Introducing a New Boutique Event Venue - M & D Farm

We recently had the pleasure of attending an open house at a newly opened boutique event venue - M&D Farm in Westerlo, NY. I had been following them on instagram (mndfarm) for a while and oohing and aahing over the photos of their gorgeous property and drooling over the food pictures, so it was a real treat to see everything in person. We can't recommending this venue highly enough. Everywhere you look there are breathtaking views, classic details, and a feeling of peace and joy. It is the perfect place for an intimate wedding, bridal showers, birthday events, or any kind of party or meeting in a comfortable country setting.




This is inside the barn.
We enjoyed some "knock-your-socks-off" homemade sangria!
Once you step on this magical property you won't want to leave, but since you'll have to eventually, at least you'll know you'll come away with some pretty fantastic memories!

First of Summer Tour

It has been such a busy year so far, what with one thing or another, that blogging has take a back seat to other things. But here is a quick tour of what is currently happening in the garden. This is the carriage house side garden. The new David Austin roses planted last year along the flowering fence are producing some wonderful rich pick flowers. Looking over the fence to the enclosed garden area. A flowering fence climatis. I've added quite a few foxgloves around the property. These are Dalmatian foxgloves that I'm trying out in the cottage sunny side garden. Love those spots!


Because we had to cut down a big spruce tree that was just about dead next to the driveway, we now have a new bright sunny spot to fill in. I'm trying out some Echinacea, Bee Balm, and Lavender. The front garden is filling in with lots of daisies, foxglove, roses, iris, and delphiniums.
After that little tour around the gardens, a nice cold beer might be nice. We have an extensive wine and beer menu and I just added a couple of new options. We already have a couple other of the Flying Dog beers (from Maryland) and now have Counter Culture and Bloodline Blood Orange Ale. (I have to admit that I got the Bloodline because of the label - that crazy looking Dalmatian - but the sales guy at the distributor said it was one of his favorites!
Also new is the Chimay Rouge a premiere Belgium ale. The Rogue Chocolate Stout was already on our list, and is quite popular. Finally, there is the Wexford Irish Style Creme Ale - light and creamy!

Is it Really Spring?

We were busy gearing up for Spring after a cold but practically snowless winter. The studio was turned into a silk flower arranging workshop with Regina, our head waitress, working her creative magic.
A new batch of pumpkin parsley wheat-free dog biscuits was made for welcoming any canine guest to our inn. We freshened up some bathrooms with new shower curtains. And we organized and restocked our art supply shop for the incoming art and fiber art workshops that we'll have this year (about 38 workshops!). Our art supply shop is open to the public year-round. We carry all sorts of supplies, notions, and tools for artists of a variety of media - watercolor, oil, pastel, acrylic, and quilt artists. During our fiber art workshops, we also get a mini fabric and notions shop supplied by our good friends from Log Cabin Fabrics in Selkirk (just 20 minutes from our inn).

Here is one of the magnificent finished bouquets creative by Regina. The weather was looking perfect - sunshine and 60s and 70s. Then - April Fools - Mother Nature decided to play a joke on us and this is what happened!




We love a good joke! Especially one that results in such a beautiful snowy landscape that we were missing all winter. Besides, the snow on the ground lasted only a couple days and now we are back to spring green everywhere!

Strolling the Inn Grounds

A quick photo stroll around the inn grounds! These were taken just about a month ago and already there are so many more flowers all around. These are actually peonies from our assistant innkeepers garden. They are tree peonies that bloom earlier than our regular peonies and she always brings in her "excess" to brighten the main inn common rooms. Bree, our ridgeback, is trying to look noble and worried at the same time. She hates to walk on the wet grass, but she loves going on walks.

This is the herb garden with the marigolds just after planting. Now they have completely filled in the bed and you can't even see the dirt anymore. Here is Bree, the dog who hates to walk in wet grass, showing us that she will make an exception for wading into the fresh puddles of rain water for a nice cooling drink. The chives are going wild, which is great because I use them in my goat cheese and chives scrambled egg special. Yum. This year we had robin build a nest right above the bend in the rainspout. A much smarter location than their usual spot above a doorway!

Spring Landscape at the Inn

I love the Spring when the landscape burst forth with vibrant shades of green and the perennials let me know that once again they have survived the winter! Here's a little photo stroll around the grounds.






This year I'm trying all zinnias in the driveway garden (between the daffodils). I hope they do better than the marigolds last year.
My decorated duck for the community art project (QuackQuackGreenville) is now up on the porch for a better view of the garden.