Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Be (Reading) Prepared

January 2, 2017 at 9:05 am by Claudia

What day is it? With the holidays and rehearsals and rehearsals on  holidays and then Monday holidays, I hardly know which way is which. I’m over it. I’m ready to get back on a regular schedule, please.

Sherlock  is back. I knew it was airing last night on PBS, though I had to remind Don about it yesterday. Shocking, full of twists and turns and incredibly well done. I still have some questions about yesterday’s episode and I feel the need to watch it one more time to hear those little underplayed lines that are almost tossed away but are oh-so-important. I can’t stop thinking about it this morning which makes it quite successful, doesn’t it?

One thing about a large coffee table: you can stash lots of current and future reading matter there. From the upper left: several sections of the Sunday New York Times (not yesterday’s, but a week ago) that I have yet to read; Upstream  by Mary Oliver, my favorite poet – though this book consists of essays; a special issue of The Nation  centering on The Obama Years (oh, how I’ll miss him!); underneath that is an issue that you can’t see of Mother Jones with the cover story, “Rise Up”, and you can bet I will; Believing the Lie  by Elizabeth George, which I bought as a remainder a year or so ago and started yesterday, as I have once again realized how gifted George is – it clocks in at 608 pages; All the Light We Cannot See, which I still haven’t started, but will, I promise; underneath that book is A Lowcountry Life  by the late, great Pat Conroy, subtitled Reflections on a Writing Life; and underneath that is Junk Gypsy  by the Sikes sisters, which I read bits of at a time. And next to that is the Sunday New York Times  crossword puzzle. There are also two books under the turquoise lamp in order to give it some height, and two more books of a spiritual nature on the bedside table.

Oh, I forgot to add the Kindle to that list. It’s also here. In fact, I just finished an eGalley housed within its depths.

I come prepared.

Because heaven forbid I am anywhere, anytime, without reading matter. As long as I can remember, that has been a top priority. Carrying a book with me while I run errands, or sit in a waiting room. Packing enough books for a trip. Always having some sort of book to read because you never know when you might have some unexpected reading time, somewhere, somehow.

Today, after I go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and stop in at Target and the bookstore, I’ll come back to the apartment, put everything away, and reply to your comments. Then, on this day off, I’ll treat myself to some hot chocolate (using soy milk) and read.

Sounds like a good way to start the New Year.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: books, reading 44 Comments

Sofa or Couch?

January 1, 2017 at 9:50 am by Claudia

I’ve already screwed up and labeled this photo with 12/31 as the date.

It will take a while. New month, new year. (I’ve never be enamored of odd-numbered years.) I was born in an even-numbered year, I graduated from high school, college, and graduate school in even-numbered years. I met Don in an even-numbered year. I even married him in an even-numbered year. None of this was done with that in mind, but it does present a pattern, doesn’t it?

Yesterday, I got a text in the morning from the company manager saying she had found my sofa. By that, I mean the sofa that was in this apartment last year. She recognized it because I’d sent her a photo of it. (The rewards of blogging.) She happened to be in an apartment which had just been vacated by an actor in A Christmas Carol  when she saw it. Later in the day, after I’d come back from rehearsal, she and her assistant took me to the apartment to ‘identify’ it.

Yep, that’s it! And, bless their hearts, after a long day for both of them, they switched out the sofas. Now, here’s the deal: it’s also squishy and missing any sort of support. It’s better than the other sofa, but I’m thinking that I’m going to have to shove a piece of wood under a cushion. I’ll get around it.

But doesn’t it look better than that old dark brown faux-leather sofa? It has a slightly smaller footprint, as well. And it lightens up the room. So I’m very happy. The chairs are staying as well, which makes for an intimate little seating area.

Do you say sofa or couch? I grew up saying ‘couch’ but I now say ‘sofa.’ Sort of like I grew up saying ‘pop’ and now I say ‘soda.’

Chairs, I might add, that were purchased a couple of years ago for Kevin Bacon’s dressing room when he was here starring in Rear Window. I didn’t know that little bit of information until yesterday.

It’s looking very nice in here and I’m enjoying what Don labels my “Mary Tyler Moore Life.” We were laughing last night about the fact that there is absolutely no wall space at home on which to hang my quilts. So the only chance I have to see them on display is when I come to my pied-à-terre in Hartford.

This is the first time I’ve been in Hartford on New Year’s Eve. They celebrate by having fireworks in the park at 6 pm and again at 12 am. I watched the 6 pm display from a window in the hallway of the apartment building and they were fabulous! Really beautiful. Bravo Hartford! (I heard the second round as I read in bed, and thankfully, I went to sleep before they had even finished.)

Today, more rehearsal and a run-through. Darko has accomplished so much in two weeks, it’s mind-boggling. It’s going to be a very funny show.

Then a day off tomorrow, with errands to run and laundry to do.

Happy New Year.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: decorating, Hartford, On The Road 54 Comments

Moving On

December 31, 2016 at 9:23 am by Claudia

Time to say goodbye to 2016. It was a mixed bag – at least for me, for us.

A campaign season that was never-ending and full of vitriol, bigotry…I’ll stop there. You know how I feel. I swear it gnawed away at my soul, leaving me bruised and despairing and angry. But I won’t give up hope. Though I dread what is to come in 2017, I have vowed to fight and to work for those causes that I believe in.

I ain’t backing down.

It’s also the year in which we lost our dear girl.

I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately. We’re coming up on a year and I feel the raw pain of loss just as strongly today as I felt it last February.

Don and I talk about her all the time.

Okay. I have to stop because I’ve started crying again.

I have felt, and still feel, sad and depressed. The last few years have been full of loss, starting with Don’s dad, then Riley, then my Mom, then Dad, then Scout. I’m basically a positive, cheerful being, but I have to say that I’ve been moving through life this year in a fog of sadness. It’s normal, this feeling, and I’ve honored it and let it be what it needs to be. Grieving is ongoing and there is no time table or end date. Thank goodness for moments of joy. They kept me going.

New Year’s Eve isn’t a big deal for us, so Don is staying home and I’m staying here. I have a rehearsal today and one tomorrow. I’m tired. I don’t want to drive all the way home only to drive back tomorrow morning. Don doesn’t want to drive here, pay a lot of money for parking, and then drive back home tomorrow. It seems like a lot of hassle for two people who go to bed long before midnight!

We’ll have a phone date.

Dear friends, here’s to a New Year that I hope and pray will be full of joy and happiness for all of you. I send my very best wishes to you as we transition to 2017, along with a wish for a world ruled by love, not hate. Kindness. Compassion. Tolerance. An embrace of inclusiveness. I pray for those who have lost their moral compass with a fervent hope that they find it again. That they come home.

Much love to you all.

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Filed Under: life 46 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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