Smoketree update...

Forgot to mention that the Smoketree has been officially measured and the details have been sent to Albany for verification. The height of the tree was measured by the DEC at 50 ft. The national champion is in Kentucky and is 42ft tall. So it looks like we might be able to claim that the tree is the tallest Smoketree in America.

Our measurements put the tree at 82 inches around the trunk. Due to a "swelling" at the normal measurement height the measurement had to be made slightly lower down the trunk.... The official measurement was 76 inches in circumference. We are not a contender for the National Champion, which is 101 in circumference.

The crown of the tree - the third measurement that counts towards the 'championship'. Our crown is 20x33ft. (Narrowest and widest) averaging 26.5ft.

The calculation for "championship" points goes something like this:

Height + circumference + (average crown x 0.25) = total points.

50+76+(26.5x0.25) = 132.6 points

If these measures are validated the tree is the tallest in America and the third "largest" in America. The National champion tree has 155 points. The challenger in Kansas is 46 ft tall and 151 points. The only other tall Smoketree I've been able to find is in Missouri and that is 30ft tall and 128 points.

The NY state champion is only 35 points so Gold in the State championship and Bronze in the National championship...

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Paradox farm

If you wander along Springtown Road, past DeJoux House, you will see our mailbox opposite the front door. It's not especially distinguishable except it is rather large and sits on an old tree stump. It's a rusty old thing but it seems to have survived the snow plows and drunk drivers of Springtown Road. It has always bothered me that on the side of the mail box you can see the vague outline of the words "Paradox Farm" which was clearly a name that DeJoux House was more recently referred to. Occasionally when wondering the fields I would stumble across some incongruity and wonder if that was indeed the "paradox" that the farm was named after. Yesterday morning, for some unknown reason, I decided it was time to resolve the paradox. I sent a quick email to the previous owner June Finer to see if she knew anything of the Paradox Farm ghost on the side of the mailbox. This was her reply: once upon a time we, (myself and russell gilmore---my ex), met a...

Maria Deyo - a chilling tale

We arrived at the house this weekend to meet with the contractors who had poured concrete in the basement on Friday. When we arrived we found a family standing in front of the house taking pictures. Being the friendly types we are, we went over to chat. They told us they were on a haunted house tour and were looking at the house because their daughter had been talking about the ghost at our house for the last couple of days. She had bought a book called "Spooky Hudson Valley" and in it was the story of Maria Deyo and a tragic tale of a mother killing all three children and then killing herself. The family were wonderful and excited to be shown the house. They showed us the book and at the beginning of the story was a picture of our house. The book went on to say that Maria sent the men to the fields and then she slit her daughter's throat and the throat of her other two children...then killed herself. All this happened on September 13 th 1801. There was...

Inspiration for the future look

Daniel has found some wonderful reference materials for keeping the history and character yet not making it a museum. I love the big kitchen table plan for the kitchen inspired by Lutyens and some "behind the scenes" pictures of victorian kitchens. He also showed me some country houses from Axel Vervoordt that I really love. http://bit.ly/uX1eW Simple, authentic yet modern. We discussed putting a full length plate glass window in the old hay loft window on the end of the house. Wow. I can't wait.

DeJoux House

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