Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Potpourri on a Friday

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• Thank goodness for alstroemeria – they stay fresh for at least two weeks, usually three weeks. I bought another bunch of them on Wednesday and that vase is currently on the kitchen counter.

• Tomorrow is the day that the Company Manager is going to exchange my current sofa for another one, as tonight is closing night for A Christmas Carol  and the actors in that show will be moving out of their apartments tomorrow. That will allow the actors that are in The Comedy of Errors  and currently staying in the hotel to finally move into an apartment. Musical apartments. Somewhere in there, they’re going to try to change out the sofa. My request: something firm, but comfy – which may be a pipe dream considering everything is used/donated. But nothing can be as uncomfortable and unusable as my current sofa. Cross your fingers for me. The chairs are fine but not made to lounge in, so I can never really relax. Much better than the sofa, though, so I’m not complaining.

• I have a long day today – Darko is starting to run chunks of the show and I need to be there to listen and take notes and do what I call “coaching on the fly.” That means that I grab the actors when I can and verbally give them a note or two. It that isn’t possible, I’ll write them up. This is a very short rehearsal period and it’s a production full of complicated blocking and music and dance, so a lot has to be accomplished in a short time.

• Gosh, this little travel-sized printer is a gem! You can’t really tell from this picture but it’s about 12 inches by 6 inches. Once I got the USB cord and set the whole thing up, it worked beautifully. It’s meant for small jobs, of course, but it does the trick for me on the road. I can copy information for the actors, I can type up notes, and I can print out the daily crossword puzzle from the New York Times! Huzzah! I love doing the puzzle. I go into a sort of Zen state. It’s very relaxing.

• I ordered something for me. Well, for us, but I’m the one who will be using it the most:

photo from Pier One

This chair. It will replace my ‘blogging chair’ in the den.

I’m in love with it. And it was on sale. I’ve always been crazy about roll-arm sofas and chairs. I think the lines are so elegant. In fact, I’d love a roll-arm sofa some day. In the meantime, I’m treating myself to this beauty.

My current blogging chair is vintage, probably from the forties, and I love it, but it desperately needs to be reupholstered. The fabric under the slip cover is – I’m not kidding – patched together with duck tape. Everywhere. No one can see that, of course, but I know it’s there. It deserves to be restored. I’m not sure where I’m going to put it in the meantime – maybe in the office. I have to find a good upholsterer and research fabrics and I don’t have time for any of that at the moment.

This chair has a somewhat smaller footprint and I think it will work nicely in the den. It should be here within a week or so.

Have to go. Rehearsal starts soon.

Happy Friday.

Settling In

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The only time I have to take photos is in the early morning and this apartment does not get a lot of light – it faces another building – so, though I tweak as best I can, this is the best I can do. At some point, I will be home during the afternoon and then I’ll take some more photos.

I hung the quilt I made horizontally this time – to cover up three random mirror squares that were spread out along this wall. I wish I could reposition them. It’s a neat idea to have mirror squares on the wall because they reflect light, but they would be much more striking if they were positioned much closer together.

Perhaps I could hire myself out as decorator for these apartments?

Same thing on the other wall, three 12-inch square canvases placed much too far apart. They’d be quite effective if they were in a row with about an inch or two of space between them. And, I might add, they’d be a lot easier to cover if a visiting actor or designer wanted to hang something temporarily. And a lot of actors do that. They spend a long time here, so they want to make their apartments as homey as possible.

The little tinsel tree is on a table next to my desk. But I may move it elsewhere.

I brought my Roseville window box planter along with me – it’s a great place to stash note pads and scotch tape.

For some reason, two decorative hooks were placed with on the wall above the desk. Since my original idea of hanging wreaths on the windows was thwarted when I realized there was nothing to hang them from, I welcomed the gosh-darned hooks.

It’s as if they knew I was coming with these wreaths.

I can’t wait until I can get better photos! These are driving me a bit crazy.

Yesterday was a busy day, with a meet and greet starting off the day. That’s when the cast and staff and designers get a chance to meet each other. Then we had a read-through of the script, a break for lunch, and then we began what is called table work. That’s when we go through the text, scene by scene, with the director, the actors in that particular scene, the dramaturg, stage manager and me. Questions are asked, pronunciations are clarified, the director explains what he envisions in that scene  – it’s a chance to generate some initial dialogue and it’s always valuable.

We’ll continue with that today as we we work our way through the play. I love table work. I learn a lot and I get a chance to listen to the actors and get a sense of their speech and rhythms and the way they approach the text. I take notes and refer to those notes when I start to coach the actors one-on-one.

I slept much better last night. My cough, by the way, was not due to a cold, just sinus/post nasal drip from all the rather drastic changes in the weather this past week. The bed is very different from our bed at home. It’s very firm – not hard – just nicely firm, so it takes a night or so for my body to adjust to it. I slept right through the night, so I’m feeling much more rested.

Happy Tuesday.

 

 

Working, Shopping, & Presents

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We had a little more wet snow overnight. It doesn’t quite cover the ground, but there’s enough to make a difference in the landscape. Snow I don’t mind, it’s the ice that I can do without.

I guess winter is here.

I took this shot of the living room yesterday as I was about to go out the door on a shopping expedition. That trip got frustrating because I hadn’t grabbed lunch and was dehydrated as well. I find I really need to drink lots of water these days – well, any day – but especially with the heat on in the cottage and everywhere I go.

I stopped at my favorite Antique Emporium and didn’t leave with anything. But I happened to run into the man who has the booth where I find Wallace Nuttings. What a nice guy he is! He has another booth, he told me, at an antique center across the river. There are even more  Wallace Nuttings there! I told Don that I think a little drive is in order.

I got a pair of jeans so that I don’t look too scruffy when I’m in Hartford. I’m a jeans person, so they get a lot of daily use. And some socks that will last, instead of falling apart before I can blink an eye. (That’s an exaggeration, but they do wear out too quickly.) And some winter gloves.

Then I came home and had some soup and drank lots of water.

I’m really loving this tree. And I’m sad that I won’t see it at all the week before Christmas. Sigh. I’ll get over it.

I worked on the play yesterday and finished Act 2. Today, Act 3. It’s all coming back to me…I coached it many years ago when I was still living in San Diego and haven’t coached it since. It’s amazing how quickly I can remember the text, hear it in my head – even after many years away from it.

A package was waiting for me at our post office, a box sent by Vicki, a reader and friend of this blog:

Huzzah! Two jigsaw puzzles. One for Don. One for me. Don’s puzzle is The Hardy Boys book covers. Mine is Nancy Drew book covers. Vicki suggested they would be perfect for snowy days and she’s right. Don and I immediately had the same idea. He can work on his while I’m away. And I can take mine to Hartford and work on it in the evenings.

Thank you so much, Vicki!

I found another shoot of flowers coming up in my parent’s sansevieria. Now I have flowers from both mom and dad. Just in time for the holidays.

I have to run a few errands today. I forgot that my car trunk is full of donations to our local Salvation Army. Out of sight, out of mind! So I’m going to drop those off. And I have to do some online shopping for a certain someone.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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