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We had our first obedience lesson with Daisy at Doc’s K-9 Center in Red Hook.  Actually, it was the second lesson for each of us: Daisy had a private lesson with Dr. Karen (at right) during our summer vacation, and the first Puppy Kindergarten lesson, last weekend, was a people-only affair.  Daisy was a star performer, […]

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 spent the week at pony camp at Southlands, where she made some good friends. We’ve had guests the last two weekends.  Here is Sarah last weekend with Marin, ten, who is also horse-focused. This weekend, Sarah was reunited with Will Harris, with whom she once toured Storm King. Daisy is thriving.  She is more […]

The peonies are in high bloom. And the cicadas are out in force, acting like seventeen year-olds.

One of Jen’s peonies bloomed to herald Mothers Day. We started the day in traditional style, with breakfast in bed: broccoli and cheddar omelet, locally sourced bacon, fruit, toast, and coffee.  Sarah made duct tape roses, and a pinwheel for the garden. On Saturday after soccer practice, Sarah and I stopped by the Phantom Gardener […]

We saw this coyote on Saturday and Sunday, drinking at the pond.  She seems to have some pups somewhere – maybe in the hedgerow.  We are giving each other a wide berth. On Saturday our neighbor Richard Murray lent me his Gravely zero-turn mower, which has a 27 horsepower engine and a 60″ deck.  It’s […]

It is unmistakably springtime.  The barn swallows have returned. The daffodils are blooming. The tulips — at least those few that are regularly Bobexed, to avoid the predations of the deer — are blooming. And even our peach trees are blooming.  They were Jen’s Mothers’ Day present last year. On Sunday we had such spectacular weather […]

On Saturday, the Craigslist gods offered up this kayak.  It was being sold by an employee of the Phantom Gardener at the insistance of his girfriend, with whom he was moving, on Wednesday, to Olympia, Washington.  We have been trying to come up with a name for it.  Contenders include: Lucy; The Indecisive Squirrel; The […]

Do we relax on Labor Day?  Why, noooo – we do lots of yard work.  But we are not the only ones who keep busy. This highly energetic squirrel gathered two hickory nuts simultaneously. And this frog made a home in Sarah’s rosebush. But it was not all toil.  Jen’s dad came to visit, and […]

It was the peak weekend for the Rose of Sharon, here shown in full bloom. Sarah’s babysitter Lauren visited for the weekend.  It was bittersweet, as she leaves us next Friday to begin a PhD program at the University of Virginia. It was nice to have an extra pair of hands for berry picking!  The […]