Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Egg Cups and Signs of Spring

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I’ve been hearing a mourning dove. Heaven. I heard him last night and this morning. Yesterday, I walked down to the mailbox and I heard a lot of birds singing. The same this morning. When I see a robin and hear the peepers, I’ll know it’s spring.

I cannot wait. Neither can Don.

We started watching Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio  last night. It’s enchanting and dark and wonderful. The animation is extraordinary. I’m a big fan of del Toro; he directed one of my favorite movies ever: The Shape of Water. He sets the story during the rise of fascism in Italy. We only stopped because we were tired, so we’ll watch the rest of it tonight. My heavens, he’s so talented.

I’ve got a Renoir puzzle going, I’m reading Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety, and I have to do some dialect research this weekend. But not today. Today is Quiet and Peace Day. That’s what we decided to name this Saturday.

Randomly chosen from the egg cup cubby for today’s egg cup tour.

1. My very first egg cup, given to me by my godparents at Easter. I don’t know what age I was, but thankfully, I held onto it for decades. When I was in grad school, I distinctly remember finding it during a trip back home and bringing it back to Philadelphia. It was made by Fanny Farmer as an Easter gift, most likely filled with jelly beans or chocolate eggs. (Kay, who comments on this blog, is my godparents’ daughter. We grew up together. ) Right after we moved east, I saw Martha Stewart Living in a store and there, on the cover, was a photo of this egg cup. I bought a copy and proceeded to read an article on collecting egg cups (didn’t know such a thing was possible!) and that started the whole thing.

2.  A sweet little egg cup with two dogs on either side of the cup. I love the colored lines and dots at the top of the cup. Made in Japan.

3.  The sweetest little bunny rabbit. Made in Japan. This little bunny has always reminded me of    Scout, who had very pink ears and a mischievous expression just like this one. Priceless.

4.  Another Fanny Farmer egg cup, one of the first cups I bought when I started collecting. You can see the words “Fanny Farmer” written on both sides of the base. It’s very heavy and rumored to be made by McCoy Pottery. I’ve seen this cup a lot but the paint is always chipped. I am very lucky. This one is in pristine condition.

More tomorrow. It’s fun to look at them outside of the cabinet.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Sketching, Egg Cups and a Remembrance

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Sorry the posts are later this week but I still haven’t adjusted to the time change. I sleep later, because it’s actually an hour earlier to me than the clock says, therefore I get around to writing the post later.

Yesterday’s 3 minute sketch. I haven’t been sketching lately, so I grabbed my book and forced myself to sketch what was right in front of me.

A belated Rest in Peace to Bobby Caldwell, a great singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who wrote one of my favorites songs back in the late seventies: What You Won’t Do for Love. I used to have the record in my collection and a few years back something jogged my memory and I realized I missed hearing it. So I downloaded it to my play list and I listen to it often. He was only 71 and had a lingering terrible illness due to an antibiotic that had been incorrectly prescribed to him and was toxic. A terrible tragedy that could have been avoided.

Don and I watched several videos of him performing on YouTube last night. Heavens, he was good. His singing voice was unbelievably fine. Don couldn’t get over how good he was.

Rest in Peace, Bobby. You will be missed.

Also, if you have watched the series Luther, starring Idris Elba, there is a new Luther movie out on Netflix. It’s called Luther: The Fallen Sun. We watched it last night and, boy oh boy, it’s great! Completely riveting from start to finish. I recommend it highly.

I’ll occasionally highlight some of my egg cups over the next two weeks. This group sits on top of the egg cup cubby. The large cups are from the Harlequin line by Homer Laughlin, the same company that made Fiesta. In fact, I consider them the sister line to Fiesta. They have the same art deco feel, but they’re more angular than Fiesta. A couple of these were gifts, and a couple were found by me while out and about.

The little cups in front were a gift from my friend Judy. I find them utterly charming. “What came first, the chicken or the egg?”  Love, love them.

I’m feeling better today, so I’ll be reading the script for Murder on the Orient Express. And doing laundry, etc.

Yes, I’m a quarter Irish, but St. Patrick’s Day is no big deal for me. I’ve never purposely worn green on this day. But if it is a big deal for you, have fun!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Some Good News

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Impossible to get a full-on straight photo of these shelves as they’re tucked into a corner with two different side tables in the way. And a lamp.

I have been feeling under the weather since yesterday. That storm was pretty extreme and the change in barometric pressure always does a number on my sinuses. And the wind, which was relentless for over 24 hours. It feels like I have a cold, but I don’t.

Some good news. On Tuesday, I received an email through my professional web site. Now, I have been seriously considering deleting that site because I really don’t get any work from it. Work, for me, comes through word of mouth and colleagues I’ve worked with before. It costs money to maintain that site, and I thought “I’m 70. Time to delete it.” But Don talked me into keeping it, especially since I’d just worked on the film. Back to the email. It was from a staff member at the Paper Mill Playhouse, which is a very well known theater in New Jersey – in fact, it’s the State Theater of New Jersey. The managing director there (Mike) used to work at Hartford Stage and I know him well. He recommended me for dialect coach on their upcoming production of Murder On the Orient Express. Could I contact them? Though I suppose they could have tracked me down via Darko, who is a good friend of Mike, they ended up tracking me down via my web site.

We chatted yesterday and then I talked to the director and now I have a job. I have a feeling there was someone else slotted for this job because they start rehearsals a week from Monday. I have to research 8 different dialects! Gulp.

But it’s work! And I’m grateful. They rehearse in NYC, so I’ll be traveling off and on to the city, as well as to the theater, and perhaps some zoom work, as well.

I always love the opportunity to work at a new-to-me theater. Very grateful. This makes up for the cancellation of the Broadway run of A Man of No Importance. I’m probably earning a bit more on this production than I would have on AMONI, since it wouldn’t have needed much rehearsal and everyone already knew the dialect.

Today, I’m taking it easy, save for reading the script, and then I’ll start my research on the weekend.

Like any actor or freelance designer or director, I’m always afraid my current job might be my last. And someday that will happen. But right now, I need the work and the income, so this is a nice turn of events.

Now we need a job for Don.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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