Color Sampling

Color Sampling, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

We're doing some color work up here at Tall Pines. Making good with a bunch of color samples on the walls, a swatch of this here, a swatch of that there. I can't show you the colors -- yet. The photography just isn't doing it justice. But soon, we'll be out of the land of "Color by Kilz." And then I'll have plenty of photos.

The 'mater

The Mater, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

LP took up gardening and this is one of the many fruits, so to speak, of her labor. This small little guy got picked tonight and he's ripening a little bit on my window sill. Soon, we'll celebrate the little by by slicing him up, dipping him in olive oil, pairing with some bocconcini and basil leaves, some salt, some pepper. Then, down the hatch!

Fireplace: After

Fireplace: After, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Instead of just picking new fireplace doors from a supplier and writing a check, I decided to add one less thing to the landfills and refinish the doors I had.

They were a god awful glossy gold (a "before" photo is right here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tallpines/3810612988/) before. With awful hardware. And of the awful hardware, some of it was missing.

So this was one of the weekend projects. Bit by bit, I am really getting ready for some good autumn fires.

The Tall Pines Crest

The Tall Pines Crest, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

TP designer DA has been working on this for a while. Looks pretty good, huh? Well, it's a work in progress. Initially, I loved it too, but now I'm kind of sour on the whole thing because I don't think this will translate well to wood etchings and cattle brands. Nevertheless, its wonderful as is, and just needs a line-art version, really.

Call it a Vacation

DSCN6260 - Version 2, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Tall Pines -- the blog -- has been suffering from neglect the past couple of weeks as I have been planning for a ten day motorcycle trip. I just finished that trip today. An exciting 3,300 mile jaunt from Tall Pines to upstate NY, to Toronto, to Niagra, to Detroit, to Dayton, to Nashville, to Birmingham, to Chattanooga, to Asheville, to DC and home again. A great time, with my high school chum RP.

Today while I was on the final leg of the trip, would you believe I started thinking about insulating the basement? True story. I guess with the trip completed, its time to turn the attention back to the house. Well, so be it!

Anyway -- if the motorcycle trip interested you, you can read all about it at http://moto3our.blogspot.com. And see photos from it right here on Flickr.

Cairo!

Cairo!, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

MM's little pup, Cairo has been visiting Tall Pines while his daddy's been out of town. Cairo and I were roommates back in San Francisco back when he was a new-born pup, fresh off a non-stop flight from Dallas, nothing more than a few pounds of new dog.

Since then, he's all grown up, and like MM and myself, migrated back east. He's been here for a few weeks and tomorrow he goes back to the city. Of course, he's been great to have and I'll miss having him up here with me at the house.

I'm sorry, what? Yes, that's right -- he's a pure bred Pharaoh Hound. A 2004 model. He's relaxing on the balcony, pictured.

Route 206

Route 206, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Hey there -- so get this. Many of you know I am a motorcyclist. Well, I have been distracted a lot in the past couple of weeks in preparation of an annual week+ long motorcycle trip called "motoTour." My best pal RP and I go on it, and we're gearing up for it right now. The trip starts Friday, July 24.

Last week, I went down to DC via the BoltBus and brought back a whole new touring bike, a Kawasaki Concours (pictured). Its a real dream machine, about the best sports-touring bike you can get dollar-for-dollar, pound-for-pound. Those who appreciate a bargain will be happy to know I got it for a song.

So, even though LP and I spent some time this weekend trying out sample wall colors around the house, for the next week or so, Tall Pines will be turned over to house-sitters DA and KD and their two tots, while I hit the road for the third moroTour, moto3our.

If you want to check it out, RP and I will be joint blogging and tweeting the whole adventure at http://moto3our.blogspot.com. And my pictures from the trip will be getting uploaded here. And of course, on Twitter @moto3our.

Enjoy that! And we'll get back to renovating Tall Pines after this break. Speak to you soon!

In from Cairo

In from Cairo, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Well, MM has got me watching his pooch for the week: Cairo, the Egyptian Pharaoh Hound. He's lots of fun, but he doesn't come when you say 'come,' sit when you say 'sit' or any other commands. He just stares off into space. Kind of aloof, this guy.

And he likes waking me up by coming into my bedroom and looking at me sleeping. At 6 am.

Tall Pines Tea Party

Independence Drinkers, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Had some great friends up from the city this weekend for the 4th. We has some grub in Cold Spring, then popped off to Tall Pines to polish of a half dozen bottles of wine. This was just when we were getting started.

Be sure to check out that new addition (temporarily, at least) to the Tall Pines family, Cairo. More about him later; He'll be here all month!

Happy Independence Day! (And Happy Birthday to Mom!!)

L to R: Angie, Kiki, LP (not pictured), Sarah, EG and Cairo.

Frank and Joe

Frank and Joe, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

A little bit of set dressing here, some props for the house. Appealing to some classic nostalgic need for mysteries solved with just that touch of nuance, I got a collection of Hardy Boy books for the place. 28 books in the first installment, two shipments.

Home Alone

Home Alone, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

This is a reference photo of what a lonely Friday evening looked like. Not bad, right?

The Storm!

The Storm!, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

I knew the storm (Picture: Storm in Progress) was coming on Friday, there was a warning on my dashboard widget. About three in the afternoon, all hell broke loose on Tall Pines -- about an inch and a half of rain in about 40 minutes. And hail. Lightening. Booms of thunder. Enough wind to send potted plants flying across the yard. Lights flickering as the power toyed with going out.

And, crack, kaboom, this huge chunk of tree (pictured) is ripped from the very top of one of the trees by the wind and lands in the west lawn. Ouch!

This picture doesn't accurately depict size. The thickest part of this former tree top is easily a foot in diameter. This is 25 feet wide and probably 35 feet long. And heavy. It would have squashed me like a bug.

To get it out of the yard, I had to slice it into about 60 pieces and roll it into the woods. Amazing. You know how a few logs for the fire get heavy? Well, this thing is like 80 fire logs. Is? Was. I got it covered.

And eventually it will be firewood.

Fireplace, Check!

Fireplace, Check!, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

And, so , wood we burned. It took a epic drive north to Kingston, NY in a helluva rain storm to buy a fireplace set from a down-on-his luck alternative music drummer from the '80s (Information Society, Talking Heads ...) that we found on Craig's List ... then after hauling all that back, we had to go to the Lomala 200 Club dinner (details upon request) and finally we made it home Saturday night with a big bag of logs from the A&P and ... Viola! Here we go. An honest-to-God wood white birch fire in my living room. All natural, smoke up the chimney style.

And! Not five minutes after getting the fire started, zap! The power goes out due to the storm! So for the next five hours, we lit candles, drank wine and burnt wood up at Tall Pines.

All in all, very fantastic. And then Sunday night we burned more wood. This is going to be a regular thing.

Photo by LP.

Playboy Bunnies

Playboy Bunnies, originally uploaded by Tall Pines Lodge.

Playboy, well, that's me.

As for the bunnies, check 'em out! How fantastic that these little dudes will just sit around on the South Lawn and work on a little lunch. And when I come out, they just chill out and do their thing, as I do mine.

I put some tera cotta pot bases out here and there and let them fill with rain water for the bunnies (and the toads). I mean, this sun gives you a powerful thirst!