Lindsey's Cow

We went to the Sharon Summer Craft Fair this past August. We got a couple of small things for the house, but this is by far the best. Lindsey found this at a stand that specializes in wood carvings. It's the closest we're ever going to come to owning cattle.

City vs. Country

So, a lot of people saw the New York Times article on Friday, and were shocked to hear Linds and I got a place up in the country. More to the point, they wanted to know how we were adjusting to life up there (even if only on weekends).

It gave me an idea for a post: I thought I'd compare (through pictures) our life in the city vs. our life in the country. First up, the kitchen junk drawer:

In the country, we are prepared for anything. In the city, we order in a lot.

Next up, the entertainment center:

New York: 52" DLP HDTV, surround sound (B&W speaker system), powered subwoofer, Xbox, Apple TV, DVR...and of course, always tuned to the Simpsons.

Sharon: 27" TV for $113 and a $39 DVD player, purchased at Wal-Mart. Never on.

And finally, laundry:

We bought this HUGE washer/dryer set from the previous owner. As for laundry in the city, it's the opposite of dinner: we send it out.

So that's a brief snapshot of our city life vs. our country life. Watching TV on a 27-inch screen and doing laundry took some getting used to, but I think we're adjusting pretty well.

We're in Today's New York Times!

Exciting news! We're featured in the article "Home Sweet...Yikes!" in today's New York Times, on the front page of the "Escapes" section.

Thanks to reporter Dan Levin for interviewing us (and calling us "urban sophisticates!").

Check out the article: "Home Sweet...Yikes!"

Ten Things We Love About Country Caretaker

A few days after we closed on the house, we realized we needed some help. Thankfully, there is a service in our area called the Country Caretaker, which specializes in helping city people manage life in the country (or, as they call it, "property management and personal service coordination").

Adam Manes is the owner of Country Caretaker. From the minute we met Adam, we felt safer. Thanks to his services, we know that someone is watching our house when we're not around and we always have someone to call if a project is too big for us to handle (or if we just don't feel like doing something...like cleaning the gutters).



Here are our ten favorite things about Country Caretaker:

1. Adam has a very big truck. It's an F350 from Ford and it's almost as big as our house.



2. Kevin built us the best fence in New England.

3. Mary Ann writes lots of comments on our blog. (Thanks, Mary Ann!)

4. We're pretty sure Adam's entire wardrobe is from Orvis.

5. If our alarm goes off accidentally, we don't have to drive up from the city to turn it off. That's part of Country Caretaker's services.

6. Adam says "Don't worry, we'll take care of it!" a lot.

7. Adam is totally unfazed by bugs.

8. They just started online billing.

9. Adam had Lindsey's dad as his high school English teacher (seriously!).

10. Who do you think removed the hot tub?

Posted by Lindsey

Obligatory Fall Foliage Montage

These shots were all taken within a five mile radius of our house. The water you see is Lake Sharon. Let the foliage fest begin:

New Restaurant!!!

We found the most amazing restaurant. Well, we didn't find it. We just finally decided to eat there.

Serevan is in Amenia, NY, on Route 44 on the way to our house. We've talked about stopping in for a while now, but we never had time. Luckily we tried it this weekend. Serevan is an absolute jewel, serving the freshest, highest quality food we've had outside of NYC. The restaurant is run by Serge Madikians, an Armenian who grew up in Tehran and was the Executive Chef at Chez es Saada here in NYC.

We had an extraordinary meal. Serge peppers his food with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors that are surprising and delicious. And the wine list is quite manageable, with selections perfectly matched to the food.

We had a wonderful evening. We ended up staying pretty late, so Serge gave us a tour of his kitchen and introduced us to his staff. They also serve brunch on Sundays, so I think this is going to be our new spot.

I highly recommend a visit to Serevan if you are ever in the area. You will not be disappointed.

Posted by Evan

Bye Bye Hot Tub

As promised, here is our yard minus one hot tub. I'm thrilled with how it looks, although I expected the grass that it was built on to be green immediately. It was explained to me that the grass actually has to GROW back. We'll also be getting rid of that random bush.



Posted by Evan

The Hot Tub

Our house came with a hot tub. The previous owner told us how she liked to relax in it naked.

This freaked Evan out, so last week he had the whole thing removed.

Next week we'll post a photo of how the yard looks post-tub.

Posted by Lindsey

The Basement

The basement is by far the scariest part of our house. Growing up and living in apartments my whole life, the basement was a place with three functions: laundry was done there, garbage went there and the basement provided the perfect place to win hide-and-seek.

But in a house, the basement is home to crucial systems: heating, electrical and water. When our broker first took us down into the basement, the first thought that went through my mind was, "Well, this was a nice day in the country, I hope we don't hit traffic on the way back." If you've never seen a boiler or a water-heater or a fuse-box before, your first time can be...intimidating.

The basement is like Mission Control. Everything important happens down there. And as much as I wanted to never, ever go back down there, you really have to. I know it's cliche, but information is power. The more I learned about each system, the better I felt about going down there. They key was our home inspection. The inspector explained each system and what it did and why. That was VERY helpful.

The basement is still my least favorite place in the house. But with each passing week I'm getting better about going down there. Some things to keep in mind:

1. Get a dehumidifier. I recommend the Whirlpool 75 Pint Energy Star Dehumidifier. Moisture is the enemy of basements and this baby has an Auto setting that's perfect for weekenders--turn it on once and you're good-to-go.
2. Make sure you have ample lighting. Too much important stuff is going on down there and you need to be able to see everything.
3. Get the service contract for the boiler. You don't want to mess with that thing, and the service contract will save you money in the long run.
4. If you have a water-softening machine, be warned that the salt pellets only come in 40 lb bags, and they are a pain-in-the-ass. Remember, lift with your knees and watch your eyes as your pour in the pellets--the salt dust stings.

Posted by Evan

A Tale of Two Fridges

This is our fridge in Manhattan. We order in a lot.

This is our fridge in the country. Because there is no takeout in Sharon and only three restaurants that all close by 8pm, we go shopping and we--okay, okay Evan--cooks. This is the most full refrigerator either of us has had (well, since moving out of our parents' houses).

Posted by Lindsey

Home Depot vs. Dill's

I've been thinking about this post for a long time. Before we bought the house, I'd never been to a Home Depot or any kind of home superstore. But I always thought that Home Depot was the kind of place where a guy could go and automatically feel at home. I had this idea that Home Depot was like a universal Cheers, and when you walked in, not only would they know your name, but you would just fit. And I so wanted to fit in there. I assumed I'd walk in and immediately be able to put up dry wall, handle a clogged drain and know things about lumber. The reality was quite different.

When Lindsey and I walked into our first Home Depot, we made it about 20 feet into the store, looked at each other with equal parts horror and fear, and left.

Not a great start. But we needed stuff for the house, and Home Depot is the only game in town (or so I thought at the time). So I went back. I convinced myself that a store with the motto "You can do it, we can help" can't be THAT hard to navigate. It took me about 20 minutes to walk up and down every aisle, and ask a few questions along the way. I have an idea for a new Home Depot motto: "You can do it and we really don't care how things turn out. In fact, just get what you need and leave as quickly as possible."

Home Depot is just not a place for a novice homeowner. It's a place for contractors, professional builders and homeowners who really know what they are doing.

The experience at Home Depot forced me to drive around and look for a different option. And boy did I find one. It's called Dill's Best Hardware, a locally-owned hardware and lumber shop. Yes, the prices are about 10% more than Home Depot's, but the guys there are so helpful.

It's funny, the staff at Home Depot are clean cut, all wear bright orange aprons and look very friendly, but they're just not that helpful. The guys at Dill's are dirty (in that I-just-built-a-shed kinda dirty) and seem to wear pretty much whatever they want.

I have to admit, the first time I went in there I was sure they'd immediately peg me as a weekender and ignore me. I could not have been more wrong. For each item I needed, they explained how to use it correctly and they showed me multiple options based on price, steering me towards the right purchase, not the most expensive (turns out the $40 electric screwdriver is just as effective as the $125 version). And they actually talked me though each project.

I never thought I'd be this guy, but now I make excuses to go to Dill's. It's where everybody knows my name.

Posted by Evan

How Evan Relaxes

Evan told me he was going to sit outside for a while and relax. When I went outside to check on him, this is what I found:

• E-book
• BlackBerry
• Bug spray
• Water
• Diet Coke
• Phone

Posted by Lindsey

Country Time vs. City Time

Having lived in Manhattan for all of my 32 years, I am used to being able to get what I want FAST. I can pretty much order anything from sushi to an Xbox to duct-tape, and have it within an hour or two. The country is...different. Things just take time. The line at the grocery store moves slower, people don't drive very fast, clerks move at a slow (but determined) pace. It's like everyone got together and agreed to function at 60% capacity 24/7.

It's not a bad thing per se, but it takes some getting used to. We've been having some work done on the house and what I thought would take a week has taken seven. It's been a good lesson in patience for me. Perhaps now I will be kinder to the tourists in NYC who wander around aimlessly staring up at the tall buildings (are there no tall buildings in other countries???) and walking four across on the sidewalk, making it virtually impossible for me to get where I'm going (kinda like cattle in Sharon).

Maybe I'll bring Sharon's lack of urgency to my life here in the city. Although next time it takes the sushi guy more than 30 minutes, I'm sure I'll be on the phone demanding to know where my sashimi deluxe is, and how much longer will I have to wait.

Posted by Evan