We’ve had a couple of gray days in a row with coolish temperatures. Good for mowing, which I did a lot of yesterday, not so good for the spirits. I’m trying to do some work outside every day. Garden work, mowing, pruning plants and cutting branches – all of which I’ve done since I got home on Sunday night – allows me some respite from the sadness of the show closing.
Meanwhile, audiences love the show, stand and cheer and sing during the curtain call, as they do every performance, every day of the week. Go figure.
Okay. Have to move on or I’ll cry again.
The bookshelf in progress. (Ask me how much I dislike this carpeting.)
The lighting isn’t great at the moment and I’ll try more photos on a sunnier day, but I thought I owed you an update.
The Nancy Drews are on the top shelf. I need two more to complete my collection and it looks like they’ll fit perfectly.
A vintage Schoenhut child’s piano and an English candy tin decorated with adorable little children, along with copies of Heidi and Anne of the Island are on the second shelf.
The bottom shelf includes my mom’s editions of Anne of Green Gables and Daddy Long Legs, my dad’s copy of Dave Darrin on Mediterranean Service, Don’s Hardy Boys (there are more around here somewhere) and my vintage copies of Girl of the Limberlost (two different editions) and another copy of Daddy Long Legs. And a vintage school pencil sharpener.
Underneath is a firkin that was my grandmother’s.
This little shelf was worth every penny. It’s one-of-a-kind, lovingly handmade for Martha Jane.
The first rose appeared in the Memorial Garden yesterday.
Happy Thursday.
Thank you for sharing this amazing little bookshelf. I love how all the children’s books are collected here. So sweet. Aw cloudy days so not a spirit life. Wishing you some sunshine and peace. I’m taking my 2007 Honda in to see what it will cost to keep her going. She is a good car and worth the money for another Hundred Thousand Miles, If I can find the $$. Fingers crossed I can.
aw brain and tying fingers did not coordinate…. ‘cloudy days are so not a spirit lifter’ :)
xo
Well, ours is a 2001 and it’s still going. We have almost 250,000 miles on it!
I keep telling my Mom with just a bit of maintenance she is good for another 100,000 miles! I knew you had an older Honda and it was doing great. I’ll keep this old gal going! Thanks!
And ours has rust as well. Remember, we drove it across the country last year.
I’ve got you beat. My nearly 22-year-old Saturn has 300,000 miles on the odom!
Our car has crossed the county three times.
Such a sweet display on your shelf and a beautiful rose. I hope they bring a smile to you today.
Thank you, Sherry.
Your bookshelf is priceless. What a find! All books that you mention, I have too.
I was very, very sorry to hear about the closing of the show. The fans of Jimmy Buffett and others are coming and loving it. It would have been a wonderful show for the tourists this summer. I guess I am surprised that they didn’t go through Labor Day. Could it not be moved to a smaller theatre? The Marquis is a large theatre and hard for any show to fill on a consistent basis. I guess all theatres are booked way in advance.
As someone else said in your comments, why do we really need critics? That is true of movies and books too. It does shape your opinion and not allow people to think for themselves. Especially those critics in NYC and their supposed superior knowledge over everyone else.
Please feel well. It is so hard when you have something like this happen but know all of your readers are there for you.
YES! We are Julie, Always here and Cheering you on Claudia,(and your Good Husband)
xo
We thought it would go through the end of summer. I can only surmise that they were losing too much money to sustain it. Why they picked the Marquis, I’ll never know. It’s too big for anything other than a show like Lion King, which is in the equally too large Minskoff theater, to fill. I think if they’d gone with a smaller theater it would have run longer. Every theater is booked on Broadway and there’s a lot of competition to fill seats.
Thank you, Julie.
Dear Claudia, I am a firm believer, that Heavenly Father, Gives us these wondrous things (Like a Perfect Orange Rose) because he knows we have to have some bad times. He wants to say
I’m here. I call them Tender Mercies. It makes perfect sense to me, That is My Belief. Judy A
judy a …
i agree!
kathy in iowa
Kathy In Iowa,
Thank You ;>)
Judy A
xo
Thank you, Judy.
how much do you dislike that carpeting? :) sorry … couldn’t resist. hee hee. i am not laughing about your carpet or dislike of it. i once lived in a place that had shag carpet (in shades of brown, gold, orange and grey) in every room … SHAG carpet … in the 1990s … even in the kitchen and bathroom (shudder) for six long years when i lived in a dinky town (that had few rental options, all of which had carpet … and that was the one that would allow my two cats) for a much-needed/hated job right out of school … so i sympathize and hope you can change that out to whatever you want in the near future.
on to something much better … your sweet bookcase and book collections! :) that all looks great, claudia! hope you can find the other two books to complete your set, enjoy reading them and looking at that wonderful spot. yes, that bookcase was made for martha jane … but it is truly meant for you now … enjoy!
i am working on a couple children’s book ideas and am old-school for preferring to write on paper, not a computer … so i might have to go searching for an old pencil sharpener. :)
hope you get more time to just sit outside.
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy.
Oh my goodness, Claudia!
I have that same carpet through my house.
Hate it. Seriously.
I feel your pain.
Berber. It’s a pain in the tush!
Love that bookshelf! It’s perfect…just like that rose. My neighbor and I were chatting the other day…our gardens are looking so terrific, because of all the attention we are giving to them, because of all that is going awry around us. (Another way to say…we can no longer watch the news, so we dig in the dirt.) Hence your beautiful rose. That logic worked for us. Enjoy your rose and your day! ;)
The only way to sanity right now is through my garden.
Absolutely!! ;)
xo
Bookcase is precious! Beautiful rose!
Thank you, Lottie!
I think everyone has had that carpet in some portion of a home they lived in at some point in time. And the bookshelf. Well, what can I possibly say. Positively adorable. You were so lucky to find it!
I, too, am so surprised that they didn’t keep the show through all of summer. It seems it would be the perfect show for this season and all of the NYC tourists visiting. Nothing really makes sense any longer, does it??
Hope you can spend some good time outside today. How are the mosquitoes there? Between the mosquitoes and gnats here, it is hard to enjoy any time outdoors lately. Nasty!! Peace to you on this Thursday.
They would have kept the show going if they could afforded it. They were clearly losing too much money to sustain it.
No mosquitoes yet, but there are a lot of gnats!
Hi Claudia, A Girl of the Limberlost has always been one of my favorites. I think I have read all of Gene Stratton Porter’s books. I love your bookcase. What a special home for such a special collection. Work has always been a woman’s solace hasn’t it ? Make sure you get some rest and don’t overdo.
I will. I rested yesterday and will take it easy today, as well.
What a fun bookshelf!! Ha! Ha! And one day you will have new flooring to replace that carpet!! :-)) And the rose is exquisite!!
Thank you, Kris.
Love the bookcase and what you’ve “done” with it. Your carpet is better than mine, Claudia! Is there wood flooring under the carpet? I’m wondering because of the age of your cottage. Should have wood floors?
I’ve tried to look under the carpet but haven’t been able to pull it up.
That rose is perfection. Just that – no other word for it. I checked & June’s flower is the rose. Guess I know why now. June is definitely “Roseville” time here in Rochester. There’s a big round rose bush – at least 4-5 feet tall & perfectly pruned – on the property here that is absolutely awash in velvety crimson roses right now. I want to go “borrow” one or two – wink wink. The color is glorious, like your apricot rose. Hope yours reminds you that good days are coming again – that Who-Knows-What-Wonders-Might-Be is coming again too. Enjoy this lovely moderate weather… so nice to have the humidity gone [for now at least]. 🌹
#Resist
#ProtectMueller
It’s awfully nice to have normal temps again!
Your photograph of the rose is beautiful. I feel as though I can smell it. Sweet fragrance. Your bookshelf is really special and just think of how many of your reader’s get to enjoy it through your photos. Thank you! I thought of you last night. There were movies about dogs on TCM. Darling! (Don’t we miss our Robert Osborne?) I thought to myself I hoped you were watching. I probably would never have seen the show because of the distance, but let me tell you, this is the kind of uplifting performance I love seeing. My kind of entertainment. I, for one, don’t pay attention to professional reviews. Word of mouth is the best review for anything in life. I’m glad you have your garden and home to focus on right now. Keep the faith!
I miss Robert Osborne every time I tune into TCM. It’s just not the same without him! Thank you, Lyndia.
The pictures are perfect and the rose is lovely. My mini has been blooming, only it is pink. Not as beautiful as that one of yours.
These are in the Memorial Garden, a gift from a reader of this blog when my parents died.
Hi Claudia, Just to let you know there’s another gardening show on BBC tonight. It’s the Chatsworth Garden Show. If you can get it, ‘Kew’s Forgotten Queen’ is well worth watching. It’s a documentary about a Victorian botanical artist. Fascinating Stuff. Blessings
We don’t get BBC live. Hopefully, I’ll find it on YouTube in the next few days. I answered your email, Lesley. I hope you got it. I have to respond from a different email address as the one that sends out posts isn’t viable for anything other that.
It is so confusing to me how a show that the public so obviously loves and supports can be closing. For someone like myself who is far removed from
this type of thing other than as a viewer….it remains a mystery. I am so sorry. for you. for Don, the cast and all associated and especially for the people who eould have been uplifted by this production.
It’s all about money and profit. It’s in a very large theater – too large – and if enough tickets aren’t being sold, it can’t sustain itself. Maybe it’s for a too specific audience. It’s loved, for sure, but not enough tickets were being sold.
Well, at least Escape to Margaritaville will leave Broadway with a ton of people having loved it, never to forget it. I’ve seen musicals and plays I’ve totally forgotten. Things that came out here to California (L.A.) back in the day, like Fiddler, etc. I can remember Lauren Bacall standing in the middle of the stage (did I see that on TV, though?) but can’t remember a thing about the musical production otherwise (no offense to the great deceased actress). With all that color and fun of Margaritaville, they’ll be happily remembered. Don was a big part of something special!
I have loved your new shelf from the moment you showed it to us. How perfectly appropriate that you filled it with vintage Nancy Drews. Martha Jane would approve.
I’ve got some significant gaps in my childhood/adolescent reading. How could I have never heard of Gene Stratton-Porter? Your post today prompted me to read about her. It’s an incredible life story, my goodness; WHAT a body of work; WHAT a woman of her time. Now I want to go back and read all her books!
(I was referring to Ms. Bacall in “Applause”.) Claudia, I have a question because I don’t have any knowledge about the business side of ‘Broadway’. Are there so many musicals and plays out there, with new ones coming up, say, often, that the theater where Escape to Margaritaville is playing won’t be hurting once Margaritaville leaves? Like, is another musical waiting, chomping at the bit, ready to take up the next day after Margaritaville closes? Or do big theaters in NYC often stay empty for awhile?
You know, I have no idea.
Thank you, Vicki.
That bookcase is adorable and it looks so nice with all your vintage books. My sister has almost the same vintage pencil sharpener on her desk. Thank you for sharing these lovely photos.That orange rose is gorgeous.
Marilyn
You’re welcome, Marilyn!
Beautiful ‘peachy, coral orange-y’ rose! Is it as fragrant as it is beautiful?
You’ve arranged this unique one of kind bookshelf wonderfully.
Though I don’t want to bring up the topic or seem insensitive… Those of us not in the theater please make us understand why the critics out weigh all the attendance, 5 STAR reviews I’ve read & never mind O’malley right here from NH has the show closing? If it’s making money and getting rave reviews how can this be? I’m sorry, I know this isn’t probably the time to inquire, but when your able too I’d love to read a post of yours giving myself & anyone else out there a better understanding.
Keeping busy & definitely gardening is refreshing for the soul!
B-I-G- Hugs,
– A.
It has a mild fragrance, but I it’s fairly low to the ground, surrounded by thorny branches, so I can’t really inhale.
To answer your question: It’s not making enough money. It’s in a huge theater, far too big in my opinion, and unless a show is a mega hit, it’s impossible to fill all the seats. If enough tickets aren’t sold, the investors and producers lose money. That’s why. I think they should have gone with a smaller theater. I don’t know why they chose this one. Sigh.
Hi Claudia, Yes, thank you. I got your e-mail, so watch your post box. Blessings
Thank you, Lesley!
Claudia, what is a “firkin”? I think I may have one but not with a lid/top.
Love you and your sister…..two of my favorite blogs I’ve been reading for quite a long time!
Firkins are small casks. You probably do have one, Nancy.
Thank you so much for your kind words!