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Pondering Purple

August 5, 2013 at 8:25 am by Claudia

puprleflowers1

Funny how a color can suddenly reappear in your world; not that it ever really disappeared. I’ve been pondering purple lately.

I bought this little plant at Trader Joe’s when we made a quick stop on our drive to Hartford. I liked the color and the tiny flowers and I wanted a potted plant for the apartment. I remembered the deep window sills from my previous stay and knew they would be a good home for this little beauty.

Then I hung this:

purplequilt2

A favorite creation of mine that had recently been in a stack of folded quilts, its gorgeous purples hidden from view.

It reminded me of my youthful passion for purple and lavender. In the tiny little bungalow where my parents raised 4 children, space was at a premium: two small bedrooms downstairs and a bigger bedroom carved out of the attic space. One bathroom. For a while there it was just my brother and me, so my parents used the attic room and we each had our own bedroom downstairs. But then my sisters came along and the scramble for space began. Long story short: I ended up sharing the attic space with my much younger sisters for several years. When my brother left the nest, I got to move back downstairs and I finally had my own room.

If you look on the sidebar, you will see this:

solitary

Oh so true. I’ve always needed time alone, in my own little space. But I rarely had it when I was growing up. It’s very hard to retreat into the bliss of solitary-ness when you’re surrounded by 5 other family members in a space where you can hear every conversation, every sound. So on that day when I was able to re-claim a downstairs bedroom, Mom asked me what color I wanted the walls to be.

Lavender. Absolutely. Lavender.

Lavender it was. Mom bought a matching purple-y print bedspread and curtains. I was in heaven. I could shut the door to my private space, play original Broadway cast albums endlessly, read voraciously and tend to my potted plants. I could decorate my room. Just for me.

Later, in the days when we all had our ‘colors’ done, I was categorized as a Winter. Winters look good in jewel tones, not unlike the colors in this quilt. So I started wearing purples and deep reds. I looked good in them. Even now, with my hair no longer the deep brown it used to be, I still look good in them. Purples again. But not lavender. No, that was too pastel for a Winter like me.

I’m falling in love with purples all over again. Seeing that quilt hung on the wall of my temporary living space makes me smile.

purplefabric

Catching a glimpse of a stack of purple fabric, nestled between reds and yellows, makes me happy.

purpleflowers2

Is there a color that calls to you from your distant past?

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On another note: My friend Dawn just moved her Blogger blog to WordPress. (You should go visit her. It looks great!) When a blog is moved to WordPress, the feed has to be rerouted and anyone that followed with Google Friend Connect will no longer get updated posts. As for blogrolls, sometimes the URL has to be re-entered to update the feed even though the actual URL hasn’t changed. I have Dawn’s blog on my blogroll (up in the navigation bar) and I noticed it hadn’t updated since right before the move. So I deleted the URL and simply re-entered the same information. Bingo. It updated.

If you have Creative Cain Cabin on your blogroll, can you do Dawn a favor and update the information? I had to ask this same thing of my readers when I moved. And if you read the blog through Google Friend Connect, please resubscribe, either by email or through a reader such as Bloglovin.

We all have to help each other out here in blogland, right?

By the way, Dawn is currently adding all the information necessary to design graphics for fellow bloggers. She just did my watermark and my signature and I love the results. If you’re at all interested, stop by and see what she has to offer. It may take a couple of days for all the information to be available, but in the meantime, you can contact her via her email address.

Okay.

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: color, Fellow bloggers, On The Road 42 Comments

What I’ve Been Doing

August 4, 2013 at 7:55 am by Claudia

sundesk

Sitting at this desk an awful lot – when I’m not at rehearsal.

sunredsox

Watching my Red Sox. This is the perk of being in Hartford; I can watch every Red Sox game. (They won this one.)

sunbook

Reading my third Louise Penny mystery. This woman can really write. I’m a big fan.

sunpurpleflowers

Watering my plant with the purple flowers. It’s nice to have something green and thriving in this apartment.

sunbaseballcaps

Looking at the acronym for the Williamstown Theatre Festival and thinking how it represents something I say quite often. (Yes, I can use some salty language with the best of ’em.)

sunsunset

Catching the sunset through my apartment window.

mirror1

Wandering around the apartment, taking pictures. Notice my haircut? Much shorter.

It’s Sunday and I have another full day of rehearsal ahead. (By the way, for those of you who asked, we rehearse 6 out of 7 days a week. Monday is our day off.)  I had been thinking I might go home for a day or two, so when the director said we were to rehearse until 7 pm today, my heart sank.  I wouldn’t get home until 9 or 10 and I’d have to return either Monday night or early Tuesday morning. That particular turnaround would be too tight.

So I’m a wee bit disappointed. For some reason, I’m having a hard time being here. Maybe it’s because I was just here for a 5 week stretch. Certainly, the fact that Don and I have been apart for over 7 months in the last year plays a big part, along with the fact that he was home for only one day before I had to leave for Hartford.

I’m restless. I haven’t worked one-on-one with the actors yet, so I feel curiously detached. All of the table work on the text, something I normally love, isn’t doing it for me. I know that will change as we move away from the table and I establish a relationship with the actors. I just have to be patient and know I will soon become immersed in this process.

I’m grateful for the work, that goes without saying. Don’s grateful for the work that comes his way. We get it. It’s good to have a job and we utter thanks every day. But seven out of twelve months spent apart is kicking my butt to the curb.

Since I’m woefully behind in reading blogs and commenting, I’m trying to use the little free time I have to visit you all. I apologize for my lack of comments and I’m going to remedy that.

Don gave Scout a bath. I wish I could nuzzle my nose in her silky hair.

And I’ve been eating too many mini chocolate bars at rehearsal.

Must stop.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: life, On The Road 42 Comments

Shedding Light on the Subject

August 2, 2013 at 9:21 am by Claudia

Despite my good intentions, I inevitably arrive at my home-away-from-home having neglected to pack certain essentials. This time: clothespins to secure open bags of chips and other foodstuffs, a good cutting knife (the ones in actor housing are always too dull and, therefore, unsafe) coffee filters, matches to light candles, and on and on. The other morning, spurred on by the realization that my Peets French Roast would be running out in about 2 days, I hopped in the car that 3 of us share and went to Target.

Peets? Check. All the other stuff? Check. Except for the coffee filters, which I forgot for the third time. I finally got them yesterday at CVS. While maneuvering my cart down all the aisles, I saw this lamp for $15.00.

lamp

I grabbed it. The floor lamp I had been using in this end of the apartment was dicey. Maybe dangerous. I originally had it next to the desk but when my hand touched the ‘brass’ I felt the vibration of the electric current.

A big fat no to that one. So I switched it out with another floor lamp and put it in a corner in the sewing area. Unplugged, of course. So when I came upon this little lamp, I thought, why not? $15 is a pretty good deal. And I can use it somewhere in the cottage. I’m thinking it might go in my little studio space eventually. The faulty lamp went in the closet.

Looks sort of cute, no?

lampfullview

I have yet to do any piecing. No time. Not to mention the fact that I have no idea what I’m going to create in this little Hartford studio. Time enough for all of that later.

pincushion

This pincushion always makes me smile. It was made by Debbie of Happy Little Cottage. I thought it might want to come along with Mabel to Hartford.

Rehearsals continue. Today the rest of the acting company arrives and we have introductions and Darko talks about the plays and the designers show their costume and set designs and then we read through Macbeth. I already know a few of the company members but there are some actors that are new to me.

By the way, a few of you have mentioned the superstitions about the title of this play – actors used to be very superstitious and  some still are. Supposedly, one is not to say the name of the play within the theater space. That means in the dressing rooms and in the wings. Everyone usually substitutes “The Scottish Play” for the title. Obviously, since the title character’s name is echoed several times in the text, it’s okay to say it on stage if it’s part of the dialogue.

I don’t believe in such things but I honor it, if only for the people who do.

I’ve lost all track of time. I keep thinking it’s Thursday and it’s Friday. Where am I? What am I doing? Why am I here? Where are my husband and my dog?

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: decorating, On The Road 37 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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