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Here are our steadfast avian harbingers the Ring-necked Ducks, on the pond at the start of March to signify the coming spring. They are camera-shy, and I scared them off, but they are back again this morning.

We are once again engaging in our great passion, replacing the roofs on various outbuildings. This will be our fourth, following, in order of appearance, pump house, barn, and cottage.

It must be getting close to Sarah’s birthday …

Daisy enjoyed what has become an unusual event: a foot of snow. She remains pretty energetic at ten years old.

Once again George Cole has met one of our hitherto undetected needs in the form of this late 19th century Tiffany & Co. sardine fork. We are slowly building our collection of obscure silver.

Jen has been hard at work digging up the dahlias so they can survive the winter in our basement. The dahlia tubers aren’t just going to divide themselves.

We had a mostly happy Thanksgiving, although we were very sorry not to have Julie and Stacey with us. They stayed home out of concern for Rinda’s health.

It was wonderful to have Sarah back with us for the week. She was in high spirits throughout.

Lew was in good form, tucking into a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.

Jen served five kinds of pie, including my personal favorite, the labor-intensive yet delicious hickory nut pie.

Lewis sampled one of the three kinds of cranberry sauce on offer.

Eric and Geoff, now our neighbors in Clinton Corners, enjoyed vegetarian fare. Is that a piece of turkey on Geoff’s plate? Who can say?

Lewis washed a truly amazing quantity of dishes, for which he was designated a Hero of the People.

Daisy awaits our return from a walk.

We had despaired of having any hay this year, given how rainy it’s been — but lo, here is some late October hay.

A pair of bluebirds presided over the tedder.

The round bales are handsome in the afternoon sun.

The frost has held off, so we’ve been able to harvest plenty of peppers with which to make hot sauce. In the background you can see a colander full of Bogmere Pippins, gathered by Jen. They are tasty, if perhaps unsightly.

In less cheery news, marauding deer laid waste to our new donut peach tree, seen in the foreground. I don’t think it’s coming back from this.

We are enjoying the last of the summer tomatoes — which also are the best of the summer tomatoes — as well as the various unsightly apples yielded up by our superannuated fruit trees. We even got a few from our nano-orchard, our first domestically produced Macouns. They make the apples in this colander look like something from Harry & David, so they are likely destined for a pie.