Bedford

The winter and spring in New York were hard on the Bedford house.
Because of the frequent snow and rain over the past six months, the
water table rose flooding the basement up to an inch of water. Of
course, this scared our musician tenants and this led to an improved
sump pump water system to pump out the water from the house to avoid
the flooding costing $2000. The flooding occurs every ten years, based
on our experience when we were living in Bedford. So, while most
Americans will celebrate Independence Day (from Britain), Mark and I
will spend four days digging a trough from the back of the house to
the pond and laying a small pipe so that the water inside the
basement, should it occur again, will automatically flow into the
pond. The plumbers did the sump pump inside the house. But the
exterior landscape work we will do ourselves.

In addition, we will also do some repainting, installing windows locks
and new lights and will check supposedly leaks from the upstairs
bathroom. I am hoping this is not going to be major. So, it is so much
for a holiday weekend for Mark and I. Since this is a "team effort," I
will be joining Mark and will don my hard hat and working boots.
Alright! You go girl! It also gives us a chance to spend time in
Bedford. I get to tend to my flowering shrubs and my baby trees which
I have heard have now grown taller than me.

So this is really what our summer in New York is all about. Work, work
and a little bike riding at least once a week. When things get really
hectic, we dream of a cocktail drink and wish we were in Dubai. We are
quite used to the small space in New York City. We are beyond the
claustrophobia at this point.