Where the Wild Violets Grow: GOOD TiMES iN NEW YORK

Well Hello Again...We have returned home after a glorious extended three week stay in Sterling Village, NY. I would have loved to keep a trip log but WI Fi was hard to find.

So here it all is crammed into one blog entry. You better set some time aside to read this. :)

We nestled our tent underneath a beautiful box elder, on this old farmstead. Each morning we were greeted by songbirds, and the energizing lake air.

Our days were spent, exploring the area around us and hanging out in the Barn, the community area for tenants of the farmstead. Built in the 60's as a dairy barn, it is a great place to spend rainy days and down time.

We had lots of fun making food, reading this, this and this, playing music, drinking wine from Bully Hill Vineyards, being creative (Violet constructed some awesome junk sculptures and I knitted, felted, and spun), and bird watching (the bird feeders that hung in the windows got a lot of traffic)

It was the Holiday Inn of campsites.

Our friend Leslie set up an old school desk and chair that she rescued from the abandoned farmhouse that was on the property for Violet. She felt right at home with her own little space.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TRIP AND SOME FAVORITE SPOTS:

1. LAKE ONTARiO

A most amazing place. The water is perfect for swimming, the shore is lined with the most beautiful stones, the sunsets are breathtaking
and the fireflies put on a fantastic show.

2. FLY BY NiGHT COOKiE COMPANY and MiNiATURE MUSEUM

MAGiCAL. This awesome lady Bonnie runs this out of her home. You walk up the steps of her house to the porch which is hand carved by her son,
past the elf shoes by the door, to the room where the miniature museum and cookies are located. It is all on the honor system. Bonnie is usually furiously making cookies in the kitchen. You pick out the ones want and put the money in the jar. Our favorites are the buckeyes, banana walnut, and Italian fig. YUM. We love to sit on her porch, eat our cookies,and enjoy her beautiful gardens.
Out Back is the Book Nook. All proceeds go towards the beautification of Fair Haven. We found a copy of Maurice Sendak's Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue and Marc Brown's Arthur's Baby (both authors we collect). Yahoo!!!

3. PORT CiTY CAFE AND BAKERY -OSWEGO

I love this place. They make the best iced coffee I have ever tasted, and have delicious food. It is owned
by this really neat lady. They have a healthy kids menu too!!

4. THE OSWEGO RIVER- downtown OSWEGO

Violet and Kalin caught a bunch of fish down here and I went up to the COFFEE CONNECTION to get an iced tea. Our friend Leslie, back at the Barn put
good use to the fish in a delicious Fisherman's Stew...word of the stew circulated and a bunch of of our peeps showed up for stew, a music jam, and
much to Violet's delightment, hula hooping.

5. THE COFFEE CONNECTiON -OSWEGO

This place was by the Oswego River where Kalin and Violet were fishing. They make delicious iced coffee with coffee ice cubes. The walls
are painted murals and upstairs has couches perfect for lounging, reading, sipping, and nibbling. I love the use of color in this place. It was
a great find.

6. THE OSWEGO FARMER"S MARKET thurs 5-8pm

I got to roam the street all by myself while Kalin and Violet were fishing. It was great fun. It is a huge market. I love buying local.
It just makes so much since. There isn't an expensive transport involved and you are supporting your local farmers. I filled my market bag with
fresh produce and a loaf of Amish Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread.

6. RUDY'S

Located right on the beach of Lake Ontario, you can watch the sunset, take a dip, and dine on the variety of delicious foods they offer. Our favorites
are the fried haddock, fried zucchini, salt potatoes, and V loves the hot dogs.

7. STERLiNG CREEK

Kalin and Bob waded through a field of corn, head high grass, wildflowers, rose bushes, and a huge patch of poison ivy down to the creek on the farmstead.
Well worth the trip, they fished along the Sterling Creek amongst beaver dams, deer and many of the songbirds native to New York. They caught a stringer
full of sunnies and bass. A added bonus, was the muskie that Kalin caught. It proved to be a great adventure.

8. GiLLiS FAMiLY RESTERAUNT

Run totally by the Gillis Family, they have the best breakfast I have ever eaten. They offer homemade raisin, whole wheat, or home style white toast. A real treat.

9. NEW YORK GARAGE SALES

Garage sales in New York are like no other. I have found some of the coolest stuff in years past, so I was on the look out. We were on the way back to the barn, after a disappointing trip to the legendary barn sale in Fair Haven. The crotchety old man who owns the barn and the overwhelming smell of bat guano (bat poop) sort of ruined it for us. Anyway, like I said we were on our way home and passed a garage sale. This lady had her garage set up so cute and it was nice and clean. yeah!!! We did a quick U-ie and I ended up with some wicker doll furniture which Violet made sure Berry Sue and Mercy immediately put into use....and the a set of cutest little red baby bunt pans...for the low price of $1. Now that is what I am talking about. Wahoo!!!

10. INDIAN FOOD

Well apparently in addition to being a virtuoso of a flute player and composer, our friend Bob, is also a great cook. He whipped up several Indian dishes
while we were visiting which I totally dug. I snagged the recipe for Sag Panier from him to add to my repertoire. He also made a variation using a can of
chickpeas instead of the pannier. Yum!

11. STERLiNG RENAiSSANCE FAiRE

Ah Sterling...how I love you. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't get to spend time in one of the most fabulous places on the planet. The Hollow Earth
Swordworks Shoppe opened brimming with swords...ready to be snatched up by our loyal customers. It is one of the most authentic Faires I have attended. They have the best cast and musicians. It is truly a magical place. New Yorkers are very friendly, family oriented people, and come out in droves. They only have a few warm months out of the year, so nothing stops them...even pouring down rain.

12. iNCH BY iNCH WEAViNG SHOPPE

One of the booths at the Faire. Deborah, the lady who owns the shoppe is precious and gifted me with with some roving so that I could spin some up on my
drop spindle. She demonstrates weaving and spinning in her shoppe during the day.Violet and I like to take our breaks and watch her. I bought some
of her felted sheep and a shepherdess for Violet's good girl present, and added one of her beautiful woven dresses to my wish list.

13. AMERiCAN iN PARiS

Leslie had this treasure rented from netflix and we all watched it together one night. I have been trying to make my way through the classics, and was
delighted to find out that it was in her possession. What a great movie...Gene Kelly can really cut a rug and Oscar Lavant is a musical genius!!! FUN! FUN!!

14. BAGPIPES

Charlie, one of the tenants of the Barn, is a roaming musician from Taos, NM. He reminded me a lot of my uncle. He plays the guitar, fife, harmonica, flute, highland and the Ulleann pipes (Irish version of the bagpipes) We would get a concert from time to time when he was practising. He knows a lot of Irish, Celtic, and Scottish tunes, so that was fun. Liam, his English sheep dog was a darling. I might have to add that to my wish list along with the sheep.

15. MUD OVEN

Kalin and Violet made the cutest little oven made of clay, grass, and mud. Then they went berry picking and cooked up a delicious cobbler in the oven. What a fun project!!

16. ONTARiO ORCHARDS-
Within minutes of our camp this place has a variety of veggies and fruits from local farmers, baked goods, cheeses, and apples and cider made right on the premises.

17. POT LUCK MUSiC JAM

The peeps came over and brought their instruments. I forgot to bring any of Violets instruments with me. Oops. We filled a green tea can with a little rice and voila a shaker. Violet had a bang up time jamming with all of the musicians. They sounded great.

18. ViOLET'S FiRST SELF-PORTRAiT

Violet has really been getting into taking photographs...a lot of them turn out really good. This is her first self portrait.

19. FAERIE BOUQUETS

Violet and Kalin picked me a sweet little faerie bouquet composed of tiny little New York wildflowers. My favorite were the tiniest little snapdragons you have ever seen.