Sign of the times

Since my Land Rover has bitten the dust (long story), I'm without transportation. Aside from going to Kmart to get bulk cleaning supplies like paper towels and toilet paper, etc., I don't really miss having it. I walk into town to get groceries and I enjoy the exercise. So I tried an experiment. I wanted to see if I could have those big items delivered. I went on Target.com and ordered 4 big boxes of paper products to see if it would work. Sure enough two days later the boxes came and shipping was free. Hooray.
When the postman delivered the boxes however, he just left them on the front steps, despite me giving explicit directions to Target for them to be left INSIDE the screened-in porch. I guess the US Postal Service doesn't get those memos. :(
That led me to my next project. A little sign to leave by the porch door the next time I'm expecting a delivery:

"PLEASE LEAVE PACKAGES INSIDE SCREEN PORCH. THANK YOU!"

I cut it out of wood, painted it the house trim color and hand lettered it. It will hang from a new little hook beside the door. Let's see if the mailman gets the message next time. Stay tuned.

Verizon on the horizon

My sister is coming to live with me for a few months starting in June. I will detail more of this in upcoming posts. One of the things I had to do to prepare is make sure she is able to work on her computer via a direct plug-in to a modem. She works from home and will use my upstairs home office /bedroom as her Command Central. The problem is that room didn't have a phone jack for my current modem to plug into (it's been plugged in DOWNstairs in my bedroom's phone jack).
So a call with Verizon to install a new jack upstairs was in order.
We figured the best place to put it was on the wall with the shelving unit behind the desk since there's an electrical outlet close by.

The new jack and modem

The technician had to drill right through the wall, through the sheetrock and outside shingles, and run the cord across the outside wall, down the corner of the house, and into the basement to join the main phone lines. All fine...except the cord was WHITE and it looked pretty ugly against the dark blue trim of the house.

Luckily I still had a small bit of the blue exterior paint to cover the wire. Now you can't see it at all. Problem solved and read for Sis to move in!

"Look Ma, no wire!"

Bagel mornings

Is there anything better for breakfast than a big, fat bagel egg sandwich? Not in my book! So everyday I wake up with much needed protein and carbs. And one of the best things about living in Sag Harbor is that we have a wonderful deli bakery that makes the BEST bagels in the Hamptons (believe me, they rival ones you can get in the city as well). It's called Bagel Buoy Market and it's on Bay Street by the wharf.

Their bagels are HUGE, that's why I love them. My favorite flavor is the spinach 'everything' bagel. I buy them 6 at at time and keep them in my freezer. I just defrost one in the microwave while I'm scrambling my eggs and they come out as fresh as the day they're made. But the absolute BEST thing about BB is that if you stop by in the late afternoon (they close at 4pm), they toss in one or two extra bagels into your bag free of charge! It's the best deal in town.

The Bagel Buoy "Spinach Everything"

The cottages of Sag Harbor

Oftentimes I can't believe how lucky I am to live in such a picturesque town as Sag Harbor. I never tire of walking it's streets lined with such lovely homes and cottages. The history in the architecture is so lovely. Here are just a few of the houses I've seen on Instagram.

Ken

I met Ken a couple of days ago.
A very nice guy who lives in Settler's Landing. He's an artist. He showed me his studio and his large canvas works.

He used to be a model in the '80's.

Don

I met Don one night this week.
He was staying at The Baron's Cove Hotel in town.

The rooms there are very nice, sort of like the Shutters Hotel in Santa Monica.

He was here only two days for work, a shoot of some sort. I didn't ask if it was print or video. He was hoping it would snow since it's been terribly cold. I assumed it would be more picturesque for the photos?  I was going to walk across town but thought better of it and drove. Thank goodness it was not far. His room was, oddly, upstairs and in the back of the hotel. Since there were hardly any people staying there and it's the height of the off-season you'd think they'd have given him a better room. I knew I had the right place because his room service tray was still sitting outside the door. The TV was on and he was watching the old movie "East of Eden" with James Dean. I told him I had just read the book and seen the movie a few month ago. The birthday party scene was happening, I explained that things didn't go well for the brother, LOL.

He was a very nice guy.

Mom's Christmas tree

Last year I posted about all the Christmas decorations I put up every year, including the little Christmas tree I keep in the dining room. I cover it with many of the ornaments my mother has given me over the years. When I went home this year she asked my if I actually use those ornaments, so I took these pics to prove it to her. It's nice to look at when I'm having my morning coffee or cooking in the kitchen (baking Christmas cookies!).