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We just got back from two weeks in the country.  Sarah spent a week at pony camp at Southlands, and then a week at arts camp at the Mill Street Loft, which takes place in a church in Red Hook.

Daisy had a great vacation.  She had her first swims in the pond, worked on her fetching, and had a session with a trainer, who pronounced her smart, but sassy.

We are trying to teach her not to bite …

… and also to be more respectful of old media.

Otherwise, we did lots of cooking.  Jen made 42 jars of jam and I made bread and butter pickles (both to be entered in the Dutchess County Fair).  Jen also made a peach-blackberry buckle.

I did a fair amount of mowing.

Today we saw our friend the Pileated Woodpecker, who laughed at us for going back to New York.

The sun is setting on my career as a photographer — although we are on vacation, we forgot the camera.  Thank goodness for the iPhone.

We had a hot weekend but Jen kept Daisy cool with a kiddie pool from Williams Hardware.

Daisy had a good shake afterward.

Sarah had a pretty cool weekend too.  She spent Friday night with her friend Marin in Hastings.  On Saturday, Ivan and Elizabeth swung over from New Rochelle, picked up Sarah and drove her to Rhinebeck, giving her a box of Elizabeth’s Breyer horses from the mid-seventies  — including, at the far right in the middle, a Ruffian (with original box!).  If that wasn’t enough, her former nanny Lauren visited for the weekend.  It was sort of like winning the triple crown.

This hawk looks like a stained glass window.

These birds are definitely not getting back their security deposit.

This is kind of cool — a Northern Broken Dash that, up close, looks quite a bit like a bunny.

Daisy is as cool as the center seed of a cucumber.

We had a glorious, if steamy, Fourth of July.

We had visits from Zeb and from the Scherrs.  Zeb got along famously with Daisy.

Max took it easy.

And Arlo was a good sport even though Daisy charged him.

On Saturday, Jen’s dad visited.  He parleyed with Sarah over some guacamole.

We continue to see lots of herons.

This is a Great Spangled Fritillary, photographed before I mowed down most of the milkweed.

I think this is a Little Glassywing.

A Widow Skimmer.  We have lots of these.

This is not an asterisk — it’s a Halloween Pennant, on some timothy.

To bring things back into the mammalian world, here’s one more of Daisy. She’s getting big!

Sarah spent the week at pony camp at Southlands, where she made some good friends.

We’ve had guests the last two weekends.  Here is Sarah last weekend with Marin, ten, who is also horse-focused.

This weekend, Sarah was reunited with Will Harris, with whom she once toured Storm King.

Daisy is thriving.  She is more or less house-trained, and can chase a tennis ball as if born to do so.

The barn swallows also are thriving, although we seem to have a lot of mosquitoes this year.  Jen’s theories are that (a) the barn swallows are feasting on the 17-year locusts, and can’t be bothered to eat mosquitoes, and (b) the late cold snaps this winter and fall have made it a difficult season for the dragonflies, who also enjoy eating mosquitoes.  Anyway, it’s buggy.

Jen planted some fancy lilies, a few of which were not felled by the lawn mower.

This pileated woodpecker attacked the maple tree outside our kitchen window.

Here’s a Blue Dasher, whom I’m sure is doing his part to control the mosquito population.

We went for a walk yesterday and spotted this salamander or newt or eft.  (Actually, it was already spotted.)  I think it’s maybe a Red Eft, which someday will be a Red-Spotted Newt.  I’ve never seen one at the farm before.

Here’s one more of our photogenic dog Daisy.  I took her to the vet last week and learned that she weighs nearly 22 pounds.  She’s growing fast and is a great friend to us all!

Daisy spent her first weekend at the farm, enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells.

She has learned how to sit, stay, and lie down.

She can even do all three at once.

And, of course, she can fetch.

It wasn’t all about Daisy (although it was mostly about Daisy).  On Saturday we made ice cream from the strawberries in Sarah’s patch in the garden.

And on Sunday we saw this Scarlet Tanager.

We picked up our puppy this morning.

The peonies are in high bloom.

And the cicadas are out in force, acting like seventeen year-olds.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend.  On Friday, before heading up for the farm, we visited our prospective puppy Daisy and her litter-mates (and mother and grandmother) in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.  We’re only about two weeks away from dog ownership, and Sarah could not be more excited.

This morning, Sarah marched in the Memorial Day parade in beautiful downtown Rhinebeck.

Jen’s parents visited for the weekend.

But perhaps you’re here for the bird photos?

Here is one we’d not seen before: a rose-breasted grosbeak.

And here is our old friend, the bluebird.

After lunch today we walked down to the swamp to look in on the herons.

Back at the pond, this mallard seems very recently to have hatched seven ducklings.  Sarah was in aww.

One of Jen’s peonies bloomed to herald Mothers Day.

We started the day in traditional style, with breakfast in bed: broccoli and cheddar omelet, locally sourced bacon, fruit, toast, and coffee.  Sarah made duct tape roses, and a pinwheel for the garden.

On Saturday after soccer practice, Sarah and I stopped by the Phantom Gardener for some Mothers Day gifts: left to right, a blue butterfly bush, a pink dogwood tree, and a lilac.

Sunday afternoon, while Jen gardened, I looked in on our large population of herons.  I counted seven, each in a different nest.

Here’s an oriole.  We hear them frequently but they’re hard to spot.

I think this is some kind of sparrow?  Please feel free to identify it in the comments.