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We just finished a two-week vacation at the farm.  (Or, rather, I finished it.  Sarah and Jen continue to vacation.)  Here’s Sarah having a sip of water after hiking through Ferncliff Forest, just outside the village of Rhinebeck.

It’s part of the old Astor estate.  Jen and I climbed the fire tower, which gives spectacular views in every direction.  Behind Jen you can see the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge.  Sarah, not having any of it, remained on terra firma.

During the first week, Sarah attended Camp Kindness, operated by militant vegans at the Catskill Animal Sanctuary.  The campers spent a week caring for rescued animals and being brainwashed as to the evilness of all farming.  Sarah was forced to sign a written pledge that she would try her hardest to become a lacto-vegetarian.  At one point, a bacon-eating child was told that he was “outside the circle of compassion.”

We had lots of visitors.  Lauren, Sarah’s babysitter emeritus, stopped by for the weekend with Hamilton, a sweet and energetic Black & Tan Coonhound.  Hamilton and Daisy got along swimmingly.

We also saw the Harris boys, and took them to pick yellow donut peaches.

Erica and Geoff spent the night on their way to Maine.  They were game for a jam tasting.

The second week, Sarah attended Mill Street Loft, where she created works of art without the benefit of air conditioning.  (Fortunately, it was pretty cool last week.)  The week culminated in a camp-wide stage performance, in which Sarah was a box.

In between all these camping adventures, she and her mom swam in the pond.

Jen cleared phragmites from the front of the pond.

And our Bee Balm bloomed.

This was our last weekend while Sarah is away at camp.  We ate lunch in a restaurant, watched a matinee of an R-rated movie (Trainwreck), gardened, and practiced law.   We didn’t both do all of those things however.

We had a rare sighting of Herman, the bachelor muskrat who plies our pond.

Daisy struggled to remain cool on a steamy weekend.

We planted this copper beech to replace the dead dogwood in our field.  Maybe Sarah will enjoy it in her middle age.

While Sarah is away at camp, we can do whatever we like.  And we do!

In Jen’s case that means making immoderate quantities of jam.  Here she is wielding her new 11.5 quart Mauviel copper jam pot.  Everyone should have one.

Daisy has the run of the pond.

We are able to tour various Hudson River houses fancier than our own – here, Montgomery Place.

While there we saw this frog in the elliptical reflecting pool.   I’m not sure why we don’t have an elliptical reflecting pool.

Back at home, this Meadowhawk seemed to be enjoying Sarah’s mint plant.

This weekend, we took Sarah back to Hidden Valley Camp, in Freedom, Maine.  As is customary, she was promptly given a kitten.

We once again stayed in Belfast, Maine, where they have lovely sunsets.

We drove eight and a half (but who’s counting?) hours back to Rhinebeck, where black cap season is in full swing.  Jen has big plans for jam.

I had a very nice Fathers Day, with a good breakfast, a trip to the farmers market, and Sarah’s last soccer game of the season.

Unfortunately, the Fireballs came up short against Red Hook.  We did, however, have a season highlight when assistant coach Spike (left), after a particularly dubious call, drew a yellow card for asking the ref whether he had sunstroke.

Which is a good thing, because they have only one game left to try to eke out a win.  Here they are after a somewhat lopsided encounter with the Carmel Cyclones.

We had a busy weekend.  Sarah graduated from Caedmon on Friday, with attendant ceremonies and parties, and we headed up to the farm Saturday morning in time for soccer practice at 10:30.  On Sunday we hosted the Landsman Kill Trail Association’s Spring Trail Ride.  We had many horses rolling around on our lawn.

If you’re wondering what’s in bloom these days, we have Mock Orange.

Foxglove.

Burdock.

It was peak Peony season this weekend, which unfortunately Jen missed in in favor of her high school reunion.  On Saturday Sarah had soccer practice, we attended an art show opening in Red Hook, and we watched American Pharoah sail to a Triple Crown victory.  On Sunday the Rhinebeck Fireballs fell to the Cornwall Copa.  There are just two games left in the season.

We had the Diz family visiting this weekend.  We planned a festive dinner for Saturday, but Daisy ate five veggie burgers before we could sit down.  We rebounded Sunday with a fishing trip with Graham and his mom.  Graham caught two bass and two sunfish.  Later on Sunday, the Rhinebeck Fireballs were shocked by the Yorkville Lightning, although the Fireballs did score.

Before we left for the weekend, Sarah received the (fridge-worthy) results from her last Latin quiz of the year.

We had a splendid Memorial Day weekend, with all of Jen’s family visiting.

Sarah marched in the parade with the Rhinebeck Soccer league.

The locusts were blooming.

And we celebrated Lew Burleigh’s 75th birthday.  Happy birthday, Lew!

Sarah would not let gray skies, low wind, or high grass deter her from trying out a new kite on Saturday.

She got it pretty far up there.