Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for On The Road

Adventures While Driving

June 25, 2013 at 9:14 am by Claudia

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Oh lord. It’s in the nineties with lots of humidity – for the whole week.

I’m not the type of girl who thrives in a humid climate. Oh no. I wilt, I get testy, my brain turns to mush. Yesterday’s drive to Williamstown and back was smack dab in the midst of high temps and humidity. On the way back, the temperature gauge on our 12 year old car kept moving towards HOT. This same thing happened to us last year, mostly in the summer. Our mechanic could never figure out what was causing it, at least not enough to charge us a lot of money for something he was unsure of. When this happens, I have to add coolant. Fortunately, I always carry some with me. So there I was, on a country road, searching for a place to pull over. I ended up in the parking lot of a motel, where I then had to wait thirty minutes for the car to cool down. Hot sun. Sweat. Not a pretty picture. Eventually I added the coolant and it was smooth sailing.

Until I ran into a severe thunderstorm as I drove through the Berkshires. Lightning strikes everywhere, rain so heavy I could barely see the car in front of me, hail, you name it. A precarious Hudson River bridge crossing where I could barely see the side of the bridge. Cars slowing to a crawl. Cars pulled over on the side of the road. This went on for quite a long time.

I was more than ready to see my driveway awaiting me at the end of this journey.

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The bee balm is starting to blossom.

Williamstown is charming. I’ve been there before, but the last time I saw something at that theater was in the mid-eighties and a whole new complex has been erected in the meantime. I didn’t have time to do anything other than help Don get settled. He’s staying in student housing; sort of like a dorm, but nicer. He’s in a house that has individual rooms, a common room and a nice kitchen. The dorm room I lived in never had a hardwood floor or tall, beautiful windows. I distinctly remember tile floors and cinderblock walls. There is no air conditioning, however. We brought along a fan and the theater provided him with two more. I hope he had some cool air during the night.

As he slept on his twin bed. 6 foot 4 inch Don on a dorm-room-sized bed. Oh boy.

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Coneflower

He shares a bathroom with another actor. Fortunately, that actor is an old friend of ours who is also in Pygmalion. She is a wonderful actress and her partner of many years is also an old friend of Don’s. When I spoke to him last night, he said that it was so nice having both of them there and it helped make his birthday a little more special.

 Because I did drop him off and leave smack dab in the middle of his birthday.

The Williamstown Theater Festival is a major force in the theater and well respected and lots of well known, even famous, actors work there. Don’s already spotted several. When I went there in the mid-eighties, I saw a play directed by Joanne Woodward. It was opening night and I spotted Paul Newman in the audience. Afterward, I saw them walk away from the theater, hand-in-hand. That image is still vivid in my mind, all these many years later.

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Hydrangeas have bloomed

I have to get going and water my moisture-starved plants. There’s a chance of a thunderstorm or two almost every day this week. Good. The garden could use a good rain.

Happy Tuesday.

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Filed Under: Don, flowers, garden, On The Road 23 Comments

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

May 26, 2013 at 10:21 am by Claudia

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Our white flowering bush, which I at one time knew the name of, is abundant with blossoms this year. It looks like something from the Spirea family. Some previous owner of the house planted it down by the road and it blossoms in the springtime. Oh, pretty.

Overgrown is a word that seems inadequate to describe the state of things here at the cottage. Don has been good about keeping up with the mowing. It’s a full time job in the spring as we have lots of grass on this almost 2 acre property. I didn’t get around to mulching the big garden bed before I left and it shows. Clover and other unknown weeds are everywhere. Yikes. I have lots and lots of work to do around here.

Today is windy after three days of rain and storms out here in the East.

I can’t wait to get outside.

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Happy to be home.

Happy to be with my husband and my little scamp, Scout.

Opening night was a big success, with a wonderfully responsive audience. The biggest treat for me was seeing a former colleague from my days as a faculty member at Boston University. Jacques Cartier headed the directing faculty when I was there and I was the coach on several of his productions. I liked him enormously – he is a keenly intelligent director. But here’s the serendipitous thing: Hartford Stage is beginning its 50th Anniversary Season this fall and Jacques was the guy who started it all. He founded Hartford Stage. So he was the honored guest for opening night. When I stood in front of him at the pre-show reception, he did a triple-take. (I hadn’t seen him in twenty years!)

Lovely. Old friends, new friends, happy actors, happy director. And now, home.

Happy Sunday.

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Filed Under: garden, On The Road 31 Comments

On the Road: Nesting and Moving On

May 24, 2013 at 9:12 am by Claudia

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(Photos taken with my nifty-fifty lens on the AV setting, which deliberately blurs some of the subject matter.)

The quilt has been folded. I’m starting to think about packing. Do I take the flowers, which are in full, beautiful bloom, with me? What about that bottle of wine Darko gave me? I don’t drink. Who should I give it to? Have to take the books back to the library, but I want to finish the one I’m reading first. What to do?

Tonight is opening night and tomorrow Don comes to pick me up and I head home.

I really like this apartment, with its impossibly high ceilings and its pretty kitchen. I’ll miss it. Does that sound strange? It really isn’t. I’ve loved being here, all the while missing my home and family. I’m used to making a nest wherever I am and for many, many years I lived on my own in a series of apartments. I lived in a couple of studio apartments, then I graduated to two small rooms and then (the big time) three. In each of these abodes, I found a way to make it mine.

I did the same thing with this apartment. Remember this? (It’s on the sidebar.)

I am a solitary person who is chatty.

Truer words were never spoken. So when I’m on the road in what Don calls my “Mary Tyler Moore Life,” I enjoy it. I embrace it. This particular trip has been even more lovely with the addition of Mabel and a couple of creative projects to keep me busy and happy. Of course, my theater work is creative as well, but you know what I mean. It’s almost as if I’ve had my own little creative space/studio, separate from my home.

So, it’s with a bit of sadness that I prepare to leave. I love my cottage, my husband and my little girl. I can’t wait to see what the heck is going on in my now, I’m sure, weed-filled garden. I know that soon after I get back home it will be as if I never left. But, in the meantime, I am going to quietly revel in my adopted space here in Hartford.

It’s been quite stormy out here in the east, with unseasonably warm temperatures and lots of rain. More today.

By the way, do you keep up on Apartment Therapy‘s Small, Cool contest? I love it. Readers submit their impossibly small living spaces; winners will eventually be chosen by the readers. I love seeing how people cope with living in a small space. As a veteran of small space living, from tiny studio apartments to a tiny cottage, this sort of thing really floats my boat. Check it out if you are interested.

I’ll post A Favorite Thing right before I go to the theater tonight, but I have to be honest. I will be so busy today, tomorrow and Sunday, that I might not get around to comment on the links. Maybe I will. However, this might be a week where your hostess is otherwise occupied.

Happy Friday.

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Filed Under: On The Road 36 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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