Tree Huggers

I guess I was looking for a challenge... And it was James' graduation day from Person of Interest. Their season has been going on since last July and it finally ended. Sooo! Cheesecake time.

Kind of time consuming with a lot of steps but on the whole, cheesecakemaking is not as intimidating as I first thought. I don't  have a spring form so I just used my glass pie form and made a half batch. I started by crushing 1/3 package of graham crackers. Melt 3 table spoons of butter and pour over the crackers along with 1 tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix it all together and bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

The filling: 1 1/2 packets of cream cheese, 3/4 cup of sugar, pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, 2 large eggs, 1/3 cup of sour cream, 1/3 cup of heavy cream. Put one ingredient in at a time and then beat it well.

Pour the mixture over the crust and put it in a pan with boiling water and then in the oven at 325 degrees for 1 hour. When it is done turn the oven off and crack the door an inch. Leave it like that until the oven is totally cool and then put the cheesecake in the fridge over night. 

To top it off I just put razzies and some sugar in the food processor and made a sauce. And I am not even lying a little bit when I say this is the best cheesecake I've ever had.

For lunch today we had BLT's with local bacon from Cheese Louise on Route 28 and homemade mayo. We drove up to the Woodstock area yesterday to get some trees at Woodstock Landscaping. 

 
 We ended up with a red maple.

A coral bark Maple.

And a weeping willow. This area gets really soggy because of an underground stream so the willow is going to love it!

We also looked around for bluebirds but only found this guy.

I don't think he was so happy to see us.

We've been wondering when to hang the hummingbird feeders. The trumpet vine is starting to pop and we thought we'd wait until it was a little greener. And then yesterday I looked out the window and there he was. First he went to where the feeder usually hangs and when it wasn't there he came up to the window and looked in.

He put the shame on us and 10 minutes later we had hung 3 feeders. These birds really have us on a short leash.

So I looked out the window the other morning and saw this guy. I thought I was still asleep for a second. When I realized I wasn't - we really did have a new guy visiting - I got the camera first. Guy is still hanging around. Then I got the book out. He is a rose-breasted Grosbeak and he was probably on his way up north. He stuck around all day and it was a great treat.

It's getting a little silly I know... all these feeders. And i just added two more of them. I was on a beautiful estate in Connecticut on a job last weekend and the land was not much different than ours. Tom Doyle the owner, a very cool sculptor and regular Ernest Hemingway, told me they got bluebirds. You just have to give them a house and they will come. The house has to be placed in the open. We have seen them up in the mountains and I'm gonna get'em here if I have to hunt them down, blindfold them and bring them myself. But I'm starting with some food.

James once saw an Oriole at 19 Maple Ave. We gotta just get more of them. The feeder looks like something out of fantastic planet.

They are attracted to orange and oranges and drink nectar like the hummingbirds.I'm starting to become a little self conscious about this bird thing.

Cold borscht with fixins is a definite summer favorite! 

Our rhododendrons didn't bloom for very long but they have almost doubled in size already this spring.

 

Our addition from last fall, a Kouza dogwood, is doing very well.

Azaleas and view.

This Swallowtail is enjoying our Azaleas. Please help yourself!

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...