BOO!
HAVE A FRIGHTENINGLY
SPOOKY HALLOWEEN
These cool ghosts were
seen lurking on Cabot
Plain this morning, not far
from the cemetery. We
expect they'll be prowling
about tonight, so be ever
so careful if you venture
that way.

Here we are in a beautiful "winter wonderland" after a rather wild night of wind, snow, and power outages. Our spirits were lifted by the brilliant sunshine; but I suppose not everyone is pleased at the five or more inches of snow we picked up. Hunters and skiers, sure, but the rest of us may look at the white stuff as a burden to bear until spring. These pictures were all taken this morning from our deck. I expect by tonight most of the snow will be gone, but perhaps not. I think the forecast is for quite cold weather for at least a few days. (Click to enlarge photos.)

It's always nice when someone is concerned for another's safety. This week I received a note from Karen Gruggel Cobb in Virginia with one of those "forward" messages I've learned to be wary of, but she says she's checked it out and it's for real.

Actually, it struck me as being good common sense. It is a warning that drivers should not use cruise control when the pavement is wet or icy. According to the message, when in cruise control, if your car begins to go into any sort of slip or a hydroplane situation, your wheels momentarily lose contact with the pavement and that automatically lets the wheels spin faster and can propel you out of control like a shooting arrow.

Lots of our Vermont roads have twists and turns, hills and few opportunities to pass, and our weather is notably finicky much of the year, so cruise control isn't an option a lot of the time. I don't use it except on dry, sunny days on throughways in relatively light traffic. I need to FEEL my car, and I want to be in full control. I bet many experienced drivers here in the north country feel the same way.

Therefore, from my personal perspective, the warning, "Never use cruise control in the rain (or snow)" is worth passing on. So thanks, Karen, and hopefully folks will be safer on the highways because of your thoughtful concern.

Happy Birthday, Alba Rossi

Alba celebrated her --th birthday
on October 17, 2006.
She is now the proud owner of
a new laptop and is e-mailing and Googling
like a pro,
proving age is no barrier for
learning something new.
Congratulations, Alba!

CABOT -- Second annual New Traditions Community Supper, Friday - Nov. 3, United Church of Cabot
Prepared by Chef David Hale of NECI, and students.
Buffet includes cider braised pork, gourmet salads and many other culinary delights (see below).
Servings - 5, 6:15 and 7:30 pm.
Tickets: Adults, $10; Senior citizens $8; Children 12 or under $ 5.
Reservations - 426-3281.

Proceeds benefit United Church of Cabot. (Church picture by Bill Walters.)

On the tables: Assortment of breads and butters
Anadama - Corn Bread - Soft Rolls - Black Pepper Biscuits
Relish trays including marinated mushroom, pickled watermelon rind
•••
Cider Braised Pork with caramelized onions and rosemary
Modern Waldorf Salad with frisee, local apples, celeriac and cider-walnut vinaigrette
Roasted Root Vegetables with fresh herbs, olive oil and lemon juice
Whipped sweet potato Spinach Gratin
•••
Desserts
Cheddar-Apple Bread Pudding ~ Pear and Cranberry Crisp
“Grammy Hale’s” Oatmeal Cake
•••
Beverages - Milk - Coffee - Tea - Apple Cider

This message just came about the cookbook:

Just thought you might like to post another correction in the cookbook. On p. 232, the "No Bake Banana Pudding" should have in the list of ingredients:

1 box of Nilla Wafers (instead of several vanilla wafers).

Sonja Decker

Thanks, Sonja, for letting us know about that. We'll also have the correction posted in the fall newsletter coming out in a few weeks.

Yesterday was just too wintery to take pictures. I went to West Danville to pick up the JPA mail and the wind was really whipping through there. We lost power on Friday night, but not for very long. Although it was dreary and cold all day yesterday, today is bright with sunshine and promises to be a very pretty day - at least for a while. Fred and I are heading to Indian Head Resort to meet his brother, Tom, and wife before they leave for Colorado. When Tom retired a few years ago, he found he needed to keep busy, so became a ski instructor.

These pictures were taken this morning, the top one is of our back yard, the other was taken from our deck. I'm sure the sun will change all of this before the day is over. Right now, it's pretty, and the pond has that dark, almost menacing blue-black look with whisps of fog at the surface. Always changing.

The old maple tree finally lost all its leaves. This morning there was lots of fog over the pond and the sun only peeped through the overcast once in a while until this afternoon. Leaves are still clinging to some poplars and birches, and the tamaracks are turning, so we're getting our second foliage season. Really very nice outside this afternoon - around 60 degrees. Just right for end-of-summer jobs around the yard.

Does the fact there's a beehive 20 ft. up on the utility lines worry anyone? I guess you know some old timers say you can tell how deep the snow will be by how high the beehives are off the ground . . . so if there's any truth to that, maybe we should begin to get a little nervous. We could be in for a whopper of a winter this year! When you're walking on W. Shore Road this fall, look for this big hive just opposite our mailbox. I think it must have been there most of the summer, but we just noticed it recently. It doesn't show up very well here, but it's attached to the TV cable, below the transformer. Click on the picture for a better view.

Jane Milne hosted a lovely birthday bash for Homer Fitts today. A large group of friends gathered at Jane's home on North Shore Road, Joe's Pond, to celebrate Homer's 80th birthday. He sure looks good for such an "old timer." There were lots of Joe's Ponders there, plus a lot of local folks from West Danville and Danville. Homer has friends everywhere, it seems. The company was great and the food delicious. Jane is a very gracious hostess. There's a picture of Homer with Carolyn Hamilton in back of him; next is hostess, Jane Milne; and below Garey Larrabee watches as the delicious birthday cake he made is being served. That's Dottie Larrabee and Janet Wakefield at the counter. Well wishers brought items for the Danville food shelf instead of gifts. I don't know how many people came, but there was a pretty steady stream coming and going while Fred and I were there. It was a very nice way to spend an otherwise dreary fall Sunday afternoon.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOMER!

This beautiful early-morning photo of sunrise over Joe's Pond was taken by Steve Allen on Meadow Lane yesterday, October 10, 2006. Thank you, Steve. (Click on picture to enlarge it.)

Well, I didn't get to publish this until Tuesday, October 10, so the Sunday date is not correct. I was interrupted several times as I was putting the blog entry together, also, importing pictures wasn't going well, so I saved the whole thing as a draft and came back piecemeal. Today I'll finish it.

Yesterday (Monday) was another glorious day at Joe's Pond. Not many boats on the water, but the fortunate few who were had a beautifully warm day. Things are pretty quiet around the pond, and several times during the day I heard flocks of geese flying overhead. Whenever I hear them I stop what I'm doing and look up. Sometimes they are too high and I fail to locate them, but most of the time they seem to come off the pond and circle a few times at the head of the pond to get their bearings and let some of the slow pokes catch up and get in formation. We have to watch for them through the trees as they gain altitude, and usually strike a nice "vee" just west of our house, heading south.

On our walks we're seeing lots of wooley caterpillars and monarch butterflies, too. I love hearing the crickets this time of year. The bluejays are noisier now and a few chickadees are coming out of the woods. They are all signs of the coming winter, like the leaves turning and falling. Near the pond we lost lots of the leaves over the weekend. There was a gentle breeze and the leaves seemed to shower down everywhere. This morning as we drove around the pond, most of the maple leaves are down, but the birches and poplars are holding onto their bright yellow dressings. The tamaracs haven't turned yet, but that will soon.

Here are some pictures taken this morning on Old Homestead Road. We stopped to chat with Dave Lavely and Bruce Brooks as they worked on the Desrocher's new camp. It's going to be lovely, with radiant heating in the floors so they can hang out here longer in the fall or come for winter vacations if they want. Top picture is taken from the road, the lower picture from the waterfront, and that's Bruce on the ladder. You can see Dave's legs inside.

Next door, Mary Ellen Stover is doing some renovations, too. And
down the road we saw where the bushes have been cut back - the work Don Sherwood told us about that the Town of Danville did for us. That makes it much easier to meet other cars and to see ahead.

We then went to the JPA Recreation Field to see how the addition on the end of the pavilion looks. The paving has been extended and provision made for water runoff. Looks as if it will be a good addition to the facility.

I'll finish off with one more picture of our maple tree. By week's end, we will likely have some snowflakes to dress up the scenery a bit. Just about on schedule.

The following link will take you to the web site of Andy Raymond, who now lives in Hawaii. The Raymond family had a cottage here at Joe's Pond for many years. Mr. Raymond, Arthur, died tragically on September 6, 1980, when he drowned while swimming at their camp, now owned by Steve and Bev Allen. Some of you will remember the family, and I think you'll find the early pictures of the cottage and landscape interesting. Thanks to Tucky Sancibrion for sending me the link.
http://www.revealer.com/family/camp.html I'm including one of the pictures here.

We were out walking early Wednesday morning, and took this picture of the islands from Sandy Beach Road.

We were also interested in what's happening at the Byrd's cottage on Sandy Beach Road. We haven't spoken with anyone about it, but there's a new cement pad already laid, and more work being done, so probably a new foundation is planned. We'll check it out. In the meantime, here's a picture.

Word from Tom and Camilla -

Camilla is home, at Joes Pond, resting comfortable after 2 days of medical drama, tests, procedures and now, great results. She should be fine. Thanks you to everyone for including her in your thoughts and prayers. A special thanks to Dr. Joe Hebert for his thoughtful care, accurate diagnosis and great planning which make it possible for Camilla to have a full and complete recovery. We are indeed very fortunate to have so many wonderful, helpful friends.

Thank You

Tom Dente

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Our maple tree is about as colorful as it's going to get, I believe. This picture was taken late yesterday. Fall Foliage Day in Cabot went very well.

On the morning tour, we went first to Henry Menard's beautiful gardens and then to Molly's Falls Dam. We followed the penstock that winds along Rt. 2 and terminates at the surge tower above the power plant just outside of Marshfield. The tower is clearly visible from both Rt. 2 and Rt. 215. Our GMP host at the plant was James Moreau (see photo). James explained the functions of the plant and treated us to a tour. He briefly powered up the huge generator - BIG noise - and it wasn't even generating. He said it gets much louder when it's engaged and generating. Archie Bullard, a local hero during the great flood of 1927, stayed at his post in this plant for 154 continuous hours, providing power for the hospitls in Barre and Montpelier while most other power plants in the area had been washed out. After hearing the deafening roar of the machinery, we all wondered how Mr. Bullard fared after his long ordeal. Even if he had ear protection, he must have suffered at least some hearing loss.

The lovely water garden at Ray and Evelyn Richer's was a lovely way to end our day of sight-seeing tours. The tourists were thrilled with Joe's Pond, the loon pictures, and the serenity of the place. Ray and Evelyn are gracious hosts and I'm sure any of the tourists who went there yesterday will return if the visit Vermont again soon.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Well, in case anyone read the blog earlier today about not doing the "90#" thing on your phone, Steve and Bev Allen report it is a hoax. So I've deleted it from the blog. I guess I'll just go back to my policy of not forwarding messages, no matter how informative or scary they are. There's so much stuff out here in cyberspace I'm sure everyone gets enough without my contribution. Thanks, Steve and Bev for bringing me back to reality. Here's what their message said:

Jane,

Any time that you see a message like the one forwarded on your blog it is 99.9% sure to be false! I check every single one with this site: http://urbanlegends.about.com/ But then to be sure I just don't forward them anyway! But thanx for the blog - we enjoy it every day! Here's the text message from About.com.

Regards,

Steve and Bev

90# telephone hoax

Description: A hoax. The text of one such email follows:

Remember: Hoaxes are a waste of both time and money. Please don't forward them on to others. And if you are tempted to forward something just in case, read the article Toxic Excuses instead.

*****

And so, dear readers, you can make up your mind whether to believe and forward or simply delete those pesky "forward" messages.

Here's an updated web address to see the Joe's Pond Cookbook and the competition: http://www.morriscookbooks.com/mcca/finalists06.asp

This message came from Evelyn Richer yesterday:

This is just an update on the details of the cookbook contest. We are, as mentioned before, one of the top ten finalists, and there were over 500 entries from all over the country. I have just now found the list of judges that we had to supply with cookbooks for judging.

They are: Joy Taylor, Executive Editor, Meredith Corporation Family Food Collection; Hsiao-Ching Chou, Food Writer, Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper; Diana McMillen,
Food Editor, Midwest Living magazine; Tricia Robinson-Pridemore, Editor, Cookbook Digest magazine.

The news must be out there already as all of a sudden we have gotten a surge in sales again. I only have 3 books left here but the gals on the committee plan to be at the Green in Danville Sunday (weather, and cookbook supplies permitting)...Evelyn.

Here's another picture of our blooming maple tree, taken late yesterday afternoon (Saturday). I went to Cabot yesterday and the foliage doesn't seem to be as bright as some years, but there are places where the trees are beautiful. The rain today may brighten things some, but we're a bit concerned about today's wind tearing leaves off. That will make for lovely walking in the woods--rustling through the leaves on a warm October day--but since most will be looking for photo ops from their car or around the villages, we'll have to try to direct them to the best spots to be wowed by the brilliance of Vermont's maples.