A visit to Cabot Creamery

We went into Cabot this morning to pick up some cheese, pay our taxes, and do some other errands. On the way into town we found a flock of turkeys in the fields above Keith Burtt's farm. When we first saw them they were busy feeding near one of Keith's big beef critters, but when we stopped they retreated up the hill towards the woods. There were at least a dozen of them.

Things were busy at the Visitor's Center. Not like summer and during fall foliage weeks, but there was a steady stream of people coming and going. Fred took some pictures. The women at the counter were really busy with phones, taking orders and answering questions, but they never missed a beat and got things done so we were out in no time. We talked with Archie Hodgdon who works at Cabot. He told us he's been there nine years. He's in charge of ordering all the containers for packing the Cabot products. Today he was buying cheese for a friend he hunts with.

Back at home, our cat Woody was constantly on the move in and out, rain or no rain. When one of us was on hand, he'd ask us to let him out, but if we weren't available at the precise moment he wanted to go, he'd zip down to the basement and go out his kitty door. Then in a few minutes he was back, soaking wet, usually, wanting to be dried off with a paper towel, only to repeat the process again and again. We know the drill. His bed is in the big windows in the living room and from there he can see all sorts of wild life. Yesterday it was some deer feeding on the crab apples, today it was a squirrel. The squirrel stockpiles the apples each year, and there are some on the tree well into the winter. We've watched when another squirrel comes for the apples, there's usually a big fight with lots of noise and scuffles. There is one squirrel who will grab an apple and deposit it in between twigs on the lilac bush, going back and forth quickly to outdo the intruding squirrel and get as many apples as possible as quickly as possible, stashing them in the lilac to retrieve later. After all, what self-respecting squirrel would look for apples in a lilac tree? The deception seems to work, and later we'll see the dominant squirrel dashing back and forth from the lilac bush to the woods with the apples. The good thing about this process is that some of the apples get dropped or fall from the tree as the squirrels climb around on the limbs. Then the deer or the turkeys come by and enjoy a meal.

By lunch time Woody had pretty much given up the hunt and fell asleep. The squirrels around here have gotten wise to him, and take no unnecessary risks, so he's frustrated on a daily basis, but like a lot of human hunters, he keeps trying.

By the way, the new puppy in our family is named "Otto." There's probably a story there, but I don't know it yet.