Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Finds: Books and Records

September 19, 2016 at 9:00 am by Claudia

That photo yesterday. The  photo. I don’t know if you remember from the many times I’ve told our story in the past, but Don had been sitting in that exact place on the sofa, catching my eye and smiling at me, whenever I entered the living room of Kathy’s cottage. This happened several times. So I finally bit the bullet and walked over to him. I assume I introduced myself. I ended up sitting next to him and we started a conversation that hasn’t ended.

I’m not sure when Rick entered the picture. Was he there before I walked over to the sofa? Or did he come along later and join in? That part I’m a bit foggy about.

A few of my friends have remarked on our body language. Definitely in sync. And if you look at my eyes, you can tell I’m already smitten.

I love that picture. It will soon be framed, I promise.

Alright, on to yesterday. We were out and about and stopped at our favorite antique center – the one where I could do some major damage quite easily. I didn’t do that, of course, but I did find some unexpected treasures.

A long time ago, I wrote on this blog about my desire to collect vintage Nancy Drews. This was prompted by my discovery of a vintage Nancy Drew with a cover illustration by Russell H. Tandy; the best, in my humble opinion, of all the cover illustrators. He designed the covers from 1930 – 1949 and was a friend of Edward Stratemeyer, the actual author of the Nancy Drew books.

Look what I found yesterday:

9-19-nancydrew

Two of them! They were in the middle of a stack of books in one of the booths. Only $8 each, which is a steal, and in pretty good condition, with normal cover wear. Needless to say, I’m thrilled. This makes 3 Nancy Drews and we all know that equals a collection!

Gosh, I love the vintage look of his illustrations and the vivid colors.  I also love the font used for “Nancy Drew Mystery Stories.” I grew up reading the standard fifties and sixties books with the yellow spines and I know a lot of people collect them, but once I saw Tandy’s work, I was a goner.

In a recent conversation, Don mentioned that he had read all the Hardy Boys books when he was a kid, so, you guessed it…I am determined to collect them for him. I found one yesterday.

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And here they are on the shelf:

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They sit in the middle of a shelf full of childhood favorites, including books that belonged to my mother and my father.

I also found two record albums.

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I own both of these, but they are…class? anyone? anyone?….yes! In the shed. Though the cover of Tapestry looks worn, the actual record is in great shape.

And then we stuffed our faces at a local restaurant and I ate too much, so we took a trail walk to counteract the calories.

Today, I take the car in for an inspection and some scheduled maintenance. I hate sitting in that waiting room, but it’s raining today, so I just might get stuck there. If the rain lets up, I’ll walk to Barnes & Noble.

Happy Monday.

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Filed Under: books, collecting, record albums 55 Comments

I Found It

September 18, 2016 at 9:39 am by Claudia

Yesterday found me searching for a copy of an old contract, which I ended up not finding. That search took me to my file cabinet in the office, long ignored, and I tossed tons of paper, documents, and old files that are no longer needed – that kind of thing.

But I did find something I’ve been searching for. I probably should wait to post this until our official anniversary, which is October 12th, but what the heck!

A photo of Don and me on the day we met, during our very first conversation:

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There is Don, with an impressive tan (he’d just finished working on a play in Arizona). There’s the shirt he has worn on each consecutive July 4th, and only on July 4th.

We’d spent the day at our friend Kathy’s house at the beach. At this point in the day, it had become much cooler outside, so I threw on my BU sweatshirt. I’m not sure what’s on my jeans – looks like paint. That’s my dear friend Rick next to me. We worked together at BU, were hired at the same time to work in San Diego, and he still heads up the MFA program there. (We both found the loves of our lives right around the same time. Isn’t that lovely?)

There’s the photo date stamp in the lower right hand corner.

I didn’t know this photo existed until about 5 years later, when Jonathan McMurtry, a wonderful actor that we’ve known for years, put it in an envelope and left it in my mailbox at the Globe. Needless to say, we were thrilled that we had some documentation of the day that quite literally changed our lives.

Gosh, I was skinny in those days!

We’d been having a conversation about the fact that we were now in our forties and we couldn’t believe we were that old.

Oh, Don and Claudia! Now you look at this photo and think how young  you were!

I’ll share it again on our anniversary. Promise.

Nancy asked for a photo of the zinnias. Here’s one. I’ll take more.

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Today I counted 13 morning glory blooms. It’s a rainy Sunday, so I didn’t take a picture of them, but I do have more to share with you over the coming days.

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Like this one.

We took a trail walk yesterday, where we saw our old friends munching on their dinner.

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They’re shy. When they saw me, they turned their heads away from me. One of them is the mother, the other is the son. Aren’t they beautiful?

Rest in Peace to the great Edward Albee, a playwright who had an enormous influence on a young actress finding her way in the world of theater. I acted in his plays, I loved his words. I heard him speak during my time in Philadelphia and I’ll never forget that day. Bravo.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: animals, Don, flowers, garden 32 Comments

A Plethora of Pretty

September 17, 2016 at 9:04 am by Claudia

9-17-lollapalooza

I counted 23 morning glories this morning. I mean! My bumper crop is blooming in abundance, which I suppose means that they’ll be finished blooming sooner than I expected. But that’s just fine. I’d rather have them bloom fast and furiously, rather than have the frost catch them, which is what happened last year.

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Such an interesting contrast; all the leaves on the ground and flowers blooming. The gardens and lawn start to look rather tatty at this time of year, but the morning glories and zinnias and a rose here and there are providing lots of beauty. This was taken by me early this morning.

In my pajamas, of course.

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In the process of opening.

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Be still my heart. Three beauties nestled together.

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Sigh.

The birdbath was hopping yesterday. A robin plopped herself right in the middle of the birdbath as about 5 catbirds tried to come in for a landing. At one point the mourning dove was perched on the rim, facing away from a catbird who landed on the other side of the rim. Later on, I saw a catbird vigorously dunking herself – one, two, three times.

I’m glad they’re still here. Don’t leave yet, okay?

This morning, right after I got out of bed, I heard the honking of Canada Geese as they flew over the house, a sure sign that autumn is here.

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Mustn’t forget my Sentimental Balloon Flower. It’s still blooming, as well.

We’ve been trail walking this week; yesterday and the day before we did the 2 mile version of the walk – much easier to do when the humidity is gone.

And there we are. It’s a Saturday in September. I’m starting a little project for my sister (something she asked me to do a while ago) and we already have to clean one of the gutters on the porch. Too soon!

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: flowers, garden, morning glory 22 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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