A hazy, overcast morning with glimmering cloud, but a more sunny afternoon. A high of 70F. Prolific farm rhubarb flowering early.
Daily Catskills: 05/24/22
Leave a reply
Daily Catskills: 05/23/22
Sunny and warm: 60F by mid-morning. Gauzy clouds, slight breeze and a high of 68F.
Daily Catskills: 05/22/22
Sweltering and with a jumble of clouds in a light blue sky and a high of 89F. Early evening thunderstorms continue into the evening.
Daily Catskills: 05/21/22
A summer scorcher: humid and blazing hot with a high of 85F.
Daily Catskills: 05/20/22
A dewy, misty morning and a humid afternoon with hazy clouds, some light rain, and a high of 79F. The green has almost filled in this week, but not quite. Hay fields are now knee-high.
Daily Catskills: 05/19/22
Overcast, with overnight rain continuing into morning, and a damp afternoon with periods of sunshine. Humid with a high of 62F.
Daily Catskills: 05/18/22
Mostly overcast but still bright and a high of 66F. Spruce tips are ready.
Daily Catskills: 05/17/22
Overcast with a mix of sun and clouds, gusty winds, and mostly dry with sprinkle or two and a high of 60F.
Daily Catskills: 05/16/22
A humid morning with mist rising off the mountains. Steamy with a high of 77F, and thunder storms moving through continually throughout the afternoon. During a quick break between storms, it looked like most of the green had suddenly filled in over the past few days.
Daily Catskills: 05/15/22
Humid and overcast with a high of 79F. Much-needed rain continuing for most of the afternoon and into the evening on the last day of the burn ban. Acres of dandelions at Lazy Crazy Acres attract the bees.
Daily Catskills: 05/14/22
Humid and warm, with and a high of 81F. Big clouds compete underneath a sky of milky blue. Evening rain.
Daily Catskills: 05/13/22
Sunny, with a sky so full of giant clouds so big it’s not clear how they all fit, and humid with a high of 81F.
The Arts Inn, Fleischmanns, NY
The Catskills village of Fleischmanns in Upstate New York is undergoing a very slow but sure renaissance, after a long period of quiet, under the influence of newcomers who remember when the village was bustling with locals and tourists fifty years ago. Main Street, which has been relatively sleepy in recent decades in comparison to neighboring towns and villages has sprung to life following the opening of its cafe, The Village East. In addition to the farm store run by Alan and Robin White of Two Stones Farm, and the Main Street art gallery, there is a keenly anticipated wine bar and Greek restaurant in the works.
Adding to this burgeoning roster is The Arts Inn on Main Street which will host arts workshops like poetry and plein air; meditation and dance classes; music evenings and movie nights. The Inn will open its doors on May 29th, 2022 from 5pm to 10pm for its first variety show that is free to the public and donation-based. There was a fundraiser online and all the performers will be paid.
Opening an arts and event space has been a lifelong dream for former dancer and teacher Heidi Stonier who owns the property with husband Randy Leer; they closed on the property two weeks before the pandemic hit and have spent the last two years renovating it. The Arts Inn is coming to an area that really needs and welcomes it. “I feel the love,” says Heidi who has been been conducting free meditation classes and has made deep and genuine connections with members of the community.
To fund their vision, three rooms are available for rent via AirBNB. The rooms are themed: guests can stay in the Jane Austen room, the Rumi Room or the Matisse Room. There are weekend packages available for guests who participate in the workshops. Art is for sale in the rooms, most noteworthy are exquisitely serene barn paintings by Carol C. Young in various striking turquoise hues, think Edward Hopper without the people. Downstairs in the common areas are a lounge, a game room, a dance studio and a music room gorgeously renovated.
Says Heidi: “We have to think about creating a world that’s based not on material things, but on love. The way that we can communicate love, aside from caring for those directly around us, is through art. It brings people together. This is how you can touch someone on the other side of the world in a different culture or set of circumstances. It’s a universal language that spreads love”.
The Arts Inn, 923 Main Street, Fleischmanns, NY 12430.
Daily Catskills: 05/12/22
A little preview of Summer: blazing sun with a high of 82F. Bees get busy on the buds and flowers.
Daily Catskills: 05/11/22
More sun. Clear skies and a high of 80F after almost a week of dry weather. Burn ban remains in effect. Urgent construction delays Spring planting.
Daily Catskills: 05/10/22
Clear skies and warm with a gentle breeze and a high of 71F. The tractors are on the move.
Daily Catskills: 05/09/22
Milky blue sky and a high of 70F. Tractors coming out of hibernation. Tire-kicking.
Daily Catskills: 05/08/22
Warm and breezy, under a hazy blue sky with giant swirls of cloud, and a high of 59F.
Daily Catskills: 05/07/22
A little chillier: breezy and overcast with a shimmering sky and a high of 48F. Ramping continues.
Daily Catskills: 05/06/22
Warm and humid, lightly overcast with brief rain showers and a high of 58F.
Daily Catskill: 05/05/22
Sunny and warm with a gauzy sky and a high of 68F. Perfect day for planting.
Daily Catskills: 05/04/22
Rainy and overcast with swirling mist in the valleys. Humid with a high of 58F.
Daily Catskills: 05/03/22
Warm and bright despite being mostly overcast with periods of sunshine and a high of 61F.
Wild Edible Grilled Cheese
Spring is here and the wild edibles are unfurling. This week, we have garlic mustard around the raised beds here at Lazy Crazy Acres, in their second year. Leaves, shoots, seeds and the unopened flowers of garlic mustard are edible at certain stages of growth, and if you don’t eat all of your crop it should be pulled because it’s an invasive weed that crowds out native plants.
Greens like garlic mustard can be introduced into your spring diet by packing them into a grilled cheese. I got this idea from Dina Falconi’s Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook – a must-have in every wild kitchen. In it, she details her “Wild Grilled Cheese Master Recipe”, but there are a variety of ways to make the classic American grilled cheese. Every American has their own method as I discovered when I first arrived in the States. In England, we fry everything, even chocolate, so even I’m surprised that we didn’t come up with the idea of frying a cheese sandwich in a pan. I was taught to cook a grilled cheese by my own American and that recipe is below.
Continue readingDaily Catskills: 05/02/22
Overnight rain continues into morning. Overcast, humid with a high of 58F. Forsythia budding and blooming.
Daily Catskills: 05/01/22
A summer day: blazing despite some cloud cover and a high of 70F.
Daily Catskills: 04/30/22
Another sunny weekend day: blue skies and a high of 62F.
Daily Catskills: 04/29/22
Clear and sunny, warm in the sun, but cold in the shadows. Breezy with a high of 53F.
Daily Catskills: 04/28/22
Mostly clear skies with strong, frigid winds and a high of 48F. Burn ban in effect until May 14th due to low humidity and dry landscape.
Daily Catskills: 04/27/22
A gloomy morning, rainy and dull, warming up to a high of 43F. Late afternoon snow and later, some hail, does nothing to deter Spring.
Daily Catskills: 04/26/22
Humid, rainy with dense, foggy clouds and a high of 57F.
Daily Catskills: 04/25/22
Sunny and warm with gauzy cloud and a high of 66F. Foraging continues with young wild greens like ramps, sorrel and plantain are appearing.
Daily Catskills: 04/24/22
A Spring scorcher: a high of 84F.
Daily Catskills: 04/23/22
Another warm day, and bright despite rippling cloud cover. A high of 61F.
Daily Catskills: 04/22/22
Sunny and warm with a high of 57F. The farm’s army of 350 heads of garlic survived this week’s 48-hour plunge into winter.
Daily Catskills: 04/21/22
Warmer but still gloomy. Soggy, slushy with a strong winds and a high of 55F.
Daily Catskills: 04/20/22
A dark morning of ominous clouds gives way to some afternoon sun and higher temperatures, causing thick, wet snow to drip, slip and crash from high places. Still gusty with a high of 45F.
Daily Catskills: 04/19/22
Overnight snow storm continues throughout the day with high, bitter winds, swirling grey cloud cover like billowing smoke and a high of 43F.
Daily Catskills: 04/18/22
Overcast with a glimmering sky and a high of 51F. Strong, piercing winds. Winter storm warning for the evening.
Daily Catskills: 04/17/22
Another snow/sun combo and a high of 41F. Warm in the periods of sunshine. Overcast and bitter in the flurries.
Daily Catskills: 04/16/22
Overcast but warm and 56F by mid-morning and a high of 60F. Heavy rain all afternoon, occasionally turning to slushy snow early evening.
Daily Catskills: 04/15/22
Sunny and warm despite substantial cloud clover and a high of 64F. Swathes of budding maple redden the landscape.
Daily Catskills: 04/14/22
Summer in the morning, with a high of 80F and winter in the afternoon with intermittent rain and a low of 50F. A humid and overcast evening. Red buds and yellow leaves spreading over the landscape.
Daily Catskills: 04/13/22
A sharp rise in temperature to a high of 77F. Hot in the sun, humid and bright despite cloud cover that becomes thicker like a fluffy blue milkshake later in the afternoon, bringing some light sprinkles.
Daily Catskills: 04/12/22
More sun! Spring finds its groove with the odd big cloud, but mostly blue skies, a gentle breeze and a high of 64F.
Daily Catskills: 04/11/22
Sunny with scanty cloud, deep blue skies and too gorgeous to remember what the temperature was. Beautiful degrees Fahrenheit. The perfect Spring day to “plant” some mushrooms.
Daily Catskills: 04/10/22
Overcast with rain and sleet for most of the day, with the sun fighting through the snow for a short period at 5pm for a enigmatic mix of sun and snow. A high of 42F. The buds are budding this week.
Daily Catskills: 04/09/22
Intermittent rain and sun. Thick cloud breaking up late afternoon, and a high of 46F.
Daily Catskills: 04/08/22
More rain, humid, with a high of 55F and big, slow clouds. Even the slightest rills are gushing with water. New rivulets and streams are in the making.
Daily Catskills: 04/07/22
All day rain and a high of 50F. Mid-afternoon power cuts, stream flooding, thunder and lightening. Fetching water from the river in saucepans to flush the toilet. Pizza and scrabble by flashlight.
Bill Birns at the Village East in Fleischmanns: Tuesday April 12th 2022 @ 5.30pm
Bills Birns needs no introduction having been a teacher in the Central Catskills area for over 40 years. Read my first interview with him here, the most popular post on the website with 13,000 views and counting on social media. He has very much made an impact.
As a writer and poet, Bill has published several works, his latest being Fleischmanns In Verse, A History and next Tuesday he will read from this works at The Village East Cafe in Fleischmanns, 1109 Main Street, Fleischmanns, NY 12430 on Tuesday April 12th, 2022 at 5.30pm.
All are welcome.
Daily Catskills: 04/06/22
Rainy and overcast. Pretty gloomy and quiet, with a high of 52F.
Daily Catskills: 04/05/22
Mostly sunny with an armada of long clouds, a light breeze and a high of 58F.
Daily Catskills: 04/04/22
Dry with the occasional glimpse of sunshine, an icy wind, and a high of 44F.
Daily Catskills: 04/03/22
Back to the snow: a high of 41F. Snow all morning turning to rain in the afternoon.
