I have a puzzle for you today. George Parizo sent these two photos to me this morning. Here's what he wrote:

Yesterday the lake was as smooth as glass, Two pictures one right side up, one up side down. I am not telling.

See if you can figure out which one is right side up . . .
Thanks for sending these, George.

*****

We just came back from taking our cat, Woody, to the veterinarian this morning. He has a sore and swollen hind foot - we think somehow one of his claws got pulled out, and the doctor thought perhaps there's a puncture wound which would mean he'd either been in a fight with another cat or narrowly escaped some other animal. With the nice weather, he has spent lots of nights outside, and we know that's very dangerous. Since he spent all one summer on his own outside before we "found" him, we figure he must know how to take care of himself - but when something like this happens we begin to think about locking him in at night, even if it does make him unhappy - at least he's safe. He was due for his annual checkup, so now he has most of his shots updated, plus an antibiotic for the foot.

We were in Maine for a few days this week. We left Tuesday, and took a picture of the line of voters at Danville Town Hall. The weather was super good and we enjoyed our brief stay. I made a slide show if anyone is interested:

Visit to Maine Coast

Tuesday was a great day to travel. The scenery through Crawford Notch was great, and once in the lowlands (we take a back road from Conway, NH to Sanford, Maine) we enjoyed the deep bronze of the oak trees against the pines. There are several routes to take, and we have tried most of them. The weather held through Wednesday, and we visited a nature preserve along the York River. When the tide comes in, the normally fresh water pools become salt water and the marshes are hangouts for water foul. We didn't spot anything unusual, but I expect if we'd spent an hour or so quietly watching, we'd have seen more than the usual gulls, cormorants and loons.

Wednesday night we enjoyed a meal with our friend, Polly, at Warren's Lobster House in Portsmouth, NH. Polly is a wonderful guide, and navigates through the maze of back roads - "shortcuts," as she says - and although she no longer drives at night, she can be talking a mile a minute and still call out the next turn so you won't miss it.

We enjoy the Union Bluff Hotel - the food is good, and normally things are pretty quiet there, but Tuesday night there was a party going on in a couple rooms on our floor that spilled out into the elevator lobby. One woman in particular had a distinctive laugh that always started with a scream so it was hard to tell if she was having fun or needed help. I'm sure the night manager intervened - they quieted down sometimes around midnight, but Fred said their group left noisily, still laughing, around 6 a.m. I didn't hear a thing at that hour.

We stopped to see Fred's brother, Tom and his wife, Ella, in Laconia, NH on the way home. They had a nice lunch ready for us and we enjoyed our visit. The trip home was uneventful and we never did have much rain. We were home a little after four o'clock and glad to get back. When we stopped at Hastings Store, Fred took a picture of a painted pumpkin on the porch. I think it looks like Marlon Brando when he was in "The Godfather."

Today Cherese Mason contacted us about her new web site for her super-duper doggie treats. They make great stocking stuffers; dog lovers should always include their pets at Christmas, along with the kids. Here's the message:

Hi Jane,

I would like to let everyone know that my website is up and running. Tucker and Wyatt's Gourmet Biscuits is now on line at www.newenglanddoggietreats.com Thanks a bunch. Cherese

We have a link on our web site to Cherese's site, and she also is listed with other Joe's Ponders on our "Products" page.