Happenings in the Heart of Wine Country

Andrew’s Legacy is participating in the North Fork Bed &Breakfast Association’s Summer Event this year. We will be a stop on the tour showing our gardens and B&B. For Tickets go to Brown Paper Tickets. (They are only available on-line). Guests staying at Andrew’s Legacy will be offered complimentary tickets to the Tour part of day. For more information call Andrew’s Legacy at 631-734-6052. We will be posting more information about our part in the tour, but if you would like more information about the day, go to the NFBBA website.

Second to visiting the wineries, a favorite activity of many of our guests is antiquing. Part of the appeal of antique shopping is the thrill of the hunt and the North Fork has  a treasure trove of antiques. Many of the antiques at Andrew’s Legacy were found at local antique stores, antique shows and even yard sales Here is a list of stores that includes some of our favorites: http://www.northforkguide.com/North_Fork_antiques.cfm. Most of the shops carry antiques that you would typically find in the country and suit the bucolic surroundings.

White Flower Farmhouse is about 2 miles from Andrew’s Legacy, and if you like the painted vintage and antique furniture style of the bedrooms at Andrew’s Legacy, you will love White flower Farmhouse. We bought many pieces from Lori Guyer the owner who has a real talent for adding her own touch to the pieces she finds and sells in her store on 2845 Peconic Lane in Peconic. She has a nice website as well at http://www.whiteflowerfarmhouse.com with an interesting blog attached to the site.

The front of the White Flower Farmhouse shop on Peconic Lane.  

Another great place is Antiques and Old Lace in Cutchogue. It’s less than a mile from our B&B, so you could walk, but you might want to bring your vehicle so you can carry all your great finds. Although they have a variety of different types of antiques the first word that comes to mind when I think of this store is furniture. I have probably bought 6 great china cabinets here in my lifetime. They also have a multitude of clocks with clock repair offered. They are at 31935 Main Rd. Cutchogue.

Jan Davis Antiques has many types of antiques too, but she specializes in Dolls and is home to one of the few remaining Doll Hospitals. She has a reputation for being able to fix or refurbish most any doll using original materials and TLC. She is located at 45395 Main Road in Southold.

Limoge lovers will be happy at Pastimes Antiques in Southold at 56025 Route 25 (Main Road). They have many other types of china and cut glass as well.

These are only a few of the many, many antiques shops on the North Fork. I hope to mention more in future blog postings.  But I can’t leave without mentioning the 47^th Annual Antiques Show & Sales on the Cutchogue Village Green, Saturday July 2^nd from 9:00am- 4:30 pm, hosted by the Cutchogue- New Suffolk Historical Council. The Green is covered with vendors offering a wide variety of wares from antique to vintage to collectible. I go to this show every year and always walk away with my hands full.

There are many other great antique shows during the season and I will post more about them as I get the information.

Many different pieces of Limoge china with a single theme- Strawberries, one of the many types of produce the North Fork is known for.

A whitework coverlet purchased at the White Flower Farmhouse. 

Cut glass, etched glass, silver inlay and Early American Pattern Glass purchased at local antique stores

Many handmade quilts and coverlets are available at the Cutchogue Antique Show.

Detail of the fold over of a linen sheet purchased at the Cutchogue Antique Show.

Examples of Victorian Mt. Washington glass shakers. 

Examples of Parian china, some of which is almost 170 years old. Many pieces were purchased at local shops and shows.  

Last week I took my camera into the backyard to chronicle all the new plant growth. Before I could even focus my camera on the first flower I was overwhelmed by the many diverse birdsongs that seemed meld together to form a sort of  symphony.  I switched my lens to a telephoto and managed to capture some of the divas in action. I have tried to identify them and include a brief recording of each one of their songs

To my surprise the first bird I saw passing overhead was this Osprey. I thought it was a hawk since we have a few of those, but when I downloaded the picture and saw the detail I realized it was an osprey.

And I had to include this picture of a Robin I spotted, the bird that everyone most closely associates with spring. This is the Robin that is featured in the picture below.Click on this link to hear  the robin’s song.
americanrobin.mp3

Here is the same Robin in the cherry tree. The flowers are not out yet, but the buds are full and ready to burst. This picture reminds me of a Japanese print.

I am 85% sure this is an American Tree Sparrow. Any bird experts out there can feel free to correct me. I am almost positive it is a Sparrow in any case. Click on this link if you want to hear his song: songsprw1.mp3

These are two pictures of the same Red Winged Blackbird, one at rest and one in mid song. If you want to hear what he was singing, click here:  rw_blackbird.mp3

I am least sure of what type of bird this is, but I have caught him in song as well. I am about 60% sure it is a Cowbird and if I am correct, he should sound like this: cowbird.wav

Here is a murder of crows. Their song is not one of my favorites, so I have not included it. Here a few are sitting on the cherry tree and a few more come to join them.

And finally a lone bird flies over the vineyards. I was too far away to figure out what kind of bird this was. If I manage to catch any good pictures of more backyard birds I will be sure to post them.