Maple Ave Gazette: Gunk Haus

I picked the parents up at Newark airport about 10 days ago. We drove straight to Clintondale and caught a beautiful sunset on the patio with shrimp ceviche with tortilla chips and Sopa Azteca. Lots has happened since they visited 1 1/2 years ago and we took a long tour of the house.

On our 2nd night together we went down to the Gunk Haus for an overdue dinner. It was a Monday and we finally caught an empty-the-keg night. Let's see... to eat, we all shared Obatzda and pretzels for an appetizer. Entrees... I had 3 cheese chicken sausage on top of pretzel dumplings and stout onion gravy. James had the smoked pork chop. Pappa had the curry wurst, it's been on the menu since day 1, a classic so to speak. Mamma had the burger. Oh that burger!

On Tuesday we decided on a longer outing and we set out for Hudson in the morning. About 10 minutes outside of town is Olana, the home that Hudson Valley painter Frederick Edwin Church built around 1860.

It's an incredible house and the view is inspiring! We highly recommend a visit!

Strolling the grounds.

After Olana we spent some time in Hudson which is just chock full of wonderful antique stores. Before we left we had a light lunch at what appears to be brand new Café Le Perche.

Back at the house we made an Italian buffet for ourselves. With red wine of course.

On Wednesday morning we took off for the Vineyard and Rosemary. We are always looking for an excuse to go to the island but this time we had a little something special in store.

Rosemary lives in Vineyard Haven. This is the view from the Mansion House in town. When my parents were back in Sweden I told them to pack EVERYTHING (bikini, ski jacket and a tie) the weather having been unexpected to say the least. And the tie... well, my dad l0ves to wear a tie and we told them we had plans of going to a fancy restuarant in Edgartown, and he wouldn't want to be caught without one at l'etoile. Anyway, pappa says he suspected something right then. But boy did we keep our mouths shut. Confirming NO suspicions. Bordering on being antisocial. Mamma came down into the kitchen right before we left for the ceremony and sensed something was up. She asked Rosemary "what is going on??" and Rosemary just kept wiping wiping wiping the counter. Not saying a word.

We all put on on our Thursday bests and started getting ready for dinner. We told mamma and pappa we were going to check out a killer sunset before food and packed in to the car and went to the beach, the spot exactly is where Tashmoo pond meets the ocean.

...Where the heart is....

The road was long and windy and more suited for out of control motor cross than a peaceful sunset drive and the elders where probably beginning to wonder where we were taking them. Rosemary was in on the secret and helped with the details. In the parking lot I got out to find the other pieces of the puzzle. There was a fishing derby going on at the same time so I had to peek into a few beat up trucks before finding one of the fishermen wearing a tie. That must be our justice of peace, Jim... Kelly, a friend of a friend of Rosemary's was also waiting with my camera to take pictures. All the photos are by her! When Jim stepped out of his beater with a black pad under his arm my parents finally caught on. Well, they had sensed something but we all did an amazing job of keeping of pie holes shut! I grabbed my bouquet from a cooler in the trunk and HOLY SH*T we got ourselves a wedding!!!

It was windy as all get out but the sunset was perfect and the ceremony was lovely. Complete with our own vows. (I have no idea what I may or may not have promised Mr. Casey. It was emotional and it was on the fly and I was freezing) and exchange of a ring. First I wore it, then he wore it. Ah, it's just how we do things I guess.

Mamma, pappa, Mr. Casey, Mrs. Källérus, Rosemary and Jim, our justice of peace.

I've been calling Rosemary my mother in law for a long time already but now it's the real deal. The flowers were her idea and gift and I'm so glad I had them.

We took a moment to crack open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.

Right on the smacker, Mr. Casey!

After the ceremony we went to l'etoile in Edgartown for one of the fanciest meals I've ever had. James and I went all out as newlyweds should and picked the chef's tasting menu. Holy smokes. Mouth watering.

1. Oysters on the half shell 2 ways. One with a champagne sauce and one with a blood orange sauce

2. Seared foi gras

3. Baby spinach salad

4. Lobster etuvée

5. Herb rubbed lamb chops

6. flour less chocolate cake with coconut ice cream

Back at Rosemary's we had CAKE! An adorable two tier baby wedding cake with raspberries and cream inside and covered with butter cream!!!!We looked at pictures and concluded that it had been a perfect day.

We stayed another day on the island and took a long drive and ended back up in Edgartown.

I took the parents to the city on Sunday to finish out their trip. Monday was stupidly hot for October 1oth and we strolled around Central Park and Bryant Park in T-shirts.

Central Park entertainment.

The 2nd part of the day we decided on the movies. But first - Sockerbit. A piece of candy heaven for a Swedish expat like myself. It's a brand new store on Christopher Street that you must visit.

We brought our goodies to the Film Forum to see Gainsbourg, which was very good. A little fragmented maybe but all the music really brings it together. We finished the night at White Slab Palace on Delancey, formerly Good World Bar & Grill. The food was great as always but the service was horrendous.

On Tuesday the parentals did the city by themselves as I got a job offer I couldn't refuse. Assisisting on the filming of the dress rehearsal of Karen O's top secret new rock opera, Stop the Virgens, in a ware house in Dumbo. Amazing!!! Mamma and pappa had their own opera experience, Barber of Sevilla at the Met. Fancy.

On Wednesday we had time for a quick stroll on the Highline and then it was time for them to get on the bus to Newark. As always, it's sad to see them go, but we have super lovely memories and we will see them soon again. They went home with a striped shirt from Muji and expensive sneakers for mom and a checkered shirt from the Gap for dad and a brand new son in law for them to share.

One year ago today James and I:

(A long time ago in Puerto Rico when life was simple...)

... closed on our house in Clintondale, NY.

So much has happened and I am about to recap it all.

Our BIG HUGE task right in the door was to install 16 new Marvin windows. It was already in the works and we had added that expense to the cost of the house. Most of the windows were only storms and one was just a garbage bag.

New windows just in time for winter. This old lady is drafty enough without real ones so that was a smart move on these homo (wner) s' part. High five James!

Inside, the dining room was our number one priority. It was a doggy pee stinking hellhole to put it mildly.

And this corner proved to be our first BIG challenge.

A piece of carpet left under the radiator. We tugged and pulled and puked and got it. All in the first 24 hours of homeownership.

And to move things along. Here's the sweet afters:

No more pee corner and no more chewed off windowsills.

Table, chairs, rug and sofa are on loan from Rosemary. The white buffet is from IKEA. The shade is from Country Curtains. The paint color is Ralph Lauren: Polo Green in 2 different finishes.

Only wish I could hook you up with a virtual scratch and sniff before and after.

Living room and dining room are joined together and we decided that if those 2 rooms got fixed up we would have enough living space to be happy once the pastry shop got torn out. They were also relatively easy to make nice. A little paint and a lotta love and whammo - homey.

So.... we stripped 3 layers of wall paper...

James tackled the knots on the ski cabin wall. We painted the bricks of the fireplace white and spray painted the doors black.

We took a break around thanksgiving and made nice for a feast.

And then we ripped it all out again to finish the floor.

The couch is from Rowe and Rosemary! The chairs are from Raymour and Flanagan. The hearth and side table are on loan from Rosemary. The coffee table is Salvation army and the rug is Lowes. Shades from country curtains. Floor lamp from IKEA. The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore: decorator white and all the trim including the wood panel wall are Benjamin Moore: dove white. The floor was sanded and stained white and then covered in a flat polyurethane. All that's left is a new rug and some art work on the walls.

On Halloween we carved pumpkins and sat all night with a giant bowl of candy waiting for trick or treaters that never showed. But our pumpkins sure were nice.

And then it was christmas!

We spent 2 1/2 glorious weeks up here and got much done. The living room was all apart and cozy-time took place in the pastry shop.

Named so because both owners are dreamers. And one dreams of making fluffy, tasty pastries for all of Clintondale to enjoy.....

Mmmmm...

Where was I?

Oh. Yes. The blue room/long room/pastry shop/music studio is a gorgeous room that could become many things and it hosted our tree at christmas and a party on New Years.

But after that it didn't stand a chance against Bigg Jimmy's Demolition Dang Up!

C'MON. Who gave this guy a sledgehammer?

Shortly thereafter we were introduced to the J's and since then it's been hard to keep up.

Gutting. Vapor barriers. Concrete support. New frame for the floor. Check.

Subfloor and steel beam to support upstairs bathroom.

Phew.

This is where we are today. Our dear pastry shop is the tool shed and Grand Central Station for contractors and electricians and others. Next - we insulate and sheetrock. Half of the room we be our new mudroom and half will be James' office.

Now for the upstairs... The first time we looked at the house in February 2009 "the green room" was inhabited only by a large rodent in a cage. And smelled there of. When we moved in we realized it was the most finished room in the house... Lucky us.

We started referring to it as the dead zone. We would go up there once a month, sigh, pull up a couple of floor tiles and leave. But one day the devil got into BIGG JIMMY again and things would never be the same.

This is going to become our master suite. We could only do so much demo and soon the J's took over.

No more drop ceiling. No more green. Just space and clean slates. Again, this is up to date and we are soon ready to call the insulation guys to come and spray. And then the sheetrock guys to come and sheet rock. Our goal is to get her done by christmas.

We moved right in to our temporary bedroom in September. We call it the bay window room and once the upstairs is done it will become MY office/future screening cave/additional guest room. So very little has been done to it in the past year, and once the bed moves we might give it a paint job but that's it.

The four poster bed is on loan from Rosemary and the dresser is James'. The mirror was aquired through a recent neighborly transaction, Chris got a radiator and we got this. Fits nice!

This is blogging central! The desk is from salvation army and is all the space I need.

As far as kitchen and bathroom go we have only done small improvements. Enough to be able to call it ours. Our 5 year plan includes a major renovation on both these spaces, so we only have to live with these rooms temporarily. Buuuuuut - that said - some things just HADDA GO.

Can't really explain why these squiggly edges make me so angry. Our contractor Scott put them through a router and planed the faux country right outta them!

So from this...

To that...

Yup. That's MY kitchen.

Bathroom underwent some minor changes in the first few months.

This is the shape it was in when James and I stepped in with scrapers held high.

Walls and ceiling painted but that pink... What to do about that PINK!?!? Rosemary said: PAINT IT!

And paint it we did. Crazy toxic epoxy paint. So horrible to work with that we only got half the bathroom done, but this winter we are gearing up to finish it.

In the spring we abandoned most inside projects and started focusing on fixing the outside. It's a very large paint job and we are chugging along. This weekend I scraped and sanded 2 windows.

Hey! There I am!

The side that has gone through the most changes is the south side.

The changes are subtle but make all the difference!

Other highlights of this past year include a crazy snow storm that brought me back to winters of my childhood and taught us a little something about country living. It knocked our power out and gave the trees a rough shake about.

A visit from my folks in the spring!

Full of Jambalaya on the patio by the Azalea in bloom.

And just recently a visit from my sis and Gizmo!

At the annual Ukrainian festival in Kerhonkson. About to devour some BEIGE food.

There was a lot of playtime but some work also got done. We built this bench under the sugar maple out of found stones.

And also - being able to follow along as the Gunk Haus has gotten ready to open its doors.

This must have been taken in the early spring. Now there are happy OPEN signs everywhere! What a great place and what a great thing for Clintondale!

This is our house. And next time you see it it will have some green spots and a white porch.

This spring brought us many great surprises in the yard. We realized we had inherited some beautiful greenery!

Four Azalea bushes in varying colors.

A pink Dogwood

Scilla

Star Magnolia

Oh. And this. KNOT so beautiful...

And a Maple Ave Gazette post wouldn't be complete without some bird watching. We inherited a bird feeder from the previous owner and more out of scatterbrainedness than interest we ended up leaving it in place. And I can't believe how much enjoyment we have gotten out of it. We started with one feeder and last we counted we have 8 different dining experiences for our winged friends. It's like a dang food court around here.

So you want some highlights? Oh, alright...

It started this fall and winter with Cardinals and Juncos mostly.