Great driving weather

It was a sight that perfectly expressed the unusual weather we're having on Long Island - temperatures in the high 80s again today: A woman driving a white Rolls Royce convertible, wearing a cowboy hat. So weird, and yet so right.

blogger v2 + 3 columns=1 big headache

I spent all yesterday afternoon on a new template for this site using the blogger page upgrade and a three column css design. It looked horrible at first, then gradually better. But then I tried to put in my old add-ons that were mainly written in html and javascript and I could only get half of them to work. So I've shelved it for now and started back on xml, I code I gave up on four years ago as too much grief for a blog. Ha, shoulda kept on it.

If my headache goes away and I manage to solve my issues you might see an updated Cool House website. Or you may see a crappy half-assed version while I'm working on it. Either way, I apologise in advance.

Otherwise, you'll have to put up with the old-fashioned Blogger version 1 with its limiting two column layout until blogger gets round to doing the work for me.

Crickets

Crickets
Originally uploaded by modernemama

I found this laid neatly on the step outside the kitchen door. A large cricket - perhaps three inches long.
I don't know what killed it or how it got there but perhaps these two have something to do with it? They look much too innocent, though.

I was wrong - the magic continues

I have no problem admitting that I was mistaken about the cause of the scary light syndrome in the den. No one went near the garage, or the remote controlled door openers yesterday evening and still the lights came on.
First the built-in lights came on at 7 PM, then the chandelier came on at 9:56 PM. Then I went to bed, leaving them on. They could burn themselves out for all I cared at that point.
But magically at 12:20 AM when Steven turned the outside lights off, all the den lights went off, too.
Now that leads me to believe that there is some complicated light sensitive stuff going on here that is controlled by the outside light switch. But it must also be timer controlled because I've tried turning the outside lights off before, many, many, many times.
The outdoor lights aren't on a timer (at least we've never discovered one) nor are they on a light sensor (although I've often thought they should be). So WHY?
Why is this happening and what can we do to turn this into a plus? Lights that go on and off when we're not home - that's an anti-burglar system.
And if we can't do that, at least tell us how to make this stop. For good.

Nothing funny going on here

dooce isn't the only one whose dog is a photogenic power puppy.
This is Polly, otherwise known as itchydog, and I have no idea when it was taken as I was sent it in an email by Verity.



I couldn't ever get Polly to sit still long enough to take a decent photo, never mind dress her up with a shuttlecock.

Beach House in Fall (Autumn)

Beach House is featured on Houseblogs.net this week as part of an article on house blogs in autumn. They used the photo from my profile but somehow it looks much bigger and brighter on someone else's webpage. I'm very honoured.
I wonder though, if I'd just used the tag "fall" would I have made the cut?

La, la, la

den_chandelier
Originally uploaded by modernemama

That's my attempt at denial.
That's what I did last night when we were watching the 8 pm repeat of The Daily Show and this chandelier came on. On its own. With no human help. We have gremlins. I don't care. I am ignoring it. Steven will take care of it via the control panel in the basement.
I have decided (I, too, am the decider) that the problem is related to the remote controlled garage door opener. So I have decreed (I am also the decreer) that this evening Steven will park outside the garage and walk to the front door. we will then wait for the lights in the den to play their crazy game.
If they come on unaided, I was wrong (unlikely, but always a possibility) and we must seek another solution. If they don't, we have solved the mystery, which will give us a great deal of satisfaction but won't help us sleep any easy because WE STILL WON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX IT.

Cobwebs

Normally we'd have to pay real money to get this effect on the shrubs but this year we have great Hallowe'en cobwebs - all natural, too.

Light... and water

Steven thinks he has cleansed the den of its random lighting curse. Yesterday morning he managed to turn on all the lights in that room and turn them off again. Wanting to demonstrate his newfound electricity controlling skill, he turned them on again in the evening but, of course, nothing happened. He went off to bed mumbling about lighting and x10 and a few minutes later all the lights magically came on. But this time, I was able to turn them off at the switch. A delay, sure - but it beats running down to the basement to turn them off. Success.
The payback came around 3 AM. A loud CLUNK, followed by a whirring sound from the basement that woke both of us up. It was the sprinklers, which are programmed to come on at 10 AM because they make so much noise, but had obviously been seriously set off course by us having to turn off the electricity every other evening. I've switched them off for good now, we should be ok without them at this point in the year.
Hopefully that's an end to our lighting problems but I'm waiting to get through this evening with no lighting issues before I declare this chapter of "the house is trying to kill us" closed.

Way beyond funny

This happened again last night. 7:30 just before Steven came home.
For anyone counting, that's once every other evening this week. Twice with these lights, including one time with the chandelier doing a "now I'm on, now I'm off thing" as well, and once with these lights. Each time we have to turn off the electricity at the panel to switch these lights off.
Now, is it just coincidence that this has happened twice just as Steven was arriving home? And it happened once while I was out. Could it be connected in some way to the garage openers? But we use them continually during the day so why just in the evening? Could it be connected to some ancient x10 automatic security light on a timer? But why has it just started this week? And why every other night? And why won't the lights turn on and off at the switches?
Am I obsessing about this? Am I crazy yet? How much more can I take?

It's p p p PINK!

Ha! After getting rid of the 1968 pink and avocado green vanity in the girls' bath, I now discover that pink is in again. At least that's what Trendir tells me.


Here, in all its lipstick pink glory is the Trend Vanity from Novello. Does anyone else think it is the ugliest vanity ever? I can't imagine anyone installing one in their bath, but if they did I'm pretty sure that it would be ripped out by the next owner. Unless the next owner was Barbie.
Although it would go with the huge sectional in our living room, this is certainly not a trend I'm going to follow.

Weird lighting issues

den built-ins
Originally uploaded by modernemama

This is starting to freak me out - big time. This evening I went to have a sundowner at the beach and watch the sun set. I left at about 6:30 and although it was too hazy for a proper sunset there was a true harvest moon to make up for it.

When I got home, though, I was greeted by this in the den, The lights over the built-ins had come on. Not the bar lights that scared me on Monday , but the ones on a different switch.
I didn't put them on, in fact I haven't touched any of the switches in the den except the table lamps since Monday night because I was afraid I'd have to go to the basement again and turn the entire house off and on, which means I have to rest the airport and the TV cable has to reset itself. A hassle.

So, WHAT IS GOING ON? Help, somebody, and quickly, please.


UPDATE 9:12 PM
The chandelier over the coffee table in the den (you can see it in the photo between the built-ins) came on and five minutes later went off again. Is this some new random motion sensor thing? Again, HELP...........

Still more sedums

Sedum sieboldii
Originally uploaded by modernemama

This is Sedum sieboldii, which I planted in full sun on the rock bed by the bridge. There isn't much soil there, so hopefully it will thrive.

Messing with my mind

drinks cabinet
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Yesterday evening sitting in the den around 6:45. I'd just prepared an authentic Spanish dinner (Imperial potatoes, slow-roasted pork, spicy tomato sauce and peas, if you must know) and I'm waiting for Steven to come in when the lights in the drinks cabinet come on. On their own.
Spooky. I mean I'm just sitting there and the next thing everything is illuminated.
I've mentioned this problem before but that's only happened when I've tried to turn it on or off recently. I swear no-one had touched that light switch all day, and probably not since the photographer came from Newsday two weeks ago.
I tried to turn it off - no luck. I tried to turn the other lights on that switch on - nothing. Steven came home and he tried. At 10 PM we were ready to go to bed and the damn light was still burning. There was only one thing for it. We went to the control panel in the basement and turned the whole house off and then back on. And it worked. Every other light came back on, the cabinet lights stayed off.
Now the only thing I can think of, is that we have 1970s x10 wiring on the switches in the den, our bedroom and various other places in the house. We don't know exactly where and what they do because we haven't got the remote control panel. Maybe somehow the x10 got screwed up. Once again we wouldn't know how.
The question is: What can we do about it? I'm not calling an electrician because the last one looked at the wiring, turned white and then green and said he didn't understand it! Is there anything we can do to solve this mystery before I go out of my mind or we burn the house down?

Conspiracy Theory

Is there a conspiracy to deprive me of a full night's sleep?
Last night I'd just dozed off when Steven (who'd stayed up to get the cats in) came and woke me up. As usual he didn't just tell me what the problem was. He likes to work every last nerve by increasing the tension and anxiety level.
"Can you come to the kitchen?"
"Why, what's there?"
"Just come to the kitchen"
"But I'm asleep"
"No you're talking, so you're awake, so please come to the kitchen".
Now, you'd think after all these years I'd have learnt to JUST SAY NO, but I always fall for it.
I could hear the beeping on the balcony.
"Is that it, that's what you wanted me to hear?"
"Just come into the kitchen"
"It's a cicada"
"In the kitchen?"
By this time I was through the kitchen door and I switched on the lights and pointed to the alarm system.
"Stand on a chair and take the battery out of the motion sensor" You can see that I'm not at my politest when I think I've been woken up on a fool's errand.
Steven takes the chair and moves over to the wall ovens.
"It's coming from in there"
"Well open the cabinet then"
"I'm not going in there"
"Well I'm not standing on a chair". I opened the oven but there was nothing inside and the beeping continued.
Then Steven jumped on the chair, unscrewed the overhead halogen light bulb directly above the wall oven and the beeping stopped.
Then he screwed it back in. Nothing. He put the chair back, I turned off the lights and we went to bed.
He went to straight to sleep and I spent the night alternately fuming that he couldn't have sorted that little problem out without my help and wondering what caused the noise, and why unscrewing a light bulb fixed it.

Sedum repestre "Angelina"

Sedum repestre "Angelina"
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Sedum Sunday.

What goes "hmm...errr" all through the night?

No not my better half snoring.
It sounded like a nail gun compressor, or the power-washer when you've switched it off but haven't unplugged it. Hmm...errr. It started about 2 AM and continued at five minute intervals. I got up and checked the dryer: Off. And the pond pump: Off. And the oil burner: Definitely off. I thought it might possibly be the neighbour's airco unit. It was odd and irritating and disturbed my sleep all night long. This morning I discovered that every time the Hmm...errr occurred the lights flickered. Obviously it was our problem and I was going to have to track it down.



The one thing I didn't think of was the pool pump because I noticed it was off on Monday. It was completely still out there, and as no-one is brave enough to get into the unheated pool now, I thought I'd just leave it off until the guys come and close it up for the winter.
Well, guess what? Having exhausted all other possibilities, we checked the pump and the electrical unit was still on although the pump wasn't functioning. We turned the timer off and voila, silence. So I'm pretty sure that means we'll need a new part or pump or whole freakin' electrical unit next Spring.
Ho, hum, errr......

Sedum "Autumn Joy"

Sedum "Autumn Joy"
Originally uploaded by modernemama

A gratuitous photo of a bee on the sedum.

Late summer border

Late summer border
Originally uploaded by modernemama

The last couple of days of summer have seen the temperatures in the 80s and the sedums are a-buzz with yellow jackets and bees. The border I planted in late 2005 has filled in nicely now and pinks and greys play off the granite wall and slate path beautifully. I'm really pleased how this turned out, especially as I bought all the new plants at the end of the season, and at least 50% off. Not as good as free but every little helps.

It had to happen

Really it was only a matter of time before the toilet in the master bath executed its revenge. Probably because I called it "flimsy" in a previous post. Although it could simply have been jealous that the other toilets have either been replaced this year or were given a serious overhaul in 2006.
The saga went something like this.... I went to bed one night and when I got up 8 hours later I realised the loo was still flushing. I took the lid off, jiggled the float and it stopped and then I flushed it again for good measure. That seemed to have cured it so I didn't give it another thought until....... a week or so later I used the toilet, left the bathroom, went out for the day and returned that evening to find the thing STILL FLUSHING. Once again I applied the temporary "massaging the float" fix and it stopped. But rather than chance it going off again, I started running to the other side of the house every time nature called and this rapidly got old. I mentioned it a couple of times to Steven but he didn't give a high priority on the to do list. Until Sunday morning that is, when running down the corridor in the dark to get to another WC, I collided with the dog and tripped over a cat. That's when he reckoned five minutes spent with his hand in freezing water was going to be easier than listening to me curse under my breath all day. And five minutes was all it took him to tighten the nut with a pair of pliers. Problem solved.
And while he was there he fixed the wobbly toilet seat that he failed to fix twice before. My hero.