Friends, family, turtles & tenants!

It was a lovely Easter with sun and family and friends! Kajsa and Gizmo came on the 4th and with them their friends Annelie and Thomas. Annelie is turning 40 this month and wanted to celebrate in New York City. We thought that was a very good idea! There was lots and lots of strolling in the city (perfect weather!), a trip to Coney Island

 

 

and eating... (Thai at Sea in Williamsburg)

lots of eating... (vegetarian  Korean at Hangawi on 32nd Street)

and more eating... (Mexican at Café Frida on the upper west side)

eating again... at 19 Maple Ave. Photo by Kajan. 

And drinking of course... (at the Gunk Haus in Clintondale). The gang came up for a night, a personal highlight for me! I know what it's like to be in the city for the first time and how it draws you in so we were very honored that they made the trip up north!

Annelie and Thomas brought us this colorful parade of moose that a friend of theirs makes!

Kajsa brought us this raku heart which was made while testing for her LEAF! A very prominent gallery in Stockholm is celebrating Swedish craftsmanship this summer and has invited artists of all kinds to participate by making a leaf in a material of their choice. Should be a great show!

In other good news we have found a  tenant! Her name is Lea and we hope that she is going to love Clintondale the way we do.

So I went completely burzum (which is Norwegian death metal speak for craycray) in the old pool area. There was once an above ground pool here and the deck and most of the liner have been buried for years and years and years. Pretty evil sleeping beauty stuff and I've been clearing it over the last few weeks.

FINALLY - a clear shot of the view again!

No power lines no weeds...

Rosemary came to see us a few weeks ago and had some brilliant ideas per usual. One was to start a wall of forsythias right by the edge of the driveway. We put 5 bushes in and I have a feeling they are going to TAKE OFF.

I took a photo drive today and my first stop was a pond on South Ohioville Road where I've seen a lot of turtles lately.

 

Today I sat for a good long while photo stalking them and I heard a rustle over to the right.

And saw this guy.

The apple valley is really starting to look good!

Our own yard is starting to look pretty nice as well.

Hostas are on schedule, with the lovely creeping phlox in the background.

What's a spring blog post around here without pictures of popping azaleas!

Sidetracked & Bushwhacked

We are sharing in the glory of Florence's magnolia. Everything is popping so early. I hope it stays warm so no buds suffer.

Yea the forsythia!

 Our own star magnolia is looking nice aswell.

The cottage is done! One last before and after because we love them so much.

New roof!

We are showing the place and should have a tenant in there very soon.

The toilet is in and the bathroom is done and looking great I think!

The porch area is totally winterized and can be used as a room and should be used as a room because the cottage is small.

Soooo... we decided to paint it to make it look like more of a room. 

The pool deck is a chapter all itself around here. We have put it off because there just isn't enough time!!! 

Buuuuut we were working on the cottage the other weekend and needed a break and all of  a sudden we are in the middle of these insane weeds and that's when we invented our gardening show "Sidetracked and Bushwhacked".

Sigh...

We buried our  power lines last summer and finally there was a clear shot of the view.

No good. No more.

Instead these weed trees shot up and spoiled  it again. But after this episode of Sidetracked and Bushwhacked that is no more.

Good.

For St. Paddy's day we decided to make shepherds pie. 

First I made the mashed potatoes

Then...

Saute 3 carrots in olive oil.

Add a chopped onion and some chopped cabbage

Add 1 lb of ground meat

add frozen peas and 1 tbsp of butter

Sprinkle over 2 tbsp of flour

add 2 tbsp of tomato paste

2 tbsp of worcestershire sauce

1 glass of red wine

1 cup of stock (I had nice homemade stock from a corned beef and cabbage cook)

Put the mixture in a oven safe pan and spoon the mashed potatoes over it. Brush an egg on the top and sprinkle parmesan over. Put it in the oven at 200C/400F for 20 minutes. I did about 5 minutes in the broiler at the end.

reel from Linda Kallerus on Vimeo.

I  have to take every opportunity to market myself and I took this week to cut a reel together. A reel is what cinematograhers have to showcase their work. So these are bits from everything I've shot. The Conservatory, Caligola, Buster, Flabulous, Mando Diao's Good Morning Herr Horst, Waltz of a Dream, Scotty Karate's Patchwork Romance and Fractures. I picked the song Bees by Caribou to set it all to and had a blast editing. OK. That's enough shameless promotion for one post!

Now we gear up for the arrival of the Swedes!!! They will be here in less than 2 weeks!!!!! Along with a couple of friends who are New York first timers! Can't wait!

On their last visit we went tubing with Meg in Phoenicia. Among MANY other things...

Bring Spring

I thought winter was over but it keeps coming back. I'm ready for this muddy slush to be over. The snow comes and is pretty for an afternoon and the next morning it's rained away.

January passed with the boys finishing up the cottage. We feel really good about the results.

 Good riddance to that gnarly carpet.

 

New wood floors and a peek into the bathroom with the new checkerboard floor.

We got rid of the shower cabin and put in a new vanity and toilet.

The boys built a custom shower which created a lot more room.

We used the left over paint from our bathroom for the walls.

New wood floors and new closet doors in both bedrooms and in this one, French doors leading to the deck.

The other bedroom.

The strange porchy area where we installed the washer dryer. We just decided to paint this room dark green.

The piece I directed, shot and edited in December for poet Nathalie Handal is now up on line!

January was sloooooooow for work but it's picking up now. I am doing stills on a little movie in Hudson. On Monday and Tuesday set was atop the slopes of Catamount Ski Area. It's pretty awesome to combine so many things I dig. Skiing photography and making movies. In my downtime moments and would go for a run....

I think I'm done with this pathetic winter. I have dreams of spring.

 Edgartown, MA October 2012.