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Storm clouds threatened today, but we didn’t get much rain.  We managed to squeeze in a walk.

It’s always easier if you can keep the pebbles out of your boot.

Sarah stuck with it, and found a friend.

The sunshine makes everything look better.

About half of this very large oak tree fell down three years ago; the rest came down on Tuesday.  One thing is for certain: we will never run out of firewood.

On Saturday, the Craigslist gods offered up this kayak.  It was being sold by an employee of the Phantom Gardener at the insistance of his girfriend, with whom he was moving, on Wednesday, to Olympia, Washington.  We have been trying to come up with a name for it.  Contenders include: Lucy; The Indecisive Squirrel; The Poughkeepsie; The Chipmunk; The Pimento; The Sungold; and the PondMaster.  Suggestions will be considered in the order received.

On Sunday, Sarah and her friend Sophie ran a mile for charity.

Jen’s garden is bursting with activity.  The Lugubrious Sunflower was rejected as a name for the kayak, but we have many of these strange orange ones.

Jen and Sarah paddled together.

We had some really impressive thunderstorms Saturday evening.  Perhaps in response, this woodpecker went looking for a safe and cozy spot.  He found one by making a hole about the size of a silver dollar in one of the pillars on the back porch.

The storm also shook loose lots of tomatoes.

Do we relax on Labor Day?  Why, noooo – we do lots of yard work.  But we are not the only ones who keep busy.

This highly energetic squirrel gathered two hickory nuts simultaneously.

And this frog made a home in Sarah’s rosebush.

But it was not all toil.  Jen’s dad came to visit, and on Sunday we made pulled pork and screened Star Wars on the side of the barn.

Sarah seemed to have a tolerably good time at the Dutchess County Fair this year.  We missed the fair last year because of a hurricane, but Sarah nevertheless won a blue ribbon.  This year, Sarah went twice, on Friday and Saturday.

There were no ribbons for us this year, blue or otherwise.  Jen’s blackberry jam was disqualified because it didn’t have a dated label.

And my hay (lower right) failed on the basis of general paltryness.

Still, we saw plenty of animals, such as this goat…

… and these newly hatched chicks …

… and Turk, one of the 4H Club’s Gentle Giants, whom Sarah knew from horse camp this summer at Southlands.  Sarah was amazed to hear that we have another connection to Turk: we sell the Gentle Giants some hay.

There were also lots of rides.

This one might be Sarah’s favorite: she went twice on Friday and again on Saturday.

And here’s my favorite: bumper cars!

This weekend we celebrated Jen’s birthday in high agrarian style.  Here’s Jen showing the tomato plants what’s what.

Like most farmers, Jen and Sarah started the day with a hearty breakfast.

Sarah received calls on this recently harvested cucumber.

We dropped off our entries for the Dutchess County Fair, which starts on Tuesday.  Jen entered her blackberry jam; Sarah, coming off a blue ribbon campaign at last year’s fair, tried to enter two pictures but was thwarted by the deadline due to a combination of bad luck and — O.K., due to bad parenting; and I entered our hay.  In doing so I learned of an excellent arbitrage opportunity: it costs $1 to enter a field crop, but that entitles the entrant to a free exhibitor’s admission ticket (retail value $15).  Sarah took this picture, in part to document my arbitrage skills and in part to document my lingering Icelandic beard.

We rounded out Jen’s birthday with a lovely sunset and dinner for two at Mercato, the Italian restaurant in Red Hook.  Sarah had a sleep-over at her friend Michaela’s house.

On Sunday we all got back to work, gathering grapes for Jen’s wild grape jelly.

Sarah snacked moodily on heirloom tomatoes before we departed from the farm this evening.

We have a new — and vibrant — beehive in one of the maples in front of the cottage.  You can hear it buzzing from some distance away.  We consulted Ray Tousey, who sells honey at the Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market.  He said that the bees won’t hurt the tree; everyone needs a home; and we should leave the hive alone.  That’s what we’ve done so far.

In other pollinator news, our many Monarchs have been enjoying the milkweed.

We had a very relaxing summer vacation at the farm.  We had beautiful sunsets …

… and beautiful moonsets.

Jen made blackberry jam and other delicious things.

We spent plenty of time with our resident hawks, who for some reason have nested very close to our bedroom window, rise early, and are quite agitated.

Jen puttered in the garden …

… while Sarah puttered nearby.

Sarah spent a week at horse camp at Southlands, and a week at arts camp at Mill Street Loft in Red Hook, where she played the drums …

… and was an attack swan.

Chuck, looking like he just walked out of the WPA, is putting a new roof on the pump house. He also put a new seat in Sarah’s swing.

It was the peak weekend for the Rose of Sharon, here shown in full bloom.

Sarah’s babysitter Lauren visited for the weekend.  It was bittersweet, as she leaves us next Friday to begin a PhD program at the University of Virginia.

It was nice to have an extra pair of hands for berry picking!  The black raspberries are all but gone, but there are plenty of ripening blackberries (pictured).  We have a bumper crop of Japanese wineberries this year.  They are invasive and seedy …

… but I nevertheless made them into a tasty wineberry/lemon sorbet.