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This weekend was our last before Sarah returns from summer camp.  Daisy is waiting patiently for her return. This chipmunk likewise has been pining for Sarah.  (Get it?  Pining??) Here’s a Great Spangled Fritillary, feasting on our endless supply of milkweed.

As the sun set on the longest day of the year, we decided that it was so nice that we would stay Sunday night and head back to New York Monday morning. On Sunday, the Ostroys had a pool party so all Sophie could see all her friends before heading off to camp for a […]

It is high season for peonies, and Jen gathered a big bunch to bring home today. Here are some of the varieties, in situ. Many flowers are blooming.  This Silver-spotted Skipper visited a blackberry blossom, a harbinger of jam. The Red-Winged Blackbirds are numerous, and talkative. Here’s a Blue Jay in flight. And here’s an […]

Jen started the day with her customary Mother’s Day breakfast in bed.  We decided to take a year off from giving her presents that she was required to plant, and instead gave her books to read and write in.  Sarah also made her a polka-dot headband.  Jen spent most of the day planting things anyhow. […]

  We managed to stretch Labor Day into a four day weekend.   We had a decent excuse: we had to be there on Friday morning to superintend the installation of an an invisible fence, so that Daisy will be able to roam freely.  I’m sure she will be disappointed that the pond isn’t within her […]

We had a hot weekend but Jen kept Daisy cool with a kiddie pool from Williams Hardware. Daisy had a good shake afterward. Sarah had a pretty cool weekend too.  She spent Friday night with her friend Marin in Hastings.  On Saturday, Ivan and Elizabeth swung over from New Rochelle, picked up Sarah and drove her […]

We had a glorious, if steamy, Fourth of July. We had visits from Zeb and from the Scherrs.  Zeb got along famously with Daisy. Max took it easy. And Arlo was a good sport even though Daisy charged him. On Saturday, Jen’s dad visited.  He parleyed with Sarah over some guacamole. We continue to see […]

Sarah snacked moodily on heirloom tomatoes before we departed from the farm this evening. We have a new — and vibrant — beehive in one of the maples in front of the cottage.  You can hear it buzzing from some distance away.  We consulted Ray Tousey, who sells honey at the Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market.  He said […]

A Red Admiral enjoyed the lilacs on Saturday.  They are just starting to bloom.  Unfortunately, the temperature on Saturday night plunged to 23 degrees, and it is forecast to do so again tonight. We have a bumper crop of herons this spring — there are at least four nests in the swamp.  Here is one […]

We haven’t had a frost yet, and flowers continue to bloom in Jen’s garden. Yet it is peak leaf-peeping season. On Saturday we cleaned out our car, now officially totaled. Before soccer practice, Sarah gathered some of the prettier leaves from the yard.