Fresh Season

It's the season for buying all things fresh from the farmer's market. This is what we picked up last Saturday in Barryville.

Solar cooking

This bizarre looking contraption is a solar cooking device cooking our whole chicken on the stone terrace. Geoff introduces something new to me all the time.



If you get plenty of sunlight you can buy a solar cooker here, a portion of the proceeds helps subsidize distribution of the solar cooker in developing countries.

Presentation

Geoff got uber creative making salad the other day. Organic greens with edible flowers from garden + organic french lentils.

Enjoying the Green

We were supposed to catsit in Pond Eddy but then Geoff's plans changed and he decided to stay at home. R & I went up anyway and ended up lending a hand with getting the cottage ready so that it will be available for rental soon (our goal is July!)

Here's my Rosie in a new bed on the windowsill.


And some shots from the happy garden.

a la Geoffrey

We spent a good chunk of the weekend in Pond Eddy with Geoff. It was so nice to get out of the city (especially after 8 hours of struggling with the car on Friday). He made sure we had wonderful time and fed us well during our visit.

B: Chicken and apple sausage sauteed with onions, dandelion, and kale. Local egg over easy on top of a bed of spring onions along with a slice of multi-grain bread.


L: Homemade pizza with sauteed homegrown kale.


D: Coq au vin.

Cloud

I've been in a cloud (maybe storm?) trying to organize my life. Over the weekend, I went up to Pond Eddy and did some MAJOR cleaning. Unfortunately I was way overwhelmed and couldn't muster up the energy to travel the three hours to see Jane's show, it looked like it went well though.

Oh, in my daze, I've been dreaming of owning several things, one of them is this lovely Ilse Crawford lamp. It won't be available until the Fall, and then I'll be devasted once I find out the price.

(image from Wastberg)

Marshall

I dogsat Marshall, Randy's dog, this weekend. We went on long walks and two good runs. I miss having a dog sometimes, but you know, dogsitting is good enough for me. Lots of cuddling and fun but I get to return the animal when I'm done! I'm not ready to be a fulltime pet owner.

No to powerlines along the Delaware

I got an email this morning from Pat Carullo about an issue we are dealing with at our house in Pond Eddy which is along the Delaware River.

Dear Friend,

The federal government is facilitating mining by mountaintop-removal
and drilling in National Wildlife Refuges and powerline construction
in the Upper Delaware River National Park and other U.S. communities.

Ordinary folks and artists are working hard to protect our public
spaces and to preserve our constitutional and personal rights.
Below, please see one-minute YouTube video of the River with
powerlines installed by private company:

Upper Delaware River ARTIST STATEMENT
http://www.youtube.com/GardenArtist

Peace,
PC

Stock flowers

These flowers are blooming right now by the front porch door. They smell really nice.

My peach crop

When we bought the house in Pond Eddy, there were already several fruit trees around the property. The two apple trees just produce rotten apples, we get a handfull or two of cherries from the cherry tree, but our peach tree is my baby. Half the fruit it produces has issues, and the other half? ALL FOR ME!

Tiger lilies in bloom

I'm spending the weekend in the city. I miss waking up annd being able to walk outside to check on the progress of the flowers and plants.

New backyard seating!

I just ordered two of these babies from Charles Keath. I have high hopes for these anti-gravity chaises. We have needed comfy outdoor seating for awhile. Unfortunately, these aren't expected to ship until the end of August. I'm optimistic for a mild Fall where I can still lounge around outside and read.

(image via Charles Keath.)

Weekend dining in Pond Eddy

Carrie and Eric were over for the weekend. The bread machine and the kitchen aid became permanent fixtures on the countertop. They cooked and baked up a storm. I benefitted from the madness.

Zucchini Bread.

Red velvet cupcakes before they were iced. Carrie skipped the red dye part and used our bundt pan. We don't have cupcake molds.

We dined al fresco for two nights around the fire pit. Eric with Randy's headlamp. Really useful. Grilled onions and spiced drumsticks.

This is what we termed "pizza bread"- with olives, onions, sun dried tomatoes, cilantro, rosemary, before it went in the oven.

The baked result.

Leg of lamb from Lucky Penny's Farm with vegetables from the farmer's market.

Deviled Eggs

Geoff made curry deviled eggs for breakfast on Sunday. It was Justine's first experience with deviled eggs, and frankly, she was quite apprehensive about the whole thing. She really didn't need to be, she loved it. There were chives from the garden mixed in and it was served with some homegrown cherry tomatoes.

Dinner Paartay!

We like to have dinner guests, invite people into our home, and be good hosts. We had five guests, including twin (almost) nine year old girls, over for some Thai food (our favorite eating in and out food). This is our dining room pre-dinner with fresh flowers that Justine and I arranged that morning. The guests were served a fresh blackberry, blueberry gingerale as they walked through in the door.


Cucumber Salad in rice vinegar with garlic.

Marinated steak over a bed of salad greens.

Green curry rice noodles with peppers and chicken topped with fresh cilantro.

It was a successful and delicious dinner.

I like to eat well

clockwise from top left: Blueberries from outside the kitchen window, in front of the bee balm. A blueberry, blackberry, peach, mango and honey smoothie sitting out on our terrace. Wild black raspberries sitting in our chives. Burger on english muffin with hot red pepper, avocado, tomato and sauteed wild spinach served along side salad greens from Randy's garden.

In Bloom

It's been about a month since I've been in Pond Eddy. It was nice to arrive and see what has bloomed since. The hydrangeas by the back porch are just wild. The bee balm is super happy and the hummingbirds and bees are happy that we planted it. Tiger lilies are doing well too, they are growing wild across the street and all along Rt. 97.

The blueberries are super fat and the tomatoes full of flavor. It's so nice to be able to get food from right outside the kitchen door.

Flower arrangements

I've found that simple things like making some flower arrangements for the kitchen or guest rooms make me happy. On Friday morning, I started the day with flower arranging so that I would have flowers indoors all weekend. I have no talent in this department, hence my big love for hydrangeas. They are easy peasy. The bee balm was fun too.



Black-eyed susans that ended up on top of the microwave so we could see the actual blooms.

flurry of sightings

Last night, as Geoff was sitting on the back porch watching the rain in Pond Eddy, a little baby skunk rubbed against his leg. He went inside and came back out with some cat food for it. This morning inside the house there was some commotion in the computer room with Boom Boom and Ray. Geoff checked in on them and found them with a baby bat. He caught it and released it outside. On the way to the vet at Port Jervis (Boom Boom got a check up) he saw a bald eagle in the sky. On the way back, he saw a baby snapping turtle crossing the road. He picked it up and rescued it. He brought it back to Pond Eddy and released it in a pond. He spotted a snake by the pond. As he approached the driveway, he saw a Mama bear with two cubs. They ran up the hill when they spotted him. And I missed it all.

Raising Old Barns to Make a New Village

This is an article from the NYTimes that Carrie sent me about our next door neighbor in Pond Eddy, Hall Smyth. The photo of Hall and Kent is awful, they look like upstate monsters.


(image Phil Mansfield NYTimes)