Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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It’s About to Happen

January 18, 2018 at 10:11 am by Claudia

The view outside of the kitchen window this morning; to be specific, the window over the sink. It’s awfully pretty, but don’t let that fool you. We got at least 8 inches of snow, maybe even more. It was a PIA to shovel and snowblow. PIA = Pain in the ass.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the beauty of snow, or know how important it is for our well and the water table. I do. And if we had a short suburban driveway that was flat, it wouldn’t be so hard to handle. But we have a driveway that goes uphill and a largish parking area at the top.

Anyway. It is what it is.

I’m in a bit of a melancholic mood this morning because the enormity of what is about to happen in our lives has really hit me. Don is going to be moving into NYC for an indefinite period of time. We’ve just been through a great year, yes, but a year where we apart for close to 7 months. And we’re heading into another challenging year. Yes, it will be better because I can get into the city and, once the show’s open, Don can get home for 24 – 36 hours each week. Nevertheless, seeing each other on a consistent daily basis will not be happening. This is not helped, of course, by my worries about handling everything this winter.

I know all the positives, believe me. And I’m grateful for them. Separations because of work have been a big part of our married life. We know how to handle them. But they’re usually for a month or two months. We have no guarantees about the length of the show’s run; Broadway is a crap shoot. But we’re hoping for a long run.

Sigh. You don’t have to cheer me up, just humor me. And no, I can’t stay with him indefinitely. It’s winter in the Hudson Valley and I have to make sure the pipes don’t freeze and be here to shovel snow so I can move the cars in and out and so delivery services like our heating oil and propane have access to the driveway and I have plants to water. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to know the quirks of our house.

We’ll be fine. We know it’s a great adventure and 98% of the time we look at it that way. It’s just that it’s finally happening.

We needed them like a hole in the head, but it snowed for over half the day yesterday and I needed something to do. I’m going to pack up most of the cookies and take them to Don’s apartment.

Since we lost a day and a half to snow, we’re going to drive in on Saturday morning rather than Friday morning. Don wants this whole move to be as stress-free as possible and I don’t blame him. We’ll pack the car, drive to NYC and his building, double park, unload everything, and Don will drive to a parking facility. Then we’ll move everything in. I’ll hang around for a few days and then I’ll drive back Monday or Tuesday, depending on the weather. He starts rehearsals on Monday.

And I’m taking the Christmas tree down today. January 18th – that’s a record.

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: Don, Escape to Margaritaville 36 Comments

Is It Spring Yet?

January 17, 2018 at 9:09 am by Claudia

Don’t even.

There’s at least 8 or 9 inches out there and it’s still coming down.

And it looks like it’s heavy and wet.

We have to shovel and snowblow all of this. Oh, and remember – there is a huge, thick slab of ice the size of a small pond where I normally park my car. It’s so thick we can’t chop it up. Trying to get from the cars into the house is like avoiding a minefield.

Something tells me this winter is not going to be an easy one.

So we’re waiting it out at the moment. When it looks like the snow is tapering off, we’ll head outside. Oh, joy.

Vegan macarons from our local vegan eatery. Don brought them home yesterday.

They’re gone now.

I have a new nephew:

Meet Hank.

Hank is an Irishdoodle – which is a combination of an Irish Setter/Poodle.

I cannot stand it, he’s so cute! Mere found an ad in the paper that intrigued her and on the weekend, the whole family went to see the litter of puppies and Hank came home with them. Everyone is in love with him, including Little Z, who called last night and shouted out, “I have a new puppy and his name is Hank!!”

You can read more about it on Mere’s latest post. I’m so happy for them. And dare I say that we are a proud aunt and uncle? Look at those eyebrows! And that brown nose! And those green eyes. Scout had green eyes.

Okay. I have to have some oatmeal to fortify myself for the Big Dig.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: dogs, snow, winter 42 Comments

The Dreaded Snow

January 16, 2018 at 9:17 am by Claudia

It’s snowing.

By the time this is over, which will be tomorrow, we’ll have anywhere from 4 to 8 inches on the ground. Lovely. (I’m being sarcastic.) This sort of knocks out two days that we could use to get ready for the move to NYC.

Oh, winter, you often throw a spanner in the works, don’t you?

This weekend, it will get warmer, so I’m hoping it starts to melt some of the snow. Actually, I was hoping it would melt the huge slab of ice on our driveway where I usually park my car, but with the snow having to melt first, I doubt it.

This, my friends, is why negotiating any time spent in NYC this winter will be tricky. Cannot wait until Spring!

After having my new iPhone in my hands for about two months, I just played with Portrait Mode for the first time yesterday. It’s so neat. It easily does what I have to do with either the macro setting or a special lens on my big girl camera. It focuses on one thing and blurs the rest. I have always loved that look. Such fun!

All the photos were shot with my phone. Amazing.

We watched The Shape of Water  again last night. Extraordinary. We noticed even more the second time. It’s my favorite movie of the year and will be added to my Favorite Movie Ever list. I can’t get enough of it.

So, we’re making lists of what we need to take. We’ll drive down in Don’s car and he may keep it in the city for the week until he can drive home for his day off. Or I might drive it back on Tuesday. We’re not sure yet.

Other than that, we’re hanging in there and enjoying our time together – a collective deep breath before Don moves into overdrive with the musical.

By the way, before I forget, I have been mostly unable to leave comments on Blogger blogs. I’m signed into my Blogger account when I try to do it, but more often than not, it doesn’t work. So it’s not that I don’t care, I just can’t leave a comment. Blogger needs to get it together.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Filed Under: Don, iPhone 39 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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