Full Moon 12/23/2007

Full Moon 12/23/2007
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Warm weather, a freak thunderstorm, fast moving clouds and a full moon = a pretty night photo.

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Ready to celebrate Saturday December 22 2007

Merry Xmas

Have a Very Warm Xmas and a Fabulous New Year
from
modernemama and Family

Neighborhood changes

There are seven houses on the left hand side as you go from the corner of the road to the Sound. *Three of them are for sale and one is under construction. On the other side of the street there are only four houses but one of these is also for sale. Four houses on the market and five new sets of neighbors - that's called a state of flux.

I hope we don't have to sell our house anytime soon. Apart from the competition, it looks like there is something wrong with this part of the Village when in fact it is gorgeous. I'm biased but I think it's the best part, which is another reason I wouldn't want to leave. But it is disconcerting to find that 1/2 of the properties on a small part of the road are on the market and they aren't moving quickly either. It kind of reminds me of London in the 80s. Not a great feeling.

I don't know why people aren't lining up to live here, it's very quiet, incredibly green, there's the beach and the sunsets are spectacular. And of course the people, those who are left, are very friendly indeed. Come and check it out, I'm sure you'll love it, too.
*second one for sale
*third one, waterfront property

Fragrant

Reaching for deoderant after showering this morning I managed to knock an almost full bottle of Bug Off! insect repellent out of the medicine cabinet.


The reason it was almost full is that it is pretty powerful stuff, best used sparingly. As it was a glass bottle and the floor is tiled the bottle didn't bounce. Immediately the bathroom became a Finnish sauna, with herbal smells of rosemary and citronella. Really strong smells. I had the urge to run out into the snow and beat myself with birch twigs. Luckily there were none handy so I used the towel to mop up the mess and then threw it into the washing machine. Bosch machines may get things clean but they couldn't get the smell out of that towel, and now everything else that was in there smells of rosemary, too.
It's not a bad scent but it's more medicinal than I would choose for the holidays. I'm just wondering how long it will be before it starts to fade.

Powerless

Yesterday the power went out a couple of times. In this house there are always consequences from a power outage and even though we have surge protectors, there's always stuff to fix when it eventually comes back on.
We are pretty much wireless here, at least the computers are wireless and the phones are VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol or telephone via the internets), so if the power is out they don't work. That means if your neighbor phones to ask if you've got power as his just went out, you don't get the message until the power comes back on. Now you can set the phones to transfer the calls to the cellphones, which is very useful IF you have cell phone service in the house. We don't, so without power we are cut off, and we have to reboot the Airport before we can get to the internets again.
Then, while my lovely iMac will automatically save documents when it loses power, Steven's laptop running XP, won't. But it will tell you the file you were working on doesn't exist, or is corrupt or numerous other versions of "I refuse to cooperate with you". When you have to be finished with a very important proposal by the end of the day this will cause much screaming, swearing and kicking of furniture when the power comes back on and you discover the whole weekend's work has apparently disappeared.
Then there's the TV. When the comes back in the volume has been reset, so it sounds like it's being transmitted through a cotton wool muffler. That's an easy fix, though, requiring only that we press the volume button on the cable box to max. And I have to reset the clocks on the appliances: washing machine, oven and microwave, too. All expected, if slightly annoying.
But there is always a kicker. A little something you never imagined would be affected by the outage. A little surprise to deal with. Yesterday it was the alarm system. When the power went out the loudspeaker, the one that scares the entire neighborhood whenever I overheat anything in the kitchen by booming "FIRE, FIRE, VACATE THE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY", started to vibrate like a drum. Of course this is hard-wired, you can't just take out the batteries, and the wires were soldered together. I'm sure this is a very secure system but when the humming and shaking are driving you crazy there's only one solution and it involved a chair, a torch and a pair of wire cutters. A little drastic maybe, but we were desperate.
So today I have to fix the loudspeaker, and I have to work out why the system tells me three of the door sensors have been compromised and the medical emergency button, too.

More Holiday Decorations

It appears that I'm not quite done with the decor for this season. I seem to have a white theme going on this year. Maybe I was inspired by the review of Park Ave Winter and the slideshow of the frosty interior. I found this white glass vase in Marshalls for "chips" and after trying a couple of places for it in the dining room I've placed it here with the white swirly bowl and glass tealight holders in the den.


I think the table still needs something to balance things out. Perhaps a splash of red?


On the kitchen island I placed the old red wood candlesticks we bought at Ikea in Belgium in, I think, 1991. Who said Ikea stuff doesn't last? They still had the white candles in them from the last time we used them (probably 2004). Unfortunately, I don't have any more white candles this size so this might be the last time they are lit.

Coping with the changing seasons

The kittens are getting their first taste of snow. Hermes really can't understand where that stuff came from, and why it's wet and cold on his paws. He's almost stopped going out at all. Such a wimp. Maya is a fearless female and isn't going to let a little whte stuff get in the way of her favorite occupation: rodent control.


This morning the power went out and, as he couldn't use his computer, Steven decided he'd clear a path from the kitchen to the driveway. The kittens hadn't seen anyone shovel snow before and were completely enthralled, watching him intently until he moved out of sight.


And then, as the show was over, they disappeared to find warm spots in my office and have a well deserved nap.

Prank calls

It's been so long since anything odd or unexplained has happened around here that I got used to normal. Hmm, there's nothing like another scientific impossibility to set you right back to nuts, is there?
The weirdness started around 2 AM Saturday morning. The phone rang. It's horrible when the phone rings in the middle of the night, panic sets in even before you've answered it. And even if it's just a drunk dialing the wrong number, it takes ages for the body to calm down enough to go back to sleep.
I picked the phone up and the id reads: STEVEN. And then it stops before I have time to answer it. That's the id of my husband's cellphone, who I now notice isn't in the bed beside me. I thought he'd just gone downstairs to throw the cat out. But why would he be phoning me on his cell? Strange, and what's stranger is that cellphones don't work in this house, or even in the surrounding area.
So I'm thoroughly confused and run downstairs to find Steven with the house phone in his hand and a perplexed look on his face. "I answered the phone", he said, "but there was no-one there and when I checked the caller id, it was my cellphone calling".
I'm very practical, so my first thought was he'd lost his cell and someone had found it and pressed the "Home" button to locate its owner. But, as Steven pointed out, he'd phoned from his car on the way home Friday evening, and he hadn't been anywhere since, and the cell was still in his car. Uh, oh. My next thought was that the car had been stolen.
As Steven made his way to the garage, phone in hand, it rang again. The id was still STEVEN, and when he answered it again no-one was there. Freaky. The car was still in the garage and his phone was in there, not switched off but powered down. He switched it on and attempted to phone the home but, as normal, there was no signal. Then, and this is the weirdest thing of all, as he is standing there with both phones in his hand, the cell idle but not off, the home phone rings a third time: STEVEN. I grabbed the home phone out of his hand, not surprisingly no one was there. Steven switched his cell phone off. We made a hot drink and waited. After twenty minutes or so we decided it was safe to go back to bed, and that was it. No more unexplained calls from a cell phone that was off and doesn't get a signal here. Nothing, except on the call list on the home phone are three calls: 12/15 2:11, 2:14, 2:15 AM.
If ANYONE has any idea why or how this happened, please take a moment to let me know. Put me out of my misery. I'd just about got over the whole mystery automatic light thing (got over but not solved, since I thought I found the source of the problem the lights have come on by themselves a couple of times. But I've learnt that if I turn the exterior lights off first I can control the den lights. And it's all about control, isn't it?) but this phone thing brought a whole new meaning to bizarre phenomena.

And now I can't get the Animal song out of my head.

More holiday joy

Totally unexpected email from our wonderful independent film theatre, Cinema Arts Centre on Friday to tell me I'd won the giveaway of the soundtrack to the movie Atonement. How neat is that?

Eric Carle: author, designer, renovator

From The New York Times via apartment therapy, Eric Carle's gorgeously renovated modern beach house in the Florida Keys. Who knew the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar was so multi-talented? I love the combination of the warm wood with the sleek concrete and steel. And, of course, the view.
My kind of Florida retreat.

Blogger's Bouquet

It's always lovely to be appreciated and while I look forward to all comments, positive and critical, on my posts, bouquets are definitely preferred over brickbats. But however nice virtual bouquets are, the real thing is so much better.
Imagine my delight then when my neighbor turned up yesterday with this beautiful bouquet. She'd read my post on her whole house renovation and liked what I'd written.
I was quite overwhelmed, first finding out the neighbors have located my blog, and then that they like it enough to come back. That's more than enough for me, but to bring flowers - that's the cherry in the Manhattan.

While I was busy.......

making Stollen someone else, or rather some kitty, was busy too.


Maya got locked in the powder room and had to do something to occupy the time.


Of course now she's tired out.


She's napping with her brother, who for once, was not part of the cat chaos.

Stollen

This afternoon I made Stollen, a non-traditional recipe* without marzipan or glacé cherries, which I hate.


I was going for just one loaf but I could see by the amount of risen dough that this was going to deliver many loaves.


In the end I shaped it into five equal amounts, one to eat now and the rest to be frozen or given away.


I glazed them with lemon icing, which made them shiny, but I think I'll give them another coat when they cool down so that it will look more like snow on top.

*Stollen

1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 pkgs dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup candied golden raisins
1/2 cup candied citrus peel
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Frosting:
1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
I tblsp lemon juice

Heat milk until almost to hot to touch. Add sugar, butter, and salt, and cool to lukewarm. Add 2 whole eggs, and 2 yolks. Mix.
Add to flour and yeast. Mix, knead (I use a mixer with a dough hook) and let rise until doubled in size.
Mix in cardamom, raisins, peel, and almonds. Knead. Cover and let rise again.
When risen, cut into 4 pieces. Roll each into an oval, fold in half lengthwise, butter all over. Put on greased baking sheet, cover, and let rise until doubled.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes.
Remove to rack. While still warm mix confectioner's sugar with lemon juice and spread over Stollen.

Not this side of Xmas

I always wondered what $3,000 worth of cushions looked like and now I know. Courtesy of New York's own Maurice Villency these pillows cost between $595 and $275 each. Prices are subject to change.
My only other question is: How is one supposed to sit on that sofa?

Another close encounter

I wrote about this guy/gal scaring me last year but today's encounter was even closer.
I was driving down the road when this thing swooped down from a fir tree on my left side and almost hit the windscreen. It veered off at the last second and flew up to a branch of another tree at eye level. From a couple of feet away those birdies are BIG.
It was only when I past the police station that I realised my mouth was still open.

Never leave a cat candle unattended

A quick run to Ikea Long Island early this morning for tea lights, floating candles and a silver tray to put more candles on resulted in me getting just one of those items. However I did get some more red pillar candles which Hermes has been very interested in. Good thing they weren't lighted.
So far the kittens have been much better than I expected about the Xmas decorations. Hermes did rough up Melchior quite a bit, and the Swedish sleigh was hooked off the dresser and taken for a wild ride. But at least they haven't tried to climb the tree!


Sadie has been trying to pretend the whole Yule thing is a mirage, except for Ginger Cookies, which smell so deliciously of butter and brown sugar and which she is MOST CERTAINLY NOT ALLOWED TO EAT.


I also bought a couple of Lotten throws in Ikea as the red ones on the sofa in the photo have been slept and drooled on by cats and dogs alike and are not something you'd want to cuddle up in on any cold winter's evening. The new throws aren't especially festive looking but they are very soft and cozy, and hopefully they'll be really warm, too.

Green Xmas (with blue tints)

We spent a busy Saturday decorating the house for the holidays.


We got it up just as our first parcels arrived from Amazon Santa.


Although the indoor tree is a cut spruce we bought from the local fire brigade (they deliver it, too!) we went to the nursery and bought a living arborvitae to have by the front door. We can plant it out in the spring. I had to put holly sprigs around the bottom to stop the kittens climbing in and pulling the decorations off.


The garland on the door is holding up well - no needles dropping yet.


I collected some more greenery from the yard and made three arrangements with a red and a white painted birch branch we bought from the nursery.


I added some roses to one of the vases.


Fruit, pinecones and votive candles around the blue spruce branch on the mantel. I don't know how we are going to light the Yule log with all that greenery in the way. We may have to do this instead.


Four white candles in the Swedish Jul ring we used to hang from the ceiling.


The Prussian soldier stands guard over the liquor. Somebody needs to.
We finished around 7 PM, then we went to a holiday party in the Village and saw how talented home owners really do Christmas decor. I have no photos but imagine something like this only more opulent. It was a staggeringly beautiful display and my yuletide decorations cannot hold a ahem candle to it.

How long does it take to memorise your address?

How long have we lived in this house? Almost three and a half years. Forty-two months. Quite a long time. That's why it surprised me on Friday evening when there was a knock on the door and a delivery guy asked "This 250"? No, answered Steven, "This is 265.
He has had two of the numbers transposed since we first looked at this place, and he still can't get it right. His excuse when challenged about his lack of precision? "I'm not good with numbers".
He's a statistician.

You never know who's reading your blog

Last night we were invited to a special Northern versus Southern Hemisphere food and wine duel at one of the best restaurants in Huntington (nay, on the Island) Aix en Provence, during the course of which my neighbor told me he reads this blog.

It's always a stomach- churning moment when you find that someone you know has been reading your words. The first thought that ran through my panicked brain was "Did I write anything scathing about them"? I mean, I only put my true feelings and frustrations into this blog but I try to remain polite and positive. However I have noticed recently that a few of the posts were a little testy in tone. At one point I seriously considered changing it's name from Beach House to Bitch House. But I digress.

At some point during last night's very enjoyable dinner (on the whole we liked the Northern food and the Southern wines the best), my neighbor said I hadn't blogged about his house and I took that as carte blanche to write this piece.
I had wanted to write about my neighbors' renovation for a long time, but I was concerned they wouldn't want their house out on the internets for people from Honolulu to Hajdu-bihar to gawp at. I did once mention it in passing and I asked if they were keeping a blog or video diary of the experience but they weren't. They were too busy living it.


Turning this old cottage and adjoining stables into a stunning home reminiscent of an English country cottage took twice as long as estimated and I'm guessing a whole stable-load more money but it was worth every second and every cent. The outcome is phenomenal and feels completely authentic. It certainly helped that one of the owners is a designer who had the vision to see through the dark and dirt to turn the stables into a huge light and airy living space with a master suite in the hayloft. They needed to be diplomats to deal with the locals constantly asking when they were going to be finished, or why they didn't just knock it down and build a new house on the land.


Now it's complete and truly this renovation should be featured in Architectural Digest. It's more impressive than anything I've seen on HGTV or Ths Old House. I cannot get over the way the two buildings flow seamlessly into each other. I love the way they kept some original windows, and had others replicated. The shingles they found match the originals perfectly. And the kitchen? Everybody who has seen it is madly jealous. It looks like a butler's pantry circa 1920 but it's functional and modern. How do you do light and airy yet keep it cozy? I don't know but she accomplished it, and she incorporated the sliding barn door into the interior too.

Steven has only admiration for the way the non-designer half of the duo coped with the cramped living quarters and cluttered chaos for two years while they were more than doubling the living space. And speaking of chaos I am secure in writing that when one of the neighbors has finished reading this, the other will have turned that Versuvius of boxes and bags full of Xmas decorations into a beautiful representation of an American winter wonderland.