RhinebeckFarm.com

Sarah had her last softball game of the season on Saturday, although a scrimmage is planned for next Saturday to make up for what her coach describes as the between one and 800 rainouts this year.

Sarah got a hit in her first at-bat, and ran hard to first.  She later would score.

After the game, the girls and their parents were treated to watermelon, pizza and salad, and Coach Dave gave an inspirational speech.

We were at the farm this past weekend only long enough to do some packing and break the rotary mower.  On Saturday morning we decamped to Highland Lake, in Winsted, Connecticut, to celebrate Rinda Burleigh’s 70th birthday.  Here, Sarah gambols with Aunt Erica.

I was not a friend to the deer this weekend, having spent hours and hours mowing acres and acres of the high grass in which they like to make their beds.  I was, however, a Hero of the Barn Swallows: they love it when someone mows because it turns into a feast.  They swoop around the tractor like miniature blue
F-16s, picking off startled insects.

On Saturday during dinner, we watched from the window as two fawns raced around the newly mown field.  They themselves seemed astonished by their speed.  We certainly were, but the doe with them was probably wondering where she could put them to bed.

Earlier on Saturday, Jen gathered peonies to bring to a neighbor’s anniversary party.

Meanwhile, Sarah channeled her inner woodland nymph.

On Sunday, we were treated to the rare sight of a turkey more than three feet off the ground.

And, though they said it could not be done (and by “they” I mean my father), we set up the pencil-post bed we got at the George Cole auction last weekend.  Elmer LeSeur, the assistant auctioneer, delivered today.

The grass is rising high and the fences are sinking low at the farm these days.

This weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day.  Rhinebeck has a real small-town parade, which Sarah was eligible to march in by virtue of her membership on the softball team.

All people in uniform are welcome.

Sarah was thrilled to have visits from her grandfather …

… and from Aunts Stacey and Julie.

We had lots of peonies in bloom, in red, pink and white.

On Saturday, we visited the Northern Dutchess Botanical Gardens to buy a few plants for the garden.

We got the essentials: peppers (bell and poblano); lettuce (oak leaf, red sails, and red romaine); arugula; peas (snow and sugar-snap); soybeans; broccoli; strawberries (everbearing, Junebearing and all-star); herbs (green and purple basil, Italian parsley, and lemon verbena); flowers (coneflowers in pink and white, some kind of giant pink impatiens that Sarah picked out, disco red marigolds (another Sarah selection), foxglove (strawberry), and poppies in crimson, orange, and oxblood).

And, of course, we got tomatoes: Brandywine (in red, yellow, and black); Black Krim; Green Zebra; Cherokee Purple; Speckled Roman Paste; Pineapple Hawaiian; Jet Set; Sungold; and Juliet (an elongated cherry grape).

While there, Sarah was at least as interested in the fauna as in the flora.  Here she is with a large, yet-to-be-identified polyphemus moth, a type of giant silk moth.

And here she is trying to summon the carp.

Back at home, Jen continued work on her secret garden, with the help of her new lawn mower.

She finished her planting there with a flourish: a yellow peony.

Meanwhile, our house painting project spiraled out of control as the planned replacement of the Bilco door turned into the unplanned replacement of the sides that hold up that door.

It was a major project by our painter and jack of all trades Chuck (right) and his father in law Frank (left).

Fortunately, Chuck brought two of his five bull mastiffs (Dexter (left) and Draxis (right)), which thrilled Sarah.

On Saturday, Sarah played first base in her first softball game, against Red Hook.

Rhinebeck could have fielded 15 players, but the Red Hook coaches — rather churlishly, in my opinion — allowed only nine of them on the field at a time.

Some of the Red Hook girls seemed quite a bit older.

In her only at-bat, Sarah walked.

She eventually scored.  Here she is after steaming into third base.

Here is a dogwood tree at night.

And here is the new garden that Jen has been working on.  This isn’t exactly a “before” picture, but it still has a ways to go.  Can you guess where it is?

We had a great Mothers’ Day weekend at the farm, with lots of lilacs starting to bloom, and plenty of gardening by Jen.

If the house appears a little odd …

… it’s because we’re having it painted, and it looks a bit naked without its shutters.

In addition to lilacs, we gathered lots of apple blossoms, which made the house smell great.

On Sunday, Sarah and I served Jen breakfast in bed.  Sarah gave her the silver and gold painted clay ring dish she had made at school, and also a card that gave Jen a few tears.

For my part, I made another attempt at the living gift — this year, a vibernum for the garden Jen has been working on.

My record with this kind of gift is unblemished by success.  Above is the redbud tree I got her for Mothers’ Day in 2009.  It is the Charlie Brown redbud, but we continue to look after it.

Sarah also had softball practice this weekend.  Here she is getting a big hit.

And, in our continuing effort to improve, for our tiny audience, the multi-media experience that is RhinebeckFarm.com, here is an audio file of the barn swallows that I made this morning.  You can hear the fluttering of wings as one of the swallows flies out of the barn.

We had plenty of sunshine this weekend, enjoyed by what we can only hope is a large proportion of our pond’s turtles.

The squirrels — all of whom are as fat as house cats — checked out the new growth.

The birds also seemed to enjoy the fine spring weather.  Here is a mourning dove.

And, while the early bird may get the worm, he also may have to defend it.

In a cloudier moment, two herons flew over the pond.

The flowers, of course, also thrive in the sunshine.  Jen planted lots of daffodils in the fall, and they are coming up all over.

Bravely, she also planted tulips, which she keeps from the deer through the liberal application of Bobbex.

Saturday was Sarah’s first day on the softball team.  She showed impressive form, and, sticking with it, got her first hit.

There were more signs of spring this weekend, including this robin.  Today also marked the return of the barn swallows.  Since 2007, the barn swallows have arrived as early as April 22 and as late as April 28 — an impressively tight range.

A less fortunate sign of spring is this capacious front door that Herman, the muskrat, has dug for himself.

I am taking matters into my own hands.  But somehow I doubt that Herman is particularly nervous.

We were saddened to hear this weekend of the death of Herb Schwartz, a great friend of my parents, here pictured with the wooden Indian in front of the Rhinebeck Smoke Shop.

Some deer seem to have made it through the winter.

This heron stopped by the pond, although, by taking its picture, I scared off scaups, mallards and, less regrettably, Canada geese.

Sarah was mostly too cool for scootering.

But she was willing to help her mom clear out the old berry canes, making room for this year’s crop.