Amphibians Rule

Now that we're no longer using the pool nature has taken over...

Sometimes...

Ready for a little bit of Belgium? Come on, you know you are. It's a grainy video but the tune gets into your brain and before you know it you are singing
"Sometimes
We've got to sing this song
Sometimes
It takes us way too long
Sometimes
We've got to sing out of key"
Hooverphonic, 2002

My Good Deed

It was a good job I was home, and that I listened to the barking dogs instead of telling them to SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP. When I went out to see what all the commotion was about I found the oil guy just about to fill my tank.
What's wrong with that?
1) He wasn't my oil guy, he was one house away from his destination. He was new and unsurprisingly, he found the whole road name and numbering system confusing. It is but we do have house number all over the property now.
2) I had my tank filled last month.
What is the protocol when you get next door's oil delivered to your tank? Who sucks up that mistake? Just wondering....
File under: Incorporated Village, an alternate universe.

Beware Beauty

It was a few hours before the storm hit that the awesome designer called me over to see this handsome beauty hanging around the eaves


She had woven her web from overhang to overhang and trapped more than a few biting bugs in the process


Not far away another spider was patiently awaiting its prey. A reminder to us all to beware of beautiful, ruthless hunters - they have only their own interests at heart.

TV Table Hack

In an effort to ensure maximal viewing pleasure we executed a nifty TV table hack from a spare shelf in the corner unit and three legs left over from a previous hack.


The TV in the space before. A brilliant picture but a little low for us.


We used a redundant shelf that had just been resting on another shelf in the bookcase, three of the four spare desk legs we'd stored in the garage until we found a use for them and a few tools. As the shelf is the same laminate as the doors on the media center it isn't obtrusive.


Et voila, picture perfect. Time: 10 minutes. Cost: $0. Satisfaction: immeasurable.

Summer surprise

It's not been the best summer here on Long Island. It was too cold to swim in the pool on Memorial Day, too rainy on July 4th and and not warm enough for us on Labor Day either. Three summer holidays and not one swim party, that hasn't happened before. In fact we added it up and The Guy has only been in the pool seven times this season. I've done a little better but we just haven't used it as much as normal. Nor have we barbecued. Rain, hail, cold days, whatever. We look forward to summer all winter and then it's gone in a flash. This year it went in a flash of lightning and earth-moving crashes of thunder.
And yet, some things almost make up for it; like this annual impatiens from last summer that somehow managed to survive the winter (and my weeding and planting efforts in this corner of the yard). I walked out of the back door and saw this blossom amongst the dark glossy leaves of the holly. I guess it's protected back there and with luck, like the hibiscus on the other side of the yard, it will keep flowering until the first frost.

Playing Nice

Today's cute photo - Sadie and Cassis sharing a quiet moment.

Flat screen convert

We did it, we drank the Kool-Aid, followed the pack, joined the 21st century, whatever you want to call it - we bought a flat screen HDTV small enough to fit in the media center. In our fantasy world it looks something like this photo.
In the real world we don't sit staring at a blank screen so let me tell you this thing ROCKS. The sound is awesome, I can read the titles from across the room and the colors are so dynamic I sat and watched two movies back-to-back before I could get my open jaw to close. So this is what the digital revolution is all about.

Global warming?

Proof, if any were needed, that 2007-2008 has been a weird weather year on Long Island. This hibiscus, usually treated as an annual here, was in a pot last year but still blooming in November. I couldn't bear to just throw it out so I planted it on a southwest wall and ignored it. It did nothing except throw up some green leaves that got shredded in the various hailstorms we suffered in early August. This morning though something pretty caught my eye, three gorgeous pink tinged flowers on an otherwise scrappy plant.
I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Labor Day 2008

So this is where summer has been hiding.

Sadie the Stoic

We're having a quiet Labor Day weekend. Poor Sadie had another cyst removed on Friday, this time from her ear. Not that you can tell from this photo but she is back to her normal bounding self. She should also be wearing a cone (not a cone of silence, nor the cone of uncertainty but a regular old dog cone) but she looked so pathetic we just took it off. Polly would have scratched at the stitches until her ear fell off, but not Sadie the stoic. She knows that it would be foolish to touch the stitches, that it would hurt, so she will just suck it up as she always does. Brave puppy.

Fingerprint Design

Cutting edge technology takes designer Dan Yeffet's fingerprint and turns it into the Detail.MGX lamp. Originally offered in a limited edition of 30 large spheres, it's now available as a more affordable series of three mini pendant lamps. The lamps are produced using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), a 3-D printing technique that is becoming more widely seen in lighting, furniture and textile design. Detail.MGX will be one of the products on view at 100% Design in London next month.

Soko

OK, I tried to resist but this song is now firmly in my head. So I'm passing it on to you. Enjoy!

Siren

Words fail me, so go here for the story. I await your comments.

Inspired by James Bond

Gadgets and gimmicks ex-Formula 1 racing driver, Sir Stirling Moss, calls the super amazing, ahead-of-their-time features of his early 60s home in Mayfair, London. Need to relax? Sit in the den and access the TV behind the paneled wall. Hungry? Press a button and a table descends in front of you with dinner laid out. Want a relaxing bath? Another button fills your tub while you finish watching that TV programme. Too tired to climb the stairs? Step into the carbon-fiber elevator designed by the Williams racing team and be whisked to your destination. Super-efficient and super cool, too.

Pulverise It

When we were at the MoMA recently I professed interest in one of these and instantly I had two people fighting to buy it for me. Isn't that nice?
I'm usually a "smack a couple of cloves with the blade of a knife, then finely chop" girl but I loved the shape of this Garlic Crusher from Dutch designer Ineke Hans, and the weight, too. Seriously, this thing is heavy. Were you to drop it on your bare toe or bring it down upon the head of your loved one during the course of a disagreement over, for example, the best way boil pasta, you could inflict some major damage. Use with caution, that's all I'm saying.
Anyway, I've been cooking with garlic a lot this week, Spanish food, pasta with garlic and olive oil and Thai Prawn and Noodle Soup, and I've found this crusher much easier on the hands than the back of knife when dealing with 6-8 cloves of garlic at a time. Bash, peel, roll and voila pulverised garlic. And the handles, when rinsed, really do absorb the smell.
I hesitate to call something this simple and good-looking a gadget but it's proving very useful and I'm glad I made room in the kitchen drawer for it. $25 from The MoMA Store.

Iris

There are hundreds of species of Iris and they one of the most recognised garden plants. Not only beautiful but useful too, the dried rhizomes, orris root, are used in medicine, perfume, gin and as an ingredient in the Moroccan spice mix Ras el hanout.
Iris was the Greek Goddess of the rainbow and the iris comes in hues of blue and yellow, red and even white. The yellow flower is the symbol of Brussels, you see it everywhere there, on public transport, outside hospitals, they even held La fête de l'Iris at the start of May this year, while the fleur-de-lis was the symbol of the French monarchy until the Revolution put an end to that. And the government of Quebec has Iris Linné as its emblem.
These gorgeous blue Iris (Iris Germanica?) came from Trader Joe's on Long Island. They are The Guy's favorite flower, but we don't buy them often because they fade so fast. Luckily, we have this photo and a blog on which to post it, so enjoy!

New rules

A little snippet of conversation after the accident yesterday:
The Guy: I thought you were holding the ladder
Me: You told me to let go
The Guy: Oh, you should never do anything I say

New rules for The Cool House, nay for our whole relationship from now on:
I will ignore all instructions and advice that The Guy offers and he will DO EVERYTHING I SAY. The world will be a safer place this way, trust me.

What's Your Name?

For those who want to know a little more about me - like my real first name, check out One Project Closer today. You should go visit anyway because they have lots of helpful tips. I'm sure if they'd had one on ladder etiquette I wouldn't be bruised right now...

The Guy's Revenge

There have been a few comments - not on the blog - to the effect that The Guy is treated quite badly at The Cool House. His supporters say he's always gardening, or up a ladder or even banished to the roof but he never gets to do any of the cool stuff like mix cocktails or choose the music. Poor Guy. Well, fans of The Guy, today he got his revenge.
We were filling the carpenter bee holes when he had to adjust the 16' ladder, which he accidently let slip onto my head.
There's a reason you aren't supposed to walk beneath a ladder. Or stand under it for that matter. Posting will be resumed when my head stops hurting.

Modern Art or.....

What is it?


Maybe if we look at it from a different angle...


Hmmmm. Does anybody know?
The clue is it has something to do with staining the redwood siding. And that it's taken us a couple of weeks to put on a second coat....

Coming Out: the Carpenter Bee edition

Since I spotted this hole two weeks ago we've sprayed it and waited...


Day 1: Nothing to see here. Wait, what's that in the top left arc of the hole?


Day 3: That looks like a wing to me.


Day 5: And that looks like the shiny hard abdomen.


Day 7: Empty - the bee has flown, or died and dropped down inside somewhere.


Either way there's no sign of bee activity so we can caulk up the hole and maybe call an end to bee maintenance 2008.

It's Cocktail Time (again)

The quintessential British summer drink: Pimm's. There should be Borage but I can't find any on the Island so I'm making do with cucumbers. And they're not even proper English cucumbers but something called a Mediterranean cucumber. Looks like a pickle to me. This is some bastardized version of a beloved summer drink.


Why is Polly gazing down the garden path, you ask? She can see the road from there and she's hoping someone will come along to share the cocktail. I hope they're bringing food, too.


One non-authentic but nevertheless perfect* Pimm's
1 part Pimm's No.1
3 parts 7UP or Sprite
sliced cucumbers
sliced lemons
pared lemon peel to dangle over the rim of the glass in a fancy way (optional)

*I actually don't feel this is strong enough to qualify as a real cocktail so I add a measure of my new favourite gin, Miller's, which tastes more of cucumbers than even Hendricks, to each glass. Drink responsibly!

We're softening up

I seem to have been a little remiss in keeping you up to date with the master bedroom decoration. (You thought I was going to say master bath remodel, didn't you? Now, we're just not going to mention that, ok?)


Some weeks ago on that pillow buying spree at the Pottery Barn outlet out east I picked up a huge bargain and casually tossed it into the cart. It was a super soft 5' x 8' wool rug that we thought could go in our room. As it was 40% off $199 I thought it was too good to miss. And when we got it home and actually walked on it in bare feet, it felt so luxurious that I knew I was going to have to go back and get the larger size to go under the bed.


So last Saturday before the unfortunate lobster incident we stripped the soft top off Beach Car and headed back to Tanger Outlets to get it. Can you imagine my joy when I found out that the 10' x 8' was the same price as the smaller rug we had purchased three weeks before? No, the price hadn't been reduced. They were selling both sizes for the same amount. I don't know why. I don't question the sale gods, I just thank them.
Lovely, silky 100% wool rug that will keep my toes warm when I step out of bed this winter, I love you. And for only $120. Thank you very much, it's perfect.

Schmap for iPhone

I got an email this morning from the folks at Schmap to let me know their guides are now available for iPhone and iPod touch and my photos are included. I played around a lot with the online version and I'm totally in love with it. Schmap and iPhone - perfect synergy.
I'm glad I could play with it online because that's the nearest I'll get to actually possessing my own iPhone. After all what is the point of having a state of the art, intuitive, beautifully designed, expensive phone if you live in a VILLAGE WITH NO CELLPHONE SERVICE?

Art Glass

I'd never heard of New York based architectural glass designer Gariella Huseman until the Vintage and Modern email dropped into my inbox. That's unsurprising as her work is to the trade only, but she produces laminated glass coffee tables and mirrors that are as much works of art as functional pieces. Funky, modern square coffee table with multicolored swirls, $1800 via Vintage and Modern.

John Wesley Harding: Dirty Work

More than you ever wanted to know about Steely Dan - a band you either love or hate*, and I'm definitely with JWH on this one, I'm a true hater. Still, it's a great cover.
From the Stars in the Margins Show at The Zipper Theater in Manhattan on 8/11/08 that also featured Martha Plimpton, Rufus Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche amongst others. I missed the show but, happy, happy, joy, joy, I won tickets to the upcoming John Wesley Harding performance at Union Hall, Brooklyn on October 27. How cool is that?

*There are a bunch of mega-popular stadium-filling bands that I consider a complete waste of space. Of course they sell millions of records and have huge fame and wealth and I, em, don't. But that won't stop me telling the internets why I want to fall to the floor and pound it with my fists while screaming at the top of my lungs when I hear certain songs, will it? One day I'll do a post about them and you can hurl rotten eggs at me. Or perhaps you'll agree?

But is it lobster-proof?

The new MoMa Store catalog arrived and this Wooden Clutch from the MoMA Store caught my eye immediately. Made from curved hickory, it has a unique sculptural quality that makes me want to rush out and touch it, stroke it and make it it MINE. Unfortunately, it's currently on backorder, even worse it would cost $295 plus tax, and even with my member discount that's still more than I want to part with.
But the real question is: Can I go out dinner with it and not do it some terrible damage?
Last night we went to the south shore of Long Island to eat the lobster I was denied some weeks ago. It was a beautiful evening; the storms that had threatened never materialized so we were able to sit on the water and watch the sun set. This is a hands-on place - no bibs or water dishes - you just grab the seafood and tear it apart. We started with BYO wine, some shrimp and seaweed salad and then moved on to the main event - the much anticipated lobsters. I reached for mine, a 1 lb female, cracked the shell with both hands and showered myself in a delicious red spray of coral or lobster roe.
This was upsetting on two fronts. First, the coral is my favorite part and I didn't want to waste any and second, this stuff stains anything it touches bright orange. The sun was setting, so I figured it wouldn't be too noticeable, and I'd only shot myself, not my fellow diners, so I wiped up what I could, licked my fingers and continued eating.
After dinner we walked the boardwalk at Long Beach and went back to the Music Guy and Opera Diva's place for coffee and dessert. Under their kitchen lights the full glory of the damage I had wrought was revealed: shirt, shorts, skin - everything was orange tinged. Front and back. Don't ask how that was possible. But it was only when we got home that I saw the roe had made its way to my beloved lilac linen Birkin-style bag. Front, back, sides and even underneath, it was everywhere. A huge mess that proved beyond the capabilities of even Tide-To-Go. I've scrubbed it as well as I can and it may yet survive, but I think I will have to cover it in saran-wrap and don a rain slicker and a sou'wester myself before I tackle another lobster dinner.

E is for Excellence

I was very touched to be awarded an E for Excellent award from Ethan and Fred at One Project Closer. They kindly wrote I had challenged their artistic sides. It's funny that what started as a pure diary of the renovations on The Cool House has morphed into something much broader: a desire to share all that I find weird and wonderful, beautiful and unique, whether it's in my house or the neighborhood, across the globe or in cyberspace. I'm just pleased others find some of it interesting too.

This award requires that we show our appreciation by giving it to other EXCELLENT blogs, which is a challenge for me. I don't like to play favorites; it's like saying which of the kitties do you like best, it can't be done, coughCassiscough. All the blogs I read are excellent, I wouldn't bother otherwise, would I? Certainly all those to the left of this post are excellent and there are many more I read that are genius too, but in the interests of plying along here's a sample that you might like:

Simmer Till Done - the food, the recipes, the photos - culinary Nirvana.
House and Hound - dogs and decor, it's design with a canine twist
Charlie's Design Diary -the best Finland has to offer, art, design, textiles and architecture - not forgetting the landscape
Austin ModHouse - how to build a really cool mid-century modern inspired house. Just be awed right now. And did I mention it's near Austin? The music, the food, the margaritas, oh and reasonable weather; I want to relocate....
Renovation Therapy an obsession with Grey Gardens, chandeliers, chesterfields and cats
Scented Glossy Magazines - feeding my Bravo reality show obsession
Stupid and Contagious - music, stupidity, culture, sarcasm - this is the blog I'd write if The Cool House didn't take up all my free time

Modern History

This French Restoration bedroom circa 1823 looks so modern it would fit right into my house today. Part of House Proud: Nineteenth-Century Watercolor Interiors From the Thaw Collection, at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in Manhattan. The exhibition runs until January 25 2009.
via The New York Times

Hampton Designer Showhouse

The Hamptons season is drawing to a close but one of the coolest things to do if you're a lover of pricey real estate or interior design is visit the 2008 Hampton Designer Showhouse. This year it's also interesting for the eco-minded as it's a "green house". That seems to mean lots of grass cloth, shells and coral. I don't know how you harvest coral in an environmentally-friendly way, but I'm sure someone will enlighten me.
If you can't get there in person view the Newsday photo gallery and let me know what those tall white objects in the guest suite are (image #9) and whether Kevin Hart's headboard (image #6) reminds you of a headless animal skin. Or maybe I've just seen too many bear rugs at Sagamore Hill? Do pay special attention to image #31 - at least until you fall into a hypnotic trance.


Eco-chic comes at a price and the 11,000 sq feet Sagaponack, NY house is a very expensive home. Currently off the market, the house had been listed for $12,500,000 and even with a $1 million reduction that's over $1000 a square foot for a house on a comparatively small lot.
Tickets to view the Showhouse will set you back $30 and there's a whole heap of restrictions but proceeds benefit Southampton Hospital. Open daily through Aug. 31. Call 631-537-0455 for details.
Bonus video here.

Vacation in a Krisel Home

After blogging about William Krisel recently I really want to go to Palm Springs and tour some of his houses. Then serendipity strikes. It seems not only could I go look, but I can actually stay in one. This completely restored 1957 Alexander House can be rented by the night, week or month from owner Chris Menrad.
It seems there are plenty of other mid-century modern vacation homes out there if you know where to look. Time Magazine has selected a few, including Frank Sinatra's desert home from the Rat Pack days. I hear the happy sound of cocktails being poured right now.

After the Hail

After the hailstorm ended I ran out to see what the damage was. A lot of leaves and some branches down, quite a few more bees and assorted insects didn't make it and the hostas are torn and battered.


Like little diamond pearls, the hail and one deceased insect.


Taken yesterday at 10:30 AM, the hostas were at their finest - proud and shiny.


The same plant after the hail, amazingly the flower stalk is still intact but the leaves are shredded.

TLC

We had set aside the final two days of our home-ation for repairing the damage done to the redwood siding by our favorite wildlife: the carpenter bees and the woodpecker. In the end we found more live bees that we had to deal with, lots more holes to fill, sand and stain, and we ended up lavishing a whole lot of extra tender loving care on the house in between rain showers. The Guy did 90% of the work, including repairing the pond pump while I stained a little wood and took a few shots.

Maintenance round-up:


Ten dead carpenter bees (sorry but the damage they do to the siding is incredible)


Four working path lights on the walkway to the front door


Several holes on the overhang, filled and ready to be sanded


The frame around the kitchen door stained with Cabot Clearcoat Redwood


All accomplished without disturbing this spider (click for the full-glory version)


Of course even when you think you are done there's always something else. Just as we were packing up for the evening I bent down to pick up the drop cloth and I noticed this. Another bee hole. A miracle of bee engineering and a complete pain in the bee-hind. Grrr.

Hailstorm

Flowering Hibiscus and ice, August sure is turning out to be a beauty weather-wise.