The ivy league

I love English ivy. It's clean simple greenery. And it's ability to form shapes in topiaries. I decided to pull a bunch of it from the yard and form it around some topiary forms I've had lying around. They're now all inside the dining room for the cold months. Let's see how long I can keep them alive.

Bob

I met Bob this week. He lives in one of the most beautiful houses in all of Sag Harbor. It sits on an odd little corner at Jefferson and Suffolk Streets. There's a carriage house next door and a pool. I've often walked by it on the way to the library and wondered "who lives in the stunning home?" and know I know! The inside has been totally re-thought, it's almost loft-like in it's openness, in a palette of creams, ocean blues, and sand. I didn't get to see upstairs, just the first floor and a downstairs guest room with a treadmill, but what I saw was gorgeous. I walked over from my place because it was such a beautiful night, no one was out on the streets on that cool October night.

What a dump(ster)!

I did one of my favorite things IN LIFE the other day. I ordered a dumpster from my garbage pickup service, a "4 yard" one, and threw away a TON of stuff that has been cluttering up the house, especially in the basement and yard. Old TV's, clothes, busted shutters, suitcases, clay pots, the old birdbath, that cracked big urn on the back deck, old chairs, on and on and on. It feels SO GOOD to purge. Now the basement is clean and orderly again. The deck is minimal and unfussy. It had been over 10 years since I had last done this, let's hope I don't wait another ten to do it again!

BEFORE

and AFTER

Mark

I met Mark yesterday and went to his stunning house on Sherrill Road in East Hampton. He's an interior designer and his place is my dream home. Not too big, not too small. Tastefully furnished with a cozy backyard, complex with pool and pool house. I have to admit I was a little jealous. But I'm always thankful for what I have in my little cape.

Jeepers!

I'm selling my apartment in the city. It's an extravagance I just can't afford any longer, and the city brings no joy when you can't do all the things there that make it an experience. Ordering takeout, going to restaurants, shopping, etc. So I'm moving on! But one of the benefits of selling is that I could take a chunk of the money and buy a new car, something I'd really need in the Hamptons if I were to live here full time. I can't close until February of next month so I figured that's when I'd purchase the new vehicle.
As I was telling my financial advisor all this--my portfolio is with a brokerage firm--and he reminded me that I have a $550K line of credit with them. Why wait til February when I could borrow the money for the car against that line now at a low interest rate, and then pay it off completely when the money from the sale of the apartment comes through next year? Genius, right?
So I trotted off to a car dealer in Southampton with my eye on a make that I've been eyeing for eons: a Jeep. Specifically a Jeep Wrangler 4x4. Two door. Preferably black.
The Jeep website said a basic model goes for between $28K and $30K. Of course all they had in Southampton were more loaded models, loaded with up to $8K worth of stuff to be exact. Ugh. Too pricey for my budget. There was a black one, but it was the most expensive. No. There was a red one. No, again. You know what they say about men who drive red cars. Then there were two gray ones, a light gray and a dark charcoal, they were both $7K over my budget. I haggles with the salesman and got him down another thousand, so the total was $36K. There was also a white one at $35K but it was a manual. I decided to test drive that one just to see how it handled. It was a no-go. Between the color and the shifting I just wasn't into it. I gave sigh and bit on the charcoal one. Jeeps hold their value really well and this was going to be a car I'm gonna keep for the next 15 years. So I bought it.
It's Friday, I'm picking it up next Thursday. That'll give me time to have the money wired to my bank and then get a bank check. It's exciting stuff. I just try not to think that I have to sell my apartment to get it (wonk-wohhh).

My sister's garden

One of the few things that has brought peace and happiness to my poor tortured sister this summer has been her potted plants. Her emotional health has, in some ways, gotten progressively worse as the dog days of summer have worn on. Body vibrations, headaches, sleepless nights, and lots and lots of tears and hugs. My heart continues to break. That said, she has been under the care of a psychiatrist (albeit a virtual online one), and she's been on prescription medications, Lexipro, Xanax. So far she's still had more bad days than good. We keep hoping the scales will tip and she'll start to come out from the shadows...but no real sign of it yet. All we can do is hope.
Back to the plants: weeks ago we found a lot of large clay pots at a yard sale. They were a steal. She potted them with multi-colored geraniums, lantana, ivies, etc. The colors make her happy and it gives her something to take care of, a focus to take her mind off her troubles, if only for a few minutes a day. They make me happy because they make her happy.

So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow

I use my wheelbarrow all the time. But because it's so large it has to stay outside in the weather. The other day one of the handles had taken such a beating that was fully rotten and broke in half. What to do? Buyng another one was out of the question, I'm broke. After I took a long look at it I thought "I can fix this."
I bought a long piece of wood in the same shape and cut it to size. I struggled with getting the bolts and nuts off the old piece of wood, it took me quite a while to figure out how to cut them out. A lot of sweat later I finally got the wood in place and the new bolts in. It looks pretty good.

BEFORE: the broken handle

AFTER: the new handle

Then it took me a couple of days to paint the whole thing. I found an almost full can of the red "County Redwood" paint for the trough so I stayed with that color. Who doesn't love a red wheelbarrow? Reminds me of one of my favorite poems by William Carlos Williams. 

"The Red Wheelbarrow"

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

I found a nice taupe can of paint for the legs and braces underneath. It's like the color of my morning coffee with cream.

All in all, I'm very proud of how the whole project turned out...and it only cost me about $8.00!