A Day in the City

I have noticed that the Salvation Army seems to have ramped up their red pot Christmas campaign. Most stations have music as well as the hand rung bell this season. The station in front of Bloomingdales featured a very talented singer as well as a bell ringer. 

It's a Wet One

Rian drops caught in the flash from my camera.

Another Warm One

The roses have been enjoying a nice warm stretch with many shrubs in a full third bloom cycle. I have also enjoyed needing less heat for my house.

The Right Light

I recall a great debate when Southampton Village was selecting new street lights for the shopping area. The lights that got installed  have settled in very well I think.

Smoke

This smoke bush just keeps giving. All Summer I got rich deep red foliage, then fun fuzzy froth. now this great fall color.

THE BIG SALE

The Parrish Museum does a black Friday sale the weekend after Thanksgiving. They do it a little smarter than the big box stores and charge for the right to see the goods first with a fine preview party. The sale is a mix of donated goods and boutiques from local vendors and runs through the weekend. This is the boutique from my good friends at Horse Haven their main store recently moved to Hampton Road.

Cranberry Sauce

Jelly vs Whole Berry, I like them both! Whole berry has the rich flavor and is fun to enhance with orange peal and cilantro. But for classic simple cranberry the jelly role has merit. I was concerned that the stacking can that only allows opening from one end would prevent getting the roll out whole. After removing the lid, I punched a hole in the other end and gave a good shake

Red Chicken

This dish is made in an enamel cast iron pot on the stove top.

Start with a bit of olive oil, brown boneless skin-less-chicken-thighs on both sides in the olive oil. then put the chicken to the side. Now brown coarse chopped onion and crushed garlic in the pot adding a bit of olive oil if needed. When the onion has turned golden now add back the chicken, get everything good in hot, just before it burns flood the pot with strong red wine (cabernet or zin) to deglaze the pot. Season with salt, pepper, bay and thyme. Add cubed mushrooms and or pearl onions. Let simmer, serve with rice or egg noodles. This dish may be made & re heated.

The Great Lawn

In English garden design the lawn is not just used to fill in the blanks. The lawn is thought if as an element in it's own right with a deliberate form. This lawn incorporates an serpentine edge to ad extra perspective to the property.

Autum Sun

This sleek ocean front home looks great in the late day sun.

Berry Berry Berry

The holly tree on the right hand side of my house is a big producer. This year looks like another big crop.

Wet Night

Main Street Southampton on a rainy night before they crank up the holiday lights.

*** 37 ***

If I am driving in my car and the temperature goes hits 37 degrees or below I hear a ding and a flashing 37 appears on my dash. The ding is to alert me to the chance of ice. This barn is our town getting ready for ice.

by the Sea by the Sea

The low fall sun raked these beach top shells in Shinnecock Bay.

Lofty

This bluff top home is set high in the trees to capture a great Shinnecock Bay view.

My Beach

We are so lucky to live so near the real beach.

Signing While Intoxicated

As I rounded this corner on Old Town Road I noticed many tipsy signs a clear indication of SWI.

Low Tide

Beach grass on the edge of Far Pond at the tip into Shinecock Bay.

Circa 1920

This Arts & Craft style home in Southampton Village is a perfect romantic get-a-way. In the early 1900s quiet a few home experimented with the English Cottage style we might expect to see in the Cotswold's.

Numbers

There are a lot of 11s on the calendar today. Here are my set.

Beach House

The design idea for this home was that it might float on the dune with a limited impact on the adjoining beach and dunes. New homes seem to have taken a more suburban approach to their property with hedges and lawn right up to the surf line. Not many of these nice simple homes survive in the original form.

Fall Color

This has not been a good year for fall color. Many of the trees got hit with salt spray from hurricane Irene. Including  foliage miles in from the coast. It seems to depend on the tree as to how much effect there was. The sycamores and many other trees lost all their leaves in August from the storm. This maple was not bothered and has made a great show this fall.

Born Again

Just over a year ago this home was my first posting. When I featured the house then it was in the throes of renovation. In the process of getting a new foundation the house was jacked up on blocks high above as a new foundation was built, then the house was lowered onto it's new base.

Hedged

On older properties it was common to plant a hedge right down the center of a lot line. Of recent, who cares for a hedge can be contentious. It appears this lot line has side by side hedges with two ideas on the right height. This solution has one long and one short, hedge. 



Nice Suprise

This fine Victorian Farm House has been built within the last ten years. The home is located on very nice Schwenks Road in Water Mill north, an area that would not have homes built there in Victorian times.

Beach Light

The sky was very clear today and the light very sharp capturing this wave in a very nice light.

Cow Corn

Most of the corn we see growing from the road side is cow-corn. Cow corn is engineered by produce big corn plants with lots of foliage. Early maturity is not important for cow corn, at the end of the season the whole plant is ground up into a meal that is fed to animals. It is cow corn that makes up the corn mazes that have grown so popular. People corn is a much smaller plant and could not form a maze.

First Impressions

I liked this entry gate that faces the parking area and street. This gate is inviting while giving the garden privacy a very nice combination.

Oh No !

Our pumpkin design this year was inspired by "Oh No Mr.Bill"

Giant White Objects

Over last nights holiday fuss it appears that aliens have drop giant Tic-Tacs in this field in Water Mill.