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Because the Northeast is now more or less inhabitable during winter, we mostly stayed indoors this weekend.  Jen worked on a puzzle, while Sarah rehearsed for the tryouts tomorrow for the school play: Willie Wonka.   She is hoping to be Veruca Salt. While packing the car, I spotted this Pileated Woodpecker.  Actually, I heard him […]

Sarah and her friend Michaela braved the low-twenties temperature to go sledding on our hill. Daisy waited patiently for them to return.

With apologies to my tiny public, here’s all I could get from the PondCam.  We’re in New York, getting ready for a blizzard for Sarah’s 11th birthday.

We had a very merry Christmas at the farm, with a visit from all of the Burleighs (and one or two Burleigh affiliates) and plenty of surprises under the tree.  Even Daisy got several presents, including this star, rated 9/10 on the dog toy toughness scale.  She has since demolished it. The next day, Jen […]

Sarah carried a carousel horse in the Sinterklaas parade on Saturday evening.  It was about 37 degrees and raining, but Sarah smiled throughout.  We watched most of the parade from our friend Guy’s office above Periwinkle’s on East Market Street, coming down to see our girls march by.  Sinterklaas, for the uninitiated, is the foremost […]

  We sprinted up to the farm Tuesday night to beat a snow storm.  The lights flickered, but we did not lose power — although we did suffer a hellacious Wednesday without Wifi. We got six or eight inches — just enough for a family snowshoe outing. Daisy loves the snow. Jen made a lovely apple […]

We stayed in New York Friday night so Sarah could trick-or-treat.  She was Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom. It was quite chilly in Rhinebeck, but that did not stop Daisy from going swimming.  She is very hardy. Afterward, Daisy unwound on Sarah’s beanbag chair. Most of our leaves have fallen, but some are holding on.

  Once again we had a rainy Saturday but a splendid Sunday.  On Saturday, Sarah had a riding lesson, in which she wrestled bravely with Cookie’s exceeding bounciness.  During the weekend, she offered her toil, sweat and tears (no blood, thank goodness) to her essays for her school applications. Because my comments on Sarah’s applications […]

This weekend, it looked like fall but felt like summer — beautiful flying weather for these geese. We had a visit from the Meng/Kufferaths, including little Lucy, 15 months old.  On Saturday we went apple picking. On Sunday we headed south on Route 9G and visited Val Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt’s home in Hyde Park.  On […]

On Saturday we had dinner at Bocuse, the fancy French restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. It’s run by earnest students, not quite ready for prime time, which adds a lot to its charm. After dinner, we had a tour of the kitchen, and Sarah was given a toque. On Sunday […]