Gee, I go away for one day and come back to find all sorts of things have happened. I had this message from Evelyn Richer waiting when I checked in last night - -

I just recieved a phone call from Morris Press (our cookbook publisher) with the announcement that we have been selected as one of the top ten finalists for their national cookbook contest!

We will not know the final results until the end of the year, but to have been selected is quite an honor for Joe's Pond!! There were many many contestants from all over the country that entered the contest. I submitted our book at the end of August because the representatives at Morris Press encouraged me to do so... The lady I spoke with today said that she feels she is quite the expert on "Indian Joe" now she so loved to read the history of our pond and enjoyed all the other features of the book...

I will be sending out four more cookbooks to them so the judges can have their own copies...

the cookbook will be displayed on their website starting on Monday... other's may take a peek if they would like... morrispresscookbooks.com--- click on "enter to win $5000" ---(unfortunately our contest is for 2006 and the grand prize is still $3000-- but we gotta win first!!) or they may have another link by Monday... Evelyn.

Stay tuned!!

Here's another picture, taken this afternoon, of the tree in front of our house. I think I chose the wrong one to track. Usually that tree is flaming red, and outshines any of the others along the road, but this year it seems to lack luster. Another of our maples closer to the house has lost all its leaves, which worries us a bit. We think the hot weather and excessive wetness where it lives may be stressing it. Other trees nearby, but in a dry location, are doing well.

We're getting ready for Fall Foliage Day in Cabot on October 3. The full schedule for the week beginning Oct. 2 through the 8th is posted in "Local Events" if you want to join in the fun in any of the seven participating towns. Cabot has trips to local farms (a turkey farm and a goat farm), artists' studios, and historical sites. All guided tours leave at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. I will be taking a group to visit Henry Menard (landscaped gardens, exotic plants) and the Molly's Falls Dam and on to the power plant off Rt. 215 in the morning. In the afternoon we'll go to Goodrich's Sugar House and then will visit Ray and Evelyn Richer at Loon Cove on Joe's Pond. I hope some of you will join us. We go by bus in the morning - in the afternoon we caravan.

There's a beef stew lunch at noon and a turkey supper - and lots of things to see and do right in town. This year we're adding a visit to the new seniors' facility, Cabot Commons, and Jody Stahlman will have an exhibit of her own and other artists' paintings. Be at the historical society building (another interesting place to visit!) for coffee and registration from 8:30 to 10 o'clock,
and pick up a schedule of events, or get instructions for taking yourself on a "Shutterbug Tour". There's entertainment on the common at 3:30 p.m. and at the church at 7:30 p.m.

To find out more about the day's activities, contact me (janebrown@fairpoint.net). Contact Blanche Lamore, 802-563-2457 or Reta Gamble, 802-563-2328, for lunch or dinner reservations. Tickets for meals will also be available at the registration desk.

We may have snow flurries tomorrow, but late this afternoon the sun came out in Walden while it was still raining, and the result was a lovely rainbow. The photo doesn't do it justice, but it proves our Vermont fall weather is full of contrasts. (Click the photo to make it larger.) I covered some of my plants tonight, just in case. Its about time to bring things inside or just let them go, but with a little effort covering them I hope to hold them for another week or so, at least until we begin to get really hard frosts..

The above pictures were taken September 17, 2006 and September 19, 2006. Different weather, same trees, but I think there is a little more color in the second one. I went to Cabot this morning and I was surprised there were so many leaves falling. The wind had picked up, especially on the Plain.

I worked at the Cabot Historical Society building today, sorting through piles of newspapers, documents, books, photos and magazines. I will be working most of the winter to get these items scanned, properly stored and indexed so the originals are preserved and copies available to the public. There is a lot of very interesting stuff - such as personal journals, deeds, and scrapbooks. It's surprising the information people save. I'll pick out vital statistics such as births, deaths and marriages for our resource center and make an index of the clippings, then the scrapbooks will be either stored or displayed for visitors to see. We now have a computer in our resource area and it's possible we will eventually have a lot of the information available on line.

Burr Morse's latest on-line newsletter had an interesting note about one of his employees taking pictures of one of their big old maple trees to track the progress of the foliage. I thought that was a neat idea, so I'm starting with one on the road in front of our house - easily shot from our deck. I'll post a picture every other day or so just to see how quickly it turns. If you don't know about Burr's folksy newsletter, go to Community Storefront on this web site and under Business you'll see the link to Morse Farm Maple Sugar Works. Once there, click on "News From Vermont" which is the title of his newsletter. There's a place to sign up to get it regularly. I've been on his mailing list for a while and enjoy the newsletters very much.

Another great day and perhaps one more to go before the weather turns wet and chilly again. There was quite a bit of activity on the pond today and we had a fair number of walkers and vehicles on our road, so people were taking advantage of the nice weather. The morning fog lingers a bit too long, but even that is pleasant for walking. We took this picture at Ned and Carolyn Hamilton's this morning before the fog had burned off.

Cabot's Fall Foliage Day is coming up on October 3rd. The women who organize the week-long event that involves seven area towns, decided go back to having it the first week in October. You see, for many years it was held in October, but all too often we'd run into snow flurries, especially on Cabot Plain, and the tourists would scurry away cold, wet and miserable, disappointed in the scenery and wondering aloud why on earth anyone would want to live here. So the ladies decided to invite them to come in September, and you guessed it, last year we struggled to find even one colorful tree - any tree, it didn't even have to be a maple, just so it had some red or yellow leaves. Once again the tourists were disappointed and offered strong opinions as to our handling of the event, as if we could possibly know months in advance what Mother Nature will have in store for us. Sometimes you just can't win. We're hoping to get it right this year - the foliage seems to be building up nicely for a spectacular show of color, but whether those beautiful leaves will be sparkling with frost and snowflakes, we simply can't tell.

Some of you may have wondered what Bev Allen meant when she mentioned the picture (in another entry below) was taken from their new addition. Well, being a reporter means sometimes there's a need to investigate when you write a story, of course, so Fred and I took a slight detour down Meadlow Lane on our morning walk and took this picture.

Then, as we continued down West Shore Road, we took another picture of Bob and Dottie Noyes' camp. Progress is being made there to raise the building and pour a concrete foundation. The big I-beams that will be used to move it are stacked in front of the garage, so I expect sometime next week there will be more activity there.

I learned today the Byrds on Sandy Beach Road are going to start work on their cottage within the next few weeks, too.

In the meantime, we now have three places on West Shore Road for sale: Nate Drown's, Eben and Lana Bodach-Turner's log cabin at the head of Sandy Beach Road, and Andre and Sherry LaPrade's. (See them in detail on the Properties for Sale page). Three quite different properties, but each with its own particular charm and it's likely we'll be welcoming new people to Joe's Pond and saying sad goodbyes to old friends soon.

I think it's about time for me to take a road trip around the pond to see what other changes are taking place. Stay tuned.

A GREAT PICTURE FROM STEVE AND BEV ALLEN

Hi, everybody!

This was taken out the window of our new addition at 6:10 this morning.

S&B

ABOUT THAT COOKBOOK . . .

The following message came from Evelyn Richer this morning, Wed., Sept.6, so I'm attaching it to the other notices --

I got an e-mail from someone asking me to hold books again, and the supply is so low (again) that I can't, but if folks send a check I will reserve them until they come up in the fall...

Thanks again, Evelyn

COOKBOOK CORRECTIONS

As promised - here are corrections for two recipes in the JPA cookbook.

p. 216, Fresh Blueberry Pudding: Add to list of ingredients, 1/2 t. soda.

p. 285, Frosted Brownies: Add to list of ingredients, 4 eggs.

If you find errors or omissions as you use your cookbook, please get in touch with Evelyn Richer by phone (802-563-3083) or e-mail, rloonnest@fairpoint.net
(please note that Evelyn's e-address has changed), or let me know and I'll relay the information to her. This is important not only to prevent any kitchen catastrophes, but also will help if there is a "second edition" published sometime in the future.

MORE JPA COOKBOOKS AVAILABLE!

Some of you may not have been able to get a cookbook, or as many cookbooks as you want -- the good news is the new shipment is in at Evelyn Richer's. Contact any of the committee members (See "Local Books, Authors and Artists" under Community Storefront on the home page of web site for names and phone numbers).

While you're on the Community Storefront page, check out some of the links to local businesses provided there. You may find just the right Christmas gift or souvenir.

Here we are at the beginning of Labor Day Weekend and the more-or-less "end" of the summer. It seems only a short time ago we were coming out from under winter's grip as the sun warmed our earth into summer. Turns out there's perhaps a bit too much warming, if we believe our scientists. I'd have to say that here at Joe's Pond this year we had more than the usual number of really hot days. I think that may account for the maples turning already. I've been told maple trees simply don't do well in extremely hot weather, and if global warming continues, we may find our favorite glamour trees disappearing from the landscape. I think we can expect some brilliant colors this year, earlier than usual. Last year, if you remember, the leaves ran from dull to practically no change in most areas, and then they simply were gone - bare trees and snowflakes. Today I found some nice color in the woods behind our house . . .

We had a wonderful end-of-year meeting of the Joe's Pond Association on August 26th. The food was delicious, there was plenty of everything, and the company - well, good friends and good neighbors made for a merry group. It's always nice to be able to get to know our members a little better, and there was a nice turnout. The weather was just right and there was ample time to chat with new members and folks that we haven't seen in a while. The group of faithful workers who put the meal together for us deserve a huge vote of thanks. I hope they know how much they are appreciated. If you've been out on West Shore Road recently, you've noticed there's a lot going on at Bob and Dottie Noyes' camp. Bob tells us they are going to put a new foundation in and will be doing some design modifications. Chris Bissell is getting the camp ready to be lifted and moved aside for the foundation work. Once that is done and the building is back in place, Chris will start the redesign. We'll be watching the progress. In the meantime, there's a "road" across the lawn of Rene and Loretta Fillion in order to gain access to the Noyes property. There'll be some big equipment around there for a while, and it will be interesting to see the changes take place. We got a picture of Chris doing some demolition. Mrs. Chris was on the job, too.