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Jen began her birthday with breakfast in bed.

It looked like it might be a washout, but the rain stopped in the afternoon to allow a birthday barbecue feast with salmon, London broil, and ribs (surf & turf & sty).

Our summer vacation was not entirely under blue skies.

On the bright side, we had our annual visit by John Harris and his boys, with whom I went hiking in the Catskills.  As you can see, they were awed by Kaaterskill Falls, the highest waterfall in New York — yes, even taller than Niagara Falls.

But Jen was stricken by appendicitis, necessitating a sprint to New York for a midnight appendectomy.

Back at the farm, we kept a close watch on Jen as she recuperated.

We also watched our fawns growing up.

Today, we watched Sarah ride in the low hunters competition at Meadow Creek Farm in Pleasant Valley.  She won some ribbons even though her balky pony, Owen, refused a jump three times.  We were glad that Sarah stayed on top of Owen!

Daisy, battling an ear infection, has been off her feed.

Picking up the slack, this diabolically industrious chipmunk devoured not yet ripe blackberries for which Jen had other plans.

Jen was consoled by her stargazer lilies, blooming in front of the house.

While Sarah was at the town pool, we took a walk and were pleased to find our old friends Frank and Susan in the swamp.

On Thursday, Sarah returned to New York from Hidden Valley Camp, and by Saturday she was safely installed in the pond with her mom.  It is great to have her back with us!

Daisy, very pleased to be reunited with Sarah, barked encouragement.

Other pond visitors included this Great Blue Heron.

One is never too old to learn.  Today I learned to be more careful with my wallet while mowing.

We returned from an impromptu long (seven-day) weekend in Croatia, where we toured walled cities and Roman ruins and sampled the general pleasures of the Adriatic.  Some kind of hot air balloon confab was held in Rhinebeck this weekend.  Jen caught this balloon over East Market Street while she was buying a loaf of bread.

Jen’s secret garden, now professionally weeded, is like the Tuilleries.

We had a lazy Sunday in Rhinebeck, watching a thunderstorm from the back porch, after a busy Saturday in New York in which we saw Sarah off to her last summer at Hidden Valley Camp.

I celebrated Father’s Day by washing the car, in dadlike fashion, while Daisy looked on supportively.

Sarah celebrated by winning an armful of ribbons aboard Owen at Southlands.

The field looked spiffy after Del Wolcott mowed it for parking at the Landsman Kill Trail Association’s Spring Trail Ride, which took off from our farm on Sunday.  We left early for Sarah’s American Youth Dance Recital at Hunter College.

Here is Sarah looking spiffy in a Colgate sweatshirt standing between two locust trees.

Also spiffy, and also enjoying a locust tree, are these two pileated woodpeckers.  We’d never before seen a pair of them.

Today we watched the Memorial Day parade, which each year marches out of a Norman Rockwell picture and makes a right on East Market Street.  Jen’s parents and sister visited for the weekend.

Jen and Lew chatted on Guy and Maya’s porch.

There seem to be more fire trucks every year.

We had drinks on our back porch Saturday evening.

When we arrived on Friday, a heron was circling the pond.

Jen returned from a writer’s retreat this morning, just in time for a Mother’s Day brunch at Le Petit Bistro.  This afternoon, Jen and Sarah met horses and riders visiting our trails, including Rich Contini, past president of the Landsman Kill Trail Association.  Sarah has in fact ridden this horse before.

We had a chilly weekend, even making a fire on Saturday.

Before leaving, Jen and I hunted, successfully, for morels.  Back in New York we sautéed them in butter, added salt and pepper, tossed them with spaghetti, and topped them with grated parmesan.  They were sublime!