FALL FUN...

***

***

I have already started my Fall schedule of

Festivals, Food, Art and Antique shows.

I have to take full advantage of

everything going on since this might

be my last Autumn in Westchester County.

I have successfully participated in the

-Musical tribute to Patsy Cline,

-Hudson Valley Food & wine Festival

-Monroe Cheese Festival ,

-O and the Hudson Valley Festival of Garlic.

Here are some great things coming up

in the Hudson Valley.

I can just smell the homemade apple cider and

crisp fall leaves

***

• Friday, Sept 30: Jim Gaffigan, an actor/comedian will base his comedy act on award winning foods. Performance at the Bardavon www.bardavon.org

• Saturday, Oct 1st:  STONE BARNS HARVEST FEST.  This is my favorite festival.  Great food and entertainment. Put the whole family in their Hunter boots and come on out!
• Sunday, Oct 2nd: Warwick Apple fest, named "Top 100 Events in North America" by the American Bus Association, It has crafts, entertainment, Tons of Apple dishes.  www.warwickapplefest.com

• Friday, Oct 7th:  Sugar Loaf Fall Festival:  Handmade crafts and tons of delicious food; there will be live outdoor music and activities for the little bitty ones, too www.sugarloafnewyork.com

• Saturday, Oct 8th:  Rhinebeck Antiques Fair:  I cannot wait for this!  Now in its 35th year, this indoor antiques show promises to offer "something for every one's pocketbook."  www.rhinebeckantiquesfair.com
• Saturday, Oct 8th (as well):  Horseman's Hollow, Ready to be scar4ed out of your wits?  Check out this twist on a haunted house at philipsburg Manor www.hudsonvalley.org

• Sunday, Oct 9th: Hunter Mountain Oktoberfest,  Break out the lederhosen boys for this German-themed celebration of the Harvest.  www.huntermtn.com

• Saturday, Oct 15: Pumpkin Festival, Celebrates Fall's best-loved crop with EVERYTHING pumpkin.  www.hillholdandbrickhouse.org

• Sunday October 23rd: Taconic Opera,  Verdi's Nabucco, and opera containing one of the most difficult soprano roles ever written, concerns the biblical story of the Jew's exile from Babylon.  At Yorktown HEights http://taconicopera.org

• Saturday, Oct 29th: Colin Monchrie and Brad Sherwood LOVE improv comedy?  watch these quick-witted comedians from TV's Whose Line is it Anyway? www.upac.org

• Sunday, Oct 30th:  The Great JackO'Lantern Blaze,  How about more than 4,000 carved pumpkins to celebrate Halloween.  This event is at the Van Cortland Manor. www.hudsonvalley.org

• Sunday, November 6th:  Chappaqua Antiques and Design Show, More than 50 East Coast Antique dealers offer their treasures.  www.newcastlehistoricalsociety.org

• Saturday, Nov 12th:  Moscow Ballet, Pirouette into the Christmas Season with the "Great Russian Nutcracker" at the palace theatre. www.palacealbany.com

• Sunday, Nov 20th:  Miniature and Dollhouse Show, A Rockland County Tradition.  www.rocklandhistory.org

***

***

 ***

Just something about
Apples and Pumpkins
***

September days have come and gone...

BBQ in Boston...

***

***



*** 

***

Ok it's only 10:50 AM and I could already use a cold

quenching cocktail...Maybe it's the weather?  

It feels like I'm back in Ireland a bit.

Above I'm sitting a random Pub in Dublin.

I have the Red Sox vs Yankee Game

 tomorrow soooo maybe I'll save my adult 

beverage consumption till then.  But then

it's college football on Saturday & NFL on 

Sunday...

I'll pace myself. 

***

 Oldest Pub in Dublin

***

***

 ***

***

 ***

***

Pie Depression...

***

IM SO UPSET!!!!

Coming Up the first weekend in

October is Harvest Fest for Stone Barns Blue Hill.

I always look forward to this time because of the

pie contest.  I was especially excited this year because I knew

The third time would be the charm for me.  

Yes that means I still have not received the award

for BEST tasting. 

But it wont be held this year during Harvest Fest.

However Mara Flanagan promised me It will

be held later on in the Fall.

I had some pretty unique titles in mind too, like:
 

"Five hour window to wait for the plumber Pie"

or

"Just one more slice Pie"

or

"Will I ever get married, self-pity pie"
or
"my ex should be throw over a bridge and stabbed by sharp rocks pie"

or

"stuck on hwy 95 after 2am because of construction pie"

or

"No, I think my car can fit there pie"

***

O well so I'll just have to wait until later on in the Fall I guess.

More practice.

Last Year's Blueberry Fig pie

***

http://www.stonebarnscenter.org/our-work/public-awareness/harvest-fest/

50 YEARS OF FINE ART AND FINE CRAFTS

***

***

In 1961, the Friends of the North Castle Public Library,

including Charles Elson, Lucille Bruno and Jean West,

decided to try an outdoor art exhibition as a way to raise funds for the library.

With only a handful of artists showing their work

on the lawn of the Armonk Methodist Church bordering Main Street,

the Armonk Outdoor Art Show was born.

 The show soon outgrew the churchyard and

was relocated to the parking lot in front of the library.

***

The Show is 1/4 mile from Exits 3/3S off Route I-684, 10 miles north of I-287 and I-95, 5 miles from the Merritt and Hutchinson Parkways, 20 minutes from the Tappan Zee Bridge (see where we are on the map for traveling directions). Parking is free and within walking distance. Food is available for purchase at the Show.

***

***

***

Thank You to EVERYONE

for all the Heart Felt

Birthday Wishes. 

You made my Day.

***

***

A RUN and TRIBUTE for 9/11

***

Just arrived back from a super spin class

this morning and just had to blog about this.

My teacher is such an incredible women, In her class she always

helps you leave the negativity in your life and baggage

behind you.  It's an hour of just you and the bike and nothing else.

At the end today she played a Instrumental Irish song

and started talking about riding and focusing on those who

sacrificed their lives for us and each other 10 years ago.

She always finishes the class by saying how much of an honor it is

to be apart of our lives every Friday

***

SO her dear friend Achim Heukemes

One of the best extreme runners in the world,

is spontaneously commemorating the victims

in a very special way.

He intends to cross the American continent –

but not just a single one but even TWICE.

He is going to start on 25 June 2011 in NY

with a racing bicycle and 6000 km (3,729 miles)

later he will arrive in San Diego.

This means he has to cycle 250 km (155 miles) every day,

without taking a single day of recovery.

Arriving in San Diego he will immediately prepare for his return trip,

however, this time without the bicycle,

he will be running back to New York,

covering a distance of 5000 km (3107 miles).

Again without taking any recovery days

and he has to run at least 90 km (56 miles) per day.

This means he has to cover more than

2 marathons for 55 continuous days.

His objective is to arrive in New York

on the 11th of September 2011 at the newly arising

World Trade Center.
He then will have covered the distance of 11000 km (6,835 miles).

Additionally it will be a present to himself for his birthday,

not the thirties not the forties and even not the fifties.

Achim will turn 60 only a few days

after finalizing the double continental crossing

***

 Achim Heukemes

***

Theres only one option to NOT turning 30, that is death. I say, “Welcome 30!”

There are some things that you know - intellectually - are bound to happen to you, but you never really believe that they will. For me, turning 30 is one of them...

***

***

I'm already experiencing that fact that a

"30 year old body does not recover quite as quickly as a 29 year old body." 

It takes me forever to get use to saying a new age after another
Birthday goes whooshing by, just like a new year. 
When you finally get use to writing 2010 on your checks it's 2011. 

But the fact that i will no longer be 20 something is
going to be a little...distressing, no depressing different. 

See I'm not being negative, so this is a step. 

I'm slowly coming around to accepting it, like the signs of the crows-feet
marching across my face.

The thing is nothing really changes, ahhh personality wise. 

I'll still be vivacious, forceful, abstract and unyielding me. 

In my first 30 years I have definitely had the opertunity to Live a little,
I've been very blessed to have traveled and been exposed to a
lot of World and a lot of Wisdom. 

I have become a more sophisticated woman with more practicality and understanding. 

I have learned who my real friends are,

and though they are few, they are loyal, reliable, dependable and honest.

"No man is a failure who has friends" it's a Wonderful Life.

Ive noticed I'm feeling like the age 30 is my "Moment of Truth"

since certain realities are starting to take hold for me. 

In many ways, my hopes and dreams of my 20s never materialized (still trying to figure out what they really were) and it's hard to see if they ever will.
I notice theres not many people in the world that have the dream job,

and most people don't feel as if they are maximizing their full potential (this is me).

I guess things don't usually work out in life the way you thought and hoped they would.
Hey maybe things just turn out better...maybe?... 

I read a quote the other day "If your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near."

So I have made a birthday resolution. I will still be a dreamer, but a more realistic dreamer.

As a 30-year-old, I am now "worthy of leadership."

I can be wise and practical and not try to implement a hopeless fantasy scheme.

I am humble and broken-hearted enough
to know how to let go of something that will never be.

"At age 30, one receives strength."
This is the strength of character needed to pursue life's goals.

The 20s process of trial and error leads to a more secure decade of the 30s,

when a person is focused on true talents, goals, and genuine accomplishments.

The old cliche is true: "A jack-of-all-trades is a master of none." (except my brother Jake...LOVE U) 

The 20s are the training ground to become a jack-of-all-trades.

The 30s is the time to focus and master those talents that can be applied in a practical direction."
Even though I say this with a crooked smile and an unsteady quiver in my voice, I really am looking forward to the next 30 years of my life.  It's going to be so different and so wonderful.  This I really hope, wish and Pray. 

So I already made my wish, Happy Birthday to me.

***

***

His eyes are blue just like the ocean

His heart is a river free
And now and then he gets the notion
And he finds his way to me
His love’s like…
Rain on a tin roof
The sweet song of a summertime storm.
And oh, the way that it moves me
It’s a melody of passion ragin’ on

...
And then it’s gone.

***