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You are here: Home / Archives for wildflowers

Wildflowers

May 23, 2023 at 7:31 am by Claudia

Dame rocket or wild phlox is one of my favorite wildflowers and it has, seemingly overnight, cropped up everywhere on the property. There’s a clump in front of the big garden bed,  in the secret garden, on the edge of the woods, and in the woods. It’s in white and a soft lavender and it’s quite tall. My favorite time of the late spring is when rocket and fleabane and wild mustard have made their presence known. The woods look magical, there is color in places that are usually just green. The birdbath is surrounded by fleabane, as is the funky patio – wildflowers are everywhere. I feel like I live in a wildflower meadow at this time of year.

I had a somewhat sleepless night with lots on my mind. So I’m running on about one cylinder. Nevertheless, I’m going to do some more work outside today, simply to keep myself busy. I finally sowed the zinnia seeds yesterday – about three weeks later than usual. I did some pruning. I cleaned up the memorial garden bed. Today, I may mow and I need to clear out some particularly pesky poison ivy.

Keep busy, keep busy – I do some of my best work when I’ve haven’t had enough sleep.

I’m nearly done with the Klimt puzzle, but I’m dealing with what I consider the most difficult section; various shades of brown for the woman’s hair and various shades of skin tone for her neck and chest. Everything else is pretty much finished. I’m a huge fan of Klimt and this puzzle has been a pleasure to work on.

Okay. I need more coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Filed Under: jigsaw puzzles, wildflowers 11 Comments

A Little Story

May 22, 2023 at 7:48 am by Claudia

Wild mustard growing down by the road. I know it’s considered a weed, but like most flowering weeds, I change that to ‘wildflower.’ There’s a beautiful clump in the secret garden.

I managed to get Microsoft Word back on my computer after signing in to my Microsoft account. Under my account information, I found my purchase history which gave me the option of downloading the version from 2016 – which is really all I need. Hurrah!

Then I tried printing something from my laptop and discovered I really didn’t need the software for the printer. And then I went on Canon’s site and put in my printer model and there was the software for the ‘scan’ option on the printer, so I downloaded that. I scanned the Italian dialect notes that I need for my coaching session today. Success.

So I think I’ve, at least temporarily, solved my problem. I’m not downloading a bunch of photos and documents that I really don’t miss from my backup drive. I’m keeping it spare. Just what I need.

A quick story for you. My dear friend Jan, who lives in my hometown, is 79 years old.  She, like my friend Joe and my best friend Laural, was adopted. Joe gave her a DNA kit from Ancestry for Christmas and she did the test and submitted the information. Ancestry contacted her with a DNA match saying she had  a cousin or sibling.  She has recently been contacted by her half-brother and half sister! At the age of 79!

She knew that her mother was from Boston and came to Detroit to have her baby. And her adoptive mother showed her the birth certificate. But she never had any inclination to find her birth mother. She was raised in a loving family and her father was a Methodist minister. Her half-siblings didn’t know until later in life about their older sister. Their mom had married a man several years after giving birth to Jan and though he knew about the baby she gave up for adoption, they didn’t. When they found out, they started searching for their sister. They’ve been searching for years. And now, this miracle! Her brother contacted her right away and they’ve been communicating. Last week, she had a zoom session with her siblings. And next month her brother – a Unitarian minister – will be traveling to Detroit to meet her.

Isn’t that amazing? She sounds so surprised and happy and I couldn’t be more thrilled for her.

There you go, Some good news today.

Have to go prep for my session today.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: wildflowers 29 Comments

Pondering

May 21, 2023 at 8:51 am by Claudia

More fleabane. It’s everywhere, and it’s so pretty. I love how the initial bud is a lavender color and then, when it opens, it’s white.

Trying to figure out if I want to transfer things from my now defunct laptop to my new laptop. I do have a backup which would allow me to do that, but it’s complicated because I would only want to copy a few things and that might be impossible to do. But I realized this morning that I don’t have the printer software on this computer – not that I use it very much – and I also don’t have Microsoft Word. My particular version of that is quite old – so does this mean I have to just bite the bullet and get a new version? Sigh. Again – I don’t use it that much anymore, but I’m doing a session with one of the actresses from A Man of No Importance tomorrow and all of a sudden I’m reminded of these things.

Time to retire? I don’t know.

Of course, I also need to remember that I can use Don’s laptop with the software already on it. I may do that until I figure out what to do.

I am really enjoying a relatively clean, clutter-free laptop and I know it will get a bit more cluttered over time, but I would really like to keep it this way.

Unlike my home. But that’s another story.

Olivia changed her clothes the other day. She’s ready for Spring.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

 

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, livvy, wildflowers 30 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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