Nemesis

what shall we do with the bbq support?
Originally uploaded by modernemama

The old built-in barbeque is refusing to lie down and accept defeat. So far three of us have had a go at removing it. Verity took out most of it with the sledgehammer, Steven decided to save the bricks and chipped the mortar off the whole ones, I took the sledgehammer to the bottom course and chiseled out the cement between the patio and the bbq base.
But the base itself is a surround of bricks with poured concrete in the middle and right in the centre is the old support for the bbq and gas line, which was cemented into the ground. This obviously went in first, then the brick surround and them the concrete was poured in. The base is 5' long, 2' deep and 6" deep. And it won't budge.
I think the only thing to do is to rent a jackhammer and reduce it to rubble but until then I've lent this Japanese Knotweed seedling that was growing behind the barbecue in front of the pipe. I think it disguises it quite nicely, don't you?

The Unimal

It's a crazy, scary concept but I kind of want one in my kitchen to remind me to keep only real food in there. The Unimal toy was created by H.E. Babcock, professor of farm marketing at Cornell University in the 1920s.

The clip is from Farmboy, a documentary about his son John Babcock. It is directed by Jake Gorst, grandson of Andrew Geller and lead mover to save the modern icon The Pearlroth House, a beach house on the east end of Long Island.

Ready for the summer visitors?

High cabinets
Originally uploaded by modernemama

We all know it's true, S**t or as D. Rumsfeld, would have it, "Stuff" happens.
So the day before the first visitor arrives, the old barbecue has been demolished and a new one has been ordered, and all the bathrooms (except for the master shower, but who cares about that apart form ME?) are functioning. The house has been cleaned from top to bottom and the yard is looking good. We are all set for a relaxing summer, just in the nick of time. When...........
Many months ago, while we were deciding on a timetable for the remaining projects, the far left kitchen cupboard door came off two of its hinges. We managed to get it back in place and agreed not to use that cupboard again. We didn't really need it as we have plenty more space and it was an odd corner cupboard anyway (we used to keep dog food in it but we found another place for that).
In the frenzy to make this place look gorgeous I (it was me, mea culpa) opened the lower door instead of the upper where the vases are kept and the door fell completely off, twisting the remaining hinge in the process. Impossible to re-attach, the hinges have already been re-positioned at least once, impossible to fix into place, and exposing the nasty, old cabinet interior.
Luckily we were just about to leave for a well-earned martini in Huntington, and I couldn't do anything other than laugh about it but today we are now faced with another dilemma. Do we take the door away completely leaving the old dirty white laminate for all to see (think rotten tooth) or leave the door leaning against the cabinet and risk someone (probably me) walking into numerous times each day?
Is there any way we can get the kitchen remodel done by this evening? I mean if Extreme Home Makeover can rebuild an entire house in five days how long would it take to do a kitchen? Seriously, we need help here.

More demo

This time in the yard. The old built-in barbecue finally expired when Steven was slow grilling a pork butt just before we went to Tennessee (we were craving bbq and couldn't wait).
We could have re-pointed the bricks, got new stainless steel doors made and installed a new barbecue unit, but it would have cost $$$$ more than buying a new gas grill so we went the demolition route.
As we believe in making our kids work for their supper, Verity gave a few whacks of the trusty sledgehammer and this is all that was left.

Now all we have to do is choose a new grill.

Downstairs bathroom done

downstairs bathroom
Originally uploaded by modernemama

We're all plumbed in and good to go, only three weeks after the final deadline but importantly two days before the visitors arrive. It's a temporary makeover but it's a big improvement over the 60s suite that was there before.
I do wonder, though, how long it will be before vessel sinks and pillar faucets are considered passé?

Hermes and Maya

Hermes and Maya
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Don't get too used to that hiding place, kitties. It's coming out later today.
These are the latest additions to the household. Maya is the tiny tabby and Hermes el bandito is the Burmese cross with the raccoon eyes.

Quick bathroom makeover

new vanity, backsplash
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Well not really quick, but at least not the six months the other two baths took. We got back from Tennessee to find the tiler had been as good as his word and he'd tiled grouted the backsplash for the new floating vanity.
This is a temporary fix, I'm still sold on the beadboard paneling idea for this room when we completely remodel it in a few years' time. Or maybe glass subway tiles, if they've come up with a better solution to fixing them to the walls by then.
With the mosaic backsplash in place, we noticed one thing immediately about the bathroom wall. If you get up close you can see how the wall is off by about .5" under the window, luckily by placing the vessel sink on the countertop the eye gets distracted and it's no longer obvious. However, when we looked closely above the window to the ceiling, we could see that the wall slopes badly to the left (more like 1"). This wasn't noticeable when the old roller blind was up, so I hope when we put up the new wood blind we'll camouflage this problem as well.

Downstairs Bathroom

The vanity is in, the ceiling has been patched, the old blind is gone. These are the positive things. Yippee.
On the less positive side, the shower has yet to be caulked, the new wood blind won't be here for "two weeks" and the tiling has hit a bit of a snageroo.
Although the tile showroom assured us we could build up the specially modified thinset to make it flush with the existing tiles, they didn't tell us it would take a few attempts, many hours to allow the thinset to set up and the patience of several saints to arrange the glass mosaic, watch it slide off, catch it, wash the thinset off, re-attach it, watch it slide off again and repeat these steps until you just want to rip off all the tiles and replace them with beadboard that you just staple to the walls.
The handy tiler guy says we are not defeated yet and he will attempt to fix it while we are vacationing in Tennessee. If he's successful he'll then grout it and finish the caulking. He didn't say what would happen if he wasn't........

We are buying up all the caulk in Huntington

Well, on Saturday we found out why the foyer ceiling has water damage. Steven managed to clean out all the old grout and there was an inch gap between the tiles and the bath tub. Even worse, as far as we could see that there was no backer board behind the tiles. I guess it must end somewhere up that last course of tiles but WTH were the tilers thinking?
Steven was just working out how best to caulk this again so we can use the tub for the next few months when we got a call from our handyman to say he could start back on Tuesday and finish up all those jobs he had to leave when he damaged his knee. We were so thankful to get this call, but I'm not sure the handyman felt the same when we regaled him with the list of extra things that had gone wrong while he was away and now needed to be fixed.
He was pretty appalled at the mess they'd made of the tiling, especially as the actual tiles are in good condition and were obviously expensive. He had two thoughts - a border of tile edging around the tub or ripping the whole lot out and doing the job properly. We are obviously going with option 2 but not until after the house-guests leave, so for now he is building up the caulk, one layer each day until we are leak free.

More ivy

But this time it was the poisonous kind. I must have brushed against it while I was clearing the border. I thought I'd cleared it all away but judging by the red itchy rash on my leg I missed a bit. Luckily we had some Zanfel in the house so it wasn't as irritating as it might have been.
On a more positive note we got the tempered glass for the back door a week early. So now we are up to code and we can see out to the backyard again. This pane is much clearer than the old one, in fact we didn't think the guy had installed it until we touched it. I hope the dogs don't think there's a big hole there and try to jump through!

Ivy irony

cassis and jefke
Originally uploaded by modernemama

I have spent every spare moment this week clearing ivy from the borders on Vineyard Rd. I've filled trash bag after trash bag and this morning I finally declared it done. All the ivy under the rhododendrons? Gone. All that ivy chocking the tiny azalea bushes? Gone.
Then I bought some more flowers to fill a planter. And what did I use to trail down the sides? Variegated ivy, that's what.
Oh, the irony.

Exposed plumbing - a trendy new look?

We are now a week passed the "absolutely has to be finished by" deadline and we still have this charming hole in the laundry room and its mate, the lovely new wastepipe in the downstairs bathroom.



Still no word from our lovely handyman on his poor knee so no chance of repairs to the drywall, or tiles for that matter but apparently we will have an installed vanity in the bathroom by Tuesday morning. Then, if I'm smartish, we may get the bathroom plumbed before we leave for a week of music and mayhem in Tennessee at the end of next week.
May. Might. With a lot of luck.

Peonies

I have been suffering from peony envy for about five weeks. My neighbour's front yard has the most beautiful, large, continuously flowering peonies. They start early, in the beginning of May and are still blooming now.
Mine, on the other hand have taken all this time to reach flowering stage. I put this down to the fact that these are ones I transplanted from the shady rear yard, where I never ever saw them bloom. This year, though, I noticed big buds on them and I've been anxiously waiting to see what colour they would be.
They turned out to be a glorious shade of cream with a pink center and a pink tinge to the outer petals. But the strange thing is that this year more peonies sprung up in the back garden. I obviously didn't transplant them all, although where they've been for the last two years is a mystery.

pink peony
Originally uploaded by modernemama

A bigger mystery is why these peonies are a dusky pink.
Any thoughts?

Revenge of The Cool House

back door
Originally uploaded by modernemama

It is a truism in house renovation: fix one problem and another is thrown your way.

In this case not many hours after I was dancing a jig of glee at having replaced the decades old laundry appliances Steven walked past the back hall and bang went the pane of glass in the door.

Apart from the damage to his nerves nobody was hurt but we can't work out what happened. The dogs were in the other part of the house, no birds have flown into the door, it just cracked across blowing a huge hole out of the middle. Of course it was 8 pm so apart from a temporary keep the elements out job with duct tape, cardboard and contractor bags on the outside there wasn't much we could do.

I'm waiting for the glazier to open at 10 am to find out what the damage will be to replace the door light with tempered glass. Until then it's kind of dark down this end of the house.

What's small and cute and sounds like a jet?

new laundry appliances
Originally uploaded by modernemama

A Bosch Axxis washing machine, that's what.
They arrived at lunchtime and they have already done one load of washing. It came out of the washer practically dry, and CLEAN too. So nice. I'd forgotten, though, what 1200 RPM sounds like, it whirrs and whines like a jet taking off. And it has more controls than the average airplane, and I'm sure the only one I'll ever use is standard wash. This model also beeps when it starts and when it finishes and possibly if something goes wrong too (I'm hoping not to find out).
Weirdly enough although the dryer is an American model the washer comes from Canada and speaks both English and French. Chouette. Did they run out of American Axxis washers, do you think?
The installers were nice enough to wait after they'd hauled out then old machines so I could attempt to clean yards of fabric softener off the floor. That stuff is just nasty: a gooey, black mess that I had to scrape off before I could give it a quick go over with the mop. I haven't used the stuff in my washing in a decade so I can honestly say that it wasn't my muck under there.
OK, I'm going to do another load of washing now, yippee. This is just the boost I needed to get me to tackle another project, I can't wait until I can put the wall cabinets up and get back to having a usable laundry.

Goodbye old friends

Old washer and dryer
Originally uploaded by modernemama

It's time to say goodbye to the old washer and dryer.They have laundered their last load. Tomorrow I will have new efficient, more environmentally friendly models that'll take up less space, too. I am so excited.

The other tax season

pink rhododendron
Originally uploaded by modernemama

I had to go and pay the half-yearly property taxes today and as usual it was a totally painless experience (well apart from parting with an obscene amount of money, that always hurts). I still haven't got used to the difference in the Town of Huntington and the Town of Hades where we used to reside.
There I used to stand on line for hours because there were never more than two people serving at any one time and the officials always had something better to do (order lunch, partake of free donuts, count the trolls on their desk) than serve the people who elected them. And when I finally handed over my check I was usually greeted with a snarl for my pains.
Here I have never queued, there are plenty of staff to serve you and they are polite and smiling. It just makes tax paying more efficient and pleasant. I think it must be something to do with this Town. I had to renew my driving license in person last month. When I did that in the other town it took four hours. Here I was in and out in 10 minutes and I had fun too. A fun time at the DMV? Maybe I'm living in an alternative universe.

Cleaning and waiting

White Rhododendron
Originally uploaded by modernemama

We now have a moss-free brick path and patio at the rear of the house.The magic algae removing formula was: a bucket of extremely hot water, Palmolive dishwashing soap and baking soda mixed with a healthy dose of Clorox Garden bleach. Pour it on, let it sit, scrub it in, then keep adding more hot water and scrubbing until the red brick emerges. Finish off by hosing it down with cold. It would be easier to cut back all the greenery but not half as pretty so we'll be going through this performance again when it gets humid.
If you look out from the downstairs bath window towards the newly clean brick path this is what you see, a 6' rhododendron that starts to blossom with the palest pink buds and opens to this bright white. Gorgeous.
If only the bathroom were that pretty. It's past Memorial Day and we still have no floating vanity, no sink, no faucet and no tiles. I did get the maple toilet seat for the new Toto but obviously we don't have the Toto yet either. Hey ho.

What could possibly go wrong?

White Rhododendron
Originally uploaded by modernemama

I asked myself at the start of this long weekend. These were the outside chores we had to complete:
1) Get moss off patios and paths
2) Control Carpenter Bees
3) Weed borders
4) Bring out and wash garden furniture
5) Wash windows
And after the purchase of the new washer/dryer we added
6) Paint the laundry room
Not an impossibly long or complicated list, is it?
By the end of yesterday afternoon we were congratulating ourselves, numbers 1-4 had been done and we 'd planted the rest of the pots with flowers and herbs and even added some annuals along the brick path.
We were so ahead of things Steven thought he'd nip to the Mall for a couple of items, get back, wash the windows at the back of the house (he'd already done the others) and then see to the laundry. But before he went he decided to skim the pool.
He'd dressed for the Mall so he was smart, even wearing his new brown loafers. And he was just about finished when...
I didn't see what happened because I'd turned round to talk to the dog but I heard the splash. He'd lost his footing and fallen into the shallow end of the pool, catching his knee on the side on the way in. He emerged dripping, blood pouring from a scraped knuckle but impressively he was still wearing his glasses. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me so you'll have to imagine the scene, but apart from a sore knee, a couple of scrapes and the skinned knuckle he's fine. But he won't be tackling the laundry this week.

Addendum: I almost forgot the irony of the situation. One of the things Steve did yesterday that wasn't even on the list, was to re-lay the brick path where the roots had pushed up a couple of bricks. He did an excellent job, and all to prevent us from tripping and damaging ourselves!

Carpenter bee control

carpenter bee control
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Saturday was spent cleaning up the yard.
Steve devoted the morning to scrubbing the brick patio and the afternoon to powerwashing it. Normally I hit it hard with the powerwasher but as it proved impossible to wield the high pressure hose while balancing on one foot using a cane to avoid falling over, Steven had to take over.
By late afternoon the moss was still clinging to the bricks and a green sheen was in evidence. We've tried a solution of bleach, baking soda, Dawn and hot water but nothing seems to be shifting the green stuff this year. He had to abandon that chore eventually for the more pressing bee control project.
I honestly thought that when we had the house stained and all the bee holes filled that would be the end of our carpenter bee problem. Not so. Every year they come back, find another spot and start drilling. This year they've favoured over the kitchen window and the dining room overhang. Steve got a baker's dozen this time and went off to shower the insecticide away. When he was clearing up for the night he was buzzed by a huge bee that flew into a hole he hadn't noticed, not in the redwood siding but on the underside of the new Marvin window in the boy's bath. Grr.
We'll be back tomorrow, carpenter bee, with spray, wood and paint, so you'd do well to leave now while you get the chance.

Estate rhododendron

Estate rhododendron
Originally uploaded by modernemama

One of the original rhododendrons on the front drive, this purple beauty is Steven's favourite.
Here's a close-up

Saturday's rhododendron

pinky purple rhododendron
Originally uploaded by modernemama

By the kitchen patio. Steven is scrubbing the algae off the back patio and I'm taking photos. An equitable division of labour I think.

Red rhododendron

This one is outside the dining room window. I'm posting it now because it's forecast to be 90F today followed by thunderstorms so I don't know how long they will last.
Here's a shot of the purple azaleas outside another dining room window. They are all just about over.



And here's what we used to see outside that window.



We call that progress.

Pretty or ugly?

Am I the only person who thinks this Kohler Finial wall-mounted faucet looks as if it's clinging onto the wall like an actor in a B movie pretending to hang on to the side of a mountain. You know that really he's stretched out on the floor faking that white knuckle business.
Maybe it's just that the sleek grey tiles in the photo seem at odds with the ornate handles on this model, maybe it's the detailing on the mount but it seems oddly disproportionate. It doesn't look as though it was designed to fit the space, just that it was stuck on its side and I'm expecting it to slide off any moment.
However, if it rocks your boat it's available with white handles too.

We're very proud of ourselves

It's been an entire year since we first looked into replacing our 30 year old dryer and 26 year old top-loader with energy saving models that actually get clothes clean. We know it's been that long because the local appliance store had its annual sale last night and it was at the last one that we nearly had a stand up fight in the kitchen department about the amount of space needed to accommodate a front loading washing machine.
This time we had had it with the old appliances. I was fed up standing ankle deep in water every time I wanted to load the dryer (a slight exaggeration, but only very slight) and Steven was mad that every t-shirt had to be washed at least twice to get stains out. The final straw was having to dry every load twice because the tumble dryer was acting up.
Now the procrastination is over, finally we have made a decision and stuck to it long enough to place the order and hand over the credit card. This is a major achievement for us and we were so pleased with ourselves we celebrated with cocktails at our favorite Huntington Bar.
Of course it would be better to wait to do anything in the laundry room until the handyman has been back to repair the wall we cut a chunk out of, and optimally we would have torn up the floor, re-jigged the plumbing and put in new cabinets before we purchased new appliances but that won't be happening this side of summer so before the Bosch machines arrive next Thursday we have to remove the old appliances, paint the damaged walls with oil-based primer, paint all the walls with a cheery colour (that we haven't chosen yet) and put up the shelves. We have a four day holiday to achieve this, plus three extra evenings. What could possibly go wrong?

Another house related injury

polly, sadie and jefke
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

These three innocent animals are not the reason for the sprained foot. Rather it was a combination of clumsiness, I reached for the toy to the left of Polly and tripped, a 70s design flaw: the raised step into the den, which I failed to clear when reaching for the dog toy, and procrastination: we didn't take the platform out when we thought about it on New Year's Day.
Whatever possessed the original owner to divide the den by a four inch high platform, laid on the diagonal no less, I cannot fathom. A couple of days after we moved in Steven tripped over it carrying a full espresso, this was the evening after we had had the carpets steam cleaned so they were white at that point....
Since then the big dog Sadie has tripped up it and the little dog Polly has fallen off it while asleep. I feel I have to yell "mind the step" to guests and workmen who are new to the house. In short it's not only an eyesore, it's dysfunctional too. And as soon as I can bend the foot again I'm getting down there and taking the platform out.
PS The name of the toy I was reaching for? We affectionately call it Bear Corpse.

My Dyson sucks

and this is a good thing.
For the last month or so, it's been blowing more stuff out of its bottom than it's been sucking up. The only way to get anything vacuumed recently has been to go over lots of animal hair (not a difficult thing in this house) so that a nice dam formed inside the hose that stopped the dust, pollen and small debris from shooting right out again. One day I got so frustrated I checked under the machine and found a huge tear in the short hose which I repaired with duct tape. That lasted a little while but eventually I had to cave and order a new part. I just wished I'd noticed it last year when I had to order a long hose. C'est la vie.
Yesterday I received a new short hose and decided to clean the filters and brushes before I fitted it. I can truly say that the six months of bathroom and laundry construction was reflected in the gunge that I took out of it. I felt bad about the number of times we had used the Dyson instead of a shopvac to clean up after ourselves.
This morning I vacuumed all the carpets and removed acres of dog hair and other detritus and while housework is about my least favourite activity, it felt really good to have a clean house once again.

White Azalea

white azalea
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

The whole of one bed is taken up by this white azalea. It is actually several azaleas that have grown together over the years. Every May, for a week or so, it blossoms like this.
Spectacular.

May flowers

pink rhodo
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

As absolutely nothing is happening in the house at the moment I thought I'd treat you to a few photos of the yard. It's looking particularly lovely this year, a lot of the plants I put in last back end are flowering now and the hostas I split and replanted are getting established. Considering that when we moved in we thought that apart from some serious pruning we wouldn't need to do anything to the garden, we seem to have spent an awful lot of time and money on it. But never mind, neighbours out walking stop and comment on the improvement to the landscaping, so I guess we must be doing something right.

Worse news

Just when I was congratulating myself on two bathrooms completed and one sure to be done before Memorial Day, I got some bad news form my handyman. He fell and blew out his knee at the weekend. It's too soon to know what the extent of the damage is and what the treatment would be, typically he seemed less concerned about the obvious pain he was in and more about letting down his clients. He was only joking the other day about this house needing a full-time handyman.
I'm really thankful he got here on Friday and put up the hardware. Everything else is non-urgent and can wait until after summer if necessary. He did say that if it wasn't too bad he could perhaps hobble over one day next week and do the things he wouldn't have to kneel down for. That's great service but I'd rather he was 100% fit before he tackled anymore projects, but he's the sort of guy who loves to be busy.

Plant, prune, weed, water, snap

That pretty much sums up Mothers' Day for me. The herbs: chives, basil, coriander and oregano went into a terracotta planter. I put a sweet bay bush next to the sage in front of the kitchen window and I will get another rosemary bush soon. The planter above is new too; I try to put something totally different in there each year. Last year it was an everlasting hydrangea that's now under the den window. This year it's this spiky dracaena with sweet potato vines and variegated ivy.
In the afternoon I whiled away an hour under-pruning the large rhododendrons and nipping the dead bits of the azaleas, which took a beating from the winter weather this year. The warm January forced new growth while the brutal February and March blasted the leaves causing them to turn brown and wither. We seem to have completely lost one rhododendron out back and half the others are badly damaged. That seems to be true of most of the rhodos on Long Island this year.
I also spent an hour or so trying to eradicate the Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) before it gets a hold. I don't want to use Roundup so I'm trying to pull it out but I think I'm fighting a losing battle.
Then it was time to water all the plants that get missed by the sprinkler system and take a few photos of my handiwork.

Getting ready for the summer

Spring 2007 pool opening
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

We tried to get as many chores done as possible on Saturday. These included: cleaning out the pond, power washing the patios, checking the filters on the pool, killing the carpenter bees that are eating the redwood above verity's bedroom window, putting out the garden furniture and planting annuals in the tubs.
We got off to a flying start when Jerry the pool guy turned up unexpectedly to check on the work his guys had done opening the pool earlier in the week. I mentioned the problem we have had filling the pool (it was pumping out faster than we could fill it) and he was able to tighten things around the pump so that it filled in an hour. That was one job off the list.
Then we decided to divide the workload. I went to procure provisions and plants while Steven power washed the brick patio. I came back a couple of hours later with a baguette, prosciutto, mozzarella and peppers. I'd also identified the plants I wanted but I couldn't lift them into Steven's car, which was now full of shopping and dry cleaning.
Steven had productively spent the time cleaning out the pond rather than washing the green stuff off the bricks, so that we could have lunch outside with the water flowing under the bridge. And it was very relaxing sitting outside with a bottle of wine and the NY Times. So relaxing in fact that we didn't get anymore chores done that day. Oh well, there's always next weekend. Sometimes you just have to stop and drink it all in.

Good news, bad news, and a mystery.

The good news is that it rained really badly this morning so the handyman couldn't work on his other, outside, job. Actually, that's probably not such good news for his other client but great news for me because last night he phoned to say I would have to wait for another 10 days to get the hardware installed and this morning he decided he's rather be dry working on my baths.
He installed the Motiv towel bar, robe hook and toilet roll holder in the boys' bath. That means we can officially call that bathroom the winner in the first to be finished stakes as the girls' bath still needs a piece of trim and he didn't have the correct saw to do that today.
Then he filled a hole in the back door lintel that had rotted away and patched the ceiling in the downstairs bath. It was when he moved on to patch the wall in the laundry room that we realised we had a problem. The wall was more than stained, it was damp if not actually wet. After staring at it for a while and running upstairs to see if we could see a cause we decided the best option was to cut a hole and try and discover the source. I was imagining water pouring through the walls when he opened it but behind was bone dry. Huh.
There is a wastepipe there but it doesn't appear to be damaged: it's not green or damp, there are no beads of humidity anywhere but the sheetrock had just about dissolved and was definitely goopy to the touch. So we are leaving the nice hole in the wall until he can get back to us again (the week before Memorial Day, he promises) and I'll run the toilets, showers, baths and sinks upstairs to see if anything causes a leak. Otherwise when he shows up next time, he'll put in a piece of sheetrock and we'll pretend the whole thing never happened.

Bunny murderer

Jefke
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Jefke looks so sweet and innocent this morning, but yesterday evening he was anything but.
I'd just come inside from watering the herbs I'd planted: coriander, oregano, basil and chives, when Polly the dog started her carzy bark. This is different from the "there's someone at the door" or "come and see, someone is jogging past the house". This bark means she is distressed, usually because the cats are play-fighting or a child is crying.
I looked out across the lawn to see what the problem was and there was Jefke carrying a baby bunny by the back of its neck, just like a mother cat carries a kitten. Then he set the rabbit down and it scampered away, only to be chased down and caught by the relentless Jefke.
I know I should have left it alone but Polly was so upset I thought I could get Jefke back in the house and give the bunny time to get away. I tried calling the cat but he just looked at me as if to say "Can't you see I'm busy here?". So I grabbed the hosepipe and turned it on just behind him.
Jefke let go off the rabbit, the bunny hopped off, rapidly pursued by the cat and me until I got halfway across the lawn and realised my neighbour was outside watering his lawn and watching this performance. At that moment the rabbit shot into the neighbour's garage, followed by the cat and my lawn sprinklers came on, soaking me from head to toe.
I have no idea what happened to the rabbit but I gave it up and went home to dry off. Jefke turned up a couple of hours later sans bunny and as of yet my neighbor hasn't mentioned any corpses under his car.

Girls' Bath done, tick

new vanity in use
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

One more thing ticked off the "To Do" list. The Kohler Stillness faucet was installed this morning. I cannot tell you how much this faucet sucks in comparison to the Grohe Tenso in the boys' bath.
First there's the weight issue. You pick up the Grohe and it weighs a ton, it feels substantial. The Kohler feels lightweight, like it would buckle if you squeezed the faucet really hard. Then there's the finish. We went with the Kohler because we needed a brushed nickel finish to match the other fixtures (lights, hardware) in this bath. But the finish feels cheap, I think it'll chip if I breathe too heavily on it. The Grohe is smooth and I'm sure will resist every bang and knock for years to come.
Then there's the design issue. The Tenso is simplicity itself: push back, turn, push forward - each movement is straightforward , smooth and seamless. The Stillness faucet is rough, hard-edged and the pop-up drain is resting on the spout so it is impossible for anyone with limited mobility (or small children) to pull up the rod that controls the drain cover. I'm sure it will scratch the back of the spout too, but you won't be able to see that.
If we had purchased these faucets in chrome, they would have been the same price, but the quality? World's apart. That said, the Stillness is a pretty faucet and, as I knew I would, I made the plumber happy by choosing Kohler. After all that's what he has in his house.

Teardown

new house
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

This is the new house being built further down the road, close to Nathan Hale Beach. This time last year there was an ordinary 1970s cedar clad detached home here with a definite beach feel to it - blue-grey clapboards, deck overlooking the pond and waterfront, picture windows to take advantage of the view.

Then we heard it had been sold and the new owners wanted to bump it out a little. Turns out the "bump" was more like total demolition. For a few months we had an uninterrupted view from Vineyard to Lloyd Neck when we walked the dogs. Then the big plant arrived and dug the foundations and the view disappeared under a wall of earth. Now framing is underway and we are waiting to see what the new house will look like.

Although it hasn't happened as much as in neighbouring villages I guess we will see more houses bought for their land value, torn down and replaced with larger newer models. I only hope they don't all look like post-modern "Victorian" McMansions. I like a little individuality in architecture, especially when it references the surrounding landscape.

Girls' Bath Vanity

vanity with ivory coast
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Well one big improvement today. The Silestone Ivory Coast vanity top arrived with the Toto basin, all in one piece. That means we are one step further to another fully functioning bathroom. we still need to get the faucet in and hooked up and there is a piece of trim that has to go back on the right hand side of the vanity to hide the tile edge but we are almost there. And the good news is that the colour of the countertop (difficult to tell in this photo!) is the same as the sample from e-counters.com, so I'm very happy.

Vanity countertop #2

The furniture maker had pre-selected another quartz sample for me, it's pretty close to the Caesarstone Copper Canyon: Camarthen Brown by Cambria but they don't have any in stock and it might take three weeks to get a piece unless they can find an offcut from somewhere. Choice #3 would be Silestone Mahogany, which is a little too terracotta or Kona Beige, which would mean going in a totally different direction. I've ordered the Cambria and asked them to rush it. Fingers crossed.
And on another tack, the landscaper informs me I have a break on the sprinkler line just where he's planting. That's the sprinkler line the guys fixed two weeks ago. It seems like everything that could go wrong is going wrong this week. I don't think I'm going to answer the phone or pick up anymore emails today because I can't cope with any more bad news at the moment.

New border and shower base

new border

We weren't the only ones working hard this weekend. The landscaper came with vibernum, hostas and day lilies to beautify the entrance to the cul-de-sac. Then he edged the bed with 2' rocks and mulched the yard thoroughly, it already looks great and it smells wonderful. I love the smell of mulch. It's a huge improvement on the overgrown ivy bed that was here before.

old border
I did some spring pruning of the deadwood on the hydrangeas, and moved 10 buckets of river rock to make a dry river bed in the dell, while Steven pumped out the water on the pool cover ready to open it this week. We also got the teak base for the boys' bath .

Copper Canyon Shortage

Copper Canyon
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

Apparently there has been a run on this particular Caesarstone in New york and the 3/4" is unavailable. I got a message on the answerphone to that effect on Friday. This is the top for the floating vanity that will go in the downstairs bath, As I had picked the mosaic tiles to match I am a little tigged, especially as they were supposed to install the vanity today.
I have a choice: go with 1.1/4" or choose something else. The deeper top will make the vessel sink too high, so I guess I'm off to choose something else. Rats.