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A Favorite Thing #38

May 24, 2013 at 8:00 pm by Claudia

Welcome to A Favorite Thing #38. I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. Mine has been busy and if you’re reading this on Friday night, I am attending the opening night performance of the play I’ve been coaching. I head back home tomorrow. I have a busy 3 days ahead, so forgive me if I am unable to comment on your posts this week.

Before I go on, I want to share some sad news. One of the members of our A Favorite Thing family, Balisha, of Never Enough Time, lost her eldest son to a systemic infection last week. This post explains what happened. I know you would want to know and I thank Deb Pugh of The Homespun for letting me know. My heart goes out to Balisha and her family. We are holding you in our hearts, dear Balisha.

Let’s look at some highlights from last week.

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Regula finally got her swing – the swing she has wanted for ages! Isn’t it pretty?

Paula of At Home in Douglas, shared the story of her late dog, Gwinnie, with us. Gwinnie was a rescue that was longing for a forever home. Paula and her family gave him that home and he lived to be 14. Look at that face. This post made me cry.

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Patty of Patty’s Pretty Things shared a canvas she painted at a Wine and Canvas Class. This sounds like such a neat idea.

My favorite(s) for this week:

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These two. This photo was taken when Don returned after being away for 10 weeks doing a play in San Diego. I’m going home tomorrow and I can’t wait to cuddle both of these wonderful love-filled beings.

Now it’s your turn.

You can link up anytime from this evening through Sunday. Make sure you enter the URL of your post. If you’re unsure how to do that, just click on your post title after you’ve published it and copy the information in your browser address window. Come back here, paste the URL into your link entry and there you go! If you have any problems, drop me an email and I’ll help you out. Please link back to this blog on your post. That way, those that read your post and are interested in reading more can do so.

One of my concerns about link parties is that the very reason for them has somewhat gone by the wayside. They’ve become so big and there are so many of them that many bloggers don’t take the time to visit any of the other participants. Link parties are a way to meet new bloggers and share with each other and the only way to do that is to visit each other. So, please, take some time to visit everyone over the next few days. No rush. Stop by, introduce yourself, and leave a comment. It’s the neighborly thing to do. It’s also nice if you leave a comment here, as well.

Enjoy!

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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A Thank You & Winding Down

May 23, 2013 at 8:56 am by Claudia

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I found this feather smack dab in the middle of a city sidewalk. It’s about 4 inches long. Is it from a Finch? A Baltimore Oriole? What do you think? It’s going home with me.

Edited to add: It’s from a Northern Flicker (Yellow-Shafted) – which is in the Woodpecker family!

Oh my! Thank you, thank you for the incredible conversation we had yesterday. For those of you who missed it, you can read it all here. I had no idea as I was wrangling with this topic yesterday morning that it would elicit such a strong response from all of you. Obviously, it struck a chord. The blogging world is ever changing. Some of the changes are wonderful; some not so wonderful. I’ve always compared blogging to being in high school and I’ve said that time and again on this blog. Wonderful friendships can be made, creativity can be encouraged and rewarded. But there are cliques. There are the ‘popular’ girls. There are mean girls. There are those who do their own thing, regardless of what is deemed popular. I had a great time in high school, but I was not one of the in crowd. I was in the theater/music crowd. I was never going to be a cheerleader and that was fine. I thrived where I was and found myself in the process.

Same thing for blogging, don’t you think?

Anyway, thank you. I found your comments stimulating and wise and funny and profound. Many of you raised points that I hadn’t thought of. What a great conversation!

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Two more days in Hartford. One last Preview performance tonight and then Opening Night tomorrow. Once again, I failed to ride the carousel. What can I say? And once again, I didn’t tour Mark Twain’s house or Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house. But, I’ll be back again in about 7 weeks. I’ll do all of it then. (Fingers crossed.)

Today I have to find a pair of shoes to wear tomorrow night. (I really hate shopping for clothes or shoes.) I’m hoping that I find something quickly because I have to be at a short rehearsal at 2:30. All I want is a comfortable pair of black shoes. I’ll let the younger members of the cast wear the strappy high heels.

It feels like a Friday to me, but Happy Thursday.

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A Favorite Thing #38

On the Road: Nesting and Moving On

A Thank You & Winding Down

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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