Bee fruit

Last summer while visiting the Schoharie Valley, I bought a five gallon jar of local honey from a vendor at the farmer's market in Sharon Springs. If you are curious as to what five gallons of honey looks like, here you go:

The following photo might give you a little more perspective on the size of the jar:

 

It is a lot of honey but we use a lot of honey. Our favorite toasting/sandwich bread, buttermilk bread, is made with honey, many of our dinner recipes use honey, and James and I like it on country ham biscuits. I paid $24 for that jar and if you buy honey on a regular basis, you know that is a good deal.

A good deal is only a good deal if you use the product. Here is how that same jar looked after prepping for last night's dinner (chicken drumsticks marinated in a honey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger):

Time to buy another jar.

Rocks and stone

In addition to the lovely architecture and plants at Sonnenberg, there were many fascinating rock and stone features throughout the grounds. A statue of the goddess Diana once had her own folly in an evergreen grove near the back of the property, but the temple succumbed to weather damage years ago and she was moved to an area near the mansion:

Not far from the ruins of the Temple of Diana is the Sub-Rosa Garden, also known as the Secret Garden. Enclosed by a circle of hedges, you don't notice it is there until you see the opening in the hedge and look in:

The detail on the statues is amazing:

I particularly liked this little guy:

The Rock Garden features an unusual structure, which looked to us like it might have been a springhouse at one time. Can you spot Aidan peeking over the edge at the top?

Here is the view of the same building from the other side:

Just down from the stone house was a little grotto, with a statue of Pan (we think) on top:

 

Later in the season there will be water flowing into the grotto.

But(t) wait, there's more! Near the Japanese Garden is a stone bridge:

At the apex of the bridge, there are two seats built into the walls, facing each other. Aidan gleefully announced that the seats were "butt shaped!"

And although I do not have photographic proof (he can move fast when motivated), Aidan tried out the seat and declared it a good fit.