Wake up call

Hermes managed to sneak in the bedroom and woke me up at 4 AM by peeing on me.
Seriously.
I am actively re-considering my position as a cat lover or at least a lover of highly-strung Colorpoint cats.
On the other hand this made me laugh.



Baseball bat or pee, what's your choice for an early morning wake-up call?

Sunday afternoon with the Roosevelts

A perfect fall afternoon - blue skies, a slight chill in the air and the trees just beginning to turn red and orange - was a great time to visit the summer home of President Teddy Roosevelt, Sagamore Hill. The house is always undergoing some form of maintenance and is well worth a visit (see someone else paint columns and replace a rotted verandah) but we chose just to walk through the grounds and kick up a few autumn leaves.

What downturn in the housing market?

Carol Polsky, the journalist who wrote the story on our house for Newsday has written another article on home renovation. But this time, we are talking extreme luxury. It seems that more people are discovering that one $100,000+ kitchen just isn't enough. There is a trend towards second kitchens in high-end homes - that's one for the family and one for the caterers! And guess which kitchen will have the more expensive cabinetry.
Check out the article here.

I'm Classical Trendy

I've fallen in love with a new kitchen and in the process defined my style. The modular Fiamma kitchen by GED Cucine has gorgeous, tactile walnut cabinetry designed to blur the boundaries of living and cooking areas, or as they put it
"System Kitchen, Fiamma leaves the limit of the kitchen to continue in the living-room, recovering a material of memory: the walnut in sepia-grey tone."
That's what I want - walnut "the material of memory". I can't imagine how much it would cost, but the copy on the website does say that it's a "valuable soft-finish wood" that they combine with "shining steel" and "natural cut stones", so I'm thinking somewhere between very expensive and prohibitive. The kitchen seems to be sold only in Italy so I'm unlikely to find out. But "Classical Trendy" is the tag-line and it seems to fit me and the things I like so I'm going to adopt it.

Levittown, Long Island

It's 60 years since Levitt & Sons announced plans to build a community on Long Island to provide housing for returning WWII GIs. The New York Times has an very interesting slideshow depicting the original Cape Cod style houses and some of the remodeled and much enlarged versions you can see today.
Detailed information about America's first suburban community can be found at The Levittown Historical Society.

Raccoon redux

It looks like we have an outbreak of distemper in the local raccoon population. On Sunday our next door neighbors called to say they had a raccoon acting strangely in their yard and although he wandered off he was back yesterday and again today. It seems that as the disease is so contagious, we could have quite a few sick raccoons in the area until the colony is decimated. That's what happened about seven years ago.
Apparently humans can't catch distemper and our cats and dogs have been vaccinated (raccoons get both canine and feline distemper) so we should be fine. And now I'm more convinced that it isn't rabies I am not so worried about them, I just don't like to see the poor raccoons suffer. The neighbors, on the other hand, are still at the freaked out stage. They bought a humane trap and the police have been here again trying to capture the beast but this one is even more tricky than ours. So until he's caught the kids are staying inside and we are keeping all the doors shut.
There's only one thing worse than a sick raccoon in the yard and that's a sick raccoon in the house

Submerged rocks

We temporarily interrupt this blog to bring you a picture of waves swirling around a submerged rock.
Peaceful isn't it?

Autumn at the Beach

2 pm, Monday October 22 2007 and it's 73F. We've had an unbelievable run of beautiful weather in NY. It hasn't been this warm through the end of October since we moved here. Someone termed in "perma-summer". That pretty much sums it up. The leaves are changing and falling and they've removed the awning down at the beach because summer is over but you wouldn't know that from the temperature or the number of boats out on the Sound.

They're selling my sofa on ebay

Well, not my sofa but it's the same make (Harvey Probber) and size as my sofa but it's in orange vinyl. Not as pretty as my pink beauty but still a great mid-century modular sofa. And it does have the advantage that you can just wipe off the animal fur and cat sick!

Terrazzo - hot or not?

Just as I'm making plans to take out another terrazzo shower base, this time in the master bath, I find that terrazzo is hot again. These days it's eco-friendly, made from things like old toilets (I kid you not) and 100% recycled glass bonded with coloured epoxy resin and turned into bright, shiny countertops.
Our old terrazzo shower base is made from crushed marble set in portland cement, the same as one we took out during the boys' bathroom remodel. It's not a look that I find appealing, more cement than marble and is the devil to keep clean. You might want to close your eyes at this point and surf away as the photo below is quite disgusting. This is what happens when the terrazzo gets cracked and you can't scrub it properly because the water will leak through to the foyer below. Yuk, ugh. I can't wait to take a sledgehammer to it.



The new terrazzo is supposed to be easy to maintain and they even have a product made from actual terrazzo and glass that's suitable for flooring - it looks like terrazzo but is cheaper, and easier to lay. I don't think it would work in our house as it's not scratch-proof. It sure does sparkle though.
I really want to update this house in the greenest way possible but I think that, in the end, I just find the new terrazzo too irregular for my taste. And I'm a little afraid that I might be letting back into my master bath the avocado and fawn beige toilets we took out of the other bathrooms. That's a step too far for me.

Reptiles in the bathroom

I'm still looking for something to trigger that "eureka" moment for the master bath re-design. Somehow I don't think this is it.



Monty from the Jungle range by Ceramica Cielo in python finish. Monty the Python. Get it?
Scared of snakes? There's a crocodile collection called - wait for it...
All together now: Dundee

Our environmental impact

Today is Blog Action Day, the day when bloggers worldwide blog on a single topic and this year it's the environment.
We're still trying to do our part to save the planet but I have to say that since we moved from Europe I feel that we've become a lot less environmentally conscious.
For example, in Belgium we sorted all our garbage. We had to as the law changed to mandate it. We were forced to buy separate garbage sacks for household rubbish, bottles, cans and cartons, paper and vegetable matter. Everyone grumbled because the sacks weren't cheap and the price varied from commune to commune but there were fines for non-compliance and eventually people got with the programme.
When we moved to the US in 2000 we attempted to keep up this regime but there was no separate collection and thus no incentive to sort. Then when we moved to this house in a different district we found that we could recycle our bottles and cans (but not cartons) one week and our paper the next. We can also put out bundles of twigs and grass clippings but not kitchen compost. So we sort of recycle. But the garden waste goes into the same truck as the ordinary household waste so I guess even if we sort, the garbage collection guys don't. Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?
We have replaced all the outdoor lights and most of the indoor bulbs with the compact fluorescents but once again in Europe we would have done all of them by now because they are more readily available and we know everyone else does it.
Further than that I can say that today I'm running neither the air conditioning system nor the heating, which has to be good news both for my wallet and the environment but that's a matter of climate and not a conscious decision on my part. When we do run these system I keep the airco at 78F and heat at 65F. We strip off in summer and wear layers in winter.
Outside we don't do too well either. We have a pool, although we don't heat it and a sprinkler system that uses a lot of water, although I do use a landscaping firm that has "Environmental" in its name and the tree spraying firm I employ only uses environmentally friendly products (hot oil). That's still a big environmental impact.
On the renovation front we try to be as green as possible - bamboo floors and silestone for example, and re-purposing the previous owners' furniture but I'd like to do a lot more, including solar panels. But we have a long way to go to renovate in a truly sustainable manner.
I also try to ensure that all the products and furnishings we use are made in factories that comply with International Labour Standards.
The sad truth is when we were forced by the government to do our part, we did it, and while I like to think we are environmentally aware we are not coming close to do all the things we could do to ensure that we are impacting the environment in a positive way.

Raccoon wrangling

A weekend saga in two parts.
Part One: Saturday 7 AM.
We were lying in bed and the dogs were going totally beserk. Woof, woof, bark, bark, bark. Calling them did no good. Commanding them to "come" just resulted in more urgent barking so Steven went down to see what was causing all the commotion. Then he yelled to me "There's a raccoon just outside the window".
I ran downstairs and there it was, lying on the path outside the dining room window. Raccoons shouldn't be out in daytime, and they shouldn't be stretched out on the doorstep at any time of day. I wasn't sure if it was alive or dead but I had to get dressed before I could rationally assess the situation. We've had reports of rabid raccoons in the county, so if we see any raccoons behaving out of character we're supposed to call someone. Only we couldn't remember who. So while I went off to shower and dress Steven called 411 and asked for animal control.
Turns out a raccoon is not an animal, it's wildlife and we needed to call the police. More interesting still is that the Village has a wildlife expert, who used to be the Police Commissioner. But she'd caught a raccoon the day before and had left her raccoon-snatching gear at the vet's so she couldn't be at our house for a couple of hours.
We had to be out in less than an hour to attend 6 hours of defensive driving tuition to get 10% off our auto insurance. (And with the number of fender-benders Steven had last year, we need it!). We were just going to have to trust the police would be able to find the raccoon without our help. They told us to get a garbage can and put it over the raccoon and they'd deal with it. But when Steven approached it the (we thought) dying animal with the bin it sprung to life and climbed 10' up the maple tree.



There was nothing else we could do at that point so we locked all our pets in the house and headed off to the course hoping that the wildlife expert would see the raccoon up the tree and capture it. When we got home there was no sign of it, just some scuff marks around the tree, so Steven took the trash can away and we thought the drama was over.

Part Two: Sunday 6 AM
The dogs started barking again but this time at something in the back yard. Even in the dawn light we could see that the raccoon had made his way to the barbecue and was standing there shaking.



This is where things took on a cartoonish quality. Steven went out to look at it, the dogs rushed past him to get to the raccoon and once again the raccoon came to life and shot up the linden tree.



After a while the poor thing fell off the tree and staggered around some more. At one point he fell into the pond, but he managed to climb out again. Every so often he'd fall over and shake. It was really horrible and the wildlife expert promised she'd come and get it but we needed to watch it in the meantime.
So I grabbed my camera and I watched it. I watched it coming towards me



I watched it walking away from me


And I watched it lying down.



Eventually the wildlife expert aka a neighbourhood volunteer turned up with her raccoon catching gear: a pink cat carrier, a garden shovel and a noose made of plastic line. That was it. No boots, no gloves, no protective gear or special equipment whatsoever. Nothing to prevent her from getting rabies should the animal bite. I felt like a complete wimp at this point.
The came the fun part. Herding a wild animal into the cage with limited equipment. Rocky proved very recalcitrant for a sick raccoon and our neighbour decided she needed to go to the police station to get a noose on a long pole so we could trap him. While she was gone, however, Steven decided to have a go and managed to get the line around the raccoon's neck.



Then he sent me off to find the expert and get her to help put him into the cage. But by the time we got back he had the raccoon in the carrier and the excitement was over. My hero.
The raccoon will be taken to vet and monitored for distemper and rabies. If it can be treated it will be and then it will be released.

There's no arguing with that

Driving into town yesterday evening to eat sushi I turned to Steven and remarked on the gorgeous sunset.
"Should we go and watch the sun set first?"
"I don't think so, hunger trumps beauty".

Funky, stylish and fun

I knew I should have left that wallpaper alone when we moved in. Even though it had fused to the wall where water had leaked through the windows, and there were damp patches from the water penetration from the roof it was typical 60s paper. And guess what? All of a sudden wallpaper is back and it's fabulous.
I really want to put one 60s inspired kick-ass wallpaper somewhere in the house and I think the foyer is crying out for this one, appropriately called Party Girl, in red. Or maybe this ferm Living Feather wallpaper in a rich teal colour.
Either way, I'm going to have to wait until the master bath is renovated and all its leaks fixed, it would be heartbreaking to put it up and then find dripping bath water had fused it to the wall.

Cold bath time

I decided to take a long, hot bubble bath this morning. Not something I'd normally do being an in and out refreshing wake-up shower sort of girl but you know, once in a while a relaxing soak can be good.
So I filled the tub with lots of bubbles and plenty of water and got in. And out again pretty quick. No hot water. That's funny because the oil burner guy came yesterday and gave both the heating and hot water boilers a thorough cleaning. Unless........
Yep, a quick trip to the boiler in the basement confirmed it. When he'd finished he FORGOT TO SWITCH IT BACK ON. I thought it was quiet last night.
So there was enough hot water in the tank for Steven's shower, a load of washing, several hand washes but not enough to fill the bath. Must remember for future, take bath before Steven gets in shower.

Dying rhododendron

This is so sad. The lovely pinky-purple rhododendron on the north drive has been infected by the Phytophthora fungus. It's the third one (all in different parts of the yard) that we've lost this year. Our neighbours have also lost them. I'm not sure if it's just this particular variety that has been affected, but these were all old, well-established specimens.
This is what it looked like back in May this year



If you look really closely you can see the start of the problem - a little brown section on one stem at the top of the plant. But really there was nothing to warn us that five months later we would be facing the sorry, dying plant we have now.
I'm off to dig it out and destroy the remains. Too sad.

Powered by the sun, even in the fog

It transpires that I'm not the only one whose sleep has been affected by the Huntington foghorn. After proudly announcing on Saturday that it was functioning again after three years of silence, the Coast Guard has had to admit that the foghorn on the lighthouse has been malfunctioning since it was turned back on and they've had numerous complaints from local residents.
Apparently it is now powered by solar energy (a very good thing) but is designed to stay on if it malfunctions, rather than shut down (a not so good thing for us). The last time it malfunctioned it sounded continuously for 41 days. Oh joy!

Controller floodlight?

controller floodlight?
Originally uploaded by modernemama

I think I may have solved the mystery lighting issues we have been having in the den. Solved them, but not begun to understand them.
This floodlight is situated on the front drive, and I actually didn't discover it until late last year when I did a lot of pruning on the north edge of the property. When we moved in three years ago there were huge raggedy old junipers on the edges of the driveways and buried in these were lights that had been hit (probably by the snow plough). They had once been crescent shaped modern post lights but by the time we dug them out they were busted and rusted and there was nothing left to salvage.
I had an electrician put in new lights at the end of the drive and the only thing that's slightly irritated me ever since is that they aren't automatic. Gradually as I took out overgrown plants, weeds and tons of ivy, I discovered other light sources scattered throughout the flower beds and I began to put uplighters and floodlights on these. They are all connected to the same switch that the drive lights are on.
On Thursday I was outside tidying up when I noticed that the lightbulb on one of the floodlights had been smashed. So I replaced it. Since then we have had no gremlins in the den lights.
I can only surmise that at one time this outdoor lighting system worked on a timer and motion sensor system that was also connected to the den lights. For some reason when the lightbulb was gone (and only shards of the bulb remained) the sensor kicked in. This doesn't make very much sense to me but why else would the lights in the den have given up their independent ways?
I wish the original owner had thought to post a cheat sheet in the control panel of all the x10 lights when he installed them. Or just a guide to which switches control which lights. Anything would have helped. Three years and three months in the house and we still have figured out the electrics. Heigh ho.

Season of mists... and foghorns

On Friday evening the temperatures were in the mid-eighties, even at 10 PM, and the humidity was a killer. That set us up for a big blanket of what passes for fog on the North Shore of Long Island. Where I come from it would be described as a little light mist, where Steven comes from it wouldn't even be worth noting. Everyone else seems to have their air conditioners back on but I am too fiscally prudent mean to run the airco in October. So I opened all the windows as wide as they would go. And then it started.
Sometime in the Friday night/Saturday morning hours the foghorn sounded and it's been going off every five seconds since then, even though the fog lifted at around 9 AM on Saturday. How do I know it's every five seconds? Because I spent the last two nights counting One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi... Steven, of course slept through it. In fact he only noticed it on Saturday morning when he walked the dogs on the beach!
It got so annoying on Friday night that I went to another bedroom to try and get some sleep. The other bedroom is over the garage. At the end of the driveway are two large oak trees. This year has been a bumper one for acorns. They make a delightful ping when they hit the ground, Approximately one a second. So my night went something like this: One ping Missi ping ssi ping ppi ping.

The foghorn, I guess, is on Huntington lighthouse. And either it's part of the Long Island Fall Festival or the thing is stuck. If it's the former it should end sometime after the meatball eating contest today. If it's the latter I suppose it will be sounding every five seconds until someone goes and fixes it.

Season of foghorns and falling acorns
Sleepless nights for me.......