coffeehouse. You know, I could get used to that!

Well, I’ve really enjoyed reliving all this by sharing it with you. I hope you enjoyed it. I also want to thank you for supporting Claudia and her wonderful blog. Believe me, she gives it a lot of love and thought, and is so grateful that you give it back.

Na shiedanou! (Goodbye!)

Don

Filed Under: Don, On The Road 38 Comments

Finished

April 15, 2013 at 8:30 am by Claudia

quilt-back

Done.

I finished hand stitching the binding late on Saturday, after working on it all afternoon while watching the Red Sox. I don’t hand stitch very often and I’m not very confident about my skill, so it’s slow going for me. But it’s done!

This quilt has been four years in the making. I originally pieced it in 2009 when I was working far away from home in San Diego for 6 months. After I brought it home, I did nothing with it for 3 years. It wasn’t until I got a bee in my bonnet at the end of 2012 that I started to put the quilt sandwich together, pin basted the sucker, and then started the hand quilting process while, this time, Don was away in San Diego.

I was determined to finish it before I leave town for Hartford. And I did.

I’ve been playing with it upstairs:

quilt1

Oh, you queen sized behemoth, you were very hard to maneuver in my small sewing space! This just might be a good reason to never get a king sized bed.

Before you say, “But Claudia, you have one pattern on the headboard and then all those patterns in the quilt,” remember that I like a lot of pattern. You’ve seen the rest of my house, haven’t you? I have no problem mixing patterns – maybe it’s my British heritage. I like all those cozy British cottage living rooms with an abundance of pattern. I promise not to go crazy with the pattern love.

quilt3

quilt2

You look pretty at the end of the bed.

quilt4

quilt5

quilt6

I love you.

Pretty in the bedroom, isn’t it? Well, it’s only there temporarily because it’s traveling with me to Hartford! Yep. Why, you ask? Two reasons. One: Don, though he loves and appreciates it, won’t love it like I do and I don’t want to leave for Hartford and not be able to see it for 6 weeks. Two: Duvets, duvets. Remember my post about them? I don’t like duvets. This trip I am staying at the hotel for 2 weeks, then I’m moving to the company apartments for the rest of my stay. Both places have duvets on the beds. Do. Not. Like. So this time, instead of throwing the too heavy duvet off the bed and then shivering because a sheet isn’t quite enough, I will have the quilt. See? Doesn’t that make sense?

And I can look at my pretty quilt. And it will make my temporary lodgings more home-like.

Don and I were going to try to take a photo of it outside, but it’s too gosh darned windy and cold and gray out today. Spring? Are you there? Will you please come for a few days before I have to leave on Thursday?

firstdaffodil

Some comfort: our first daffodil has opened up. It’s right on the edge of the woods. Such a beauty!

Quilt details: Design inspired by the Snowball Quilt in Kaffe Fassett’s book, Museum Quilts. Many, many of the fabrics are Kaffe Fassett designs, along with some from my stash, border fabric is by Jinny Beyers.

Happy Monday.

signature2

Tagged With: Kaffe Fassett, quiltFiled Under: flowers, On The Road, quilting 79 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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