Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Potpourri on Monday

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• If somehow you came to the blog during the middle of the night and saw a notice saying ‘Account Suspended’, let me assure you all is well. I had a cup of coffee this morning before I checked my email, only to find a warning from my security company that I didn’t understand, and a warning from my host – Bluehost – that I did understand. The account had been suspended because I hadn’t paid the renewal fee, which was due yesterday! In my defense, I thought the renewal wasn’t until the end of June. Ready to confront my host about this apparent discrepancy, I went back and checked my emails and realized that I had the date completely wrong. Whoops! The fee was paid, the site was immediately restored, and I learned yet another lesson.

It’s Monday, for sure.

• The first of the day lilies to open.

And the other peony bush has started to bloom. Goodness, how lovely!

Of course, as seems to be the case with peonies that have fully opened, we’re getting rain today. Thankfully, the rest of the buds aren’t open yet, so we won’t have too much drooping from heavy blossoms being pelted by the rain.

• We are off to Hartford today to be a part of their celebration of all things Darko as his time as Artistic Director ends. His last show at the theater ended its run yesterday and it’s the end of his time there. Bittersweet for everyone on staff who has worked with him for 8 years and for those of us who had the privilege of being a small part of the work he created while in Hartford. He made a lasting impact on that theater and he will be sorely missed. Two of his shows transferred to Broadway and, one of them, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, won four Tony Awards. He’s brilliant and he’s kind. That’s a good combination.

• Speaking of the Tony awards, we watched the whole thing last night. I was so happy to see my friend Fitz Patton win for Best Sound Design of a Play for Choir Boy. Fitz and I were housemates a few years back when we were working at American Players Theater in Wisconsin. He’s a great guy and extremely talented. And the great Andre De Shields was a winner, at the age of 73, of his first Tony for his performance in Hadestown. I worked with him years ago at The Old Globe, but only a little, because he’s so skilled he didn’t need my help! And two of my former students were part of the award-winning cast of Boys in the Band – Brian Hutchison and Jim Parsons. Rick and I auditioned them for the MFA program, chose them, and had a part in their training. Bravo, Brian and Jim!

Lots of other moving moments, not the least of which was seeing an actress with a disability, Ali Stroker, win the Tony for her performance in the revival of Oklahoma! Her speech was empowering and triumphant.

Broadway tickets are expensive, but if I could see anything this year it would be Oklahoma! and Hadestown.

Okay. Have to make our second cup of coffee and prepare to drive to Hartford.

Happy Monday.

Saturday Rambling

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Sick of the endless gray and rainy days, I headed off to our local nursery to buy some plants. Weather: You’re not going to stop me any longer! I need to pretty up my porch!

You can see just how gray the skies were, but the plants on display everywhere are lovely! This is my favorite nursery and it’s a straight shot down the road from us. Ten minutes at the most.

I bought coleus and vines for the vintage pots out in the Secret Garden, two hanging plants (not the usual three – trying to save a bit of money,) impatiens, some calibrachoa, and a hollyhock. I’ve no idea where I’m going to plant the hollyhock as we’ve dismantled the raised bed that was just outside our kitchen door. That area gets a lot of sun, so hollyhocks do well there. I have to find some sort of planter.

But it was cold and rainy, so I held off planting anything until today. It rained all last night here but the day itself will be rain free. Cloudy, but no rain.

We watched the end of the movie version of Our Town as we were eating dinner last night. It brought forth groans from both of us. Our Town (one of my favorite plays) was – more than most any play I can think of – written for the stage. Not film. The sets are suggested with a chair or a table. The Stage Manager breaks the Fourth Wall to tell us the story. None of that transmits well to the screen, so filling out the story with real sets just looks silly.

Both of us know this play well, as Don has been in it and I’ve coached it.

And…our mouths dropped open as we gasped in disbelief when we realized they had changed the ending of the play so that Emily lives, rather than dies. Are you kidding me? That’s the most important and heartbreaking scene in the play! Unbelievable!

I’m sure the producers decided the audience needed a happy ending. Oh, for heaven’s sake, give the audience some credit! Plus, Martha Scott and an almost unrecognizable William Holden are too old to play George and Emily. When we watch whatever is playing on TCM while we eat dinner, we get a glimpse of movies that we might not watch otherwise and sometimes we make sure to watch the entire movie after that. This one? No. Way.

This is the month in which our new sofa will be delivered. We’re excited. It probably won’t be here until the end of the month, but it’s coming. And every time I sit on the loveseat and feel it sinking a bit more (broken wood brace in the front) I cross my fingers, willing it to hang in there until the new loveseat arrives.

Don’s been working on his guitar playing, teaching himself via a well-known guitarist’s videos. I am fortunate to have Don playing in the background as I write this. Beautiful.

Four of the actors nominated for a Tony Award are actors I have worked with and coached. All of them are incredibly talented. I’m so happy for them. And for everyone else, including some designers I have worked alongside on various productions. And Terrence McNally, the writer of Anastasia  as well as many other plays, is getting a special Tony this year.

Okay. Have to get a move on!

Happy Saturday.

 

Random Thoughts on a Saturday

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It’s windy and colder today. A front is moving through, bringing with it temps in the 40s. It’s all relative, of course. The 40s are perfectly fine for this time of year, and to be truthful, the 60s, though nice, seemed a bit too warm for March.

I am definitely eyeing my porch. The path to the glider is blocked by chairs from the Funky Patio and the Secret Garden. The snowblower is out there, covered by a tarp. Also covered with a tarp, the former kitchen island. It’s not habitable at the moment, but I’m counting the days until I can do some cleanup out there.

I got waylaid a bit in the midst of reading Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk – stopping for some magazines, a book I am to review, a gorgeous book about Paris interiors –  but I read a big chunk of it this morning and hope to finish later today. It’s a lovely story.

On one of the pages, there is a quote which captured what I often say about life with my husband:  “I relaxed better beside him than I ever did alone.”

Amen. I often say – yesterday was one such occasion – that I can’t wait to sit next to him on the sofa when the evening comes and we’re settling in for the evening. Or that I feel better after we’ve exchanged a big hug. I feel my shoulders drop. But mostly, it’s just being here with him, something I don’t take for granted.

I read it out loud to Don and he smiled.

We watched a wonderful movie the other evening: Quartet. Don had seen it before but I hadn’t. Have you seen it? It stars Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins, and Billy Connelly and centers on a home for aging musicians. It’s utterly charming and moving and funny. It’s directed by Dustin Hoffman. Lovely performances by all, including the supporting cast, many of who are retired performers, musicians and actors. It’s on Netflix.

I am especially fond of Tom Courtenay, who never gives anything but an honest, real, and moving performance, and Maggie Smith. I saw her years ago at the Stratford Festival in Canada – I must have been in my late teens or early twenties. Stratford was about four hours away from my home in Michigan. She was part of the company that season and watching her work onstage was so powerful that I remember it vividly all these years later. She has the most graceful and elegant hands! She often played opposite the late, great Brian Bedford and watching the two of them together was the equivalent of watching a virtuoso musical performance.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do today. Read, of course, and the usual vacuuming and laundry. Maybe a trip to the bookstore for some magazines? I need some craft paint from Michael’s, as well, but Michael’s on a Saturday tries my patience. My particular Michael’s never has enough people working at the registers, so the wait is endless.

We’re in that middle time, the straddling of the seasons. Way too soon to do any work outside, but it’s warmer and the sun is shining so one could almost be tricked into doing something…anything.

Ah, well.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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