If a tree falls...

Made a HUGE mistake in walking up the neighbor's drive to chat. Sorry, that came out wrong, the chat was very nice, as is the neighbor. No, the mistake I made was to look at my yard from the north side, the side of neglect, an area that we cleared of debris and dead shrubs wrapped in burlap a couple of years ago but that we have done nothing to since then. Because we don't rake the leaves here, allowing them to smother the weeds and enrich the soil, the ground is about 4" higher on our side of the fence; there are a few branches that fell during the winter and many twigs. Generally the area looks unkempt but the source of my dismay was a huge conifer that has fallen sideways and is being propped up by the fence. If it were to fall completely it would probably take out the fence too...
As the tree is still green we guess it's still alive but half its roots are out of the ground. We've no idea how long it's been like that, whether the roots have frozen in this season of frigid temperatures, but we have to try to save it. So the mission for tomorrow is to dig around the side of the rootball and see if we can prop it up, then brace it with stakes. That's the plan anyway. Of course the whole venture could go horribly wrong, the tree could fall on the person supporting it...
So many scenarios, none of them good.

I might as well be in the frozen north...

While the rest of the country is enjoying the first week of Spring, the north-east is stuck in some sort of permanently frosty winter: icy blasts, temps in the 20s and 30s, occasional snow showers - I could be in northern Canada.


Speaking of which, I layered up yesterday and walked to the beach where a line of Canada geese were surveying the waves on the Sound.


If I had been on my own they'd have stood on the sand patiently but I had the dogs. So up they flew.


And landed maybe 6' nearer to Canada in the safety of the surf.


Nice job Sadie!

It's a long way to Stamford

Connecticut. That's the faint strip on the horizon way over the other side of Long Island Sound. And that's where the taxi will be coming from if I book it with the Taxi! app I have on the iphone. That's the problem with living in the Incorporated Village - our wireless signals are clearest right across the water. The best radio signal is Connecticut's Kool 96.7 FM, so we know which Chevy dealer to use should we find ourselves in need of a bargain car; if you dial 911 you're likely to get an operator in the Nutmeg State who has no clue where to send the emergency services, and using our GPS location the taxi will have to make a 60 mile trip to pick me up. Technology, still not perfect, then.

Things Could Be Worse

OK Homeowners, here's a quick poll for you. What is the worst time to re-roof your house?
a) When it is on the market
b) When it is 15F
c) During the snowiest winter for several years
d) During a "dangerous winds" advisory

If your answer is all of the above, you must be our poor neighbor whose house has been in the process of being re-roofed since last year and still isn't done. Feel better about your renovations now?

A Happy Ending

A neighbor just called to say the damn dog was running around the Village. Of course when I looked for her I found her in her usual place - guarding the bridge. Either she got out and got back in again or there's a Polly lookalike out there. While I was thanking the neighbor I realised there was a gorgeous sunset and I bolted to take some shots. Who knows how long it will be before we see another? Anyway, added bonus when I downloaded them. Do you see what I see? Buds! Buds on the dogwood tree! Spring is coming. Yay!

My stimulus plan

Pay workers to dig trenches for power lines.

I could take a really good shot of the house's unique roof if it weren't for the damn wires blocking the view. If that's not bad enough, look at this photo of the electricity, cable and telephone (which we don't use because we have VOiP through the cable) wires going to the house. It's ugly and potentially dangerous. If a tree branch hits the wire and sparks an electrical fire we'd be re-naming this blog The Cool House Ashes. Think I exaggerate? This was actually my Welcome to America moment: driving to look at real estate eight years ago in a thunderstorm we were stopped at the main road into one village where a lightening strike had caused the electricity cable to catch fire, which melted the road surface and spread to connected houses. Yip, I felt safe.

My job creation scheme has the added benefits. Not only will it beautify America but we're less likely to suffer power outages - after all it's difficult for a falling branch to take out a power line if the cable is buried underground. It may also have a positive effect on the accident rate - fewer people running their cars into telephone poles. Potentially it could be wildlife-friendly, too - fewer fried squirrels falling off the lines. Infrastructure, public (and wildlife) safety, landscape improvement and jobs, that's a great stimulus package.

Winter beach

Fleets Cove Beach before the snowstorm. Last week's snow has frozen on the sand and more is predicted for tonight. We're not even half-way through winter yet and I'm over it.

Real Estate Selling Tip

Word to the realtor of this newly listed property in Huntington Bay: Posting ten shots of the front of the house tells buyers that there is a BIG problem with the interior. And if you have Stunning Unobstructed Year Round Panoramic Waterviews then SHOW THEM.
File under "and that's worth 5% commission?"

Sunday in the Park

After a couple of days of grey November weather the sun came out this morning so we took the dogs to Coindre Hall in Huntington for some exercise.
Beautiful isn't it? We're really lucky to have free and unlimited access to the grounds of the Gold Coast mansions that were previously owned by robber barons, but Coindre Hall is one of the best because it's also an off-leash informal dog park. That's the Coindre Hall boat house in the foreground, Huntington lighthouse in the middle of the bay and Connecticut in the background. Amazingly even this late in the year there are still a few boats out on the Sound.


Here's a short video that covers the dogs' behaviour at the park. They run around with their doggy chums for 5 minutes, graze for ten more and when Polly lies down the visit is over.

America

A thought struck me the other day. We've now lived at The Cool House longer than we lived in our previous house on Long Island. The first four years in the States seemed to go by slowly, we learned coping strategies for the huge portions in restaurants but not before we'd each gained five hundred pounds, one of us learned to say watuh so we could get a drink with our meals, and we allowed people to bring coffee and other beverages into our car. In short we adapted. The past four years in this house have simply flown by but in all this time there was one thing that still irked The Guy, there was one image of America he'd gleaned from the movies that had never become reality. He, bless, had thought that anytime a new person moved into the area, neighbors dropped round with pie. Or at least left one on the porch. (I know. He's thinking of 1950s America. Bless again). He'd talked to Americans about this and some had mentioned being given zucchini bread many years ago, but this was in real America not Long Island.

Then on Sunday something happened that renewed The Guy's faith in his dream, his ideal America. A knock at the door, a neighbor bearing a baking dish. Pie? No. Even better, the Awesome Designer sent the Loyal Blog Reader over with Mac 'n' Cheese. Not just any mac 'n' cheese, mind you, but Mac 'n' Cheese with White Truffles. A truly magnificent dish and a gesture that meant so much to The Guy. I swear there were tears in his eyes as he ate it. It might have taken eight years but the spirit of America was embodied in that casserole. Thank you, neighbors.

Now, America, if you'd just get out and vote for Obama on November 4th, you would make my dreams come true, too.

Beach Finds

I never find anything useful or interesting on the beach - an empty beer bottle maybe or an old cracked comb, doggy poop certainly; but not the sea glass or shells that others seem to pick up so easily. The other day, though, I hit the jackpot - an unspoilt clamshell, a bleached white stone and this piece of amber prettiness. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

Spoiler Alert: Dead Snake

Snake! Snake! It's a snake.

OK, it' s a dead snake, but I have never seen any sort of snake this far north before. I know we have them, I've just never seen one and certainly I never expected to see one flattened on the road outside the Cool House. Such a pity. Click the image to get the full beauty of what's left of his silvery scales. I wonder if he has any family around here?

Can You Hear Me Now?

Dear Verizon and ATT
I hear that you respond favorably to demands from damsels in distress and provide cell phone coverage to those who ask for it, no special favors necessary. I'm therefore asking you to accord me the same service you granted to Cindy McCain, so that I can be heard (and others can hear me) in this important election year 2008.
I know that you didn't grant Ms McCain any special service because Senator McCain's campaign says so: "Mrs. McCain's staff went through the Website as any member of the general public would -- no string pulling, no phone calls, no involvement of Senate staff,"(...) Just because she is married to a senator doesn't mean she forfeits her right to ask for cell service as any other Verizon customer can."
I live in an Incorporated Village where the Board decided in 2005 that we did not need twenty-first century telecommunications. I don't know the reason, the minutes aren't very detailed, but in any case I am denied coverage, which puts me at a disadvantage living in a world dominated by Blackberry's and iPhones. I am out of touch, and it is affecting both my mental health and ability to do business. It also makes us look rather backward to our friends in Europe and Asia who can't believe we live in the greatest country on earth^TM yet still cling to our landlines. I know just how Ms McCain felt missing her text messages, and I think one of those portable cell towers or "cell site on wheels" would be a solution to all my cellphone woes. Maybe you could park it right behind the Village Hall?
I know you don't like to comment on individual customers and their requests but I'm confident you will give my request the same priority you gave the McCain's and I'm looking forward to a favorable outcome and "full bars".
Sincerely
modernemama @ The Cool House.

Adding value

Walking through the Incorporated Village on a superb Fall Sunday I was struck by the progress that has been made on a few houses. One is in the midst of an attic conversion and new dormers and a cupola have been added since I last walked this street, another has new windows and siding while the third has dramatically changed the entrance with curved stacked stone walls and piers supporting wrought iron lamps. It looks like a million bucks and is rumored to have cost only slightly less than that. I remarked to The Guy that the number of houses on the market seems to be matched by those that are being "pimped" and that maybe when we have weathered the current market meltdown, unclogged the conduits of credit, and allowed the current of finance to flow freely again (yes, we made these up while we were walking) we should think about tarting up the front adding value and a WOW factor with something spectacular like this driveway:


So I have a question for you, no, not how many years will it take to get ourselves out of the economic morass, but rather:
If money were no object, what would you add to the house exterior or yard to boost curb appeal?

Imagery

As the financial meltdown continues, with news that Playboy is now a junk stock with no future, I stepped out to the beach to take some shots. It's pretty stormy out there, too. These are the words that kept leaping to mind: Bail, bailout, maelstrom, sinking, ship.....


Then, to the side of the road I spotted one perfect, beautiful flower on a scrap of wasteground, thriving in spite of the wind, the peeing dogs and the occasional truck. There's always hope....

We got tagged

Living out in the alternate universe of the Incorporated Village doesn't mean you don't have to suffer spray-painted graffiti all over your property.


It just means you know exactly who the perpetrators were. Thank you Suffolk Water.


And if you have two water meters in the yard, one for your house and one for the house next door, that you are "tagged" twice.
I'm luckier than one neighbor, whose beautiful moss stone retaining wall now has an accent of bright blue!
File under: Grrrrr.

Labor Day 2008

So this is where summer has been hiding.

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?

The Summer White House

I did squeeze in one local culture experience on my vacation at home. On Thursday morning I visited Teddy Roosevelt's home Sagamore Hill at Oyster Bay Cove, 10 minutes from The Cool House.
I've taken visitors to the grounds many times before but this was the first time I'd toured the house and it was worth at least double the $5 fee. Firstly you get a NPS ranger as tour guide and they are always informative but our guide Robert Erhlich had so many stories about the house and the artifacts that we were there much longer than planned. There is the house itself, which is one of the best preserved Victorian Shingle-style homes in the US, with its gas lighted dining room, dark wood paneling, and exterior ice house. Everything in the house, with the exception of the rugs, some drapes and the back staircase, is original. Then there are the public rooms filled with the souvenirs of TR Roosevelt's life, as New York politician, explorer, Rough Rider and President. Elephant tusks (a gift from the King of Ethiopia, Polar and Grizzly bear rugs, the Presidential flag represent just part of the unique decor you'll find here. Even the room where Elinor Roosevelt stayed when her parents died is preserved as it was, complete with a signature quilt made by her closest friends.


Roosevelt and his second wife Edith Kermit Carow moved into Sagamore Hill in 1887, eventually raising six children there, including Alice, from his first marriage. When Roosevelt became the youngest president in 1902 after the McKinley's assassination he re-named the Executive Mansion in Washington DC "The White House" and the installation of a telephone at Sagamore Hill that kept the President in touch with the Capital permitted the family to reside on Long Island during the summer months. Sagamore Hill became known as the Summer White House.
If you love old houses, taxidermy, history or good yarns and have an opportunity to visit Long Island, or if you live near here and didn't know about it, beg or borrow $5 and invest it in a tour. You won't be disappointed.
Sagamore Hill NHS 12 Sagamore Hill Road, Oyster Bay, NY 11771 is open to visitors from Wednesday through Sunday each week (closed Mondays & Tuesdays). House tours on the hour 10 AM-4 PM.

Lighting Stikes Historic Beach Home

A severe thunderstorm blew through Huntington around 1 PM today. We were having lunch on the harbor when the the thunder started, the rain came down in sheets and ice fell from the skies - not hail, ice. Then the siren started at the local fire station, and we joked that if it was bad they would sound more alarms. It was bad. Fire trucks came from Halesite and Huntington, Centerport, Northport, Cold Spring Harbor and Greenlawn. They rushed past us, in the direction of our village, lights blazing, sirens blasting.
When we arrived home we could smell the smoke. The beautiful, historic Victorian on the hill overlooking Nathan Hale Beach had been struck by lightning starting a fire that gutted the roof and parts of the second floor.
No one was home, no one was hurt, but one of the gems of the Incorporated Village has been badly damaged.


This is the same view taken in the Winter.
They will rebuild but today everyone is in shock. We send our sympathy to the owners and their family. Life changes in an instant.