How many springs ...

has this old house seen? Let's see ... it was built about 1665, so that makes the Brewster House, um, 345 years old. That's a lot of springtimes!

These pictures from my archive were taken in November 2009.

The Brewster House is the oldest dwelling in the chock-full-of-history Three Villages. Built circa 1665, its first location was probably at the top of the present 25A hill. In the early 1700s, a new end was added to the side closest to the road. In 1968, the house was restored to its 1845 appearance as depicted in William Sydney Mount’s famous genre painting, "Long Island Farmhouses." The building is owned and maintained by the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, which conducts special classes and tours there. Brewster house is open by appointment 631-751-2244. (Town of Brookhaven website)

Long Island Farmhouses (scroll down)

This little dark o' mine ...

I'm gonna let it "shine"

Some people

Some people will travel a long way for chocolate (Enlarge the picture).

Chess and puzzle shop

On the corner in lower Port Jefferson there's a delightful shop I'd never visited before. They sell unique chess sets and out-of-the-ordinary puzzles and games. This is looking out their window. The pieces are really big.

This set has soldiers for the various pieces

Sorry the pix are so dark

Chinese board games with posh cases

Corintho, a game in which the players build classical buildings. Now I know the Classics are staging a comeback.

Some really weird jigsaw puzzles

All sorts of chess sets

Josh the proprietor. The store is called Boardwalk Games. Ask him about his Green puzzles--after putting all the pieces together, you plant it in the ground and then watch things sprout.

Shore Road after the storm

That was quite a storm we had on Saturday. You can see how at high tide the water crossed the road and reached far up onto people's lawns. This is the corner of Bayview Avenue and Shore Road.

and a few steps east of that

By Sunday afternoon some people had already gotten busy and pushed their straw gift back over to the other side of the road.

I'm glad no big trees came down. Shore Road is my favorite walking place.

Need a place to water your horse?

This elaborate 19th century fountain and horse trough takes center stage outdoors at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook which is famous for its great collection of carriages. The museum has just reopened after being closed for two months and I plan to go there soon to see the new exhibits, including Gentleman's Coach House and America's Kitchens.

Fountain and Horse Trough, 1880

This 20-ton beaux arts fountain once stood at the corner of Madison Avenue and 23rd St. in New York City, a gift to the city from Olivia Phelps Stokes, a charter member of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She commissioned the fountain so that horses traveling Madison Avenue would have a source of water. (from the Museum's website)

Long Island Museum

Disappearing fast

It got up to 56 today. Very nice!

Soon

Soon we'll be enjoying warm spring days, with skies as blue as they were last September when this shot from the archive was taken.