Blueberries turning red

The nearby Shawangunk Ridge is an extraordinary environment. In this picture taken at sunset yesterday we can see wild blueberries in the foreground growing in a crevice in the hard conglomerate rock that makes up the ridge, surrounded by a "dwarf pine barren" - a very rare environment. In the fall the Blueberry plants turn bright red. You can get great views from here across to the Catskill Mountains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawangunk_Ridge

http://www.shawangunkridge.org/

http://shawangunks.org/

http://www.mohonkpreserve.org/

Our Backyard

Nadia Kayaking on the Esopus Creek at the bottom of our backyard this afternoon.

Esopus Bend

http://esopuscreekconservancy.org/

The Ashokan from Overlook

About 7 miles away from us, up into the Catskill State Park, lies the Ashokan Reservoir. Started in 1908 at that time it was the largest man-made reservoir in the world and the main water supply for New York city, 90 miles to the south. Here you can see it from Overlook Mountain, near Woodstock, a great hiking spot about 20 minutes away from us by car.

Flowers in our Garden

18th Century Delft Tile

One of a set of tiles above one of the fireplaces in our house.

A Great Review

It's been crazy busy here through August, with bookings almost every night and full on the weekends. We have been amazed at how thoroughly many of our guests have studied our website. One lady staying last night had been following this blog for almost a year! Some have very kindly written reviews of our B & B on various websites, like this wonderful one we discovered yesterday:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g47942-d1466964-r36248217-The_Stone_House_Bed_and_Breakfast-Hurley_New_York.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

Stone House Day 2009 in Hurley, NY

This is part of the interior of the Hyman Roosa, Elmendorf, Bevier Stone House, with additions and alterations, Main Street, Old Village of Hurley, Ulster County, NY. This part of the house is thought to date from about 1710. The house is owned by our friend Jim, who as you can see is doing fantastic work restoring it. You can tour the house next Saturday when it is open to the public. You can see a larger version of the photograph here: http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3696388318&size=large

At The Stone House Bed and Breakfast we will also be open for "Stone House Day" on Saturday 11th July 2009. This is the annual event here in Hurley, NY, where many of the local houses built in the early 1700's are open to the public. This year is the 60th anniversary of Stone House Day. To learn more visit the website:

http://www.stonehouseday.org/

Hudson's ship the Halve Maen (Half Moon)

The replica of Henry Hudsons ship which he sailed up what is now known as the Hudson River in 1609 off Rhinecliffe NY. The sloop Clearwater in the background. You can learn more about the Half Moon here: http://www.hrmm.org/halfmoon/1609moon.htm

And the Clearwater here: http://www.clearwater.org/ .

This picture was taken yesterday at a Hudson River Heritage event as the Half Moon came up to Rhinecliffe and the Rondout at Kingston to celebrate the 400 hundredth anniversary of Hudson's voyage. You can learn more about Hudson River Heritage here: http://hudsonriverheritage.org/ .

"The Lacemaker" room, circa 1700-1720, now available

Our earliest guest room, The Lacemaker, is now completely finished and available. It is quite possibly the oldest guest room in New York state that you can stay in. The first guests experienced it this weekend and loved it. For more details see here: http://hurleystonehouse.com/Lacemaker.html

Quadricentennial - The Hudson Valley marks historic 1609 voyage

Here in the Hudson Valley it's an auspicious time to be in an early Dutch-American house. This year marks the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage in 1609, sponsored by the Dutch East India Company, when he discovered the river that now bears his name. He sailed across the Atlantic and up the river in "de Halve Maen" as far as present day Albany looking for a western route from Europe to China and India. Although Hudson was English, he was sailing for the Dutch, so his discovery laid the foundation for a claim by them on this area of North America. He was followed by Dutch explorers and merchants, who established New Amsterdam on Manhattan around 1625, spreading out from there into the Hudson Valley and across to the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers. The English took control of the the New Netherlands in 1664 but the Dutch influence here lasted well into the 18th Century. We are very lucky to live and work in a house that exemplifies this influence today, and to be in a position to share it with guests in this quadricentenial celebration year.

For an extensive list of some of the signature events taking place up and down the Hudson Valley this year, along with listings for museums and historic sites hosting related exhibits try http://www.exploreny400.com/, or http://www.hudson400.com/.

Mistress and Maid

At last the final touches have been added to the Mistress and Maid room and we've had our first visitors staying there. Perhaps what took the longest was the hand-made quilt which Nadia had fun with over the winter (there are great quilting shops nearby in Woodstock and Kingston). The room has a Scandinavian feel, with a small hand painted armoire, white bed and pale rug on the original painted wide-plank floor boards. There is a c. 1810 mahogany reeded leg Pembroke table and the final element was a grained white Swedish Queen Anne style chair that we picked up last week in nearby Hudson - a great place to find furniture with over 70 antique shops.

Ellery

The wonderful and talented Cincinnati based duo Ellery came to stay this last night. Ellery is comprised of husband-wife team Tasha and Justin Golden, who released their debut record as Ellery in 2006. Reviews have identified Ellery's dynamic indie-pop style as "emotionally-charged:" the sound, the lyrics, and the live presentation. Not surprisingly, Ellery's songs tend to feel personal to - or even possessed by - their fans, often from the first listen. They were visiting Kingston to talk with Grammy-winning producer Malcolm Burn, at his studio there, where they will be recording their new record in June. Malcolm has worked with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Kaki King, Rachel Yamagata, Gillian Welch, Ryan Adams, Iggy Pop, and more.

Ellery said they chose to stay here at The Stone House because the aesthetics of the Dutch American architecture and the decor appealed to their sensibility. They enjoyed a well deserved rest from their non-stop touring and took some of their huge breakfast with them back on the road. They are featuring The Stone House in their Ellery Stimulus plan to get the record made. We wish them every success. http://www.myspace.com/ellerymusic .

Hudson and Claverack

Today we went to see the Jan Van Hoesen House between Hudson and Claverack, New York, about 30 minutes drive. The Van Hoesen House is a circa 1730 Dutch American house built principally of brick which was identified by the Preservation League of New York State as one of "Seven to Save" endagered properties for 2009. You can find out more about the house here: http://www.vanhoesenhouse.org/ . It's interesting to see a house like ours which basically hasn't been touched since the 19th century. These Dutch American houses derive from building styles and methods brought over by the early Dutch settlers who built them up and down the Hudson Valley.

The village of Claverack has many fine houses and nearby Hudson is famous for the more than 70 antique shops on Warren Street, its thriving Arts scene and nightlife. In one of the antique shops we were lucky enough to find a Gustavian style chair from Sweden which will be going into the Mistress and Maid room: http://hurleystonehouse.com/Mistress.html .

Finishing our Maple Syrup

We have been boiling down the Maple sap every day outside using fallen branches from the garden and finishing off inside on the stove, filtering between each step. As the sugar concentration rises, the boiling point of the solution rises. When it boils at 7.1 degrees Fahrenheit above the boiling point of water it's ready to filter one last time into glass jars. When these had cooled down we had lovely amber Maple Syrup! We boiled down about 50 gallons of sap to get just over a gallon of syrup.

Next step - try it on the Buttermilk Pancakes.

The Sap Is Rising

Here's Nadia "tapping" one of the two giant Sugar Maples in front of our house. At this time of year Maple sap can be collected and boiled down to make Maple Syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of syrup. Let's see how much we get!

This weekend and next there are many opportunities to see Maple Syrup production in action - go to http://www.mapleweekend.com/ for a list of locations. We want to drive into the Catskills to 'Oliverea Schoolhouse Maple' (picture at top) and 'Remsburger Maple' are also just 20 minutes away at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck.

The Hudson River at Saugerties Lighthouse

Winter Wonderland

A bit of a cliche maybe, but there are many wonferful winter activities very close to us in both the Catskill and Shawangunk mountains. Ice Climbing and Hiking with routes from easy to hard, or take the kids to Sawkill Family Ski Centre , just 15 minutes away, for Snow Tubing, Skiing or Snow Boarding (845 336-6977). Belleayre Mountain Ski Center has 47 trails, parks and glades (from beginner to expert), with almost 200 skiable acres and offers great deals, such as $25 lift tickets. Hunter Mountain is not much further away. Or try Cross Country Skiing on the beautiful Mohonk Preserve .

If you fancy something a little warmer try the 12th annual Chilli Bowl Fiesta in nearby Rosendale on Feb 28th. At UPAC in Kingston we have Emmylou Harris tonight, and Garison Keillor and k.d. lang both coming soon.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Recently I made the Linzer Torte from the current Joy of Cooking. Everyone enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd try and adapt it for some Valentine's Day cookies. These are nutty and spicy, with a raspberry jam that gives just the right amount of sweetness. In an airtight container in the fridge they keep well for a week.

1. If you can't get ground almonds, use a clean coffee grinder to grind blanched almonds. You'll need 3/4 cup.

2. Combine with 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar (optional), 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.

3. Add 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 egg yolks and the grated zest of 1 lemon - the easiest is to blend it all in an electric mixer/food processor if you have one.

You have to wrap the dough and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days. Then roll out (with plenty of flour to avoid sticking), between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick, and cut out cookies using a heart shaped cutter. Make a small round or heart shaped hole in half the cookies. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for about 15 mintues, and sandwich with raspberry jam after dusting the cutout cookies with powdered sugar. (You need to boil the jam first for a couple of minutes, and then let it cool down again). This makes about 20 2 inch cookies. Enjoy!

New Website

Visit our brand new website: http://hurleystonehouse.com/