Looking Forward

This one I'm going to save to remind me, in July (when it's 100F with 90% humidity), that this too shall pass.

Winter: Scenes from Home

Don't try to seduce us with you beautiful icicle frame, winter


or reward us with blue skies and early morning sunlight reflected on the treetops


The reality is extra foot or so of snow on the terrace


and a giant snow wall... with more forecast for the weekend.

Snowmygod!

Alternative title: Spying on the neighbors

Snowpocageddon!

December 26 2010 - pretty, if you're not waiting for a plane...

Raccoon update

Whatever shall we do with Rocky? I hope he/she's not another distemper case.

After the storm

After this blew in I thought we might have lost a few branches, but it was a little bit more than that...


the tree top. all 15' of it came down


leaving a piece 6' long stuck in the Magnolia


which may account for this...

North and South

More fall photography - no apologies, it's beautiful and so short... looking north


and south across the neighbor's lawn to The Cool House

Peak Fall

We didn't make it upstate to see the leaves turning but even in the back yard the show is amazing at this time of year.


the hints of colour in the woods


the citrus tones of the maples on the side yard


the browns against the green hemlocks



and the deep reds and oranges towards the pool

Focusing on the positive

This is the side yard we cleared and re-planted a year ago. Everywhere the sprinklers reached survived not only the winter but the summer, too. The Crape Myrtle is enjoying the hot, humid but practically rain-free season we've had. The giant Sum and Substance hostas are amazing and the Kerria has bloomed again.


Unfortunately we have also have this... The sprinkler pipe burst again, leaving a giant hole under the flagstone. Another little job for the weekend.

Six years and counting

June 29 2009

The official date we bought The Cool House passed a little while ago but today marks the sixth moving-in anniversary. I can't believe that it's the second longest The Guy and I have lived anywhere together - and the most complete renovation we have undertaken. Most of the work, roof, windows, bathrooms, exterior maintenance, was completed 2004-2007 but the last six months have almost matched that in terms of the scope of the projects finished and money spent. Of course, it's almost time to redo some of the work we did when we first moved in, such as re-staining the siding and painting the exterior trim and the great room will need a refreshing coat of paint soon but for the moment let's not be daunted by the to-do list but rather celebrate what has been accomplished this past year:

January-June 2010
We finished the laundry - new floor, new cabinets, new countertops and a new paint color - Iced Cube Silver - on the smoothly sanded walls. From start to finish this took us four years but 90% was done in one month-long period in tandem with the Master Suite.
The domino effect of making our bedroom beautiful caused us me to take a long look at the guest bedroom - and it was found wanting. We made it more comfortable with new roman shades that enhance the geometric shapes of the windows.
The great room sectional got its pretty pillows and because the dining room was feeling left out I went ahead and ordered new drapes for it. We also decided the rug we'd originally chosen for Verity's room would be better suited to the dining room - if we removed the old stained carpet and laid hardwood floors - so that's what we did. What? Crazy? Well, we had already decided to put down hardwood in the kitchen so it seemed sensible to just go ahead and run it into the dining room, too. I know, that's not much justification for undertaking another project!


Which brings us to the major update, the renovation we'd been looking forward to since 2004, the ultimate undertaking: the Kitchen. It isn't completely finished yet, although the countertops will be installed in less than two weeks, but so far I love everything about it, including the new energy saving windows (a big bouquet to the new carpenter who spent two days on these fixing the previous guy's mistakes) and mud-room door.
And while we are in the kitchen, let's not forget the final touches we made to the powder room. It got its third makeover in as many years: new wallpaper - just two rolls (that's a double roll if you speak US design) - and a pint of black paint.

June-December 2009
Three outdoor projects were started... and finished:


the re-landscaped side yard


new fencing on the east and south sides


Belgian stone pavers laid in front of the garages


and one interior undertaking: the Great Room makeover including re-upholstering the twelve-piece sectional.


It's been a fun rwelve months but I'm impatient to get the last pieces in place and the furniture back in the first floor rooms so I can finally sit back and enjoy the house.

Foxy morning

So there I was, admiring the recent hosta growth spurt while waiting for the carpenter to give me an update on the mud room door delivery, when I spied something slinking down the road.


I followed it around the property as it dodged in and out of the shadows, finally snapping this less-than-stellar iphone shot of our village fox out and about at 9:30 AM.

What a difference a year makes

April 29th 2010 - after a cold and snowy winter we've had a warm and rainy couple of months, which means the azaleas are blooming a couple of weeks eariler than last year, the hostas are up and Polly the dog is spending all day outside.


April 27th 2009 - although we had a warm weekend this time last year, the Spring was so cold only the cherry tree was in bloom. This is the same path but shot from the opposite direction, looks so sparse, doesn't it?


We did lose a couple of plants this year (although everything I planted last fall seems to have made it with the exception of the lavender - it still smells good, though!) so I bought a couple of big yellow double-flowered Kerria and this beautiful crimson rhododendron - Skookum.


The Kerria is reputed to be nigh on impossible to kill. I tried my darndest to test this theory by driving them home in the car with the top down in a brisk breeze. Despite the trail of yellow petals I left throughout the village and the confetti carpet in the car they seem to be thriving...

Wet & Wordless Spring Sunday

Spring 2010

Standing on the triangle of waste ground that marks the junction of Vineyard and Vineyard looking south; The Cool House is hidden behind the spontaneous eruption of green caused by lengthening days and 90F temperatures. Today is all about Spring: a carpet of yellow mallows, unfurling leaves on the beeches and maples and a budding Magnolia; blue skies and the occasional fluffy white cloud; bumble bees, chirping cardinals and swooping jays.

Snow Day 2010

No work today - the wet saw is cold and wet - and will probably be buried by the end of the day


the cats are unimpressed


the dogs are feeling imprisoned.


Of course there are compensations for the humans - a roaring fire & a glass of wine


and the promise of dinner with friends - if we can only get out of here.... I spy rescue

Standing straight

I was feeling we'd hadn't accomplished much over the past season - we'd started half a dozen projects but none was actually finished - but one item we can cross of our list, with gratitude, is the fence on the south side. It's up, it looks pretty and it withstood 12+" of snow. You can read about the drama last winter here, here and here, or you can just admire the way the snow peaks on the flat caps look just like giant ice cream cones...

Flat caps

The fence is finally up, all the blue plastic chicken wire has been removed and the old gate has a new set of hardware with self-closing latches. Dogs are securely on one side and the landscapers/pool guys/tree people don't have to lean on it to ensure it latches properly. Polly is, I think, a little sad that she can't get out on her own to go and greet the neighbors but I'm relieved. More importantly no small child can get into the backyard unaided.


The minor niggles - design issues really - like having to put in three different heights, 4', 5' and 6' on the west, east, and south sides, and three different styles so they'd tie into existing fence panels, have worked out better in the practical application than I could ever imagine. It helps that the grade rises by a foot in places so the panels are stepped anyway; we're also fortunate you can't see the whole fence from any vantage point either because of all the plantings.


In fact on the east and south sides you can see very little of the fence itself, just the flat caps I chose to top each post. Those things are fiendishly expensive but as The Guy says: The devil is in the design details.

Iron Moan

Yesterday at twilight I dug up the iron form around the rear driveway, bent it into a small hoop and hauled it to the trash collection point. Today is plastic and metal recycling day and I'm hoping it gets picked up, otherwise it'll sit there until the regular garbage collection. Even after five years of separating the trash I'm still not sure what gets recycled where. In Europe we had a list, a long long list and woe betide you (in the form of big fines) if you put the wrong garbage out or left a yoghurt pot unwashed in the regular trash. But at last I knew what went where on which day!
Of course the solution to my dilemma was to leave the freakin' form where it was but frankly I'm fed up falling over it (when I don't remember to carefully step up) every time I walk the dogs. In 2004 the owner's son had mentioned we should get the landscaper to knock it back in and I'd hoped he'd volunteer or magic elves would take care of it, but that never happened. Fast forward five years to when I told the landscaper we were resurfacing the drive and he suggested I get the asphalt guy to rip it out. Nope that didn't happen, either!
As I walked up the drive with the dogs in the late afternoon there was a chill in the air and I knew the warm weather we've had this week wouldn't last. If I didn't do something about it right now it would have to wait until Spring. That was the breaking point. I fetched a shovel and took all my frustrations out on 50 feet of metal. Why was I so miffed? The lovely deep asphalt you see in the photo that we had laid a couple of weeks back, on a sunny day with no rain in the forecast so it would have time to cure, well the weather guys got it wrong and it poured and poured, leaving puddles of sealant and exposing holes in the drive - in general it's a big gray mess. Actually it's a big gray mess covered in leaves and acorns and it will stay that way until March when the asphalt guy will come back and redo it. Until then I can look forward to it being covered in several inches of snow and impenetrable ice... and of course I have that lovely photo to remind me what it will look like when it's finished.

An Attractive Nuisance

According to the source of all legal stuff I need to know (and a shedload that hadn't even entered my realm of consciousness), fences fall into this category of tort law. I do think it's less of a nuisance than before - to get in now you'd have to scale the sheer 5' panels to get in the back yard, there is a spring latch so landscapers/tree guys/pool guys can't leave the gate open, plus there are no stray nails or screws to tear delicate skin. And the gate has a puzzling pattern of reinforcing strips that some may consider attractive - is that a coat-hanger or a Christmas tree? On the other hand, has all the nasty blue plastic wire been replaced? Not yet. But by next week three-quarters of the yard will be secure. And the ugly metal fence on the north side? Well, that's still under discussion...

From the bedroom windows

Quite a lot has been done outside over the past week or so and the best way to view it is from the second level/first storey.


Sealcoating: Through a screen, darkly. Nevertheless you can clearly see the just-asphalted rear drive. It's taking a good time to dry but it looks much better than the cracking, holey, moss-covered mess that was there before. It will need another coat next year - and we'll also do the front drive and put in a drain on the north side at the same time.


Planting: An additional 15 Holly, Cephalotaxus, Box, Pinus and Euonymus shrubs as well as more Hostas and Dianthus have joined the 26 bushes that were planted on the North side of the property. The Guy has been out and counted every plant we've put in since we started this section. He makes it 100 - I think he's exaggerating but I'm afraid to count. I'm just hoping they all make it through the winter.


You'll be able to see one thing that hasn't yet been taken care of - the fence, although I'm promised it will be done this week. Definitely. Here's hoping...