Diverse Projects around Upstate

Saugerties Loft renovation going swell...

Nothing like cement sheetrock, - seriously, the sheetrock was made out of concrete.



One day it's there, 135 yrs of generational living...

the next day it's not....

Cottage 44 in Saugerties is hot.

Mt Tremper Modern House for Broadway.com editor.

Then the dig, and the footings were installed today.  Foundation later in the week. Framing not too long from now.

Cottage 43 in Livingston Manor.

Schoolhouse reinvention in Barryville coming to a close.

Just tagged our new spray foam insulation trailer with some graphics.



Some of the numerous barrels of foam we have sprayed on the way of building this business.

One can guess what happened next as I drove into my new garage with my fancy bike.

Cracked frame.



New bike.




Bike NY - 30,000 riders.

'borne back ceaselessly into the past...'

2 blasts from the past over the weekend, which I spent in Hudson NY, in Columbia County.

The Great Gatsby is more popular than ever with the big splashy new rendition just coming out this weekend.  I caught it upstate, where my date was positive we should go an hour early to get tickets.    My experience of upstate movie viewing won out, we arrived on time, and were on of 8 to see it in the matinee time slot on Saturday.  I'm a big Fitzgerald fan - I like Gatsby, but his other works are compelling too - especially his self-portrait in the CrackUp.  I've been known to explore many a college library's F. Scott Fitzgerald section, meandering quietly in the tall stacks and rows of hardbound books.

Here's a Hudson photo.




Then my friend Shannon McNalley and the Smoke Signals were playing up in Hudson as well - actually, now that I remember it, she was the reason I planned the weekend up there.  I met her when she was graduating from F&M in Lancaster PA, where I'm from.  Any way, she has spent the last 20 yrs playing music, from one club, bar, arena to another.  It's an impressive display of commitment and she's good enough to become a overnight star one day.  Actually amazing to be that well-respected in your industry, know the right people, say the right thing and still barely make a living at it.

Early Bird Cookery - Spring Announcement.

Message from my Friend Amy, who filled a much-needed market niche with her cooking and catering.

Happy Spring! Early Bird is back in the kitchen, at Foodstock this weekend and planning our first farm-to-table dinner for May 25th.  Early Bird will kick-off the 2013 season at Foodstock, WJFF's fabulous food & wine event. It takes place this Saturday May 11th from 11:00 until 4:00pm at the Villa Roma in Jeffersonville, NY. We will be offering prepared meals to-go. Early Bird uses real food sourced from local farms to create mouth watering meals. Let us get dinner on the table! If you miss us here, we will be offering packaged / prepared foods all summer at the Sunday Callicoon Farmers Market or sign-up for a weekly Monday delivery right to your door.  Our first farm-to-table dinner will be a WJFF Fundraiser and will be held on Saturday, May 25th. Dinners will be held the last Saturday of every month through October. Please call or email for more information and menus. Memorial Day Menu - Fava bean, spring pea, fried almonds, wild   mushrooms & parmesan : farmers market greens. - Housemade ricotta cavatelli w/asparagus & spring   pea shoots. (lardons optional) - Buttermilk roasted chicken, fiddleheads,   creamy polenta, chives - Lemon tart, smokey rhubarb jam      Early Bird wishes all our lovely Mother's a happy Mother's Day!  www.earlybirdcookery.com

Pics speak a 1000 words

New home site in Roxbury NY, with a hay bale for a desk.

Abe Lincoln flask I found in Rhinebeck NY.

4 1/2 yr old chest/book-keeping art.

5 boro 45 mile bike ride this weekend.  Looks like another fantastic weekend of weather.

Loft Renovation - Saugerties NY

So, a multigenerational furniture business which owns, and has owned, a large corner building where they have hawked their wares for decades has collaborated with us on a design of the rear living loft portion of the block long building.  Interestingly, many generations of this family have at one time or another lived in this 1500 sq ft 2nd floor loft.  Now, we are redoing it, Catskill Farms style - a little old, a little new and  lot of pizazz.

I keep a little apartment in Saugerties, right around the corner.   A little love nest, you may say (though to be honest, it hasn't seen any female callers except for cleaning company lady).

Its a super cool and historic building.

Pretty old school interior that has seen lots of kids raised and general good-natured overcrowding and limited bathroom quarrels.

The blues...

Super good looking mint green drop ceiling and wall paper.

We're keeping that beadboard door.

I liked this yellow print long hallway - it caught a lot of sun and was a good color for it.  Alas, by the time you read this it will be no more.

The living room.

Hot red bedroom.

The Kids room.

Should be fun  - and of course like every renovation unexpected things happen - but not usually so quick - we started demo and the sheetrock on the interior walls was partially made of concrete, for chrissakes.

George Jones - RIP

My Dad was a BIG country music fan, so I heard a lot of George Jones growing up.  George Jones was a real piece of work, more or less imitating a country song his whole life - getting drunk, getting married, using drugs, getting divorced, having car accidents, missing concerts.

I remember when my dad took me to see George Jones at the Pequea Silver Mines outside of Lancaster PA, and the man didn't even come out of his tour bus.  No Show Jones struck again.  Being 10, being pretty church going at that time - it was a hard thing not only for me, but for Dad to really get his arms around, since he's a pretty simple man who believed in doing what you say you were going to do.

But one thing this I've learned over the last 3 years as I see a parade of smart people play 'follow the leader' (actually 'follow the celebrity') - is how important, and rare, originality is - regardless of the gnats constantly swarming and biting.  And regardless of how imperfect that originality is.  He's the type of guy you'd actually like to meet- how rare is that?  Plus the fact that guy lived to 81 gives us all reason to hope.


Rest in Peace Mr George Jones.

"I Always Get Lucky With You'


Video

Video II



I've had good luck, and bad luck
And no luck, it's true
But I always get lucky with you.

I've been turned on, and turned down
When the bars close at two
But I always get lucky with you.

I've keep strikes against me
Most all of the time
And when it's down to just a phone call
I'm minus a dime.

There's been good days, and bad days
But when the day is through
I always get lucky with you
Oh, I always get lucky with you.

--- Instrumental ---

I've keep two strikes against me
Most all of the time
And when it's down to just a phone call
I'm minus a dime.

There's been good days, and bad days
But when the day is through
I always get lucky with you
Oh, I always get lucky with you.

I always get lucky with you...

CraftsMan III Moving Along

A pretty sunny nice weekend here in the South East Catskills.  It was a dry April which is always nice for grassplanting, earth moving and generally good for construction, but generally bad for having that grass grow for that grass one just planted.

Craftsman III in Barryville is coming along a just fine.  3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 5+ acres.  We had finished the grounds and the exterior last year, and then put the house on hold until we found some buyers, so they would have the opportunity to help us design and finish the home.

Some sharp details with the stone tapered pillars and the cedar shake accents.

Just finishing up the inside work.

The first floor is open, and large, and well-windowed.

Shot of the master bed, which sits high and looks out back.

And the man shed.

Grant and Louise should be moving in in late June.