VK in the C-dale!

Ah the best of times!


So "best" that I just haven't had time to write. Kajsa and Gizmo arrived safely on July 15th and the fun has been nonstop since then. With some work sprinkled in here and there. House work that is. Work work has been forbidden since the Swedes have been around. 


Since we hung our humming bird feeders up it's been just outrageous. These little guys are eating us out of house and home. And we love it. The ladies are very territorial and chase each other away. The dudes are more rare and there is no end to the excitement when one of them comes around. Ruby throated beauties!

So far this is the only picture of him. Birding can be very stressful especially when you got finches and hummingbirds everywhere and I kept snapping without checking sposure. The result is a grainy mess but he's still a handsome fella.

In other birding news I caught a snap of a strapping catbird posing like some musketeer.

And the gold finch activity is never ending since we hung two finch sacks (you heard me - finch sack). 

We changed the feed in one of our feeders to straight up safflower seed, following Rosemary's advice and within minutes the house finches gathered for a snack. How do they do that???

This is him and his lady.

So what are we busying ourselves with you might ask. Well...

We drink syrrans mojitos? Yes please. Keep em coming.

We go to Ukrainian festivals in Kerhonkson and eat beige food. Tasty though!

We go to High Falls and discover a gem of a town!

We go to Lake Minnewaska and get a respit from the heat by taking a dip!

We (and by "we" I mean mostly Gizmo...) make PIZZA! 

We go to streetfestivals in Rosendale and see bluegrass and chick rock. 

Another chick that rocks.

Lovely Rosendale.

And we do some work on the house and in the yard and everyone chips in and helps!

And we go to Martha's Vineyard. Where there is no peeling paint and no knot weed. Just beaches and good food and Rosemary! A well deserved break for sure. 

Farmers market in West Tisbury.

Breakfast at Beetlebung in Vineyard Haven.

This is how exciting a breakfast at Black Dog can be!

Sakletare (thingfinders) on Squibnocket beach. (We saw seals too!)

And our birding adventure follows us there in the shape of this American Oyster catcher.

James has been working on the outside of the house and he is doing fantastic. With the help of Billy B they got the front eave stripped and ready for paint. The windows are right behind and looks like the bay window may get primed today! 

We're in the business of making insurance companies and neighbors happy here at 19 Maple Ave.

I took the kids on a slow ride to the city and the stops included Dia in Beacon (good stuff) and Mint in Tarrytown for some licorice.

In the city we took a stroll on the Highline at dusk and went shopping in Chinatown.

Highline view with cartoon moon.

Too many choices.

If you happen to speak a little Swedish you can follow the adventures on both Kajan's and Gizmo's blogs. Or just stop by to look at more pictures.

Sis/Giz leave on monday so we have a busy weekend ahead. Highlights include building a stone bench from the bauta rocks we found in the pit, Marc Ribot at the Falcon and tubing in Phoencia!

Mountains bridges boats

Friday. Finally some good good weather. A lovely morning to check Walkway over the Hudson off the long list of to-do's.

It first caught James' and my attention back in the fall on what turned out to be its opening day. 

A train bridge built in the 1870's that has recently been restored and turned into a walkway with an incredible view.

On the other side we restored ourselves with yummy BLAT's (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato wraps with chipotle mayo) at Lola's Café.

Saturday was set aside for mountains and nature and stuff. We drove up 44/55 in search of beautiful sh*t. Look out!

At the Mohonk Preserve visitors center we copped out and took the 10 minute nature hike where the parking lot is just out of view the whole time. But we saw some nice stuff AND caught some bonus points in the shape of this guy:

We kept driving up the mountain and stopped to watch some climbers. And I watched the people watching the climbers.

We got ourselves all the way to Ellenville for food. We had been recommended a restaurant which will remain unnamed. Maybe our expectations were too high or maybe the food was just crap, either way, Ellenville - been there - done that. 

Then we thought we would just swing by the Mohonk Mountain House, climb Skytop and go home. What - are you crazy? You can't do that! You have to pay $25/person to enter the grounds and besides - it's after 4.30pm so you can't even do that. No no and more no's. We just went home and enjoyed the reverse view with a fine box wine. Thank you. Thank you very much.

 

I've been keeping a sushi making kit in the house since we moved in and for some reason car-mountain-hiking brought out our Japanese sides and we got to making rolls.

Sunday. Brunch today was had at Bywater Bistro in Rosendale. Absolutely lovely, good prices and an impressive garden. 

Then on to Kingston and the harbor. We'd done enough sightseeing from the car and it was time to take a new approach and we boarded the Rip Van Winkle for a 2 hour cruise south on the Hudson. It turned out to be a refreshing afternoon with some history sprinkled in !

We took in our last meal on the patio - cheeses and breads and wine, checking out another spectacular sunset...

or what...

This is a bluebird in flight.

He's supposed to be our state bird but we all think he is doing a lousy job of representing. Yesterday was the first time we saw him and he was in a hurry to get away. We think he should be cutting more ribbons and shaking more hands.

We said goodbye this morning to the folks and although sad I'm glad we had such a great time and I feel like they went home with a piece of Clintondale in their hearts!