Brewster, New York · 2026

Spring into
SummerDays worth remembering.

Garden days, city wanderings, creative pursuits, and the lovely business of life at home.

Come along for the season ↓
The pool on a sunny summer day
A little sunshine from our corner of the world.

After what seemed like a particularly long winter, Spring FINALLY arrived in Brewster and we were able to get outside again. Much of the Spring and Summer was spent working on the house and garden, interspersed with trips into New York, art, birthdays and Dan's big trip to Central Europe in May, which we've already talked about here.

Our season in stories & photographs · Select any photo to look closer

01

Spring has sprung

In April Dan took advantage of one of the first really nice days of the year to go for a walk along the bike trail. A few weeks later he continued the local history theme with a wander around Brewster looking at some of the lovely Victorian houses that still survive around the village. It's easy to forget that Brewster was once quite a prosperous little railroad town and, once you get away from the main roads, there are still some surprisingly impressive houses left over from that era.

Walks around Brewster — photograph 1Walks around Brewster — photograph 2Walks around Brewster — photograph 3
Brewster’s Victorian houses — photograph 1Brewster’s Victorian houses — photograph 2Brewster’s Victorian houses — photograph 3Brewster’s Victorian houses — photograph 4Brewster’s Victorian houses — photograph 5

Later in April Dan headed into New York for the day, taking a walk through Central Park and visiting the enormous Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The cathedral has been under construction since 1892 and still isn't actually finished, so I suppose we shouldn't feel too bad about some of our own home improvement projects taking a while.

Central Park and New York — photograph 1Central Park and New York — photograph 2Central Park and New York — photograph 3Central Park and New York — photograph 4
More from Central Park & St. John the Divine · 13 photos
Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 1Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 2Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 3Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 4Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 5Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 6Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 7Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 8Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 9Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 10Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 11Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 12Central Park and St. John the Divine — photograph 13

A visit to Entheon

We also paid a visit to Entheon. Entheon is the creation of visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey, whose work combines detailed human anatomy with psychedelic and spiritual imagery. It opened in 2023 as a permanent home for their work and other visionary art. Housed in a converted 19th-century carriage house, it contains about 12,000 square feet of gallery space.

Entheon — photograph 1Entheon — photograph 2Entheon — photograph 3Entheon — photograph 4Entheon — photograph 5Entheon — photograph 6
02

Art & artists

Judy continued with her art during the year and also joined a local writers' circle, adding writing to the ever-expanding list of creative activities.

In early May Judy and Judika attended the Katonah Museum of Art Artists' Luncheon, which provided another good excuse to get dressed up and go somewhere nice for lunch.

In August Judy tried something a little different with a pottery class at the Hammond. For a first go, it turned out pretty nice!

Art and artists — photograph 1Art and artists — photograph 2Judy’s pottery creationsJudy at pottery class
03

House & garden

A large part of the summer was devoted to the house. In the garden we finally tackled the tangled mess along our back fence, cleared things up and put in more grass. The rest of the garden also got its usual summer attention and for a few months everything looked suitably green and civilized. Overall it was a surprisingly wet and cool summer here, such a contrast to England where everything was shrivelled to a crisp.

Purple and white irises in the gardenSummer flowers — photograph 2Summer flowers — photograph 3
In the garden — photograph 1In the garden — photograph 2In the garden — photograph 3In the garden — photograph 4In the garden — photograph 5In the garden — photograph 6In the garden — photograph 7In the garden — photograph 8In the garden — photograph 9In the garden — photograph 10

A fresh look for home

We had new windows installed, which was one of those jobs that isn't terribly exciting to photograph but makes a big difference to the house. Other little things included a new mattress and repairs for the gas fire with a new blower and remotes.

The big project was the kitchen, which received rather more dramatic attention with new counters, backsplash and lighting. Fortunately we liked the kitchen layout already, so we managed to give it a fairly major facelift without ripping the entire thing out and starting again. The oak cabinets were all refinished; when done they looked better than new!

In September the back deck joined in, with a pair of replacement awnings; hopefully they'll last us many more years. As usual with home ownership, finishing one project mostly seems to reveal the next one.

Home improvements — photograph 1Home improvements — photograph 3Home improvements — photograph 4Home improvements — photograph 5New awnings over the back deck
04

Happy 250th, America!

July 4th 2026 was a particularly big one as the United States celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Having spent much of the previous year seeing signs of the approaching anniversary around the area, it was nice to finally reach the big day. Two hundred and fifty years isn't bad going for a country, although from a British perspective some of the buildings we visit on vacation still regard that as practically new construction.

American flags along the roadCelebrating America’s 250th birthdayHome improvements — photograph 2
05

August in New York

In August Dan headed back into New York for another day of sightseeing. This time the route included the Vessel at Hudson Yards, a walk along the High Line, the Whitney Museum and the New York Historical Society. There was even some railway excitement in the form of Metro-North's shiny new locomotives.

Like any world-class city, New York is one of those places where you can live only an hour or so away for nearly thirty years and still find enough new things to fill an entire day.

August in New York — photograph 1The Vessel at Hudson YardsAugust in New York — photograph 3August in New York — photograph 4August in New York — photograph 5August in New York — photograph 6August in New York — photograph 7
Inside the museums · 25 photos

Art, architecture, and a closer look at the exhibits. Open the photographs of museum labels to read them in full.

Whitney Museum

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New York Historical

New York museum visits — photograph 13New York museum visits — photograph 14New York museum visits — photograph 15New York museum visits — photograph 16New York museum visits — photograph 17New York museum visits — photograph 18New York museum visits — photograph 19New York museum visits — photograph 20New York museum visits — photograph 21New York museum visits — photograph 22New York museum visits — photograph 23New York museum visits — photograph 24New York museum visits — photograph 25
A little railway excitement: Metro-North’s new locomotives. Press play to watch with sound.
06

So much to celebrate

At the end of April, we finally got around to a rather belated celebration of Judy's winter birthday.

August also brought Dan's birthday and this year he turned 62, which means he now qualifies for Social Security. There have to be some advantages to getting older.

A much more entertaining birthday acquisition was a lovely new musical keyboard, which rapidly became part of an increasingly complicated collection of keyboards, computers and virtual organs. This is all apparently necessary.

We also reached the rather arbitrary but impressive-sounding milestone of 8,000 days married, which seemed as good an excuse as any for dinner out at the Prime Pub.

Birthdays and anniversaries — photograph 1Celebrating 8,000 days marriedAn illuminated 8,000-day celebrationBirthdays and anniversaries — photograph 4Birthdays and anniversaries — photograph 5In the garden — photograph 11
07

Gwyn, of course

Gwyn had a few medical adventures of her own over the summer, including the usual visit to the vet and, more recently, arthritis injections.

She's getting older along with the rest of us, but remains firmly in charge of the household.

Gwyn in a fanciful winged portraitGwyn — photograph 2A close-up of GwynGwyn — photograph 4Gwyn — photograph 5
08

Until next summer

We kept the pool going through August but finally closed it on August 31st. A bit early, but a nice energy saving given the way electricity prices keep going up. This year it also received a new cover which will hopefully keep everything where it belongs until next summer.

With the pool closed, the new awnings installed and September arriving, that pretty much wrapped up another summer. It's turned out to be a surprisingly busy few months.

The pool on a sunny summer dayThe pool tucked away under its new cover
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