On The Road — Page 94

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?

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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.

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Settling In

July 30, 2013 at 9:22 am by Claudia

Hello from Hartford. Same apartment, though some things I left behind (nothing big) are missing. This used to happen to me at the Old Globe apartments in San Diego; things seem to migrate elsewhere. I’ve fluffed the apartment as best I can. Here’s what it looked like pre-Claudia.

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tuesprelivingroom

tuespredesk

These apartments are in an old office building and they have incredibly high ceilings, which help to make a smallish apartment seem more spacious.

After:

tuesLRquilt

I brought a quilt from home. I made this pansy quilt several years ago and it remains my favorite. I decided that if I had to be away from home for 2 months, I was going to secure that darned quilt to the wall with pushpins. Purple pushpins, I might add.

I also added that piece of barkcloth. It covers an incredibly ugly table.

I’m fortunate to have a television with a larger screen. Some of the TVs in these apartments are really tiny.

tuespansyquilt

I’ll try to get a crisper photo of the quilt another time. It’s a wee bit dark in this apartment at the moment.

tuesdesk

The desk – where I tap away at the computer and create compelling blog posts. I moved that covered canvas off the wall and decided to use it as a bulletin board.

tuesbulletinboard

My director is a really nice guy. He left me this note with a bottle of wine. I’m crazy about him.

tuesdeskflowerspens

We stopped at Trader Joe’s along the way, of course. Had to stock up on food…and flowers.

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Hello, pretty purple flowers!

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My own little sewing studio. There’s Mabel. She’s wearing her little cover-up at the moment.

tuesvaseandwine

I brought my pink vase from home and filled it with pretty flowers from Trader Joe’s. That’s the wine that Darko left for me. I don’t really drink, so it will probably be in its intact state at the end of my two months here. Unless I have a particularly difficult time. Ahem.

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tuesshelves

Bags of reference books ready to be transported to the rehearsal space. Quilt tops ready to be hand quilted. I haven’t a clue what kind of project I want to do, so I grabbed a lot of fat quarters and brought them with me. Hopefully, I will be inspired.

tuesquilltonbed

I snatched this quilt off of our bed at home. Don will be fine without it. But I wouldn’t be. There, ensconced among my pillows (also brought from home) are Wayfrum Holmes, Maggie Rabbit and Little Lamb.

They like adventure.

So, there you have it, my friends. My little home-away-from-home.

By the way, some of you complimented me on my new watermark. See it up there? A red circle with dots, along with the name of my blog and my trademark lamb-with-the-party-hat?

My good friend Dawn Cain of Creative Cain Cabin designed it for me. I have a full on crush on this watermark. Dawn lives in Michigan (my home state.) She’s preparing to move to WordPress and I’ve been helping her in my own small way as she navigates this transition. Oh, you’re going to love her new blog design!

I’ve never regretted for one minute moving to WordPress, by the way. I love everything about it. I did the whole thing myself and the transition was relatively seamless. It’s been nothing but a positive experience for me.

Anyway, Dawn made two versions of this watermark, one with black lettering and one with white. Once she moves her blog, she will be available to design one just for you. I’ll keep you posted as to when she’s up and running.

Rehearsals start today. I had dinner with my friend Mary, who is the stage manager, last night. Here’s to old friends and the new friends I will make during this process.

Oh by the way, one of the perils of staying in temporary housing? Not realizing the alarm clock has been set and being jarred awake by a continuous ringing at 12 am and 1 am.

Happy Tuesday.

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On the Road Again

July 29, 2013 at 7:39 am by Claudia

morningbackforty

I walked around the property a couple of days ago. It was a gorgeous early morning on one of the few humidity-less days we’ve had this summer. I wanted to capture the grass, the trees and the gardens so that I could take them with me as I head for Hartford. Then I sat on the bench and cried.

Silly, I know. I should be used to it by now. This time seems especially tough, however. We’re going to try to swing things so that I can come home for a couple of days every week or so but I also know that is entirely dependent on the rehearsal schedule. Don’s home. He’ll take over. If work comes for him that necessitates a lot of time away, he’ll bring Scoutie to me.

scoutiesleeping

My girl. She’ll be confused again. Too much coming and going. I feel like I’ve just finished getting her settled down and in a routine and that wasn’t easy because she was missing Don. Now it will happen all over again.

Anyway, here I sit, blogging away. As soon as I finish this post, I’ll be moving around the cottage, grabbing last minute things to pack, checking and re-checking lists, taking one last walk in the garden. It’s a foggy, misty morning, we’ve had some rain the last couple of days.

I’ll see you on the other side.

Happy Monday.

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Shedding Light on the Subject

Settling In

On the Road Again

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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