So, it's muddy - that's ok, we can dig it! We sat down to come up with some ways to enjoy the mud season we're having, and we found it so much easier than expected. Turns out, we're filthy rich with opportunity! It also turns out that we can come up with more mud puns than anyone can possibly stomach - so, we promise, that was my last. Here are the first 9 things that popped into our head...

#1 - Mud Crafts

We'll start with the obvious activity - mudcraft. Some of our best childhood memories involve mud. These mud-soaked memories have stuck with us, not because we spent a disproportionate amount of time in the mud, but rather because the mud was so fun, it left an impression. These articles offer a

Kevin Palfreyman: Hudson Valley Luminism

Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty’s Catskill NY Real Estate office is proud to present the art of Kevin Palfreyman in an exhibition titled Hudson Valley Luminism as part of our "Gallery At Work" series.

Kevin Palfreyman has a life-long fascination with the outdoors. This grew in the early seventies when he studied language and literature at Fort Lewis College in southwest Colorado, where he was taken with nineteenth century Romantic Poets and their interpretation of nature as a benign and comforting manifestation of the spiritual world. A few years later he married artist Linda Wainwright Palfreyman who introduced him to plein-air painting. Here, he found a home in nature that fostered his

Maple festivals, a Kintsugi class, plant and sips, a brine fermentation workshop, a whimsical night market, and a parade of llamas in bonnets! The Hudson Valley and Catskills have an eclectic array of events on the March calendar. Here are a few hand-picked, of course, by your Upstate Local Experts. 

Bonsai Bar at Industrial Arts Brewing Company

Where: Beacon, NY

Grab friends, grab a drink, and craft a tiny tree! Bonsai Bar is a night of fun you don’t want to miss where you'll learn the fundamentals of the art of Bonsai.

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Almost Maine At The Boiceville Inn Dinner Theater

Where: Boiceville, NY

Sooo.... I think it might be time to admit I have a problem. I feel comfortable making this confession because I think it's a problem almost everyone shares with me at the moment. I am just a leeeeettle bit addicted to streaming television. Sigh. Yes, I know, we all have an excuse for our urge to hunker down and watch yet another Adam's Family reboot; for a chunk of time there wasn't all that much else for us to do in our free time (blah, blah, etcetera, etcetera). But I've had my fill of lightly plotted holiday movies and dramas about families who don't like each other - I'm movin' on! I'm going to win The No Netflix Challenge! Haven't heard of it? Not surprising, I just made it up! Here are the rules: 1 - do anything but watch streaming tv 6 days

Let's face it, January can be a bit of a let down if we let it. After the holidays something inside most of us says, "kick back, chill out!" BUT that can make us feel a wee bit bummed out by the end of the month. Instead, let's see January as an opportunity! An opportunity to do it all - see a jazz quartet, go to a ceramics workshop, a leather-working class, and a Dolly Parton western dance party! Check out these wonderful local events and experience something new!

Ladies Basketball

Where: West Point, New York

Games at West Point are a whole experience. The campus and the views are beautiful and the cadets at West Point take their sport so seriously they're almost a spectacle of

The weather has turned (cold), and while we imagine many of you are considering whether you need a new set of throw pillows to make sure your couch is cozy enough for you to bear it, we, your friendly neighborhood Upstate real estate experts, are going to suggest you stop your West Elm browsing, go outside, and do something different.

We've motivated people to do everything from sledding and snow shoeing to ice sailing on the Hudson. At the inception of this winter season, we want to encourage you to visit one of the many ice skating rinks in the Catskills and Hudson Valley. There's plenty of reasons to go. First, there's something romantic about skating - both watching it and doing it. It's great exercise, and if you bring friends, it's just as

Oh, how I love the holiday season. This is when the events and happenings in the Hudson Valley and Catskills Region get both grand and granular. There’s everything from world-class performances to delightful community craft fairs on offer. Here’s a list of events that I think might appeal to you from light shows to ornament making.

Holiday Lights In Bloom At The Orange County Arboretum

Where: Montgomery, NY

Is there anything like meandering through beautiful gardens twinkling with lights? Nope! Admission is open between 5 and 7:30 PM nightly, what a great way to light up the dark night!

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At Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty we're realtors, and as such, we’re basically required to dig home décor – and we do - and DIYs are our favorite type; they’re fun, inexpensive, empowering, and a great departure from our devices. Here are a few of my favorite DIY ideas made with supplies you can find on the ground in the Hudson Valley and Catskills. Make one? Send us a pic!

Autumn is for apple-picking, finding the perfect pumpkin at a local patch, hiking through the veils of red, orange, yellow, and sienna… but sometimes it rains – or, in the case of this November – it snows! Whatcha gonna to do? Get crafty, of course! I always feel ready to do a few DIY crafts in the fall – this year, I’ve gathered quite a collection of treasures from my hikes,

Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty’s Red Hook NY Real Estate office is proud to present the art of Valerie Hoffmann in an exhibition titled Earth, Sky, & Beyond as part of our "Gallery At Work" series.

Valerie Hoffmann attended the Pratt Institute in NYC. Following a career in Architectural Design, she continued her studies at The Art Students League, where she renewed her love of drawing and painting. 

Her work embodies various techniques, often in mixed mediums, transforming realism into abstract forms by manipulating paint to create "accidents" while still respecting and maintaining the relationship with her subject. Her subjects often explore form and texture in organic shapes and elements found in nature. 

The pieces exhibited at

So...it's mushroom month! And why not? Mushrooms are delicious, a great excuse to go into the woods, and a way to experience the thrill of a hunt with zero carnage. Let's celebrate that! In the quiet places of the Catskills and Hudson Valley we have a wide range of "fungus among-us". I always get a special thrill when I find a grouping of mushrooms on a log that's seen better days or in the amidst a field of moss; but even I was surprised by the beautiful variety one forager found in a mere 24 hour period last (you guessed it!) September. Check these lovelies out!

Now, if you want to eat what you find in the forest, you obviously have to take care; sometimes nature makes the most beautiful things dangerous! Luckily Mycologists (they study