Out with the old (CDs) and in with the new. The CDs were just taking up space and the beer was taking up floor space. Personally, I think these attractive bottles are as nice to look at as a row full of lovely book jackets. The fate of the CDs is undecided. I’ve got the music backed up in multiple places and rarely, if ever, pull a disc out of the library. I’ll either store them or sell them. In the meantime, I’m happy with this tidy arrangement, which has enough room for the beer and preserves a special nook for the snowglobes. (And just for the record, this beer collection is a group effort. I’m just the lucky one who gets to store it.) A lot of this weekend was spent laboring over trip preparation and trying to finish up a number of tasks before I head out of town at the end of the month. I also had many tasty meals with friends, as well as finishing up the last of the growlers I imported from the Beer Trappe in Lexington. Early Saturday morning, we went for a sail and enjoyed the last of the warm temps and pleasant breezes before the wind turned cold out of the north, signalling that Fall is not far off.

Saturday night, the gang of six convened over barbecued lamb to discuss plans and preparations for our upcoming canal adventure. After a few days in Paris, we’ll train down to the south of France where we’ll pick up a boat and cruise for a week down the Canal du Midi. I still can’t quite believe I’ll be doing this, but as we get down to more of the nitty-gritty details, it’s getting real and I’m getting very excited indeed. As you can see, there’s been no progress on repairing the sliding glass door that spontaneously shattered last week. In fact, it’s worse. We covered it in duct tape to prevent shards of glass from falling all over and after last week’s heat wave, the window is now bowing out. I’ll treat it like a modern art installation until it’s replaced. Hopefully, I won’t still be looking at this when the snow begins to fall. On an unseasonably cool Labor Day, we let Maisy out in the backyard to enjoy her personal patch of catmint. I believe the term for this is “spontaneous breakage.”

Last year about this time, we gutted the backyard and put in all new plantings. This year, we did the same in the front yard. I’ve become the unofficial gardner for our town home association and have muddled along for years, trying to replace the terrible looking beds and patches of grass with something more attractive and sustainable without depending on constant watering. With diseased trees in need of replacing and trouble patches that needed help, it was definitely time to call in the professionals. Saturday was the day when all the plants went in the half of the beds that we’re planting this year. (The remaining beds will planted next year.) Plants incorporated in the landscaping include astilbe, hydrangea, hosta, gooseneck, bleeding heart, turtlehead, ladies mantle, fern, catmint, and witch hazel. We also planted a couple of kousa dogwood which I’m really excited about. The whole thing looks great and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out. For the next two weeks, I’m on watering duty, which takes about two hours of shifting hoses around every day.

I’ll post some photos once I process them. The home improvements out front continued with new replacement walkways. We got rid of a more than a little dead wood out front. The crab apple trees were sickly and way over-sized for their location so they had to go. auto glass repair springfield ohioFor two years now, the leaves have turned a sickly yellow and dropped by early September. auto glass repair gardena caPlus, they just looked pathetic. sliding screen door 76 x 30I wasn’t at all sorry to see them go. glass shower door popping noiseTop contender for replacement tree: a variety of Dogwood.

It was all part of a day of general tree surgery, as we had the parkway trees trimmed as well, which really helped to lighten up the place. It was raining branches at one point. We weren’t the only side of the street having tree work done. As it turned out, it was the same day the city came by to take down the two pear trees across the street that were struck by lightning during a wicked thunderstorm earlier in the week. It was a rough day for the trees on our block. Brought the new patio furniture home just in time for it to begin raining again. All day Sunday, the table and four chairs taunted me as the three different times, the sky darkened like night as strong thunderstorms rolled through. Finally, a break in the weather. Okay, I'm cheating on this one. Despite the many interesting things I did yesterday (a trip to the zoo, lunch with friends, cooking dinner with more friends), I somehow neglected to take a photo of my feet. You'd think after doing this for almost two months, I'd remember to shoot my feet whereEVER I go, but no.

It slips my mind more often than not. So, imagine my feet are in this photo, getting toasty warm by the fire. Yesterday was quite cold and since we still haven't turned on the heat, a fire seemed like a great idea. We're heading into another warm spell this weekend, with temps in the 50s and 60s, so I'm going to see how far into November we can get before we have to fire up the furnace. What should have been a lovely day off turned into a sick day. Damn you head cold. I took it easy, resting as I much as I could while working my way through a box of tissue. (Puff Plus–tissue plus lotion–single greatest invention of the last ten years.) My only accomplishment today was spilling an entire can of bacon grease on the kitchen rug. A lovely way to start the day. Needless to say, a rug cleaning is in order. When your home security system's alarm sounds, it could mean one of many things. You could have an intruder in your home, or you could have a fire, a flood, or a carbon monoxide leak.

You also could have simply forgotten to disarm the system. But whether it's an emergency or a false alarm, a triggered alarm system can be stressful and unpleasant. Understanding how your system works and what happens when an alarm is triggered can help you stay calm during a real emergency. What Happens When My System Is Triggered? Your alarm system sounds when one of your sensors is triggered or you manually set off the alarm through your control panel or key fob remote. Depending on how your system is set up, one of two things will happen-either a high-decibel alarm will sound or a silent alarm will be sent to your ADT monitoring station. Your ADT monitoring station will be notified and a dispatcher will be alerted to a possible emergency at your home. ADT monitoring stations are staffed 24/7, so there is always someone ready to respond to your alarm. Once a dispatcher is notified, they'll contact you to verify if it is a legitimate emergency or a false alarm.

Depending on the service and system you have, the dispatcher will contact you either through your control panel (using 2-Way Voice technology) or will call you on your home or cell phone to verify the situation. Once the dispatcher contacts you, they'll determine what is going on. If it is a false alarm, the dispatcher will cancel the alarm and will not notify your local emergency response team. If the dispatcher cannot contact you, they will assume there is an emergency. If there is an emergency, the dispatcher will contact the local authorities, including police, fire, and emergency response team, depending on the type and severity of the situation. The emergency response team should arrive at your home shortly to help provide assistance and support to you and your family Did you find this diagram helpful? Download a PDF or Embed on Your Website What Triggers an Alarm? The majority of security systems come with wireless sensors that can be placed in strategic locations around your home, like on doors or windows and in living rooms and bedrooms.

When these sensors are triggered, they send a signal to your security system control panel, which will alert your ADT monitoring station. Here are some common sensors that can be triggered in the case of an emergency. Magnetic door/window sensors are made up of two small magnetic pieces; one is mounted to the top of the door or window frame, while the second is placed directly on the door or window. Vanishing sensors can be placed inside the door/window and inside the frame so no one knows they are there. The two sensor pieces are in contact with each other while the door/window is closed. When they are opened, the sensors separate and an alarm is triggered. The most common type of motion sensor is the infrared sensor. These sensors emit infrared light and are triggered when they detect body heat. They identify intruders by comparing the heat of inanimate objects with the heat of anything moving in its field of detection— like a human. Many motion sensors are designed with Pet Immunity to avoid false alarms being triggered by small pets in the home.

There are two types of glass break sensors: shock sensors and acoustic sensors. Shock sensors detect vibrations when glass breaks or shatters, while acoustic sensors are designed to detect the exact sound waves of breaking glass. Both are efficient, but the acoustic sensors can monitor a wider area, such as large bay windows or sliding glass doors. Emergency sensors are an added layer of security most people don't always think about. Flood sensors will help to detect and notify you of any moisture in your home caused by flooding, burst pipes, or any other water-related emergency. These sensors should be installed in leak-prone areas of the home, like behind the water heater or under sinks. Carbon monoxide detectors will help alert you when high levels of CO are detected in your home, and smoke sensors detect smoke and spikes in temperature. Most alarm systems can also be triggered manually in case of an emergency. The alarm can be set off by pushing the panic button on your control panel or your key fob remote.