Apple time ...

The orchards are bursting with a huge crop of Apples this year in the Hudson Valley. There are many great pick-your-own orchards and farmstands by the sides of the roads on both sides of the Hudson.

We are looking forward to Cider Week NY coming up on October 18 - 27 at locations in New York City and here in the Hudson Valley, more information here http://www.ciderweekny.com/ .

It's the wedding season......

Congratulations to Adam and Richard, who had the best luck with the weather for their wedding last weekend. After torrential lengthy downpours, the informal rehearsal dinner/barbecue here was rescheduled indoors, but the clouds parted at exactly the right time for the big event. We loved these green dresses! It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying their time here, come back soon :)

Poets Walk

Yesterday evening we went for a sunset picnic and stroll at Poets Walk, just over the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge about 10 minutes by car from The Stone House. This is a great place for a gentle walk in almost any weather. Here are a few pictures from our outing:

 

Wildflowers and grasses.

 

Sunlight streaming through the woods onto the path.

 

A Cicada that has emerged from 17 years underground.

Flowers in our garden

Making scrumptious sausages....

This week we had a go at making homemade sausages, and, as we love the results, we thought we'd share! As you can see, you don't have to use casings if you don't want to, and it's especially easy if you have a meat grinder, but with perseverance, a food processor will do.

All you need is a couple of pounds of pork butt, with a ratio of about a third fat to two-thirds lean meat. Remove the skin, and cut into chunks. Grind coarsely - this is easier if the meat is really cold. Add seasonings and spices to taste (we used homegrown sage and rosemary, salt and pepper). Then, get four pieces of baking parchment, about 12 inches by 4 inches. Take a quarter of the mixture and start rolling.

Now, roll in up in the baking parchment...and place on a baking tray, open side face down. Repeat until you have done all four, then bake at 400F for 10 minutes:

Unwrap, cut them up, and they're ready for freezing, or browning in a pan to eat straightaway!

We got our our organic meat from the famous Fleischer's in Uptown Kingston for this batch, and the result was DELICIOUS! Just quite different from anything you'd find in a supermarket, and good value too. Yum, yum, yum..........enjoy.....

A Buddhist Wedding

 

Congratulations to Bob Thompson and Michael Kunz who were married this afternoon in beautiful Spring weather. The ceremony took place in our backyard overlooking the Esopus Creek. It was wonderful to meet everyone from Ohio, and we wish them all the very best for the future!

Wild happenings at the Stone House

 

Spring is well and truly here, and humans and animals alike are exploring the Esopus valley, enjoying the warm, sunny weather. Lynn Schense, an avid birder, is currently staying with us and reported seeing the following birds early yesterday morning down by the creek:

An Eastern Phoebe, a Chickadee - Black Capped, a Dark-Eyed Junco, a Black and White Warbler, a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, a Song Sparrow, a Chipping Sparrow, a White-Throated Sparrow, a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, a Northern Flicker, a pair of Wood Ducks, Blue Jays, a Northern Cardinal, a Robin, a European Starling, a House Sparrow, a Red-winged Blackbird, and a Tufted Titmouse. She also heard a Carolina Wren and a Hairy Woodpecker. That makes 20 species!

We've also been seeing Bald Eagles regularly this year, and the other day Sam saw a Fisher Weasel at dawn as he was out taking photos by the river. Fisher Weasels prefer woodland, are mainly found along the Canadian-US border, and are still listed as a threatened species. Since this is more open valley than woodland, it might just have been passing through. Last year we also saw a Black Bear - a rare sight here, and doubtless on its way between the Catskills and the Shawangunk Ridge. It's a privilege to share our land with such a multitude of wildlife.....

The longest elevated pedestrian park in the world!

Walkway Over The Hudson from Sam Scoggins on Vimeo.


Here's a little video we made of The Walkway over the Hudson last weekend. The Walkway is one and a quarter miles long and it takes about 20 minutes to reach the other side. As you can see, it's popular with cyclists, joggers, hikers and dog walkers. Don't miss the unicyclist!

The Bridge is already in the Guinness Book of Records for last year's longest line dance ever recorded - this year will see another attempt on May 4th, this time for the world's longest chorus line! There's still time to be part of the event, you can find out more on the Walkway's official website.

When we walked there last weekend, we could see that work for the new riverfront park on the Poughkeepsie side was well underway. A 20-storey glass elevator will be built to take people down to the waterfront from the bridge, and is scheduled to be finished by the Fall.

Ebelskiver for Valentine's Day

 

So we made some ebelskiver pancakes for our guests this morning.... These are traditional Danish pancakes, usually in the shape of a sphere, thanks to cast iron pans with a series of half spherical hollows..... except that our pan has hearts! We found it locally at a tag sale in Red Hook, and it looks like this:

 

They tasted delicious and we can recommend a Williams Sonoma recipe for blueberry ebelskiver. If you don't mind flatter pancakes, any cast iron pan will work. Next, we're going to try the lemon-mascarpone filled ones..........yum!

We are starting to plan our gardening activities for the year now. Hoping to increase our herb garden, where we pick fresh herbs every morning in season for the breakfasts. So it was great to have Michelle Sutton staying with us this week. Michelle is a Horticulturist who writes about horticulture for our great local magazine Chronogram and the online magazine Farm House . One of her articles that I liked the best was about the place we buy our seeds, Hudson Valley Seed Library who do great work and only offer heirloom and open-pollinated seeds - no hybrids and nothing genetically engineered. You can get seeds from them here: http://www.seedlibrary.org/ . Happy gardening in 2013!

Another moody snow scene from our backyard

Winter Playground

So we had about 8" of snow yesterday and here you can see the view from the window of the Lacemaker room of some of the trees in our garden, the Lower Esopus Creek, the Winter Wheat in the fields beyond and then the foothills of the Catskill State Park. So moodily beautiful at this time of year, ideal for landscape photography. It's also an ideal time now for Snowshoeing, Cross Country Skiing, Ice Skating, Snowboarding, Downhill Skiing and all those other fun winter activities!

Downhill Skiing/Snowboarding/ Snow Tubing

Belleayre Mountain, (45 minutes away)
Off Rt. 28, Highmount, NY 12441, tel 1-800-942-6904 www.belleayre.com
171 skiable acres with 96% of terrain covered by snowmaking; 8 lifts, 47 trails & glades, Rail Park, Terrain Park & Half Pipe; 4 lodges; equipment rentals & lessons; open daily, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Lodges; 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. 

Sawkill Family Ski Center (10 minutes away)
167 Hill Rd, Kingston NY 12401, tel 845-336-6977 www.sawkillski.com
Small family ski center very close to us. Open weekends and holidays for skiing, snow tubing and snow boarding.

Cross-Country Skiing/Snowshoeing

Belleayre Mountain (see above) also has 9.2 kilometers of groomed cross-country trails

Minnewaska State Park Preserve (25 minutes away)
Rt 44/55, New Paltz, NY 12561, tel 845-255-0752 www.nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/127/details.aspx
Located in the Shawangunk Mountains just outside of New Paltz. Minnewask hosts winter nature programs, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowshoe rentals. Open 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM daily. Fees:$7/car; snowshoe rentals; $15/person.

Mohonk Mountain House (20 minutes away)
1000 Mountain Rest Rd., New Paltz, NY 12561, tel 845-256-2197 http://www.mohonk.com/Activities/Day-Guests/Winter-Activities
30 miles of trails; Ski Shop with ski and snow shoe rentals on premises. Day fees: Midweek– $18/adults; $13/children under 12; Weekends & Holidays– $23/adults; $18/children under 12. Ski rentals: $20/adults; $14/children. Snowshoe rentals: $16/adults; $12/children

Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center (40 minutes away)
6198 Main Street Tannersville, NY 12485, tel 18-589-5361 www.mtntrails.com

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Nestled on the northern border of Tannersville, located in the beautiful Northern Catskills.
National ski patrol, lessons, equipment hire, 35 kilometers of quiet nature trails on 300 acres that are groomed, track-set, and marked to degree of difficulty. Highly recommended

For other cross-country skiing options which may or may not be groomed, you can also check out:
The Hudson Valley Rail Trail (30 minutes away) www.HudsonValleyrailtrail.net , The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail (30 minutes away) www.gorailtrail.org , The O&W Rail Trail (right next to our house) http://www.traillink.com/trail/d--h-canal-heritage-corridor-(ow-rail-trail).aspx , and the Mohonk Preserve (20 minutes away) www.mohonkpreserve.org

Ice Skating

Kiwanis Ice Arena (20 minutes away) tel 845-247-2590 http://kiwanisicearena.com/skatingdrop_in_hockey_schedule
Fully enclosed refrigerated Olympic-size ice rink facility. Daily. Sept-April.

Mohonk Mountain House Ice Skating Pavilion (20 minutes away)
1000 Mountain Rest Rd., New Paltz, NY 12561 http://www.mohonk.com/Activities/Day-Guests/Winter-Activities
18,000-square-foot ice rink. Outside pavilion with open sides, wooden roof beams, stone columns, and a 39-foot-tall stone fireplace overlooking the enchanting lake. Highly recommended.

Moriello Park Ice Rink (30 minutes away)
Mulberry St, New Paltz 12561 www.townofnewpaltz.org (go to Recreation Dept – then choose: Recreation Updates)
Newly opened outdoor ice rink set at the town of New Paltz Moriello Pool/Park. Open daily for skating: 11:00 AM-2:00 PM; 4:00 PM-7:30 PM. FREE! Outdoor pond skating and sledding is also available at New Paltz Sports Park (across from the Ulster County Fairgrounds), Libertyville Rd., New Paltz. For ice and sledding conditions, you can check the town website listed above.

Last Minuite Gifts

It's never too late to purchase one of our very own Gift Certificates, you can easily order them online here: http://www.webervations.com/magic-scripts/giftcert.asp?memberid=11827 . (You can also click on the icon top left on our home page). A great gift for friends, family or business associates you can buy them in any multiple of $25. They can be redeemed against a stay at any time in the following 12 months (or longer by request).

Getting into the holiday spirit!

We're getting our seasonal decor together in the house....

Meanwhile, we found this neat interactive map of activities here in Ulster County to help you plan your stay:
http://co.ulster.ny.us/recreation/

Baking, baking

We're busy baking! In peak leaf season, we find we take our usual recipes and quadruple the amounts....above is a tray of biscotti, and the anise seeds we added (thanks to friends who grew them and gave them to us). At the moment, we're baking our bread in batches of 12 or 24 loaves........mostly our seeded oat bread, and a rye bread, both using the no-knead method of baking that saves so much time. Guests love our breads, and you can have a go at baking them yourself, as they're both in our new recipe book, which you can order directly from the printers by clicking on this link.

Pedal Power!

Congratulations to the very happy Mr and Mrs Boesen, who were our first guests to arrive from New York City without a car or taxi. They put their bikes on a Metro North train, and cycled here from Poughkeepsie, using the spectacular Walkway over the Hudson. The Hudson Valley Rail Trail, Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and Delaware and Hudson Canal Heritage Corridor/O&W Rail Trail brought them here with relatively little road cycling. While they stayed with us, they cycled to the Ashokan Reservoir and Saugerties.

We were excited to learn recently that a 21-story glass elevator will soon be built to allow even easier access from Poughkeepsie station to the Walkway. We're also watching developments regarding the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail extension - if the amazing Rosendale Railroad Trestle is restored, it will become a crucial link for rail trail use across a wide area, and will allow for an almost continous rail trail connection from New Paltz, practically to our front door! Track the Trestle!

Hurley's Dutch Origins

We were honored this weekend to host Mr and Mrs Rob de Vos. They were both such kind and unassuming people that we had no idea, until just before they left, that Rob de Vos is actually the Consul General at the Netherlands Consulate in New York. We've had a few visits from those working at the Consulate, but it took us a while to realise Rob de Vos was actually their boss.......

Over 30 years in the Dutch Foreign Service has taken him to North Yemen, Dar es Salaam, London, Mali, Madrid, South Africa, and now New York. Of course, the Dutch heritage in this area is of great interest to those from the Netherlands Consulate. One very interesting book we've been given and can recommend is The Island at the Center of the World, by Russell Shorto, which is based on recently found documents about the original New Amsterdam. It sheds interesting light on some of the roots of America's freedoms.

Mr and Mrs de Vos were interested to hear that Hurley is having its 350th Anniversary Celebration on September 15th this year. You can check here for more information.

Our herb garden

One of the first things we did when we started renovating the house was to establish a herb garden. We're always using herbs freshly picked from the garden, whether it's parsley or chives in some scrambled eggs, or basil for a frittata, or mint for a red grapefruit, apple and mint salad, etc.....this year we even tried out some lavender in shortbread for the guest cookie jar! At the top you can see the herb garden as it is now - we're excited that the box hedges have nearly joined up.........below you can just about see a couple of box hedges when we planted them, bottom right, about 4" high, back in 2008. It's amazing what happens if you wait a little while. Now, all we need is for the plum tree we planted at the same time to start bearing fruit too.....

We're one of the BEST!

We're thrilled to be listed as one of nine BEST inns and B&Bs in New York State, in Frommer's 5th edition of their guide. They've given us 3 stars (= a "must-see") and listed us as a "special find"!

Here's what they have to say (p.236):

"In a charming, 300-year-old stone house in Hurley, one of the Catskills towns with old Dutch roots, this lovely property pays tribute to the area's heritage by naming its rooms for paintings by Johannes Vermeer, the 17th century Dutch master. And they're suitably aesthetically minded, with four-poster beds and luxurious Frette sheets. It's nearly impossible to choose a favorite room, but "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" seems to be the consensus pick. This is the type of elegance and historic character not often (ever?) seen in B&Bs, and the husband-and-wife team, Sam and Nadia, run it with aplomb and great attention to detail, serving terrific breakfasts and orienting guests to the Catksills' great offerings. The grounds and views overlooking the Esopus Creek are outstanding. Look online for great package deals, such as 3 nights of the price of 2."

We'd like to thank our guests for recently pointing out to us that we were listed, it really made our day! We might add that we're just as well positioned for the Mid-Hudson Valley as for the Catskills. We feel very lucky to be living in such a beautiful part of the world. Come and visit, and enjoy....

Time to do some gardening

At last, we've had some rain! Time to do some gardening.........Above (top) are wildflowers on the river bank, Nadia busy getting rid of some weeds, and pansies that seem to have planted themselves.