Maria McBride & Move to the North Fork

Spring cleaning yesterday Getting ready for year 2 of our Covid garden. Gleaning what remains & rebounded from last year - spinach, carrots & asparagus. Pretty cool that our first harvest of the year was a natural rebirth Gardens remind life is full of promise. Got sun? Get planting & you’ll feed your body & soul. A vintage rack found years ago @whiteflowerfarmhouse doubled as our mobile seed nursery: tomatoes & much more ready for their beds. #growsomething #sunniestspotinthegarden #northforklongisland #slowfoodeastend #plantaseed #covidgarden #squarefootgardening #everyonecangrowtheirown #springbegins #mygarden #seedsaver #movetothenorthfork #mariasnorthfork #realtorlife

Hot demo tomorrow! Sunday May 2 6pm All invited to @chefambie East Hampton kitchen for tips for delicious Cinco de Mayo : Cooking over fire, carving & roasting duck, home made tamales and mole with East End provisions. Gracias Colin Ambrose! Was a pleasure taping your work and enjoying first Margarita of 2021 together. Register for Zoom Tix: slowfoodeastend.org all proceeds benefit @slowfoodeastend #feedtheforks #eastendlongisland #cheftales #cookingdemo #cookingtips #mariasnorthfork #movetonorthfork #zoomclasses #slowfoods #margaritarocks #cincodemayo #castironskillet #cookingwithfire #muydelicioso

Happy earth day. My cherry tree is a marvel today and a reminder that Mother Earth is willing to give and replenish if we are willing to nurture. This year more than most we are reminded how fragile are our worldly treasures. Despite all our challenges it’s a time of hope and renewal for all. Carpe Diem! #earthday #northfork #northforklongisland #movetothenorthfork #slowfoodeastend #cherryblossoms #mariasnorthfork #hugatree #flowerpower

First home buyer alert: There are lending programs you should know about! Check out good tips here from MoneyWise.com and then contact your bank or mortgage lender to see what program is best for you & when you are ready to Move to the North Fork, I am here to help you!

Got bread? Free zoom Sunday April 18 6pm. (Link in bio )Learn tips for baking a perfect easy, loaf with @davidlarsenchaffin master baker, was head baker for 20 years at @amysbread & now @slowfoodeastend leader encouraged to develop easy recipe recipe by SFEE chair Pennie Schwartz brilliant idea for the East End to address ongoing food insecurity all around us. Modeled on @community_loaves program: bake one loaf to keep, extras to share. @permaculture_pennie will announce details and program. All welcome! Be inspired, start a local movement, join efforts to help others! Tune in Friday 10am @heartoftheeastend will interview David & Pennie live. #northforkli #eastend #helpingothers #breadmaking #flourpower #slowfoodeastend #bakebread #sharefood #peoplehelpingpeople

PureWow has just released 2021 list of 7 fave towns on the East End that are NOT the Hamptons. Two of the 7 recognized towns are on the North Fork. #1 is Greenport Village #movetothenorthfork! I can help you find your dream home here.

Sweet Peconic Lane, yesterday while at the post office the afternoon daily LIRR train was headed west. An am & pm train crisscrosses the north fork daily but has been bypassing Peconic since 1970. The tracks were originally chartered by 1834 and the inaugural train ran from Bklyn to Greenport July 1844. The RR transformed NoFo to a summer haven simultaneously promoting agricultural and fishery growth by linking east end with big apple markets. Long distance travelers als...o used this line to connect with ships that sailed to CT & New England before coastal track lines were built. Because of this important linkage the north fork tracks were built before NYC / Sag Harbor branch completed 1870. Peconic station was originally named Hermitage Station, by 1876 train schedules listed the stop as Peconic. The early station building was razed 1942 & replaced with a shelter which closed in 1970. Since then the only stops beyond Riverhead are Mattituck, Southold & Greenport. The past year has seen tremendous surge in local population drawn by same continuing appeal - distance & access to NYC and local deep-rooted charms which continue to be agricultural & aquaculture. Looking to move to the north fork? I am here to help! See more

Throwback to yesterday - 1st 2021 Friday morning coffee biz mtg with my co-lister Bob Canberg. Comforting these days to return to a reliable time capsule. @cutchoguediner virtually unchanged since it was built 1941, it was previously known as Dave’s Cutchogue Diner. Need a gateway to the past? This is the place. Love the new paper menus.

Grateful for our USPS! NoFo has some old fashioned PO gems. All staffed by good folks. This year our most important & maligned national service is also one most of us take for granted. Here are a few facts to consider: Post office system was established 1775 before our US constitution was signed. Ben Franklin was first postmaster general. First postal stamp 1847 & private post office boxes estab1850s . Mail delivery began 1863 in 49 cities. PO became a cabinet level po...sition 1872. Currently there are 31,322 USA post offices & USPS delivers 48% of all Int’l mail. Peconic PO where I stopped to mail today was once a hamlet known through the early 1800s as the Hermitage. The name changed to Peconic because another NYS town had same name and pre zip codes challenged mail destination. By 1859 newly renamed Peconic Station had its first postmaster Franklin Overton. Originally the Peconic PO on Peconic Lane was located across the street, then to the RR station (razed by 1962) and then to its current location which was the adjacent: Jefferson’s General Emporium selling candy & groceries, upstairs was a community hall. Zero tax dollars are spent on PO operating services. Buy Stamps & ship & order stuff you’ll continue to support all- my current fave stamps: the frogs where else can u Ship around the world from your hometown & Vote. & get cash, with so few free local ATMs that’s really handy! Want to live sweet nofo village with cute PO? Let me know, will find sweet place for you. See more

Daybreak has broken. Gifted with clearing skies to light up my day and announce the dawn of winter. for clear skies for tonight’s planetary phenomenon: the grand conjunction - when 2 of our largest planets Jupiter & Saturn appear very close together, this happens every 20 years. However! The last time these planets orbited so closely was 1623 ( 12 years after Galileo first identified Jupiter’s 4 moons with his telescope) and apparently its been nearly 800 years since the ...2 planets aligned so closely at NIGHT to be clearly visible to the eye around the world. My astrological friends proclaim this as a sign of beginning the new age of Aquarius. An awakening, an era of humanity persevering over divisions, a period of enlightenment. Wikipedia notes that depending on calculations approximate dates for entering Age of Aquarius vary from 1447 to 3597. Anyhoo, whether you celebrate the appearance of the Christmas star(s) or celestial rhythms I think we should all look to the skies tonight humbly with hope for peace, goodness & a renewed sense to find purpose with our short lives. Northern hemisphere folks best views will be about 1 hour after sunset, simply look for an unobstructed view to the southwest skies. Swipe to see @natgeo & @nasa illustrations. See more

Selling or buying? The real estate market is ready to absorb your property.

The Prom! I never went to mine but thoroughly enjoyed this Hollywood escape today. These days we can all use an uplifting corny, Charming , campy flick with laughs, glamour, BWY to Indiana (!) story, rhyming, tender songs & dance & tears & all that jazz. Timely reminder we need to love our neighbors, be who we are, & follow your unruly ! Love is love. Sing. Dance. Love. Streaming on Netflix

Yes its almost winter but its still a fine time to find a home on the North Fork, just follow the birds. And call me to help.

Do you have great credit but are still saving for your down payment? Forbes has 4 ideas to discuss with your mortgage banker! Well-priced homes are going into contract within days of coming to market. My best advice: talk to a banker before you start shopping.

Stepped into a Wyeth painting today while catching up on local residential inventory for sale. My favorite: A 19C historic 4BR village farmhouse . #movetothenorthfork #mariasnorthfork #oldhomesrock #dgsirnorthfork

Today’s Sunday NYT @sothebysrealty special insert includes my waterfront Aquebogue listing. 7 BRs on a rare pristine, private beach snuggled between Hamptons & North Fork. Reach out for more details. Beautiful sunsets included.

Hoping for speedy recovery @buddyvalastro This photo was shot at a NYC photo studio 10 years ago, just after his break out first season as Cake Boss. We had already worked together many years, I was wedding style director @brides and my fab job had me traveling far & wide finding & documenting great new talent. My office was perched above Times Sq & his family bakery was just through the tunnel in Hoboken. Needless to say, he was on speed dial. Every cake delivery came with his huge smile & a big bags of pastries. I was on Buddy’s first show, I spoofed him ordering one cake then another & another & another with crazy short deadlines & extravagant details he had to meet. He never lost his cool or his smile or his gratitude for his family. Be strong Buddy, thinking of you and all the fun we shared.