Tomorrow, I will be hosting and participating in the Artisan’s Reception at the Columbia County Historical Society’s Holiday Market.  I’m looking forward to talking with people about how my jewelry is made, and especially meeting some of the other talented artisans who will be participating, including:

Dick Brooks, Woodcarving (and author of the newspaper column “Whittling Away” in the Catskill Daily Mail and the Register Star)

John Clum, Clumtree Baskets

Pamela Dalton, Scherenschnitte (Pamela’s papercut illustrations helped earn the book “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” a spot on the NY Times 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2011 list)

Katie Kearney, Katie’s Magical Knits

Mary Remback, Omi Silver, Jewelry

Sabina Steen, Camphill Village, Spinning

Come join us on Thurs, Dec. 15th from 4-7pm at the Vanderpoel House of History, 16 Broad St., Kinderhook, NY

At work this week, we are busy preparing for our Holiday Market, featuring locally made art, crafts, and foods.  We will also have drop-in crafts for children, and Victorian stories in the parlor.  My jewelry, ornaments, ornament hooks, cowels, and vintage suitcase picnic baskets will all be exhibited (you can get a preview of some of the items on the Hudson River Designs Etsy page), and I will be demonstrating during the Artisan’s reception.  Come check it out!

This is going to be a busy, good weekend.  If you’re going to be in the upper Hudson Valley/ Capital District region, some recommendations:

Steamboats on the Hudson, Saturday, Sept. 10th, 1-4pm

This is a work event for me, but definitely a fun one.  The Columbia County Historical Society(CCHS) will be joining up with Clermont State Historic Site to host William H. Ewen Jr., author of the new book Steamboats on the Hudson River.  At 1pm, Ewen will present a brief presentation on his book.  Then, from 1:30-4, he will sign copies at a reception under a tent on the lawn.  During the reception, the house will be open for tours featuring steamboat related items from both CCHS and Clermont.  Details here (under the “Calendar of Events” tab). 

The Barry Hopkins Run at Olana, Sunday, Sept. 11th, 9am

My Dad was an avid runner, and especially loved running at Olana.  Its a hilly course, but a great race with great people, an amazing view, and a pretty awesome t-shirt.  Application and info here.  (The photo above is of my Dad directing a race at Olana long, long ago!)

Rock for the Region, Saturday, Sept. 11, 1pm

My friend and his band, Ill Funk Ensemble, have organized this concert to raise funds for the American Red Cross and their relief efforts in the Catskills, Schoharie Valley and Mohawk Valley after the devastating flooding caused by Irene.  Ill Funk Ensemble, Voodoo Lily, The Chris Dukes Band, The Getdown, The Big Idea and The Hearing Aides! will all perform, and there will be a silent auction, a raffle, and a clothing and furniture drive.  More info here.

I know its only Thursday, but its shaping to be an exciting weekend.  Hope you have a good one too, and if you’re local, hope you make to one or two of these great events!

Although I’m partial to the cats in Catskill, I have a big soft spot for bears. This is one of the Cairo “Bears and Butterflies”, Super Bear by Theresa Rowe Obert. (Taken with instagram)

Today was the first day of the Teaching the Hudson Valley Conference, in the Hyde Park, NY (the above photo was from the field experiences day, at Olana).  This is my second year attending the conference, and it has quickly become one of my favorites.  The conference is focused on people who focus on place in their teaching…public school teachers, private school teachers, museum educators, outdoor educators.  With the mix of backgrounds, great conversations inevitably result.  I’m also always amazed how even when I pick sessions that might not seem terribly relevant, I always come away with good take-aways that I can use at the historical society. 

This year’s title is “Place and the Digital Native,” and focuses on technology in place based education.  The day began with a keynote by Dina Strasser, an ELA teacher and education blogger.  Her talk focused on the assumptions we have about technology, and the role/effect it has on education.  It was refreshing that her talk, as the beginning of a conference on using technology, was not all gung-ho, positive.  Instead, it hilighted why we must use care, consideration, and plenty of evaluation as we include technology in our teaching.  As a side note, she made think back to a keynote by Nina Simon at the Museums in Conversation Conference in 2009— I would love to hear a conversation between the two of them!

I spent the rest of the day pondering how I might be able to use google earth, prezi, glogster, and geocaching to help achieve educational goals at CCHS.  In some cases, certain technological tools were the obvious answer to conundrums I’ve been thinking about for a while.  In other cases, I’ll be filing the information away, for future troubleshooting sessions.  Either way, it was a day full of lots of great discussion and useful information.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s field sessions.  Staatsburg State Historic Site in the morning, and back to FDR National Historic Site in the Afternoon- hopefully there will be some pictures here during the day!

IMG_8333 on Flickr.

Finally got to see Crailo! Getting to see an earlier Dutch site helps put the Van Alena house (the Dutch house at my museum) in perspective. Crailo’s new(ish) exhibition does a fantastic job of tying together the archeological findings from Crailo (and other local sites) with Dutch art. There was even a video, in which actors make a painting come to life with period court proceedings! (Taken with instagram)

In Newburgh today on our docent’s field trip. I had no idea there is still so much fantastic architecture left here. I love Vaux… (Taken with instagram)

Stopped at Clermont State Historic Site for their 4th of July festivities. I miss it here on days like this. (Taken with instagram)

At the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome (Taken with instagram)