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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 […]

We were very excited to find this check in the mailbox Saturday morning.  It’s Sarah’s award for winning first place in the children’s landscape competition for the picture — a view of the pond — she entered in the Dutchess County Fair.  Now we have to figure out how to retrieve her blue ribbon. Sarah’s […]

Our garden cantaloupes were ripe as we entered a hot and sticky Labor Day weekend, with the emphasis, for me, on Labor, of both the town and country varieties (conference calls; barn-sweeping). Our third-floor neighbors the Seilers, including Sarah’s friend Annie, visited for the weekend.  The girls had a wonderful time, staying up late and […]

Lew and Rinda visited this weekend.  To celebrate, we pressed Sarah’s wagon into service for a small cocktail party in Jen’s secret garden. The garden itself is looking great.  Here is one of the butterfly bushes that Jen planted in the spring. Everyone had a good time. Sarah got her grandfather to play Quirkle with […]

On a rainy, slow-moving Sunday, Jen, Sarah and Grandpa toured the garden. Here is the largest of our six cantaloupes. This poblano is about the size of a matchbox. We have lots of tomatoes this year, but the Brandywines — my favorite — have not fared well.  This is a Jet Set. The tomatoes are threatened […]

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 […]

We had a very pleasant, if occasionally rainy, Fourth of July weekend. Everyone waited patiently for the rain to stop. Our front-yard bunny found a nice dry spot. But it’s black raspberry season, so we could not stay inside forever. Jen and Sarah made a dozen or so jars of jam. Sarah made sure everything was […]

On Saturday, we visited the Northern Dutchess Botanical Gardens to buy a few plants for the garden. We got the essentials: peppers (bell and poblano); lettuce (oak leaf, red sails, and red romaine); arugula; peas (snow and sugar-snap); soybeans; broccoli; strawberries (everbearing, Junebearing and all-star); herbs (green and purple basil, Italian parsley, and lemon verbena); flowers (coneflowers […]

Some deer seem to have made it through the winter. This heron stopped by the pond, although, by taking its picture, I scared off scaups, mallards and, less regrettably, Canada geese. Sarah was mostly too cool for scootering. But she was willing to help her mom clear out the old berry canes, making room for […]

We gave the pasta press another workout Saturday night, making fusilli.  Sarah was in charge of cutting the pasta when it reached the proper length. On Sunday, Sarah went bowling at Ro-Lin Lanes in Red Hook.  They offer not only bowling, but also what they describe as a “Full Size Redemption Arcade” — essentially, a […]