Bunny business

The other day when we were at the playpark I came across a large branch that had fallen off a tree, presumably during a snowfall.  It was rather a pretty shape, so I popped it in the back of the car, brought it home and stuck it in a plant-pot.  Very nice.

Then today when I was rootling through a closet looking for something else I came across a box of felt bunnies.  I bought them a couple of years ago in an "Ah, those'll come in handy" moment - you know, like you get sometimes (though probably not so much if you're a bloke).

The rest, of course, was inevitable.

I may get to collect more snow-felled branches to decorate rather soon.  We're expecting an all-day snowstorm tomorrow to mark the start of April.  No fooling.

Flower power

I mentioned back on Saturday that the Man and I had seen some rather memorable floral exhibits at the Flower and Garden Show...  If any readers are in touch with the organisers of Linton's Flower Festival and/or the annual Garden Show you might want to suggest the following as categories.

First this one in the category: "An arrangement featuring a national flag, in the colors thereof".  Oo, look at that!  A floral tribute to our home country!  Would have been even more authentic in a tea-cup...

And this: "An arrangement representing an international holiday".  Can you recognise this special day?

But the category that moved us most was (at a guess): "An arrangement featuring a man-eating creature and at least one creepy clown.  Flowers optional." 

Your challenge - write the Village Hall judge's notes for one or all of the above. 

Peace, protest

You've probably seen peace poles like this on your travels - they're in all sorts of places.  The centre of Woodstock was a very unsurprising location to find one.  But its message, May Peace Prevail on Earth, seemed to be lost on our crew on Sunday. 

The Boy had a half-day today and had a couple of friends round for the afternoon.  Fun.  The Girl had a six-hour school play rehearsal.  Also fun, by all accounts.  'Cause it wasn't all work, work, work - there were make-your-own ice-cream-sundaes, too.

Out of the frame

After our unscheduled visit to the lighthouse yesterday, we drove on towards Woodstock. 

Since we were passing Jolly's British Food Store anyway... we stopped in and restocked on such necessaries as Frank Cooper's Oxford Marmalade, Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles and Cadbury's (fairtrade!) Chocolate Buttons.  And you should have heard the Girl's whoop of delight when she set eyes on the Curlywurlies!

On to Woodstock, that colourful hippie, trippy town, where we enjoyed a good poke around the Tinker Toys Too toyshop, and the excellent little Golden Notebook bookstore.  The kids enjoyed this street art installation entitled "My 15 Minutes of Frame".

Then to round off the afternoon, a hike.  More of a cold, snowy scramble really.  The Kaaterskill Falls trail looked quite different from our last, summer, visit.  For one thing, most of the path was covered in ice or packed-down snow, making it quite treacherous.  But it was worth the slipping and sliding to see the mighty falls, part frozen and magnificent, at the end of the trail.

(Note Girl, added for scale.)

To the Lighthouse

Today, by a happy navigational error, we found ourselves at the trailhead to Saugerties Lighthouse on the Hudson River.  We'd been in the car for a while by then, so we decided to roll out and explore the half-mile nature preserve on a spit of land, with its route over boardwalks and bridges, which took us to the very charming lighthouse. 

Built in 1869, it looks much more like a regular house than the more familiar seaside tower lighthouses - a regular house with a big light on top, that is.  It was decommissioned in 1954 and stood vacant for many years until rescued and restored by local enthusiasts. We wandered around the outside of it (indoor tours won't begin until Memorial Day), congratulating ourselves on our discovery and admiring the views up and down the river.

We were excited to learn, from a sign, that it's possible to stay in the lighthouse as a B&B guest - a little bit on the lines of Landmark Trust properties in Britain.  But clearly we are not the only ones to think this is a very cool idea - the place is booked up until November.  Maybe we'll keep an eye on the website, in case of sudden cancellations.

The lighthouse was not the only stop on our afternoon out, but I'll save the rest for another day.

Going to seed

The Man and I dropped in on the Capital District Flower and Garden Show today, in the sports building of Hudson Valley Community College.

I'd always wondered what you could do with an ice-rink in the off-season.  Why, fill it with garden displays, of course!  Several landscaping companies had come in and packed the space with trees, shrubs, bulbs and a whole lot of mulch.  Our favourite, by some margin, was a recreation of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, with a very inviting natural garden around it.

Also on show were some memorable floral arrangements, a la Linton Flower Festival / Garden Show - but more on those another day.  What really caught my fancy was a stand in the trade hall.  It was an odd collection of stalls in there, to be honest - everything from cheese to double glazing, with a few plants thrown in - but I was very taken by the Hudson Valley Seed Library.

I hadn't heard of this organisation before.  I gather it started as a sort of community scheme to preserve heirloom plant varieties.  Now it supplies beautifully packaged seeds grown on small sustainable farms.  I do like seed packets at the best of times, but these were extra lovely, especially a series called "Art Packs" - each package designed by a different artist, and made to be unfolded and framed once the seeds are planted.  Bourgeois nonsense really, I suppose, but you know - useful and beautiful, William Morris would have approved.  I was tempted into buying several packets, which I may give as gifts but may just as likely keep for myself.

Thoroughly Pottered

I had to pop down to the library at the last minute last night, in an effort to avoid yet more fines.  It was about to close, but there was just time to check the audiobooks section as the Boy had specially requested.

A mild-mannered librarian asked if she could help me find anything.  "Harry Potter," I found myself half-snarling - sounding not unlike Snape, now I come to think of it.  "Audiobooks.  But you don't have any today.  And frankly it's a relief because in our house we have to listen to them all the time."

"Oh, ok, I see.  Err, I won't offer to look for them then..."  said the librarian smiling nervously as she backed away from me. 

I went home empty-handed.  And listened to some Harry Potter which the Boy had out already.