REAL Shoe Trees

Veering off the Adirondacks for a moment. I mentioned shoe trees in a previous comment when explaining why I didn't want to give the location for the Wilderness Lodge in the north country. That got me thinking that I never blogged about the shoe trees that are right here in Western New York. The photo is of a bookmark I made from a picture we took of them, in black and white.

First-what are shoe trees? Well, they are exactly what you'd think-trees with shes hung in them. Second-why? Well, that's a good question. And I don't have all of the answers. These trees were supposedly started back in the late 60's or early 70's depending on who you believe. Now legend has it that if you make a wish, then throw your shoes up into the trees and they stay on the first try, your wish will come true. It's not as easy as it sounds, we tried.

Many shoe trees are just one tree, this happens to be multiple trees. I'm not sure why or when it became more than one, or if it always was.


Anyway, we thought we'd share the shoe trees of Western New York with everyone.

Wilderness Lodge AKA Pete's place

When I, the wife half of Scenic New York, was younger, my mother and I used to come to the Adirondacks as much as possible. We camped at Lake Durant and also stayed in the cabins (motel?) at the Wilderness Lodge. I remember going there in the winter and cross country skiing on the property up to the right of the main building (to the left is a pond and stream).

I really can't say much about the history of the place or even when it closed. I do know that about 20 years ago, they had REALLY great food (I especially remember the biscuits) , the owners were a husband and wife, she cooked and his name was Pete, hers was Deb. There were always plenty of people there when we were there, and when I asked a woman that had lived in the area for a number of years about the place, the first thing she said was "oh, that had such great food there" (followed by a sad look and "you know it's defunct now, right?"). I believe the upstairs was an apartment where the owners lived, and the bottom was (and I know this for certain) the dining room/bar and kitchen. There were two smaller buildings that remind one of older hotels, one with two rooms and one with three or four. Those are in a bit worse shape than the main lodge, as is the old garage. The lodge itself has broken windows and people have obviously been in the place since it closed. I've tried poking around the internet for more information on the place, such as when it was built and when it went out of business to no avail. All I can really say about it is that it is just one of countless disused camps and buildings strewn about the park, reminders of times past. I have tried to contact some people local to the area and familiar with Adirondack history, so I might have more to report on the building and property later.

I am not giving a specific location for this place, and I'm quite certain unless you know of it's existence already you won't find it based on the information I'm giving (I can't find one single reference to it online, via Yahoo, Google or Bing) . This is strictly because it really isn't in terrible shape and I want to hold onto the idea that someone might come along and rescue it-and sometimes people learning of an empty building can do things that aren't very good. I'd hate to hear it burnt down or something (a la what happened to the barn at Santanoni). The places I'll discuss later are a bit easier to find, and are rather well known anyway, especially Tahawus (aka Adirondac or The Upper Works or the McIntyre Mine).

Abandoned Adirondacks

We FINALLY got a chance to go out on a photography trip. We went to the Adirondack Mountains of New York. It's easily one of the most beautiful places in the world as far as I am concerned.

The 'dacks are more than just the amazing beauty of the mountains and lakes, the trees and nature. The human history is just as interesting if not as beautiful. There are countless historic places scattered throughout the millions of acres in the park. Presidents, future presidents and captions of industry vacationed here, and generations have lived in the hamlets. People have lived, worked and played in the wilderness of the north country.

Here are some photos of the places left behind (I will be blogging the history of some of these places shortly):

Pre-season sales, future plans, recent trips

We're running big sales in the supply shop, as well as a great early bird sale in the main shop. Here's hoping for a great Christmas for everyone! The supply shop can be found here: http://www.scenicsupplies.etsy.com and the main shop at http://www.scenicnewyork.etsy.com .

Well, since the bank told us no dice on that farm, we've been discussing what the next step is. We've decided that whether we can find a way to buy that place or not, we want a small (8+ acre) farm. We know we'd like to raise Christmas trees, gourds and lavender, as well as continue collecting and selling natural supplies and taking photos that we sell. To grow the things we want as well as to grow the supply shop, we need more space than our little place now has. It's been a wonderful home and will make someone else a cozy nest, but we've outgrown it. We don't want to move in the winter, so we'll pick up where we left off in the hunt in late winter/early spring.

We still haven't taken any great photography trips recently. It's been a rainy gloomy year and we haven't had a lot of time to drive around. We have gone on a few supply collection safaris though, although nothing spectacular has happened. We're collecting like squirrels for the winter though, since we won't be able to get any supplies for months while the snow flies. Hopefully the snow brings some nice photographic opportunities to us this winter and we can add some great new shots to the main shop!

Weekend Road Trip and Love Makes No Sense

This past weekend we took a short road trip to the little lakeside village of Olcott Beach, perched on the shore of Lake Ontario in Niagara County. We heard there was a new ship in port and wanted to check her out first hand. She's a stout little brigantine (sailboat) named....The Black Pearl. You won't find Johnny Depp around, but Olcott DOES host a Pirate Festival every year so she should feel right at home! She is owned by Liberty Excursions and will join the schooner Liberty in plying the waters of Lake Ontario in full sail as a passenger ship. She was recently bought and has been extensively renovated by the couple that owns Liberty Excursions and will be ready to sail next season. A little internet research turned up a build start date of 1939 and was finished in the late 40's or early 50's. She has quite a storied history, including sailing to Europe and participating in both the 300th anniversary in Philadelphia and 10 Mayor's Cup races in New York City. No one was at the dock when we went down to check her out and the Liberty was no where to be seen, so we assume she was sailing at that time. Although the Pearl looks small when compared mentally to a "pirate ship", she is still quite impressive and we will have photos on the Etsy site shortly.

Ah, love. It really makes no sense. You just can't explain it. I am talking about, of all things, that farm again. Yes, after we decided there was absolutely NO way we were buying the place, we were back out there this week reconsidering. We still don't know how we'd get a mortgage, but we did stumble on the shingles to repair the roof hidden in a corner of a barn, so at least that would be one less expense! I guess like any good love story, this one has more twists and turns yet to go. We'll keep everyone updated. All I know is this; if we buy this place, it needs a serious mowing! I jabbed my finger with a pricker and it still hurts, and I am sure there's still some stickers and burrs stuck to my clothes!

The last farm update, weekend collecting trip

Well, I figured this would be the outcome but held on to a hope it wouldn't be. We aren't buying that little farm. The house needs repairs and the bank officer told us honestly that it wouldn't make it to closing unless they were done. We don't want the seller to do them, because we have very specific ways in mind to fix them and we're pretty sure the seller won't want to do them anyway. We found out a previous sale made it all the way through the process to closing and fell through on the property last year, which is a good indication that the bank involved in that transaction required the same things ours told us they would require and the seller refused.

We did collect more shotgun and rifle shells over the weekend dispite dodging rain drops. They are all cleaned up and mostly dried out now. Looks like it's time to try to find a bit more space in the current place to store all this stuff!!

More on the farm

We went back and looked again today. The house is in rougher shape than we thought, and it's built on pressure treated lumber piers instead of concrete ones so we're afraid the mortgage agent is going to give it a big ole "denied" stamp. Can't beat the view with a stick though, so peaceful!

We're going to send him some photos and see if he thinks it'll appraise on Monday. We'd love the space for the supplies and the land to start our Christmas Tree Farm, but he's got the final say before we even make an offer.

Still Nothing On The Farm

Still waiting on the listing agent, this isn't looking good. Well, here's a photo of the view we'd have if we did buy it from the livingroom (no, it doesn't own all this, I wish!!).

The great real vs fake tree debate

This may seem a little off topic for us here at Scenic New York, since we don't have either in our shop right now. However, we're hoping that changes! While we have been house hunting for about a year now, we just recently considered a mini-farm (or farmette). It's only about 10 acres, which is more like a microfarm when compared to the hundreds of acres a traditional farm encompasses. But it seems like a reasonable place for a couple of non-farmers to start. Now, don't get me wrong, I (the wife half) have farming in my genes, but it's a generation removed. In fact, my great-great aunt and uncle were popcorn farmers (there were a number of traditional cattle and crop farmers as well).

How does that relate to real vs fake trees? Well, I have always dreamed of owning a farm, and a Christmas Tree Farm in particular. This little place isn't a Christmas tree farm at present, in fact, it's abandoned and overgrown. But it's a starting point. We might not even buy it, for various reasons. But it made me start researching Christmas tree farming and the decline in sales of cut it yourself and live/real Christmas trees as people chose plastic over pine.
I'll admit, we have a fake tree right now. Not totally by choice, but it's hard to find a 2 1/2" live tree on most lots. We have a very small house right now and can't fit a traditional sized tree. We tried Norfolk Island Pines, but we just don't have the right lighting for them. As a kid growing up though, my grandparents always had a real tree that my grandpa would go cut from the couple of acres they lived on. When they switched to a fake tree because it was getting to be too much for him, I had a complete fit and wouldn't help decorate that "thing". It just wasn't right in my mind as a child. My father always had a real tree too, and we would go out to a tree farm to cut it. There's nothing like walking around at a Christmas tree farm, with the trees covered in snow-it's magical. Plus it was always my job to water the tree, and I loved crawling under it and smelling the piney smell.

I do understand why people opt for fake trees. Really. It's easier, and usually cheaper. You can put them up earlier and they don't drop as many needles (sorry, but they do shed-mine leaves a few reminders of it's presence every time I put it up or take it down). But somehow even the "nicest" ones look fake to me. They have come along way since my grandparent's fake tree with it's painted green wooden center and stiff wired branches, but they still can't replicate the look and feel of a real tree. And they certainly don't smell as good!

It's funny though, because another reason I see a lot of people saying they don't want a live tree is they can't bear to have a tree die just for their enjoyment. I really think a lot of people don't know about tree farms, where the trees are raised for that special day when they get to grace someone's home with their natural beauty and scent. I think that would be a hurdle we would have to overcome if we chose to raise Christmas trees. I don't think we could do much about watering them or needles falling, but I'd love to tell people about how the trees are grown just so they can be part of the most magical time of the year and about how new little trees are planted each spring to replace the ones that are harvested.

Well, only time will tell if we buy this little farm. But it certainly made me think about trying again to find a real tree for this Christmas instead of using my fake one again!

Long time no blog!

Things have been a little hectic here in Scenic New York. We haven't been out to shoot any photos in about a month it seems, and the weather doesn't think we should be doing any time this weekend either (raining-AGAIN). The supply shop, http://www.scenicsupplies.etsy.com/ is picking up and we sold some pinecones and driftwood out of the main shop recently too. Looks like other artists are gearing up for fall craft show season and holiday shopping by getting their supplies ordered! We are still working on building www.scenicnewyorkstate.com behind the scenes, but it looks like it won't be live for a few months. That's about all I have for now, just wanted to get a blog in since it's been a while!

Wind surfing on Lake Erie!

We went up to the lake this past week, on a hunt for the little shells we use in these ornaments:

On the way up to the beach where we collect most of them (we call it "shell beach", I don't know if it has a proper name), we passed the beach in Hamburg where they were wind surfing (I think I've also heard this called kite surfing). This looks like a real blast, but I bet it takes some real upper body strength! Watch the first video, to the right at the end-the guy gets pulled out of the water and flies at least 10 feet into the air!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4l6-GmRdKc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hGRMXremuU

We did manage to collect some shells before a serious storm blew in and chased us off the beach with wind, rain and lightening. We decided to head north to Lake Ontario where it looked bright and sunny-then another storm blew in from the north and chased us home! We actually came home to find our power was knocked out. We should have plenty of shells and beach glass for the ornaments though!

Drilling beach glass!

Well, I wanted to be able to do more with the beach glass. My first attempts turned out fine, and I'm no longer nervous about it. It was no where near as hard as I thought it was going to be! I did some shells too.

I will be sending these pieces along with a few more to a fellow Sneak Attack team member from Etsy, Michiganhemp (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6909750 ). I can do simple wire wrapping and find the glass, now I can even drill it, but I am not a jewelry artist. These pieces will be turned into something wonderful in her hands! I'll post photos when I get the two I am keeping for myself back.

We haven't had too many "adventures" lately, the weather this year has been just aweful. We did manage to make it up to the lake last night in time to watch a beautiful sunset and photograph it. You can enjoy the serenity of the sunset on a nearly 2 minute video on our youtube channel here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpYPm8CrJI .

We listed a gorgeous mousepad with a photo as well:

We added two photos from the Buffalo Central Terminal to our Etsy shop last night. We have many more, we will wait to list the bulk of them until we have our website complete. These two are available for purchase on our Etsy shop now. You can click the image to go directly to the listing, or visit http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7307276


The old newsstand, which has been restored and relit:



A closeup of the clock faces on the clock that is located in the main passenger concourse. The clock has also been restored and has now been returned to the building:




We also listed our first DIY beach pebble mosaic photo frame kit. You buy any standard frame (flat ones are easier) from your favorite store (craft store, department store, even the dollar store) and use our kit to create your own mosaic frame. Here is a photo of the kit, if you click the photo you will be taken directly to the listing to see what is included and also see a photo of a finished frame:

As I promised, I will be blogging about our adventures in photography as well as our products. http://www.scenicnewyorkstate.com/ is still under construction, but that hasn't stopped us from taking road trips to find the scenic spots our site will feature!

This past weekend, we visited the old Buffalo Central Terminal while they were holding a car show. Attending the show gave us a chance to get inside and see the ground floor, which is the main passenger concourse. Even in it's current state (which has been helped greatly by the hard work of volunteers), it has a grand presence. The clock has been returned, and places prominently in the middle of the concourse. We haven't listed any photos from the terminal yet in our Etsy shop, but we do have a few videos on our youtube channel. You can check them out on our youtube channel!

Inside, from the back near where the concourse used to cross over the tracks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D72Gbsa5Dgk
Inside, from the front: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnHy4hZVbM

We also took a drive to collect some more supplies for our Etsy supply shop, http://www.scenicsupplies.etsy.com/ . Of course, we had our cameras with us, and happened to see this adorable little white tail deer fawn in the tall grass:

You can find photos of him/her in our Etsy shop (http://www.scenicnewyork.etsy.com/) now. We managed to collect more .22 gauge casings, some that we think are from a 30 06 and an AK, as well as larger gauge shotgun shells, like those from a 12 gauge. We only have the smaller brass casings up in the shop so far. We also collected more beach glass and driftwood, and beach pebbles for a new product. We plan on offering DIY kits soon, so you can buy your own frame and our kit to get a final product like this (which is available in our shop right now):

REALLY getting into Christmas in July!

We took a day and went to the beach this past weekend and decided to REALLY celebrate Christmas in July (aside from the sale in the shop of course).

How? Well, check out the sand snowman!

Now that's the kind of snowman we want to see in July! Of course, we've been hard at work adding new items to the Etsy shop, like these

It's always fun to create new products, but we really enjoy getting out and collecting the supplies as well as photographing the stunningly beautiful scenery here in New York. There are so many beautiful places to see and visit! We should have the website built in the next few months so we can showcase all of the lovely photos we have from NY. For now, we are listing a few on Etsy on products like Mousepads and prints.

It's Christmas In July!

We're celebrating Christmas in July at Scenic New York. It's not only a great time to preview Christmas items, but it's also a great time to get gifts and decorations while they are on sale. Christmas in July has been around for a long time in retail stores around the US, and has even crept into non-retail events like parties. We love Christmas time here at Scenic New York, so we decided it would be fun to celebrate this long standing retail staple in our online store. It gave us a chance to make new items for Christmas, like these that we have listed in our Etsy shop (you can click the photo to view the listing):


Beach Glass Christmas Tree Pendant:

Sand Shapes Beach Christmas Ornament:


Lit Beach Glass Christmas Tree Decoration:


We really enjoy creating the new products for the shop, but what's even better about Christmas in July is...it's beautiful and suny outside! While we can't imagine celebrating Christmas without snow, it's also fun to celebrate this holiday at the beach.

Busy, busy busy!

Well, it's been a busy week here at Scenic New York. We are transitioning away from a POD (print on demand) fulfilment company to doing everything ourselves. Because of this, we are finding whole new doors opening as far as products we can offer! We have added some really fun new Christmas ornaments like these:

White beach glass (if you hang this by lights, it actually glows):

Log Cabin Christmas Ornament:

And new pendants based on our photos as well, like this:

Adirondack Sunset glass tile pendant:



Of course, we still have mousepads with our photos, as well as various print sizes, but it has been fun learning how to make new thing we have never been able to offer before too. We are still working on building our website (http://www.scenicnewyorkstate.com/) but for now it's still redirecting to our Etsy shop. It's been helpful to have Etsy, because it gives us a place to list and test new product ideas to decide which items will eventually end up on our website.

We haven't had too many chances to go out and photograph new things lately. We have made some time to visit the beach and collect more beach glass though, so we can make those seaglass Christmas ornaments like the white one above. We've also started listing a few pieces that are wire warpped and can be worn as a pendant on a necklace or even hung on a Christmas tree (the lights make the glass glow, it's just beautiful).

Well, it's time to get back to work! Please stop by our shop on etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7307276) to see all the new products and beautiful photographs from Scenic New York!

Welcome!

Let me tell you a little about us. Scenic New York is a husband and wife business that is dedicated to sharing the beauty of New York state with the world. We are photographers, and this is our main medium, but we also make some handmade crafts from items either bought or found here in NY. For instance, we are selling these handmade crafts made from beach glass and driftwood in our Etsy shop:

And of course, different items that we make from our photos, like journals, bookmarks and mousepads-not just prints.

We are working on building our own website, www.scenicnewyorkstate.com but for now, we are offering a preview of the photographs and crafts we will be offering for sale in our Etsy store, www.scenicnewyork.etsy.com .

We will use this blog to let everyone know about upcoming products, our adventures in getting our materials and photographs, and updates on our site.