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Today we hosted the Landsman Kill Trail Association’s Fall Trail Ride.  About fifty horses and riders took part.

Sarah fed a peppermint to Tequila Sunrise (“Sunny”), a 19 year-old who, as a two and three year-old, ran at Belmont and Saratoga, with a couple of second-place finishes.

We took advantage of the spectacular weather today — about 68 degrees, sunny and dry — to go for a long walk.  In Jen’s bag are some wild grapes and the first of the hickory nuts.

Sarah and Jen caught a frog …

… but they couldn’t keep him for long.

On Saturday, we retrieved Sarah’s picture and blue ribbon from the Dutchess County Fair.  We also picked up my pickles, which were uneaten.  The judges couldn’t open the jar.

They had some kind words for Jen’s black raspberry jam, although, oddly, they do not seem much concerned with flavor.

We were very excited to find this check in the mailbox Saturday morning.  It’s Sarah’s award for winning first place in the children’s landscape competition for the picture — a view of the pond — she entered in the Dutchess County Fair.  Now we have to figure out how to retrieve her blue ribbon.

Sarah’s soccer league started its fall season this weekend.  Here she is scrimmaging against the Green Hornets.  While she was playing, a bald eagle flew overhead, but I did not manage to get its picture.

We are still getting plenty of tomatoes, in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Our garden cantaloupes were ripe as we entered a hot and sticky Labor Day weekend, with the emphasis, for me, on Labor, of both the town and country varieties (conference calls; barn-sweeping).

Our third-floor neighbors the Seilers, including Sarah’s friend Annie, visited for the weekend.  The girls had a wonderful time, staying up late and then sleeping like stones on the sleeping porch.

Here is the fair beater Hurricane Irene, as seen from the PondCam™ at 9:30 this morning.

The last two days of the 166th Dutchess Country Fair were canceled because of Hurricane Irene.  We were all immensely disappointed not to be able to attend this year.  We had high hopes for ribbons and looked forward to meeting bunnies, drinking 4H milkshakes, going on midway rides, and enjoying the various other pleasures of the fair.  Instead, we spent the morning hatch-battening and headed back to New York with an armload of basil to make pesto and ride out the storm.

The barn swallows also left today — the same day as their departure last year.

On a somewhat cheerier note, here are some of the flowers blooming in the garden: sunflower, morning glory, and anemone.

Lew and Rinda visited this weekend.  To celebrate, we pressed Sarah’s wagon into service for a small cocktail party in Jen’s secret garden.

The garden itself is looking great.  Here is one of the butterfly bushes that Jen planted in the spring.

Everyone had a good time.

Sarah got her grandfather to play Quirkle with her, and led several games of the aptly named Aggravation with the whole family.

In other important news, on Saturday Jen and Sarah entered their black raspberry jam, and I entered my bread & butter pickles, in the Dutchess County Fair.  We are looking for ribbons next week.

On a rainy, slow-moving Sunday, Jen, Sarah and Grandpa toured the garden.

Here is the largest of our six cantaloupes.

This poblano is about the size of a matchbox.

We have lots of tomatoes this year, but the Brandywines — my favorite — have not fared well.  This is a Jet Set.

The tomatoes are threatened by the diabolically camouflaged Tomato Hornworm, which is as large a caterpillar as you would ever want to meet.

The Rose of Sharon was in full bloom as we began our summer vacation at the end of July.  We had a wonderful time with wonderful people and wonderful food.

Sarah was thrilled to have a visit from her Grandpa, who taught her how to play golf.

We were all delighted to have a visit from Aunt Roxy.

And we had a great time with John Harris and his sons, here pictured enjoying supper with Sarah in their Kids’ Clubhouse.

The Harrises also joined us for a trip on the water taxi which runs across the Hudson River between Rhinecliff and Kingston, providing great views of the Rondout Lighthouse.

We also had an uninvited visitor: this woodchuck, who had conducted a massive excavation under the diesel tank next the barn.  We took him out to the countryside, for reeducation.

We ate like kings.  These peaches saw lots of action.

Jen served her peach pie with my blackberry ice cream.

And, with some blueberries added …

… she made a delicious peach/blueberry buckle.

We also had homemade gravlax, a treat for daredevils.

Sarah enjoyed Art Camp in Red Hook, as well as Secret Agent Camp and Crazy ChemWorks Camp in Rhinebeck (don’t ask).

And, finally, here are some of the last of our roses.

We arrived this weekend to find a full moon, the Rose of Sharon in bloom (and also some lilies, far right), and the fence nearly completed.

Early Saturday morning the fence was occupied by these turkeys, who seemed to approve of the construction.

I think if you played the first four turkeys it would sound like a cavalry charge.