Good morning!  What a beautiful day we have here.  Low 30s and bright sunshine.  Couldn't ask for a prettier day.  We had another half inch of snow overnight, but it's light and fluffy, not anything to bother anyone much at all. 

I have been preoccupied lately (eye appointments and Christmas) so my email built up a bit.  I found some interesting items I will share with you.  

I hadn't heard from Ray and Evelyn Richer since they moved away, so I was very happy to get a nice long email from Evelyn.  They are not far away, in Monroe, NH, and settling in at their new digs.  Evelyn said they hadn't intended to go the fixer-upper route again, but that's just what they found, in a location they love and so couldn't resist.  Ray has been working on getting it livable while they lived in a camper on the property.  Now they are moved in and together will bring new life to the old house.  Evelyn sounded excited to be close to Woodsville where she grew up.  I know they will make a lovely home there.  We miss them at Joe's Pond, though.

I also had a nice long email from Liz Randall.  Liz and John have a home across the road from us here on W. Shore Road, and on Long Island.  We have watched their three youngsters grow up, graduate high school, college, and now Jason is married with two children, Lauren was married in June, (see photo, Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Scanlon) and Matt just got engaged (see photo at right, Matt and his betrothed, Niki Ubags).  The Randall family will gather at the family home on Long Island for the holidays.  Some years they have celebrated in Vermont, but that won't happen this year.  Right after the holidays, Matt and Niki will be leaving for Switzerland.  Jason and his family live in Plymouth, NH.


We had a Christmas message from Jack and Sue LaGue announcing the engagement of their daughter, Jenn.  She and her fiance, Brian (shown here), live in Winooski and are building a home in the Waterbury area.  Also, Jack and Sue just bought a condo in Florida, so as Jack said, they are official "snow birds" now. 

Right here on West Shore Road we have a change, too.  Bill Rossi moved last week to an assisted living facility in Shelburne, Vermont.  Diane has been spending lots of time there, too, and they are enjoying outings and parties provided for the residents.  I'm sure Bill would appreciate hearing from his Joe's Pond friends.  His address is:  185 Pine Haven Shores, Apt. 3123, Shelburne VT 05482.  His phone is 802-923-2572.  If you are over that way, stop in to see him.  I'm sure he'll be very happy to see you.

Yesterday we went to St. Johnsbury to get haircuts and finish some Christmas shopping.  As we pulled into the parking lot at Julie's Hair Care on Portland Street, there was a team of horses coming down the street.  Fred got this picture.  We have no idea who was offering "sleigh" rides, but the wagon was packed with people who seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We always enjoy haircut days.  Julie keeps her salon beautifully decorated throughout the year, and it is especially pretty now.  She continued her seascape theme incorporating Christmas.  Julie not only is an expert beautician, she  also sings with the North Country Chorus,  loves and sings opera, and appreciates all  kinds of music.  Yesterday we enjoyed Bing Crosby's Christmas carols while we were there.   Did I mention Julie is also a cat person?  We compare notes on her cats and whatever Woody is up to.
 
I thought you might like to see how much "winter" we have here right now - the first picture is the Sprague's house at the end of the bridge in West Danville.  Below that is the Danville Inn.  While there is only about 12 inches of snow on the ground, we have had enough snow so the banks have built up - it looks worse than it really is!