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A Toast to a Dear Friend

June 5, 2017 at 8:49 am by Claudia

For your viewing pleasure:

A catbird taking a bath. A little blurry – he was shaking off the water and my camera wasn’t the steadiest, but I like the water going every which way.

I found this schefflera for one of my Guy Wolff pots.

I’m in love with these pots. I have to find two more plants for the other pots, but it’s surprisingly hard to find interesting houseplants around here. There are the usual contenders, most of which I already have. I miss the days when there were lots of little shops that carried interesting and exotic houseplants (I’m dating myself; this was in the seventies.) I suppose they’re still out there, but not in my neck of the woods. There is a little shop south of me which I will check out sometime this week.

I’m off to NYC later today. Back story: When I was teaching at Boston University, one of my colleagues was a gentleman named Rick Seer. Rick and I became great friends (he was an actor turned director and taught both acting and directing at BU.) When, in 1993, I realized I needed to move on to a better paying job, preferably at the graduate school level, Rick confided in me that he was applying for a job to head the Old Globe/University of San Diego Professional Actor Training Program. He then told me there was an opening for the Voice/Speech teacher, as well, and urged me to apply. I did, all the while thinking that though this seemed to be the perfect job for me, no department was going to hire both Rick and I at the same time. Rick had the inside track as he had guest directed out there and they knew him.

Nevertheless, I applied and much to my surprise, I got an interview. So did Rick. I think our interviews were a week apart. I flew out there, met everyone, taught a class, talked to a lot of powers-that-be and flew back home. Rick interviewed as well. I never thought I would get the job but, interestingly, I got the news that I had been hired before Rick found out if he had been hired. I didn’t want to entertain the thought of going out there without him – I’d never been to California before my interview – so I was on pins and needles waiting to hear about Rick’s situation.

He finally heard from them. He got the job. We said goodbye to Boston (very bittersweet) flew out there to find places to live, and then started a whole new life in San Diego. Rick turned out to be the best Chair there could possibly be. He built that program into one of the most respected training programs in the country. He spearheaded the building of a new theater on the campus of USD. He raised the standards for training and, together, we auditioned actors for the program in major cities throughout the country, accepting only seven each year (one of them was Jim Parsons.)

After eight years, I left the program to move east with Don.

Rick is retiring after having run the program for 24 years. There was a goodbye party and celebration on the west coast and tonight is the celebration on the east coast.

Besides being my dear friend, Rick was the catalyst for my move to San Diego, where I worked at the Old Globe theater coaching over 80 productions, taught in a program that is greatly respected, and when I went back there to coach Shakespeare in the summers of 2008-2010 because Rick recommended me to Darko, established a connection that continues to this day. Much of my professional coaching since then has been the result of contacts made while I was at the Old Globe.

And, of course, that is where I met Don.

So I have much to thank Rick for. Can’t wait to see him this evening and raise a glass for a great colleague, boss, and friend.

Happy Monday.

The Edge of Wild

June 4, 2017 at 8:30 am by Claudia

In a conversation with my husband, I stated that we live on the ‘edge of wild.’ And we do. We have wooded areas bordering our property and on our property. Manicured lawns and weed free gardens are simply not in the realm of possibility. And at this time of year so many plants that would be called invasive or wild are blooming. It’s one of the delights of spring.

The pesky and prickly brambles are, for a short time, beautiful wild roses. The little white flowers are currently on display all over the property.

Rocket/wild phlox is blooming everywhere and, between the scent of the wild roses and that of the rocket, it’s smelling rather heavenly around here.

Behind the kitchen: wild roses and rocket.

And the black raspberries – also all over the property – are blooming, as well.

Thank you Mother Nature! Even though I have to cut back brambles and black raspberries, I appreciate the display you put on for us every spring.

I’m also looking forward to the raspberries.

In other areas of the garden:

Roses are about to bloom in the memorial garden.

And the climbing hydrangea is stepping up its game with more blossoms than ever. (It’s taken over 6 years to get to this point.)

I have to apologize to mama robin every time I head toward the shed or the trash can, because her nest is currently behind this climbing hydrangea. I always warn her that I’m coming and she flies out from behind the hydrangea, heading for a neighboring tree where she proceeds to chirp at me non-stop until I move away.

The other day, the UPS guy backed his truck up the driveway so that it was parked at the top of the drive. He handed over my package, I wished him well, and as he started to drive away, I heard the mama robin chirping. She was giving him the same warning that she gives me. I got such a kick out of it!

There are nests all over the property. Some I’m aware of; there’s one belonging to the brown thrashers that’s in the brambles right outside the kitchen window, there’s the nest behind the climbing hydrangea, there’s another one in the big bush that sits in the big garden bed (I see birds flying into the middle of that bush all the time.) And of course, there’s the nest in the boxwood, which has been repaired and made ready for more eggs. None so far.

I bought some mineral oil for cutting boards, per your advice. I cleaned the breadboard and then added two coats of the mineral oil. It’s looking beautiful!

Happy Sunday.

The Fair

June 3, 2017 at 9:01 am by Claudia

Yesterday’s visit to the Country Living Fair was efficient, to say the least. I know from past experience that it’s best to get there before the 10 am opening. I arrived about 45 minutes or so before the gates opened, bought my ticket, and then I scrolled through Instagram on my phone while waiting.

(Why didn’t I get the entire truck in this photo??)

I am also pretty familiar by now with who is there and where their booths are. Of course, there are changes every year, but the majority of the vendors come back every year. By this point, I know exactly where I want to start. There are a lot of exhibitors, by the way.

I didn’t take very many pictures. I was ‘on the move’ and wanted to get in and out within a couple of hours.

Anyway, once the gates were opened, I walked to my favorite starting point and took it from there. I ran into the Editor, Rachel Hardage Barrett, who I met a few years back. She was buying a vintage oil painting of a ship. Beautiful.

I was scouting vintage garden items. There were a lot of them but, as I find true with most items at the Fair, the prices were just too high. This is a big event, the vendors have a ready-made audience, and they price accordingly. That isn’t a criticism, as much as it’s a fact. I know there is a lot involved with selling anywhere; travel, setup, all the expenses that go into buying and selling, and prices are marked up accordingly.

So, nothing on the garden front. However, I did buy a gardening hat and it’s the best one I’ve ever seen – fits beautifully, and it’s a pale aqua to boot.

The Fair gets really crowded, especially on the weekend. That’s why I go early. But it got crowded very quickly yesterday, which makes visiting vendors more difficult. It’s increasingly hard to walk down the aisles or maneuver into a specific booth. That’s why I was out of there in two hours. It just isn’t my thing to be in a crowd for any length of time in which I can hardly move and have to maneuver around people who are blocking aisles. I get impatient and it tires me out.

I visited one booth where two ladies sell vintage items. They have an Airstream that they use for travel and they set it up right beside their booth. They also had a mini-Airstream that was a cooler!

It was here that I discovered my big find of the day. I wasn’t even looking for it, which makes it all the more delightful.

Back story: I’ve been pricing a made-to-order butcher block top for the kitchen island. Ever since Don put a hot pot on the top, promptly removing the paint, we’ve been thinking about what to do about the surface. Yes, I could have repainted it, but the cream colored paint always chips and it’s hard to keep clean. Don thought tile would be a good idea, which I immediately nixed as we have tile countertops in the kitchen and my dream is to get rid of them someday. A butcher block top that fits the dimensions of the island would run from about $390 to well over $400, unless I got one from IKEA, but then I’d have to find someone who could cut it to fit and the whole thing made my head spin. I almost ordered the least expensive top several times, but something made me hold off.

Then I saw this vintage bread board. It’s old and weathered and quite large. Eyeballing it, I was pretty sure it would work. I knew it wouldn’t cover the entire island but that, to me, would make it all the more striking. After hemming and hawing, I bit the bullet and bought it. It was $85.00. One of the ladies told me that she has some vintage boards at home and she uses olive oil on them.

This is the way it looked when I bought it – I took this picture as I was on my way to the car and texted it to Don. Already gorgeous at this point.

When I got home, I cleaned and disinfected it. Then I grabbed the olive oil. Two coats later, this is what we have:

The color of the board changes with the light, so I’ll probably post another photo soon.

Sigh. I really love it. Don does, too. (And it nicely covers up the evidence of Don’s ‘hot pot episode.’)

And $85 instead of $400? Much better!

The only other thing I purchased was this tin; cake tin? bread tin? It’s incredibly rusty, inside and out, and I have no idea what I’m going to do with it, but I’m drawn to that shade of green and to the hand painted and chippy flowers. Oh, and that glass knob, as well.

If you haven’t been to the Fair and you get the opportunity, you should go. It’s an experience: lots of interesting vendors, workshops, speakers and it’s on a gorgeous site at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, NY. Country Living does a bang-up job – it’s lovely.

I bought this bouquet from a local farmer via my favorite natural food store. Peonies, allium, foxglove – how could it get any better?

Ah, the sun just came out. Since Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will be filled with rain, I’m going to enjoy my gardens and the birds and the porch today.

Edited to add: What the heck? Now it’s going to rain a bit this morning. That wasn’t on the weather forecast when I got up this morning!

Happy Saturday.

A Toast to a Dear Friend

The Edge of Wild

The Fair

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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