John Harris has visited each summer for at least the last decade, although this year was the first time he didn’t bring his sons Will and Ben. And Daisy was a bit disappointed that he didn’t bring his yellow lab, Milo.
On Wednesday John and I crossed the river to climb Mount Tremper, a classic Catskills hike of 7.6 miles with no views whatsoever until the very top, where there is a fire tower. Unfortunately, the trap door to the top of the tower is locked during the week. This picture was taken with my head pressed diagonally against it.
Saturday was perhaps the observable height of the blackberry season. Here, Jen fills a gallon bag with them. Jam will follow. It’s also high season for wineberries, which, although invasive — possibly pestiferous — are sweet, and easy to gather. We collected a gallon of those too.
Flowers tend to bloom, and fruit tends to ripen, all at once. If you miss a weekend or two, you might miss something altogether.
This weekend, we had a couple of days of the sort referred to in meteorological circles as stinkeroos. Still, if the fruit is ripe, the jam must be made — and Jen rises to the task.
Today we watched Rhinebeck’s quintessential Memorial Day parade from the Lawsons’ front porch.
We had Jen’s parents, Erica and Geoff visiting for the weekend, and the Scherrs happened to have rented a house for the weekend about fifteen minutes from us.
We felt slightly sheepish about inviting ourselves over to the Lawsons and bringing eleven people with us. Geoff and I brought a strawberry rhubarb tart we had made with rhubarb from Jen’s garden, and Jen made a fine fruit salad in a hollowed out pineapple, as well as banana muffins. We also brought croissants from Bread Alone. You can tell we were a little embarrassed.
The parade did not disappoint. Children scrambled to pick up candy thrown from the vast armada of Rhinebeck Fire Department vehicles.
The firefighters themselves marched somberly.
As a special treat, Sarah rode Cisco on behalf of Southlands. For obvious reasons, the horses come last.
I returned to the farm after two weekends away: the first to attend a work conference, and the second to recover from the Covid I got at the work conference. I was feeling a lot better today, especially when I was greeted by this Rose-breasted Grosbeak singing his heart out over our driveway.
Daisy and I spent the week at the farm while Sarah recuperated from Covid. Saturday we had a visit from our neighbor Karen Belove and her 11 month-old Golden Retriever, Farley. Treats were dispensed equitably, and Farley got mud on my pants.
Jen is her own harbinger of spring, braving a wet, 40 degree day to get the beans started.
This weekend we saw Ring-necked Ducks (f/k/a Lesser Scaups) diving in the pond, Herman the bachelor muskrat giving himself a bath nearby, a coyote skulking around the backyard, and a raccoon in the Hoeners’ driveway.
