East Side of the Hudson
Bannerman Castle Tours. We did the Bannerman kayak tour last year. It was great (except for the weather). You don’t have to kayak. There are larger vessel trips for the youngun’s and elders but there is some uphill walking involved and this is a hard hat trip.
Pow Wow on the Hudson, Wappingers. I see this advertised every year, but have never been. I’m worried it might be like the time I really, really wanted to go to the Renaissance Faire for a laugh but it was all WTF and not much fun.
Mario’s Biggest Yard Sale Evah! You’ve seen several Mario posts here before. The guy’s got the goods…and the prices are right. Flickr set.
Stormville Flea Market. Only happens a few times a year, usually on 3 day holiday weekends. Huge market for antiques dealers and some crap vendors. Huge.
Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Ghent Playhouse. Ooh, one of my favorite movies! Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft? Of course, this is a live performance of the Neil Simon play.
West Side of the Hudson
New Paltz Crafts Fair. An annual trip for me. Every year since we’ve lived upstate, the same Boston via Dublin friends come to stay with us for the weekend. Every year, this is what they want to do. I enjoyed it the first 2 years, but it’s the same country craftsy vendors every year. On the other hand, not a bad way to spend your day outdoors.
East Durham Irish Festival. Probably a thousand times goofier than the Pow Wow. I’m not allowed to go, what with 3 Dubliners in tow. I wouldn’t be able to sustain the complaints and sarcasm. And I’m a New Yorker!
Rip Lives Festival. Ok, so they’re a little Rip Van Winkle obsessed in parts of the Hudson Valley. That’s ok, he was a cool guy. Some Catskill towns will have local Rip-themed art on display for public viewing during the summer months. The outdoor exhibit ends with an auction in Tannersville on October 2nd.
Spike Lee coming to Blog Fest. OTBKB
Oh, what have we here? My house! Casa Cara
Judy Likey‘s My House!
Incredible CA Painted Lady for $200k. Bradbury
Vote on Inhabitat’s Spring Greening contest.
The Eco Friendly Expo opens today for previews and runs through Thursday, May 27th in Midtown. Cost is $10 to get in or free for the trade.
There will be green lectures on art, products and lifestyle all day Wednesday and Thursday. Plus, of course as any good expo has, plenty of exhibitors.
Among the exhibitors are 2nd Soul, Eco Supply Center and Cardboard Design. There also some WTF booths, including CNN, The Bloomberg Administration and Corcoran.
This Saturday I was back selling at the Ft. Greene Brooklyn Flea after an extended absence to work on my house. It was kind of nice to go away and come back because it made me appreciate it even more.
The photo above shows a sampling of upcycled light fixtures by Peg and Jon Van Dyne. It’s one of those things that makes me say “Damn, why didn’t I think of that first?” Because I checking out the market only for a few minutes when I was on a an extended bathroom break, I didn’t get a chance to get much info. The company is called French Vanilla. No website, but the phone number is 765-513-0255. No idea what prices are like, but I did notice that they take credit cards.
That large film reel on the right? Still has film on it.
Fat Dog Fabrication is living in this century. Owner Don Wood has a website. A rather cute one, with a photo of Henry the fat dog on the main page (He doesn’t look so fat). Don also has an Etsy store .
I didn’t get a chance to have a chat (another bathroom break) but I gathered from the internets that Don is a contractor who creates on the side. He uses recycled materials when he can, such as the pallet bench. The prices are surprisingly low for the quality, concept and location. $25 hand made concrete dog bowl/planter in Brooklyn? I think I spent that on a cup of coffee just yesterday.
When people think of the antique housing stock Brooklyn has to offer, they usually think of the brownstones. Or the Victorians in Ditmas. But Lefferts Manor historic district in Prospect Lefferts Gardens is all that and more. It has been described by NYC Landmarks Preservation as one of the finest “enclaves of late 19th- and early 20th-century housing in New York City”.
Tucked away right in the heart of Brooklyn, it’s what us old timers used to refer to as Flatbush, along with a gazillion other neighborhoods. The housing stock consists mainly of single family homes that were never used as rooming houses because of a covenant.
The 2010 house tour, sponsored by The Lefforts Manor Association is this Sunday, May 23rd from noon to 5pm. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
There are nine homes on the tour ranging in various architectural style and interior design. It’s an excellent way to steal ideas for your own home projects! If that’s not enough for you, there will be music, refreshments and wine.
A freshly launched forum based website hit the internets a couple of months ago. City Beams covers 4 out of 5 of the boros (the ones that matter), plus Boston.
Here’s how it works. People can ask questions about NYC for know-it-alls like myself to respond to. A beam is a vote, so the question can be voted up or down just like all this other newfangled social media these kids use today.
The kid (Well, look at his photo…He’s about 12!) who started it is right off the pick up truck from the sticks. Ok, maybe not that bad, but he’s relying on people who know the city to respond to questions. So, go on over there and shake it up a bit.
You can ask anything. Here are some fun questions being asked…
“Anywhere to get non-skinny pants in Williamsburg?”
“What do you think of the people in NYC?”
“What’s so great about Astoria?”
The 2010 Brooklyn Blogfest will be back in Park Slope’s Brooklyn Lyceum after last year’s detour to Dumbo. What is a Blogfest? Well, this is what the 2009 Blogfest was all about. It will be much the same this year, only bigger and better, as it keeps growing every year.
There will be a panel of experienced bloggers talking and taking questions, a photo blogger video, a new blog shout out and break out groups of like minded bloggers. Also, face painting!
No, I was kidding about the face painting. But there will be food. And drink.
So, you should come. You don’t have to be a blogger. If you read blogs (and you’re reading this), you’re welcome to come.
June 8th. See you there!
We’ve taken over 2 apartments in our brownstone but have not yet gotten around to privatizing the hallway. It’s a real hassle running up and down the stairs hoping the neighbors won’t catch us in our skivvies. Neither apartment is fully finished or furnished and we are far from getting our act together.
So, I’m nagging the husband for a dumbwaiter.
Who knew that commercial dumbwaiters were so costly? Over 3000 bucks! Wow, that’s not gonna happen in my house.
But there’s hope for the “We are lazy yet take on impossible tasks, and oh yeah, we are broke.” people yet! The video above shows us how we can build our own dumbwaiter for $300 using a garage door opener. Alls I need to find now is the space.
Also see:
DIY Network: Install a Dumbwaiter
E-How: Build a Dumbwaiter
During our first temporary/renovation move to Bed Stuy back in 2005, the food delivery options were slim. 2010 is a whole new world, baby! Now all we have to make for dinner is a phone call.
This may be common knowledge, but since we’re just reacquainting ourselves with the area, it’s all new to us. We googled food delivery in Bed Stuy and found Seamless Web. (Are we the last to know?) Just type in your address, any neighborhood, and see which restaurants deliver to your house. You can order online. No phone call is needed. Obviously, not all restaurants are there, just the ones set up with that service.
So, what restaurants deliver to 11216? BTW, these are the vegetarian friendly options. You’re on your own for cooked flesh.
We have been relying on Sushi Tatsu for a couple of years now and they have never let us down. (ie: no meat in our vegetarian dishes) They have a Japanese/Chinese mix and now feature an entire Thai menu. Also, a third location on Bedford.
Amin, Indian on Dekalb
Deniz, Turkish on Fulton
Food for Thought, veg friendly on Marcus Garvey
La Stalla, Mexican/Italian on Myrtle
Tiny Cup, cafe and lunch on Nostrand
Folukie, Caribbean on Bedford
Brooks Valley, Caribbean Southern on Tompkins (They were closed for awhile, but a neighbor said he saw that it had reopened.)
…you have his and her safety masks hanging from your bathroom sconces.
Unfortunately, I did not set up this shot. Wish I did.
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[...] remember how I previously mentioned that we are forced to attend the New Paltz Crafts every year and every year it’s the same tired vendors? Tired as in they haven’t updated [...]
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