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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 […]

Sarah seemed to have a tolerably good time at the Dutchess County Fair this year.  We missed the fair last year because of a hurricane, but Sarah nevertheless won a blue ribbon.  This year, Sarah went twice, on Friday and Saturday. There were no ribbons for us this year, blue or otherwise.  Jen’s blackberry jam […]

We had a hot and happy Independence Day at the farm.  Here, Jen goes off to gather lettuce for a July 4 salad.  Later we climbed Burger Hill to watch fireworks from the towns near the Hudson River. Sarah read about a book a day. It’s berry season.  We do not appear to have a […]

We arrived at the farm for our Christmas vacation and found a deranged squirrel in the family room, hopping from bookshelf to bookshelf.  In the process, he knocked my ukulele to the ground, destroying it.  The squirrel had gotten in through the chimney in the mud room.  We chased him out the front door. Other […]

For Sarah, possibly the best part of soccer is the post-practice ice pop with her friends and teammates Sophie and Michaela. Back at home, the supposedly wild animals are getting entirely too comfortable.  On Saturday we found two deer napping on the lawn. And on Sunday we found these two squirrels hanging out on the […]

Our biennial hickory nut harvest is upon us. We’ve gotten a bit smarter: we now know which trees produce the biggest nuts with the thinnest shells, and we’ve also learned that gathering two bushels of nuts is useful only if your goal is to have mice that look like Alex Rodriguez. Sarah maintains a laser-like […]

Tonight we subtracted from the sum of deer in Dutchess County.  Everyone is safe and sound (except for the deer, and, perhaps, our car).  We’ll spend the night at the farm and try again in the morning.

Today we hosted the Landsman Kill Trail Association’s Fall Trail Ride.  About fifty horses and riders took part. Sarah fed a peppermint to Tequila Sunrise (“Sunny”), a 19 year-old who, as a two and three year-old, ran at Belmont and Saratoga, with a couple of second-place finishes.

We took advantage of the spectacular weather today — about 68 degrees, sunny and dry — to go for a long walk.  In Jen’s bag are some wild grapes and the first of the hickory nuts. Sarah and Jen caught a frog … … but they couldn’t keep him for long. On Saturday, we retrieved Sarah’s […]

The Rose of Sharon was in full bloom as we began our summer vacation at the end of July.  We had a wonderful time with wonderful people and wonderful food. Sarah was thrilled to have a visit from her Grandpa, who taught her how to play golf. We were all delighted to have a visit […]