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We had a chilly Presidents’ Day weekend, which included a visit from my college roommate Mike Heffernan.

Sarah was kind enough to help him balance as together they crossed the frozen tundra.

Sarah was also able to demonstrate her good balance on Saturday, when she was briefly put in charge of her dance class.  As you can see, not everyone followed instructions perfectly.

On Sunday, her balancing skills were put to the test at a skating lesson at the rink in Saugerties.

We spent much of Monday cracking hickory nuts, and made a big batch of hickory nut brittle.

Guess who got to lick the spoon?

Sarah’s Saturdays are taken up these days with lessons: swimming lessons at the Bard gymnasium (starfish pictured above), and dancing class at the Rhinebeck Town Hall.  (Sarah is second in line wearing red; they are being butterflies.)

As everyone in Rhinebeck will tell you (no, really; everyone), we are running out of places to put the snow.

Some illustrations:  Jen’s Sunken Garden …

… Sarah’s swing, which the snow is rising to meet …

… and her submerged jungle gym.

Still, it reflects the light beautifully at sunset.

At least one of our number does not seem to mind the relentless snow of 2011.  But even she occasionally retreats indoors, where she is making slow but steady progress on her scarf.

We had an icy weekend.

On Friday, we took Sarah to see Disney Princesses on Ice at Madison Square Garden, at the invitation of the parents of one of her classmates.  Sarah was not sure why all the princesses from the various stories would be together at the same show, or why they would be skating, but she suspended disbelief and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Afterward, we drove up to the farm to find a very chilly (45°) house.  We called the experts at Bottini Fuel, were diagnosed as having run out of oil, and had the whole thing sorted out by 3:00 a.m.

Sarah went ice skating this afternoon at the rink in Saugerties — it was too cold to try to shovel off the pond.

The National Weather Service says it will be 12° below zero tonight.

We won this garden bench at the auction at George Cole on Saturday night.  It is every bit as heavy as it looks.

It’s staying in the barn until spring, when we’ll figure out where to put it.

Jen and Sarah tried to clear the pond for skating on Saturday, but the ice was too bumpy and they abandoned the project.

On Sunday, we used our new pasta press to make bucatini all’Amatriciana.

We had ideal conditions this weekend for sledding (Sarah), cross-country skiing (Jen, pictured below) and snow-shoeing (Bill).

We had a great Christmas vacation at the farm with Jen’s family.

Here, in transliteration, is Sarah’s letter to St. Nick:

Dear St. Nicholas,

The cookies and milk are for you! And the carrots are for your reindeer! 🙂
And the hay for your reindeer, and the hay is in the barn.  Help yourself.

Love,

Sarah Regner! 🙂

One of Sarah’s favorite presents was a magic kit.  She performed tricks for everyone.

No square meals for us!

We had blustery conditions following a storm on Boxing Day.

Nevertheless, Sarah braved the elements to go sledding, and returned looking a bit flushed.

Later, she and her friend Michaela made a gingerbread house.

In this PondCam™ image captured this afternoon, sun sets over the pond — without us, however, since we were in New York for the weekend.

Stay tuned for plenty of x-mas action!