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Saturday morning was spent assembling these owl house, a gift from Zach Barnett. They are meant for Eastern Screech Owls. I hope they enjoy the accommodations. Also on Saturday we harvested our first apple from our nano-orchard, after approximately a decade of cultivation. It may not surprise you to learn that this is its better […]

We had a big party to celebrate our 60th birthdays, with family and friends from near and far. Jen spiffied up the farm to a considerable extent, including large-scale fence-rebuilding and brush removal. We were lucky to have the nicest day of the year, sunny, mild and dry. After cocktail hour in and around the […]

A mysterious figure gathers blackberries on the hill. What can it signify? The mysterious figure gathered no black raspberries this season, yet the Duchess County Fair impends. Stayed tuned for the jarring conclusion.

Although Sarah was still away at school, Jen received her customary breakfast in bed for Mother’s Day.

This is an “on” year for our biannually productive hickory trees. We should be in good shape for hickory nut pie at Thanksgiving.

A cold and rainy day did not dissuade us from visiting the Duchess County Fair. Jen and Sarah enjoyed copious amounts of fair fare. We saw cows, sheep, goats, and, yes, these piglets. Jen was triumphant, winning not only her customary blue ribbon for her splendid peach lemon marmalade, but also a blue ribbon and […]

The black raspberries — black caps — are having a great year. Jen is gathering great bowlfuls to be made into jam. The mulberries are also ripe at this time, which is why we can often find a deer grazing at the end of the driveway.

What could be better on a snowy Presidents’ Day Weekend than cassoulet and the U.S. v. Canada game in the Four Nations Face-Off tournement. The U.S. won 3-1 in a tight game. Daisy watched with interest.

We clustered nine around the table for Thanksgiving this year, with Sarah absent (she celebrated in Strasbourg). We had all the traditional favorites, although we experimented with new recipes for turkey, gravy, and stuffing. We also had some splendid new additions, such as a sour cherry pie contributed by Geoff. Jen made an exceptionally delicious […]

The kitchen was abuzz for our weekend visitors, Julie, Stacey, and babysitter-for-life Lauren Ballback. Between meals, Jen managed to put up quite a few jars of marmalade. Stacey lent her customary good cheer. Lauren stopped overnight on her drive from Virginia to Maine. While here, she and Sarah made approximately 30,000 calories worth of granola. […]