February can be beautiful, too

The sun is warm, no breeze. Still water. Birds singing.

Six pairs of swans this morning, swimming as couples.

Bella's winter sport

She can find her ball--it looks like a yellow tennis ball, but it's a Kong in disguise--under several feet of snow. Buried. Hidden. Under a shrub and under the snow. Whatever. She can find it.

And then she chases around the garden until she drops it and has to find it again. This can go on and on and on... makes for a happy and tired dog!

... and there's that patch of blue sky, it will all be ok

Late afternoon, and the sun is really trying to break through, just one corner of the sky. Huge grey clouds are massed offshore still; tide will be very high again this evening, but hopefully not as high as this morning. The snow has vanished in some places but is still piled high on my roof.

Everything is still at 5.24 p.m.... wonder if it will last?

Nature's designs

Snow on flooded road: a monochrome rendering of floating algae?

February 26th snow-after-rain-storm

Snow on frozen flood on frozen phragmites stalks. Looks pretty. Now we've seen it, can normal service be resumed? Please?

Snow on flood on top-of-it-all

Park Drive has ice floes this morning.  And I cannot get Blogger's new photo function to allow me to upload and publish more than one photo at a time.

My property is suddenly waterfront. I'm sure it won't be in a couple of hours, but right now, it is waterfront snowfront icefront property with a view across the arctic.

I can just about see Smith Point, the barrier between us and the ocean, through the driving snow, and am hoping that this storm is not taking away much more sand/

Snow down, 'dills up

Seems unusual to see all the garden exposed again after yesterday's rain. Majority of the snow is gone: and now we see the daffodils have sprouted. About three inches of leaves so far. They are all around the back of the house, where the deer will browse, but hopefully leave alone.

Tulips are also showing green: they are up in the raised garden and I'm not letting the deer anywhere near them. Learned that lesson.

Foxglove leaves are green too!

Phragmites permit--already!

Received my extension-to-phragmites-cutting-permit in the mail. Already! Only applied for it on Friday last week!

Now I can happily cut down the fire hazard once per year, late in the year, every year until 2020, not compost the cuttings, and leave the stalks two feet tall. (The dry stalks make an unusual natural wind chime when the wind is out of the east.)

And the green privacy screen will grow again each spring. And maybe, just maybe, the annual cutting-down will allow the wetlands trees to flourish a little better.

Mastic Beach, Village petition public hearing

Last night, Mastic Beach Fire Department was filled with people from this community. It was the public hearing for the petition to incorporate Mastic Beach as a Village (New York state law defines what an incorporated village is--it's more like a town in England or in other states).

The hearing was led by Supervisor Mark Lesko, who has the responsiblity of deciding if the petition is valid and therefore if the proposal to become a village goes to the vote. The hearing was only about the validity of the petition: not about the merits, or not, of becoming a village. As anyone who reads this blog knows, the proposed village boundaries and expected costs have been publicised for a long time, not only at regular open meetings, but also on the website http://www.masticbeach.org/

I was impressed by how well the hearing was run. The Supervisor started by stating the rules--that he was there only to hear objections, that all objections must be in writing, and that the burden of proof was on the objector. He said that he had received objections from two people, in writing, prior to the hearing, and that these would be noted. Also that following the close of the hearing he would have, by law, ten days to respond to the petition.

I was impressed by how the objections were presented. One person stated several (nine?) objections, each one signed by a group of up-to eight people. They were well-prepared and obviously time had been spent in researching each one (though I thought one or two were rather frivolous). The majority were technical/procedural objections around boundaries, individual signatures on the petition, and points-of-law.

It took me back to a Students Union conference that I attended years ago in England. I was a bright young student, naive and excited to be representing my small-town college at a national conference. I had read the schedule and was looking forward to a highly-interesting debate and voting on many issues that were affecting "my" students. (My dad once said: "Students are the concience of the nation", which I thought was a very philosophical statement from my usually down-to-earth non-political Dad.)

But... we spent three days seeing every proposal brought down by a small minority of delegates who raised objections based on technicalities and Points of Order. We never reached any meaningful discussion. Every proposal was blocked, every change stalled--not on the merits of the proposals, but on the rules of play.

It left me with a thorough distaste for politics, and may well be the reason why becoming a lawyer never appealed.

The proposal for incorporation of Mastic Beach as a Village has grown from a group of good people who want to improve the quality-of-life in this community. It is inclusive of all residents--homeowners and renters alike--and is driven by a desire to change, not simply to play politics.

Supervisor Lesko closed the hearing after no more objections were raised. He must now review the petition, the objections, and make sure that the proposal for incorporation is valid.

We'll know the answer within ten days. I hope that we get to the "meaningful discussion", and have an opportunity to vote.

Whether or not this community becomes a Village, I'll continue doing my best to make my part of this beautiful place better.

Permits applied for...

Nipped to the town hall (why is the Town Hall in Farmingville, when the Town is Brookhaven, but there's no Town Hall in Brookhaven hamlet itself? And why do you get to the town hall down Bicycle Path, which is neither a path nor for bicycles, but a road for cars and trucks? Is this one of those days where I question everything?)

Applied for an extension to my phragmites-cutting permit, because I learned through the nice lady in Environmental Protection that instead of reapplying again and again, I can buy a ten year yes ten year extension to the permit--and it's transferrable with the house should I ever sell. So that extension has been applied for.

Also applied for a new wetlands permit to allow me to fill in the pond/pool. I don't need a permit to do the demo/filling-in. But I do need a permit to take the materials onto the property and put them into the space-that-was-pond. So really it's a permit to allow Mr. Contractor to carry, throw or drag "clean fill" from the street.

Those are the rules, and I Will Obey.

Things are fixed!

It's Friday, it's sunny, we are slowly-but-surely digging our way out of winter, and this week my garage's inner-workings have been tidied away behind new soffits, the front door frame has been repaired, and all the remaining skirting boards (baseboards) and door trim has been installed. Thank you very much Kelly at Suffolk County Home Repair!

Now I have no excuse. Must Paint.

Every day a new sunrise

Newsday editorial: "Mastic Beach deserves a chance"

Newsday has published an editorial about the work to incorporate Mastic Beach as a village:

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/editorial-mastic-beach-deserves-a-chance-1.1767011

Don't forget the public meeting on Monday 22nd at the Fire Department on Neighborhood Road. It starts at 6.30 p.m. and will be chaired by Mark Lesko. The meeting is a required step in the incorporation process, and is all about validating the already-submitted petition, not about whether incorporation should happen. Once the petition is validated, it will go to a vote, with every Mastic Beach voter able to make their opinion known through the ballot.

Wednesday... scary

Combination of black ice, frozen sleet, dodgy knee, over-excitable-and-nervous Great Dane, and a neighbour walking their well-behaved Jack Russell = far too much stress for an early morning.

I apologise to the gentleman with the dog, as I know how scary Bella must look when she's jumping and barking and dragging me off my feet. Please know that she would run a mile from you--she is very timid under all that bravado.

Two steps forwards, one very large, slipping-and-sliding step back...

Smith Point, looking west along Fire Island

Desolate and beautiful today.

All still kids at heart

Smith Point beach, snow and sand, nice mixture.

Winter beach: Smith Point

Snow, not much sand; you can't usually walk under the boardwalk and steps. Hopefully spring will replenish the beach again.

Yes, that is a surfer.

The snow had been cleared to provide a way across the snow-field parking lot to each of the tunnels to the beach. Not many people around though.

Jade and Bella in the snow

Sunshine!!!!

... and today's sound is drip, drip, drip as it melts from the roof and the trees. Had to watch out for the frozen snow falling from the overhead wires as I shovelled snow from the driveway.

Thursday morning... time to dig out

Ducks and geese are brave: head-first into slushy mix on the wetlands at dawn.

Dawn over the bay and the wetlands this morning; beautiful mix of greys and silvers and pale yellow. Icy mirror of the sky.

The sun comes out and lights up the snow-laden trees and reeds.

There Will Be Icicles.

The blizzard of...

It doesn't seem long since the headlines read, "The blizzard of 2009", and yet here we are in early February, and now it's "The blizzard of 2010". And yes, there was a lot of snow again, and it's after seven in the evening now, and it's still snowing, heavy, wet snow that falls from the roof in clumps and clots and is sliding off the deck table like too-much icing on a warm cake.

It's barely freezing: maybe a degree below, maybe a degree above: sleet mixed with snow, not the find-drifting snow we had in December. At midday, the street was almost clear, the snowploughs have been past several times, the salt is working, nothing freezing yet. Mid-afternoon, whiteout again... now it's still falling, still settling.

Perfect snowball snow. Snowman snow. Run-up-and-down-the-garden-with-the-dog snow. (Dylan did.)

I wonder if it will stop overnight?

I hope Jade's train runs in the morning!!!!

Dylan arrives today!

I am very happy. Dylan arrives today, this evening, for a week's visit. It will be his first time meeting Bella :-)

Five-minute turkey chilli is cooking:

Ingredients (added in this order and then stir before putting the lid on for the rest of day):
- one large slow cooker
- one large jar of medium salsa
- two 1 lb packs of minced (ground) turkey
- one large can of diced tomatoes (drained)
- one large can of red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- two small cans of tomato puree
- copious amounts of cumin and chilli plus a teensy bit of cinnamon.

Must go and buy sour cream on the way back from airport because I forgot it yesterday.

Warming the bathrooms

The challenge was how to warm the two upstairs bathrooms. While hot-water pipes run under the floors to the radiators, there are no radiators in the bathrooms themselves.

Looked at many options, and found these really cool towel warmers/bathroom heaters. They are effective, stylish, and they only draw 60w--the same as a light bulb! And it is really nice to have a warm towel when you step out of the shower.

You can buy them in many different sizes and shapes. They have to be wired in by an electrician, either with an on-off switch or with a timer. I found them online: took about three weeks for delivery. I am happy with them!

Friday morning is orange

I was never one for orange. Not for clothes, not for flowers, not for decorating. But living here has changed me. The morning sky, the flowers that arrived as volunteers in the garden... I Love Orange!

A few more odd jobs done, more to go...

Eric from Aries Electric in Shirley did a great job of installing two wall heaters/towel warmers (not only do they do the warm-bathroom thing, they also look good), replacing the heating thermostats, and climbing way up to replace the smoke detectors. Jack removed all the old stuff that was hanging around the yard waiting too-long to be useful. I scared the voles away (with a little help from Muffin). Now I just need to find some time to put everything back where it should be, fill little holes in walls and paint a bit more, and find the number of the person who wanted to buy the sideboard... and clean the garage and put up pegboard and paint it and make a workbench and deal with the pond and and and and and... is it spring yet?

Winter beauty

Yesterday was a gem of a winter's day: cold, clear, bright, sunny; still and calm. Even managed to work up a sweat in the garden, moving things around, tidying. Well below freezing, but without the knife of a wind that keeps you locked up indoors.

The cut reeds make a clacking, musical sound as they rub together. But my big windchimes have all broken, their cords cut by earlier storms. I need to find something to repair them; fishing line doesn't work, because I can't tie them tight enough. Or maybe I bought too strong/thick line?