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We have in fact skipped autumn and headed straight into winter, with bare branches and stormy skies. However, our burning bush is making a late appearance.  Could it be trying to tell us something?

This is about as close to peak foliage as we are going to get this year.  A warm, dry, fall has left us without the vivid colors we have had in other years. Some of our star performers did pretty well, nevertheless.  You’ve seen this one before. On Saturday, Sarah participated in the horse Halloween […]

We attended the Dutchess C0unty Fair on Saturday — my first and only visit this year; Sarah’s fifth.  Jen won a blue ribbon for her Rhu-Berry jam.  She also took two second place ribbons, including, yet again, a grudging one for her peach-lemon marmalade with no first place ribbon given.  The judges — whom Jen […]

Here, via Jen’s iPhone camera, is one of our blooming poppies, in traditional kit. We also have non-traditional poppies, such as this white one. Here’s a wacky pink one. In forestry news, I got my new chain saw stuck in a log while clearing a downed elm.  Fortunately Chuck Kelso stopped by to help me […]

Let’s look in on some of our outbuildings. The barn is in fine shape, currently teeming with swallows (and pigeons). The corn crib is hanging in there.  It could probably use a new roof. And our creepiest structure, the mobile home, is fading into the jungle.  But not fast enough for Jen.

After a long flirtation with spring, the weather returned to arctic bluster.  A windstorm last week knocked over this elm tree from our hedgerow, but, on the bright side, it was already dead, and it would have had come down in any event. We saw a pair of Canada geese and a mallard on the […]

We rode out the end of the year at the farm.  While we didn’t have a white Christmas, the holiday was bookended by dustings that produced a little more snow than advertised.  Pictured is “less than an inch.” We had a fine tree with many presents beneath it. Sarah performed her customary ceremonial duties as […]

Sarah kept smiling through her first weekend with braces. It was hard to remain altogether cheerful during today’s 8-1 drubbing by the Cornwall Copa.  However, we were all smiles when a throw-in by Sarah led to the Ravens’ only goal, near the end of the second half. Our new Star Magnolia is more of a Cameo Magnolia […]

Soon it will be Thanksgiving, which means it will be time for Hickory Nut Pie. We will have to take them on the road, as we’ll be spending Thanksgiving in Scottsdale, Arizona. I suppose people have traveled farther. Now that the leaves are down, you can see all sorts of interesting things up in the trees, […]

We had a very beautiful weekend, with pleasant days and changing trees. If this was not the peak weekend for fall foliage, it wasn’t far off. Well, you get the picture.  On Friday night, though, we had our first frost of the year.  Jen and I had to pick all remaining vegetables from the garden, using […]