Home Base for the Summer

Yesterday we moved Dessy about 40 miles from the storage facility in Dover Plains, NY to Sylvan Lake Beach Park in Hopewell Junction, NY Sylvan Lake Beach Park. This will be our part time/full time home for the next 5 months depending on how the sale of our house goes. Sylvan Lake campground was chosen because it is the only campground for a 75 mile radius of our house and jobs. Westchester, Dutchess, Fairfield and Litchfield counties simply do not have any RV camping sites whatsoever. That aside, Sylvan Lake seems like it should be nice with new 50 amp service, cable TV, shade trees and plenty of space. Since we rented the space for the 5 months they are open we are considered "seasonal campers". We are curious to see how many overnight or short term people will use this facility as this is not what we would consider a tourist area. It's also not easy to get here by RV. Despite the fact that it is less than a mile from the Taconic Parkway, RVs can't use the Taconic. We shall see.

Urban Wonders

For the past eleven years that I have worked in Mount Vernon, New York I have usually taken a 30 minute walk at noon time, weather permitting. While I have explored every neighborhood for a fifteen minute radius the walk I take most often brings me through an industrial area which eventually gets me to a Caribbean market where I like to shop. The industrial route also doesn’t have much traffic so waiting to cross the street and breaking my momentum isn’t a problem. Having lived most of my life in rural Connecticut the urban lifestyle I experience here has been fascinating to me. One of the things I pass on this route never fails to make me laugh. Right in the middle of this collection of auto repair shops, next to a huge commercial laundry and directly across the street from a scrapyard, sits a tiny restaurant.

The street of many industries with several trucks waiting to enter the scrapyard today. White arrow points to the tiny restaurant; Mike's Pizza.

Mike's Pizza, under new management. The sign says open 7 days a week. There was a padlock on the door today. Maybe he's out to lunch. Most days there are at least a couple people eating lunch here.

View of the scrapyard directly across the street from Mike's Pizza.

The Caribbean Supermarket offers great produce and fresh fish at very reasonable prices. I am after Haitian mangoes today which are just coming into season. They are soooo good!

The whole fish is stacked two feet high and packed on ice. Whether it's a dozen oysters or a couple salmon fillets, it's help yourself service here. I like that!

If you buy a whole fish, one of the three amigos at the counter will dress it for you for tip money. Life is good!

Less Than Six Months to Go!

With less than six months to go it's sell, sell, sell. I started this process well over a year ago and still there is always more. Thank god for eBay and Craigslist! I've sold so much on eBay that I have had Powerseller status for the last nine months. You can check out my current items here: link
This past week was excellent with the sale of two woodworking machines and two large pieces of furniture. By offering delivery to the New York City area I have greatly increased my sales of these large items. Our truck driver has been more than happy to take a furniture item to anywhere in the tri-state area for $50. The buyers love it!

Now it's crunch time to get the house ready. I managed to fit the punch list on one page using small text. Details to follow.

How do you like the new look for the blog? Playing around with html and all this stuff is soooo much fun!

The roll top desk found a new home in New Jersey.

My shaper and jointer sold quickly for good prices. Out of 15 floor machines only 5 remain.

This antique Edwardian Demilune cabinet was one of my favorite things. Now it resides on Manhattan's lower east side. Was it hard to part with? Nah, its not like I can take it to the grave with me. LOL

So ends the trial farm

It was about 4 years ago that I decided to see what sort of agricultural things I could do with a ¼ acre of steep lakeside land. Was it my consideration of a possible career change or the fond childhood memories of my grandparent’s farm that compelled me to play farmer for a time? I’m sure it was both as well as other reasons; but it was definitely fun and educational. It was a pleasure to feed and water all the critters every day as they were always so happy to see me. Although for the most part it was the food that they looked forward to I do think at least for the goats they did enjoy my company. The gregarious goats always wanted me sit and stay with them awhile; be part of the herd so to speak. To enjoy the company of all species, so long as they are benevolent, is a goats attitude. And never be in a hurry either, well unless there is food at the table. One of the side benefits of animal husbandry was the abundant supply of composted manure for my organic garden. Gardening was easy the last few years and I will miss that. I will miss my bees too. The bees changed my view of entomology forever. No longer do I view insects as simply pest, but see them in an entirely different light. The biggest thing I learned was that it is very hard to get away. You have to have a lot of respect for farmers working 7 days a week. Animals never take Saturday and Sunday off nor go on vacation. Well it’s good bye to Whitney and Winona. I am confident the girls got a good home and will keep in touch with their new owner.

I haven’t posted here in awhile but it feels good to do so. Finishing the house details and liquidating our stuff is a big job requiring all my free time. Next month we will moving the motorhome to Sylvan Lake Beach Park in Hopewell Junction, NY. More on this next time.

"Hey, wait a minute, I don't do planks". The chocolate goat, Whitney awaits her turn behind the gate.

"It's not so bad up here. There's no place like home!"

New owner, Ken, keeps the goats inside while someone gets a screw gun. The girls were surprisingly calm throughout the whole ordeal. 'hope they enjoy the ride to their new diggs.