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The Ring-necked Ducks remain on the pond as we make the long transition into spring. There is still a bit of snow on the ground from last week’s squall, making it feel as if we have a long way to go. Other weekend events included an earthquake Friday and Daisy’s eleventh birthday Saturday.

Here are our steadfast avian harbingers the Ring-necked Ducks, on the pond at the start of March to signify the coming spring. They are camera-shy, and I scared them off, but they are back again this morning.

Daisy enjoyed what has become an unusual event: a foot of snow. She remains pretty energetic at ten years old.

Skies are blue and the grass is high – it must be summertime. Jen inspected our nano-orchard, which appears poised to produce as many as four apples this season. Rather than rely on our domestic fruit production, she set out to pick wild black raspberries. The brambles provided, ensuring we will have jam this summer.

Sarah’s horse for the summer, Sully (formally known as Lanchello), a Dutch gelding, arrived at Southlands Friday morning after an overnight drive from Georgia. By Saturday, Sully had acclimated enough to be ridden. He seems like a fine fellow. In unrelated news, Jen’s secret garden has awakened for spring, with blooms including this fancy Blue […]

Not every husband would have the thoughtfulness, foresight, and — let’s face it — courage to get his wife a scythe for Christmas. Jen, lucky, tried out her scythe this afternoon. After watching a few instructional videos on YouTube, she cleared phragmites from our volunteer willow next to the pond. Daisy looked on in amazement.

The pond is looking very spiffy this clear Fall Friday, ahead of our trip to visit Sarah for Parents’ Weekend at Colgate. Daisy will be vacationing in Pine Plains.

Jen is her own harbinger of spring, braving a wet, 40 degree day to get the beans started. This weekend we saw Ring-necked Ducks (f/k/a Lesser Scaups) diving in the pond, Herman the bachelor muskrat giving himself a bath nearby, a coyote skulking around the backyard, and a raccoon in the Hoeners’ driveway.

Our decision to stay in New York this weekend appears to have been justified.

Jen corageously determined that the pond was frozen solid, which made sense given the single-digit temperatures we’ve had over the past few days. While it might be a good day for skating, it’s also a good day for a fire.