If you’re going hiking any time soon eat this first. Arguably one of the most hearty and delicious breakfasts in the Catskills: one large runny egg over easy, smothered in Hollandaise sauce, over slices of pastrami, all on top of a large hash brown. A sensational Catskills breakfast.
The Foxfire Mountain House’s delicious Maple Spirit cocktail: bourbon, lemon and maple syrup.
A hazy, overcast morning with glimmering cloud, but a more sunny afternoon. A high of 70F. Prolific farm rhubarb flowering early.
Sunny and warm: 60F by mid-morning. Gauzy clouds, slight breeze and a high of 68F.
Sweltering and with a jumble of clouds in a light blue sky and a high of 89F. Early evening thunderstorms continue into the evening.
A summer scorcher: humid and blazing hot with a high of 85F.
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.
Overcast, with overnight rain continuing into morning, and a damp afternoon with periods of sunshine. Humid with a high of 62F.
Mostly overcast but still bright and a high of 66F. Spruce tips are ready.
Overcast with a mix of sun and clouds, gusty winds, and mostly dry with sprinkle or two and a high of 60F.
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.
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.
Humid and warm, with and a high of 81F. Big clouds compete underneath a sky of milky blue. Evening rain.
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 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.
A little preview of Summer: blazing sun with a high of 82F. Bees get busy on the buds and flowers.
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.
Clear skies and warm with a gentle breeze and a high of 71F. The tractors are on the move.
Milky blue sky and a high of 70F. Tractors coming out of hibernation. Tire-kicking.
Warm and breezy, under a hazy blue sky with giant swirls of cloud, and a high of 59F.
A little chillier: breezy and overcast with a shimmering sky and a high of 48F. Ramping continues.
Warm and humid, lightly overcast with brief rain showers and a high of 58F.
Sunny and warm with a gauzy sky and a high of 68F. Perfect day for planting.
Rainy and overcast with swirling mist in the valleys. Humid with a high of 58F.
Warm and bright despite being mostly overcast with periods of sunshine and a high of 61F.
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 readingOvernight rain continues into morning. Overcast, humid with a high of 58F. Forsythia budding and blooming.
A summer day: blazing despite some cloud cover and a high of 70F.
Another sunny weekend day: blue skies and a high of 62F.
