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We had a rainy Saturday, but Jen and Sarah made the best of it.  It’s been quite hot, and some rain was welcome. 

Eventually the sun came out, and with it the bunnies…

… and their admirers.

The rain was particularly welcome in the garden.  Sarah’s pumpkin is thriving.

The corn seems to be doing well too.

Here is a squirrel that, for reasons best known to itself, has been ripping the stuffing out of the cushions on the porch chairs.

And in front of the house, the Rose of Sharon is in full bloom.

It was a two-hammock kind of weekend.  Sarah (in the far one), thinks that “hammock” is an intransitive verb.  She says, “Let’s go hammocking!”  — and so we do.

We didn’t spend the whole weekend suspended from trees, though.  Jen tended her garden.

And I did plenty of mowing, while birds of prey circled overhead.

Sarah organized a game of croquet.

But it was mostly an excuse to stay outside in the evening.

Sarah’s friend Emmanuelle visited for a July 4th barbecue, and they reenacted Swan Lake.

We also visited the heron family, living above the swamp.

It was a hot weekend.  Here’s Sarah on Sunday, after cooling off with a dip in the pond.

On Saturday, Sarah had a visit from her friend Sophie.  Sophie has a swimming pool, and could not be induced to swim in the pond, but they did have a lot of fun together.  They went bug-hunting, and Sophie caught a small frog, which she took home.

On Saturday evening, we had wiffleball …

… and firefly catching…

…and, eventually, some barbecue.

The tractors were out this weekend as we have had a few days of dry weather — long enough to make hay.

But more importantly, Sarah’s T-ball championship game, awards ceremony and picnic were held on Saturday.  Here is Sarah taking a lead off first base.

And here she is receiving some important advice about fielding.  She seems dubious.

Sarah doubtless impressed her coaches with her fine performance.

The official photographer took a team picture…

…while vintage aircraft circled overhead.

Sarah won the award for Best Hitter with Runners on Base, which is basically the Nobel Prize for T-ball.  It came with a medal and t-shirt.

Here’s the happy medalist.

Here is a robin, surveying his domain during a rare sunny moment this weekend.  The T-ball championship game and picnic were rained out on Saturday, but are now scheduled for next Saturday.  Next weekend should also bring us plenty of black raspberries: the first ones were ripe this weekend, about a week before last year.

We have a bumper crop of rabbits this spring.

In bloom: astilbe.

It’s nice to have a splash of color on a dreary day.

Atop the left pilaster you can see the nest of the phoebe — which Sarah, confusing her fashionable Upper West Side children’s names, sometimes calls a gwyneth.

On Monday, Sarah marched in the Memorial Day parade with her T-ball team. 

Down East Market Street they went.

Sarah also had a visit from her friend Emanuelle.  They both enjoyed the jungle gym.

Meanwhile, Jen made good progress on her garden.  The lettuces attracted some local attention.

There was plenty of action on the pond, including regulars such as red-wing blackbirds:

.. this as-yet unidentified speckled bird (maybe a brown thrasher? No: it is a female red-wing blackbird):

… and, of course, barn swallows, out looking for mosquitoes:

This visitor (a calico pennant) looks like it came from the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.

Our friend was back:

But the good news is that he is not, in fact, a beaver — rather he is a muskrat.  They do much less damage than beavers.  We are calling him Herman.

And, because it is spring, there were plenty of poppies and peonies in bloom.

Lots of flowers were in bloom this weekend.  Here is a rose from our garden.

And here’s a wild rose growing near the driveway.

In the front garden we had a very showy iris …

… and some pink peonies.

In the back we had roses …

… and irises.

All were yanked from their homes and put into a vase.

But not everything is idyllic.  There is trouble brewing on the pond.

On Saturday, Lew celebrated his 70th birthday with a bond indenture on the porch.  Jen managed to distract him for a little while.

Also this weekend:

• the Wonderland Florists faced Fraleigh & Rakow (insurance brokers, with surprisingly good hitting) in T-ball.  Sarah reached base in each at bat and also played a half inning at first base
• the swans living in the swamp seemed to have between five (Jen) and seven (Sarah) cygnets
• the turkeys deplored the state of our fencing