We were amazed by the sheer size and breadth of the USDA. It’s the third largest federal agency, after Department of Defense and Homeland Security. And even though most people think of them as simply the part of the government that works with American farmers, the agency also includes the U.S. Forestry Service, food safety, rural development, research, overseas agricultural programs and a heckuva lot more.

Here are some photos of the trip…

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There’s too much talk of Bridezillas these days.  Wedding days, and even the days of planning leading up to it, should be memorable.  Instead of dwelling on negative behavior, we want to think about the beautiful outcomes.

While perusing the BHLDN website for wedding ideas, we came across these simple and elegant vases that can be used to hold candles, flowers, pens etc.  Perfect for a country affair.

And we want you to have them!

Win a 3 piece set of these charming hobnail jars from BHLDN and make your summer entertaining sparkle.

All you have to do is tell us in the comment section below what turned out to be the most beautiful and memorable decor element of your own wedding.  A winner will be chosen at random, but the real winners will be everyone who gets to share their great decorating ideas.

One of the most enduring and recognizable images in cinema is of a boy named Elliot riding a bicycle, pedaling so fast that he soars into the sky—aided by a certain extraterrestrial and some movie magic.

Steven Spielberg is one of the most popular directors of all time because he captures on the screen images, feelings and sentiments that are the commonalities of life.

And we’ve all dreamt at one time or another that if we pedaled fast enough we’d take flight.

When Brent was young, he had the same banana-seat bicycle from the time he was 9 to 15 (the age at which riding bikes became uncool),  If you look closely, you can still see a tiny scar on his right knee from a wipeout on the hilly gravel road behind his grandparent’s house.

Josh dreamed of a bike with a banana seat (and handlebar streamers, a basket, a bell, and a little pennant flag off of the back tire).  What he got was a hand-me-down bike from his brother who was decidedly less visionary when it came to accessorizing.

We thought long and hard about what we should get one another as wedding gifts. Should it be a vacation around the world?  (done that).  Should it be something frivolous? (not really in our DNA).

So we ultimately decided on getting bikes.

As we love the idea of all things “heirloom”, we wanted to get quality bikes that would last the rest of our lives, and after some research we found something that was the exact mix of modern and vintage.  Functional and well-designed.

In 1895, Ignaz Schwinn, a German immigrant with some bike-building experience from back in Europe, founded the Arnold, Schwinn & Company with his partner, Adolph Arnold, a meat packer and fellow German-American. Headquartered in Chicago, this new company was in the heartland of the American bicycle business where 30 factories turned out thousands of bikes each day. By 1900, American factories made a million bikes a year.

He probably would have never thought that the company he founded would one day build a completely sustainable bicycle with bamboo handles, a frame molded out of flax, and a motion-powered electricity generator that makes the entire bike glow from within at night.

If you see us on the hills of Sharon Springs, please take a wide arc around us.  It’s been a while since we’ve done this.

But we feel comfortable that this is the perfect vehicle for us to ride off into the sunset…or just take a little trip over the moon.

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 What was your childhood bike?  Share your story with us in the comments section below.

Klaus has been very busy over the past week or so.  In keeping with his gartending ways, he’s been in overdrive keeping up with the weeding.  So much rain has fallen and the plants are growing faster than ever before.  I’ve never seen Klaus’s arms move so quickly in the soil, turning the tender plants away from the ravenous weeds.

He seems to have a plan on how to turn the soil without hands because they are hidden away from view for most of the time.  What Klaus does is pretty interesting.  He grasps an empty liquor bottle in his arms and turns his back.. Then he digs with the business end of the bottle- the pointy side.

Why would he do this?  Let’s ask him!

Me:  “Why do you turn the soil that way, Klaus?”

Klaus: “ To make harvesting easier”

Me: “What have you planted this year, Klaus?”

Klaus: “The mint comes up every year along with the lavender, but this year I just planted some gorgeous lemon thyme.”

Me: “What do you do with lemon thyme, Klaus?”

Klaus: “I muddle it with blackberry syrup and Arrogante Tequila!”

Me: “Blackberry Syrup?  You mean from Sumptuous Syrups of Vermont?”

Klaus: “Ya!  The same, along with lemonade made from freshly squeezed lemons and a good splash of Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water, in lemon essence and a few dashes of my friend Gary Regan’s Orange Bitters!

And so it goes.  Klaus has been gifted with a brilliant palate for stone fruits like peaches with the addition of richly concentrated blackberry syrup, lemon thyme and a bit of tequila.  He will mix this lovely combination of flavors with a gorgeous infused ice cube infused with a pinch of lemon zest in each cube for color.

The Woodsman’s Amorous Holiday:  will placate two very thirsty friends (with an extra shot on the side)

Ingredients:

1 Georgia Peach, cut into chunks then lightly grilled to release sugar but retain the essential juice

3 oz. Arrogante Tequila or your choice of Reposado Tequila

.50 Barr Hill Gin (this is your wash for the glasses)

½ tsp. freshly picked well-chopped spearmint

½ tsp. Finely chopped lemon thyme.  No wood, please.

1 oz. Sumptuous Syrups of Vermont Blackberry syrup

3 oz. freshly made sweet lemonade

3 shakes of the Regan’s Orange Bitters

Mavea “Inspired Water” ice… frozen with the zest of 2 lemons in a standard ice tray

1 oz. (in each glass- Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water (lemon essence)

Preparation:

Grill your peach.  Let cool… Add ½ of the grilled peach in chunks to a Boston Shaker

Wash 2 Collins Glasses out with the Barr Hill Gin (Made from Raw Honey and grain) pour into your mouth!

Add the Arrogante Reposado Tequila to the shaker

Add the fresh herbs to the shaker

Add the Sumptuous Syrups of Vermont Blackberry Simple Syrup

Add the fresh lemonade

Add the Regan’s Orange Bitters

Fill the shaker with regular bar ice and shake ferociously for 15 seconds

Double strain into your pre-washed Collins glass filled with the lemon zest infused Mavea “Inspired Water” ice cubes. And finally top with 1 oz in each glass of the Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water

Klaus is swooning already.  Between picking the herbs and shaking the cocktail he makes several more for his guests.  Or is it one huge one for him?

I’m not sure.  Between all this cocktail making and picking, chopping and drinking, well he’s just wandered off.  Looking for a party?

Perhaps yes.   Klaus?????

Man’s Best Friend

When I visited Brent and Josh at their home several weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the new addition to their family: the wonderful (önderful?) Önder! She was wide-eyed and brimming with that puppy love that turns every dog lover into a gibberish-speaking, coochie-cooing fool who speaks twelve octaves higher than usual when in the presence of such a gorgeous, innocent being.

I grew up with dogs and every one I meet always seems to sense a kindred spirit in me. I have wondered before whether they can sense the spirits of all the dogs I have loved before. I want to adopt a dog very much but our cramped quarters do not lend themselves to the enjoyment of a dog, so we must wait until we are able to be better “canine parents.” Even without the presence of a four-legged friend in my life, I recognize the joy a dog can bring to a home and I know Önder will make splendid use of her new stomping grounds in Sharon Springs.

Do you have a favourite dog or a dog story to share? Please leave a comment, below, and enjoy these five beautiful shots of man’s best friend. (That’s me spoiling Önder in the Beekman kitchen in the last photo.)

The term ‘reading the water’ probably seems like an odd phrase.  If you’re an avid sailor you know exactly what I’m talking about.  If you’re a meteorologist you know what I’m talking about.  In a nutshell, reading water to a fly angler means you’re looking at the environment for clues to give you insight on where the fish may be.  This is not unlike the way a sailor diagnoses the wind, or a weather person looks at the clouds to know what weather’s coming in the next few hours.

When I teach my fly fishing schools, I usually take my students to the river and then on a bridge.  I then go upstream with a box of cereal.  I usually get KIX or corn pops.  They work great! I dump them into the river about 100 to 200 feet above the students.  By the time the cereal gets down to the students the debris has gone from complete chaos to somewhat controlled paths.  Veins of cereal are delivered to the students.  These channels or veins are lanes of food for the trout.  No, of course they’re not eating KIX, but they’re certainly eating bugs like ants, grasshoppers, and mayflies that are floating down the river, just like the cereal.

The lines of food are referred to as feeding lanes, and trout situate themselves in or near the feeding lanes so they can snatch food with a minimal amount of energy.  This is what reading the water’s all about.  The key to understanding how to find fish is also understanding that fish place themselves where they’re sheltered from the current and birds of prey, yet also are close enough to these feeding lanes to snatch up food; behind rocks, under foam lines, places like that.

The common equation fly anglers think about when they analytically look at trout is a trophy fish will never expend more energy to consume something that will give them energy.  In other words, I won’t run two miles for a rice cake.  But I will run two miles for a steak dinner.

So the next time you look at a stream, look for the foam lines.  Imagine dumping a box of cereal in the water and guessing where the food will end up.  Look for places where a fish could hide yet still quickly swim into the current to get a floating ant, and voila! You’re reading the water my friend!

See the rod that JP Ross designed exclusively for Beekman 1802. Click here

]]> http://beekman1802.com/reading-water/feed/ 4 http://beekman1802.com/5-beautiful-things-57/ http://beekman1802.com/5-beautiful-things-57/#comments Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:25:08 +0000 Andrew http://beekman1802.com/?p=21008

Lisa Wood’s Curiosities

Lisa Wood is the friend of a friend: my compadré Fernando Aguayo-Garcia who lives and works in San Francisco. While she and I have never met, our shared love of the imaginative diorama unites us. As a child, dioramas were a favourite pastime for me. Scenes that involved my plastic dinosaur collection were especially treasured. I had no hesitation bringing some outdoor elements into the scenes either: moss, leaves, pinecones and maybe a caterpillar or two! When I first saw Lisa’s curious dioramas, which create wondrous worlds inhabited by personified (albeit dead) bugs, I knew we were kindred spirits. Lisa, who lives in California, painstakingly creates each scenario posing real insects with miniature models and natural objects, and then encases each in a wood and glass enclosure. You can see more of Lisa’s work on her Facebook site, or buy her Blurb Book, Insects at Home, which features some of her best creations. Below are five of them.

The “flagship” in naval terms was the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or best known and usually carried the admiral’s flag.

The building that is now the home of the flagship Beekman 1802 Mercantile is an integral part of Main Street in Sharon Springs.

Built circa 1850, the Italianate structure was originally located several blocks north near the intersection of Pavilion and Main Streets where it operated as a mercantile. In 1894, the Village purchased the building and moved it to its present location just across the street from The American Hotel.

During the 20^th Century many shared the space: the basement was the Village jail until 1915; the community used the upstairs for town hall meetings, dances, and dinners; the Sharon Springs Free Library [the very first library in Schoharie county] moved into the downstairs back room in 1910; and the Fire Department housed its trucks in the front of the building until 1964.  After the fire trucks moved to new quarters, the Library expanded its space and the Village offices took over the rest.  Most recently it was an art gallery.

The building is on the New York State’s Register of Historic Places and the National Register.

At Beekman 1802, understanding history is important to us.  It’s involved in every story we tell and every product we design.  But just as important as understanding history is making history.

When deciding where to invest in creating a flagship store, there was no question that it would be on the same Main Street where we first started, where William Beekman first established his original Mercantile over 200 years ago. The contemporaries that we looked to for inspiration were companies like Kohler, Vermont Country Store, Orvis, LL Bean and Stonewall Kitchen all of whom started in small, out-of-the-way places and even as they grew remained committed to those communities.

Now those stores serve as tourist draws to those communities, and with more tourist traffic comes more resources for every other business in those small towns.

We promise that our flagship will always have something that will delight, that will inspire, and that will enchant.

And as any flagship should, we hope that it will guide you to Sharon Springs time and time again.

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Until you can make it to Sharon Springs, you can visit our online shop by clicking here.

Advanced Style

At some pint in our lives, we all decide how we’re going to age. Are we the ‘nip-tuck’ variety or the ‘au-naturel’ type? Do we prize the experience that comes with age while maintaining good health, good relationships and a positive outlook, or do we feel betrayed by every wrinkle, every ache and every rotation of the clock’s tireless hands as youth slips through our fingers?

The subject of aging has been very much on my mind lately. With the recent passing of a dear aunt and three of my most beloved relatives now in their 90s, the inevitability of time has been made very apparent to me. Even my parents – both now in their 60s – don’t have the stamina they once had.

I’ve turned to some very inspiring literature and photography lately that celebrates the process of aging and that’s what this week’s post is all about: growing old with vitality, individualism and personality. One of the sources I love most is a blog called Advanced Style. Created by Ari Seth Cohen, a thirtysomething New Yorker, the blog is an archive of the most stylish older women the city showcases on its streets on a daily basis. From socialites to former models, from writers to editors, as well as ordinary women on their way to the flower market, the women here possess a truly individualistic joie-de-vivre that comes through in their fashion choices and, by extension, their confidence. Below are five photos of some exceptionally well-aged beauties. From top to bottom they are Iris Apfel, former model Carmen Dell’orefice, Rita Marcus (an 81 year-old blogger), Anna Piaggi (the recently deceased fashion writer for Italian Vogue) and former model Tziporah Salamon. In a culture obsessed with youth, it is deeply gratifying to know that life doesn’t end after 50. The glint of sharp awareness in the eyes of these women and their uncompromising style prove it.

As a side note, I would also like to recommend the latest book by Martha Stewart. It is called Living The Good Long Life and Dr. Brent was instrumental in its production. (He is featured several times in the book.) I have read the book cover to cover and have taken its timeless advice to heart. Martha has been one of my role models for decades and at age 71 she is even more inspiring to me. You can order the book here.