The forecast for tomorrow is from 5-12 inches of snow. We are getting a light but steady snowfall today, along with an occasional break of weak sunshine through the clouds. The measuring stick by my lilac bush shows three feet on the ground now. The temperature is still only 10 above, and I don't expect it'll get very warm today.

Bev and Steve Allen sent the cartoon at the right. Click to enlarge.

Thanks, Bev and Steve - I guess we'd better be careful what we ask for . . .

My cousin Lyn and her husband, David, came for lunch yesterday and we went through the manuscript they have written in researching a quilt they discovered in So. Dakota a few years ago. The quilt had been given to a young Vermont woman, Mary Bickford, when she married Charles Howe in 1856 and went to Wisconsin. They later moved to Dakota Territory, and years later the quilt was donated to the South Dakota Historical Museum in Pierre, SD. Lyn, who was born and raised in Cabot, recognized local family names, and that touched off their quest for information. Each square of the quilt had been made and signed by a different friend of the young bride, but after nearly 150 years, many of the signatures were no longer legible.

Lyn and David were able to find more information from some of Mary and Charles Howe's relatives still living in the area, and have been researching Vermont records to find where in Cabot the quilters lived and something about them and about Mary. Their work has led them to many discoveries and yesterday I was able to provide a few photos from our historical society collection. It will be an interesting and well-documented paper when it is finished.