We just had a downpour for a few minutes - about an hour ago. The weather has held off pretty well today - quite nice most of the day.

We went to Juniper's at the Wildflower Inn on Darling Hill in Lyndonville for dinner tonight - a delayed anniversary celebration. We would have gone last week, but they were closed on the night we wanted to go . . . it was very nice tonight, though. I've put together a slide show - the pictures aren't as nice as those we took a couple weeks ago in that area, because by the time we were finished eating the clouds were beginning to gather. On our way there, it was very nice, and the view from the restaurant is very nice, no matter what the weather.

Fred had a lot of zoom on the picture of the tower on Burke Mountain - and then I took one through the grass (no, I wasn't crouching in a hayfield, I took it from the car and the bank was high next to me.) There is a path alongside the road and a runner had just gone by. There are lots of hiking paths on Darling Hill, but it seemed pretty quiet this evening.

When we left Juniper's we drove north past the Children's Summer Theater and the old Darling Estate, then turned east down to East Burke and followed the east branch of the Passumpsic River back to Lyndonville. slides

We like the Darling Hill area. Historian Harriet Fisher wrote a book about the Darling family - I saw it in the gift shop tonight but then was interrupted and I didn't go back for it. I think it would be an interesting read and I'll try to pick it up next time we're there. I knew Harriet - we crossed paths when we were both writing for the Caledonian Record. She was a "stringer" and I was an aspiring feature writer.

Woody, our cat, just came in soaked to the skin. I guess he made a dash for the house through the downpour. We'll get him dried off and settle him for the night. He usually comes in for a snack around 10:30 or 11:00 and we keep him in for the night. We think he's tempting fate when he roams free at night, so we're always glad when he respects his curfew. Now and then he doesn't come in and we worry about him, and we keep thinking he'll catch on eventually and won't be tempted by hunger to give up his nocturnal prowling, but thankfully, he's a slow learner . . .

A couple of important notices today:

Diane Sherwood called to let us know the Chicken BBQ scheduled for July 18th at the West Danville church has been canceled this year. Diane said not enough people are available to work, and there are other difficulties. The little church in West Danville, like so many other churches and organizations these days, is in financial difficulty and the future is not bright for it to continue as it has been for so many years. We hope there will be a compromise solution the their problems. However, for this year, at least, there will be no Chicken BBQ.

Jack Dowd, who has a cottage on Sandy Beach Road, called to report two kayaks are missing from his place. They are both 12 ft. long, Pungo brand, one yellow and one red. Jack said they could not have floated away from where they were stored, but he's wondering if someone "borrowed" them and might have left them in the water so they then floated off.

If anyone knows anything about these two kayaks, please let Jack know. You can reach him at 802-875-3171, or by e-mail: jackdowd@aol.com.

Also, Diane Sherwood is looking for one of the old Joe's Pond maps with the original camp numbers on it. If you don't wish to part with yours, perhaps you could arrange with Diane for her to have it copied. These are very nice old maps, and quite large. As I remember they were sort of tan color and had lots of pond information on them. They were made perhaps as far back as the 1940's.

Here is another poser for you. This piece of equipment is about two feet long and five inches wide. It has a small two-tined fork on one side, a hand crank on the other, and a wheel with a leather belt which, when placed around the wooden wheel and tightened by the two knobs on threaded wooden pegs at the top, there is enough tension so the spindle with the tines will spin at a fairly high rate of speed. Attached to the apparatus is a separate, small, very sharp-edged metal tool that looks as if it would be held against whatever is being turned to shape it or peal it. We believe the operator of this mechanism would stand or kneel on the extended board to keep it from moving. Everything is made of wood except for the tines, and of course the belt and scraper. Any ideas?

One of the ladies working with me yesterday thought it was an apple parer - but we have a couple of those on display, and they are made of iron, with gears and much more complicated. This is very primative, and it could be a much earlier version, or something entirely different. Click the photo to enlarge it.

I completely forgot to take the glass insulator to try on the pegs I asked you about last week, so I'll need to remember to take one with me on the Fourth.

Bill Rossi and Fred went to St. Johnsbury this afternoon with some electronic equipment Bill needed to drop off at Byrne Electronics Service. We've had steady rain most of the day. Fred took pictures - some through the windshield, so I've put them together in a slide show for you. Slides

When they got back to Bill's Fred took some pictures of the other side of the lake and down the pond using lots of zoom. You'll notice the pontoon boat that had come unhitched. That was on this side of the lake and they went back and tied it up. Not many people around in weather like this, so it's a good thing they noticed it. If the wind had come up, there could have been some damage -- good work, men!!

I just looked out my window and the rain is coming down hard right now. At nine o'clock I logged .78 inch of rain this morning, but I think it's already filled the tube that indicates 1 inch of rain and is overflowing into the big tube, so for the first time in about a month we'll have had over an inch of rainfall. There are puddles in the walkway in our garden, but the soft earth where we haven't walked is absorbing the water very well. Everything is damp and soggy, though, and I started a small fire in the wood stove after lunch. Feels good. The last time I looked at the thermometer, it was beginning to drop from a high of around 64, and is now at 60.

I just got this message from Homer Fitts:

Hi -

Hope some of you are having decent weather. It has rained all day and looks like the same a lot this week. Hope maybe it might go right Fri., Sat., and Sun. for the weekend. ? ? ?

Guess I am on the road to feeling better. Legs weak and back aches but otherwise O.K. My cancer is in remission. I do not go back to Oncologist until July 13th. Am doing therapy in St. J. twice a week for the legs and back. Treadmill is tough but necessary. Did get to Church yesterday for the first time in three weeks.

Maybe get some groceries while in St. J. tomorrow. O.K. if I use the basket while walking ?

Happy 4th to you all,

Homer

We hope Homer continues to make good progress. Physical therapy can be tough on you for a while, but like Homer says, it's necessary to exercise and keep going. Thanks for the update, Homer.

The Fourth of July is nearly here. I noticed in the Caledonian piece about the Fourth, it wasn't clear when our fireworks will be, so spread the word that the fireworks are set for Friday night, July 3rd, and if it rains, they will go on Sunday night, the 5th. Our JPA Annual Meeting is on Saturday morning, the 4th, and Ken Hoeppner will speak to us about the rail trail. Don't miss it.

Diane Rossi is ready with the luminaries. Here's the scoop:

The "luminary" sales force is fully armed and ready with "luminaries" for the fireworks on July 3. We have candles with bags for $1 apiece, and hope to surround the pond with candle power for the celebration. The recommendation is to put them about 10' apart along the waterfront. They are available at Hasting's, or from myself, Pam Hebert, Diane Sherwood, Patty Rubulcaba, or Sue Bouchard.

The luminaries are a very nice way to light up your shoreline to celebrate the 4th. They reflect on the water and create a serene, unified glow. So light 'em up and then take a canoe or kayak ride out onto the water to get the full effect. When nearly everyone has them out, it's really a beautiful display.

Yesterday I had this picture from Liz Randall. She spotted this box turtle on her patio at Miller Place, LI. She said he meandered back into the woods after a bit. Nice shot of him, Liz. I guess these guys aren't too shy and don't mind having their picture taken.

Liz also sent a picture of the preserves she'd just made. I can't tell what kind from the picture, but I know she makes delicious jams and preserves every year. Isn't it pretty? And it's just as good as it looks!!

Liz says she has two gardening seasons because everything in her Miller Place garden has gone by just about the time she heads to Joe's Pond where the garden is ready to produce.

I didn't get any rain in my rain gauge last night. On the precipitation map, just about everywhere around us got at least a bit of measurable precip, but not here. I think before the day is over we'll have some, though. I'll be working at the historical society museum again this afternoon. I'm going to test those spools to see if the glass insulators I have will fit on them, and perhaps I'll come across another odd bit of history to show you. Or, come on down and see for yourself all the interesting things we have on display. The museum will be open from two to four.

Thanks, Matt, for the comment on the Beatrix Potter item.

I think most of you already know that the rail trail project is not subject to Act 250 regulations. That ruling came down some time ago. Things are set to move ahead next spring. We're hoping to have Ken Hoeppner or another representative at our July 4th meeting. We hope you will be there to hear what he has to say and raise any issues you may have.

We went to the Danville Inn for chicken pie last night with Bill and Diane Rossi. We enjoyed the evening very much - the food was delicious and we saw some other Joe's Ponders there, too, which is always fun. Even though it was a relatively warm evening, the overhead fans kept us very comfortable. I was fine until I had a cup of steaming hot coffee after dinner. That made me a bit overheated, and I should have known better, but sometimes a good cup of coffee is the perfect ending to a nice meal. Bill and Fred had dessert, and even discussed ice cream as we were leaving the parking lot. Fortunately, that plan didn't fly.

I'm hearing thunder rumbling in the distance. We only got a sprinkling of rain last night, .03 inches, on my rain guage. According to the map this morning, that was about all anyone got in the Central Vermont/Northeast Kingdom area.

No rain to report this morning. We heard thunder rumbling during the evening and there were flashes of lightning in the distance, but the storms never reached us. When I made my precipitation report this morning, I checked the map of Vermont, as I always do, to see if other nearby areas had rain, and there are several reports - check it out CoCoRaHS.org

Just about everyone agrees it was hot here yesterday. I heard someone say we're not yet acclimated to hot weather, and I guess that's right, so we tend to suffer in the heat more than those folks who spend more time in warmer climates. Today seems to be building up to be much the same as yesterday, even though we were promised a cooler day. Above is a picture Fred took from West Shore Road yesterday - perfect day to be on the water. We were on our way to St. Johnsbury to do errands and grocery shopping, and had to stop at the Vermont Motor Vehicle Dept. satellite office on Western Avenue, in the Elks' Club building (see photo). I think they are there every Thursday and do operator's licenses, registrations, the whole deal, and are very efficient. It reminded me of when Fred and I used to go to various towns to conduct Social Security business. Sometimes we went together, but more often he went with another claims representative. The claims reps took turns, and sometimes if they were short handed, I'd go and would take care of the social security card needs, answer what questions I could and do clerical stuff. We went to Barton, Newport and St. Johnsbury. They don't do that now. Nearly everything can be handled on line.

Fred is out at the wood pile, splitting up the old poplar chunks. I heard him tell someone yesterday he'd probably be taking down a third poplar, and although I'm not sure which one he's targeted, I think it's the biggest one yet - really tall, as those old poplars can get, and like most of the trees at the back of our place, it's on a slant and it'll be tricky to get it to go where it won't do damage to other trees or building. There will be a lot more wood in it, which means lots more work.

By the way, I forgot to mention the Farmers' Market in Danville. I promised my friend, Amanda Legare, I would do that - we have it on the Schedule of Events page, and I intended to mention it earlier this week since it is every Wednesday. Amanda sent this picture of Diane Gadapee and her grandson, Kyle. Looks like the Gadapee's had a good maple season!

Find a friend or two and plan to spend some time at the Danville Farmers' Market next Wednesday.

July Fourth will be a busy day for Joe's Ponders. First of all, the fireworks will be on July 3rd, if the weather is good. Rain date is July 5th. The Joe's Pond Association Annual Meeting is on the 4th at 10 a.m. at the recreation area. We will have Ice-Out tickets there for you to pick up, so try to be there.

Cabot's annual Fourth of July Parade and BBQ is a big event, so those of you who aren't involved with Joe's Pond Association will want to head on down to the celebration in Cabot. The Historical Society museum will be open all day - I'll be working there in the afternoon. There's a lot going on over the weekend of the 4th - we just hope there's good weather.

I hope you'll come to our "Beatrix Potter Revisited" program on Wednesday, July 22, at the Cabot Historical Society. Helene Lang will do a presentation about Potter's books and life. The program is a Vermont Humanities Council event, and is free. It will be held at 7 p.m. at the Historical Society Building on Main Street. Click on the poster for details. I recently saw "Miss Potter," the movie about Beatrix, starring Renee Zellweger. It is a nice story, and I think you'll enjoy Ms. Lang's presentation. Hope to see you there.

Here is another photo I found at the old school building on Monday. I checked on the internet to be sure of the date that bill was signed: 1935, and found the following: Social Security Bill

I thought you might be interested in reading about it.

Also, watch the comments page (accessed from home page, www.joespondvermont.com) for new postings.

Yesterday I had a message from our CoCoRaHS coordinator, Nolan Doesken, in Colorado. I thought some of you who know Colorado might be interested in the weather out there this week. The storm Nolan wrote about in his "newsletter" to volunteer precipitation recorders happened on Monday, I believe. He had written an e-mail the night before warning us, "When it roars (thunder), go in doors."

2:52 a.m. 6/23/2009
It was a dark and stormy night - - -

Just hit delete if you don't have time to read.  But this evening's
weather here was incredible.  I took a short bike ride after sending the
earlier message.  Most of the sky was clear as it had been all day  --
really clear.  It was the clearest day in many weeks, in fact.
Temperatures were in the 70s and the air had a nice moist feel to it and
spring fragrance on the light easterly breeze.  There was one cloud just
east of town and another to the SW -- very high-based cumulus clouds  --
beautiful but not threatening.   Instead of dissipating as clouds here
often do at sunset, these kept billowing.  Before I got home, a few big
raindrops splatted on the pavement.  Strange, I thought  -- those were
really big rain drops.  I went out to bring in the horses and the first
bolt of lightning stuck -- only a mile away.  I thought briefly about
how awful it would be to be struck by lightning, especially just an hour
after sending out the message 'When thunder roars, go indoors"  How ironic.

Within another 20 minutes it was lightning frequently  -- no rain --
just lightning.  Then came the squall of rain followed by hail pushed by
strong winds from the NW.  Within a few minutes, we lost sight of our
neighbors house through the spray.  The hail on the roof was deafening. 
The yard was covered by hail (again!) and the garden that had survived
the previous storms was flat (again).  Lightning flashed every second
for close to 90 minutes.  When it was all done, nearly 2" of rain had
fallen here.  It was probably even more.  I didn't have time to take the
funnel off my gauge, so most of the hail stones bounced out.   Reports
of over 3.00" of rain with 4" of hail on the level have trickled in this
evening from areas a few miles west and north of here..  We'll be
anxious to see the reports and maps tomorrow.  And all of this was on a
day with a forecast of sunny skies with just a 10% chance of late day
storms.  We certainly got our money's worth from that  10%.


Hail on the level

I have a question for you.  Have you ever been in a storm that dropped
huge quantities of hail?  I'm talking about the kind of storm that
covered the ground and left it ice covered for a day or more.  These are
the kind of events where dense fog may form and linger immediately over
the hail-covered ground.   We know that thunderstorms will sometimes
deposit a few inches of hail -- enough to make the ground totally white
-- maybe as much as 4" on the level.  How much hail can a storm
deposit?  Is there an upper limit or could it be a foot  -- or two feet?

Without counting the piles of hail that are deposited by flowing water
or which accumulate at the edge or corner of a building or by the
downspout, I would like to know the deepest accumulation of hail ON THE
LEVEL that you have ever seen?  If you have seen over 6" on the level
and have photos to prove it, we'd like to see it.  We'd like to know. 
We've heard people tell stories of a foot of hail.but we have no proof.

If you encounter one of those prolific hail producers, measure it,
document it and then let us know.  Don't let roofs and gutters cause you
to exaggerate.  Only measure where the hail fell directly and
accumulated uniformly.  If you take photos, make sure you put something
of a known length in the picture-- like a ruler or even a shoe or a
hand.  Also take photos of the fog banks that form when warm moist winds
blow over deep piles of hail.  And for bonus points, measure the water
content of that ice.  There are several occasions of roofs collapsing
under the weight of hail.  But how much did it weight?  That requires
measurements are wise estimates.   Engineers have to figure out how to
design for things like this.


Quiet now

The storm has passed.  Some distant lightning still flickers, but the
sky is now dotted with stars.   My June rainfall total stands at 5.76" 
-- that's a lot for here.
There will be more muddy paws tomorrow, and a sloppy horse corral
again. The grass will stay green until the 4th of July.  And as for the
garden  -- we'll assess damages in the morning.

Good night.

Nolan

Note: I have recorded 2.24" of rainfall for the month of June here at my rain station.

A little while ago I mentioned that the 2010 Ice-Out Contest tickets would be ready on the web site soon, and now they are. I know it seems too early to think about the game, but you'd be surprised how many people have asked for the tickets already. I think we got a request within about two weeks after this year's winner was announced. We have some dedicated players out there!

I thought you might like to see what the new tickets look like, so here's a picture. Pretty, aren't they? Bright and spring-like. They'll look nice tucked into greeting cards or Christmas stockings.

It's been a really pleasant day here. The sun stayed out most of the day and there was a lovely brisk wind. Great for sailing, and for working outside. The black flies didn't have a chance except to bump into us accidentally as they blew about in the wind. I guess they literally lay low when the wind is strong like today.

Our nephew and his wife and three-year-old daughter came for lunch, and later I worked in the garden for a little while and Fred worked at splitting up the wood from the two trees he took down last week. The wind had died a bit and the little black pests were swarming over me, (the don't bother Fred so much) but the Crocodile bug repellent seemed to keep them at bay. Digging in the earth was a nice break from working with the historical stuff. Back at it tomorrow, though.

Here's a picture of a man some of you may remember. He was a familiar figure parked alongside an open field in the summer, waiting for a woodchuck to appear. He spent lots of time driving slowly along the back roads, keeping a keen eye out for game - mostly woodchucks. He kept the 'chuck population down, and I guess hunted just about everything else that was legal during his lifetime. His name is Paul Cornell and he lived in Cabot. This photo was taken in 1989. Joe's Ponder Don Powell used to get a kick out of talking with Paul; I guess he was something of a character. Anyway, I found this photo among papers in a drawer at West Hill School yesterday. I don't have any idea how it happened to be there, but it will now have it's place in one of our albums, safely preserved. Happy hunting, Paul!

The following came from Steve Dudley, and my response follows:

Jane -

Saw your photo of the pegs on the blog. The size may be different, but these look like ones I found when we cleaned out my grandfather's house here in Connecticut.

If the size is right, I believe that these are glass or porcelain insulator holders. The insulator would screw on the threads and the angle piece would be screwed to the side of a house for the 110 volt electrical lines to hook to the insulator from the power lines at the road, installed to keep the insulator from touching the siding of the house. There would have been three per house - one for each leg of 110 volt service and the neutral - as lines uses to go to houses before they were twisted together as today.

The ones I kept are made of oak or other hard wood - my grandfather kept everything and obviously kept these when they upgraded to subsequest wire insulators or the braided service - you never know when you might need it!!! It seems I remember porcelain insulators for three wire services, so these may be earlier than 1950-1960?

My guess is that this ring of them was hung on the back of a lineman's truck and the dozen were as they were delivered to the utility.

I'll measure the ones I have when I get home and let you know.

So, that's my two cents worth.

Keep up the good work - the blog is always enjoyable and keeps us up to date when we can't be there!

Regards,

Stephen Dudley 1179 West Shore Road and Guilford CT.

My reply:
Steve -
Thank you for that information. That makes perfect sense. These don't seem to have been exposed to the weather, and the threads look as if they have never been used. I have some of those old glass insulators - I'll take a couple down to the museum and try them, and if they fit, I bet we have it right! I remember seeing the threaded wooden pieces on the arms of the old electric light poles and sometimes the telephone companies had them attached to the sides of the poles, as I recall.
You're the first to respond. I'll post your suggestion on the blog and see if anyone else remembers or has a different idea. Thank so much, and glad you enjoy the blog. --Jane

Good news - Ray Rouleau sold the Sunfish.

Working at the West Hill School today was interesting, but because the building had been used for storage, first by the town after the school closed in 1919, and later it was "rented" for storage by a nearby resident. In 1979 a group of citizens interested in preserving the building and it's history, persuaded the town to give it to the historical society. They were able to get a grant to restore it, replacing one whole wall and the floor. In the 1990's, students in David Book's heritage class at Cabot School researched and completed the restoration as close as possible to how it used to be. The school was in District #4, and was built in about 1886 to replace the Kimball school a short distance away.

One thing I found today that particularly interested me was a math book that apparently belonged to Fleming Milligan. There was no date, but the writing was a child's and his address was S. Peacham. How his book ended up in our one-room restored school house we may never know, but I'm sure some of you will recognize his name. Fleming "Flee" Milligan ran a grocery store across from Hastings Store in West Danville for many years.

Everything in the school had been removed after it closed in 1919, so all the desks, maps, books, slates and other fixtures have come from other sources. Some from other Cabot schools, some donated from personal collections, found at yard sales or antique shops. This photo shows the high shelf with benches that span the wall at the back of the classroom. This was the school's "library" where reference books were kept and students could study.

This school is very different compared to the one-room school I attended on Cabot Plains. The Plains School, District #1, was built in 1929. The first school in District #1 was at the corner of what is now Cabot Plains Rd. and the Bayley Hazen Road, just below the Plains Cemetery. After the first settlers moved lock, stock and barrel to the Center of Town, a new school was built about a mile east of there. We pass it after making the turn in front of the Plains School - it's part of the now deserted Maynard farm, and was made into a garage. The 1929 version of the Plains School was modern - running water, central heat, a stage, lots of windows (that weren't very tight and let the snow sift down onto us so we had to move our desks away from the windows on windy days), separate cloak rooms for girls and boys, even inside toilets. This is a typical water pail with tin cup and dipper everyone shared for drinking.

The one-room schools were the heart of each small community. They were meeting places for social gatherings as well as school functions. There were many more farms operating in town, and more children per family than now. Schools were placed so children would have no further than two miles to walk, and the teachers "boarded around," changing boarding places every few weeks, and walked to school with the students.

I enjoyed working there today.

Today I have a mystery for you to solve. I worked at the Cabot Historical Society building yesterday afternoon, taking inventory. Pictured here are two of the items I photographed for our records - only I don't have a clue what they are, and neither did anyone else working there yesterday. I'm sure Eric Ginette or Leonard Spencer would know, but before we take the question to one of them, I thought one of you might know. How about it?

There are twelve of the wooden "pegs" wired together - we think only to keep the pieces from getting lost - and each "peg" has threads at the end so they could be screwed into something else. Any ideas? (Click on the picture to make larger.)

There were lots of interesting things in the small area I worked on yesterday. There is a broken grave stone - a piece of field stone with the following engraving: Stop my friend as you pass by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you soon shall be. Prepare yourself to follow me.

We don't know whose grave might be missing this stone, or if that was broken as it was being carved and another made to replace it. I have records of all the gravestones in our seven cemeteries, and although I'm pretty sure I've seen this epitaph before, I think it was quite commonly used and I can't place it. There are several unmarked grave sites in our cemeteries, and in the older ones, many broken stones. Perhaps one day we'll know more about this relic, too, but in the meantime, it has a home.

Today I'll be working at the West Hill School - our restored one-room school. It will be an interesting afternoon, I'm sure. Several of us will be doing inventory there so we can get it all done in one session. We hope.

"SUNFISH" FOR SALE

Details: @ 1984 Sunfish Ready for sailing

sail 2004

Asking $500.00 firm

Incidentals: sailor is not included

Ray Rouleau

1483 West Shore Road

Joe's Pond

802-563-9921

peckyrouleau@aol.com

Judy Lewis sent this photo of our loon family. The chicks, at least in this photo, seem to be equal in size and perhaps both can survive. Great picture - thanks, Judy. Nice shot. You have a great vantage point right from your house!

Click to enlarge.

When I came back to the computer after supper, Evelyn Richer had sent me one of Ray's photos of the loon family, and this account of how they're doing:

Sorry to take so long to send this out to you… Ray took so very many shots, I have been sorting through them ever since… anywho… it was a good year for shooting… Just when you think you have every possible photo of a new family of loons… some new opportunity arises… this year it was the cooperation of the male loon giving Ray a clear view of the second chick hatching! We are thrilled with the photos and they will be incorporated into his loon show… This year a new version will be produced… it’s been about 4 years since the show was last updated. That time we couldn’t believe that the female loon gave Ray clear view of the actual laying of the egg…

These two chicks are apparently doing very well… they have been very well behaved whenever we have seen them… ever since the first day after their initial squabble things seem to be A-OK… let’s hope they stay that way… by the way the male loon this year is a terrific father!! He is super at feeding each chick… he seems to be careful that they both get to eat… but of course the size of the fish he is feeding them makes you wonder! The little guys were eating fish over 3” long their second day!! (And not just one… two!! One right after the other!!) But mostly, they were getting large doses of vegetation… They have a lot of growing to do in a short time… so these guys are doing well so far to meet that goal…

We saw a few disturbing boating behaviors since the chicks have been out on the pond… but thankfully the loons have been retreating to the cove after each event… they are so very vulnerable out there (on the main pond)… please … everyone watch for them… thanks… Thank you to the many boaters that are obviously keeping a watchful eye!! GOOD JOB!!

Blessings, Evelyn

The folks who live on the cove off Sandy Beach may have an advantage over the rest of us for loon watching, and I can appreciate that other people on the pond want to see the loons up close and in their natural state; but please don't go too close. Take binoculars and use the zoom on your cameras so you can stay far enough away from the loons so you don't harass them and worry the parents. Actually you can see them much better by going to visit Ray and Evelyn at the Gallery on Loon Cove and watch the video Evelyn has put together of Ray's photos. From his blind, Ray can take wonderful photos most of us would probably not get, no matter how close we were, and the loons aren't even aware he's there - or if they are, they are used to any small movement at the blind and don't panic. So go ask Evelyn to show you the photos like the one above that are on display and on the video.

We spent some time this afternoon at camp with the family, and watched ducks coming in for landings on the water and heard the frogs singing wildly, intermingled with an occasional pontoon boat passing and a couple of PWC's (personal water crafts), all of which we miss at our house here on the hill. We see the ducks and geese flying at eye level as they scope out the water, and hear the frogs at a distance mingling with the buzz of motorcraft, but it's remote from us, so it was fun to be more up close and personal.

Being lake side didn't allow us to escape the pesky black flies, though. I heard someone recently say black fly season runs from Mother's Day to Father's Day. I think the season stretches to about July 4th, or sometimes beyond here in Vermont, so it's best to take your favorite bug spray with you wherever you go. I've tried about everything from Avon's Skin So Soft to Old Woodsman, and it turns out it's a toss up which is worse, the bugs or the headaches that smelly stuff gives me.

Today Theresa asked me to pick up some Citronella spray for use at camp if I could find it. I asked Garey at Hastings Store, but he didn't have it. They had something called "Crocodile Herbal Insect Repellent" - no citronella and no DEET. The label listed rosemary, thyme, peppermint and castor oil in canola oil - nothing that would seem to be particularly effective against black flies, but at least it was all natural stuff that I have in my kitchen and could both pronounce and spell. That's always a plus, in my book. The nice young man behind the counter assured me several farm workers swore by it, and that convinced me. So I bought two bottles - they're small.

Back at camp, we discovered it's a roll-on, like deodorant. Cool. We rolled a little on our arms and spread it around to test. It smells good! Minty - not too strong, with a hint of menthol - must be the rosemary, or maybe the thyme - but really nice. Best of all, we weren't bothered by black flies the rest of the afternoon. I have to say, for us it worked really well, and none of us had any skin reactions or headaches. I don't know how it would hold up to swimming or perspiration, but the roll-on feature makes is easy to use and I bet it would even be safe to use on children. At least there were no warnings on the label, another plus. The motto on the label: Bite back with crocodile!

Thinking back, though, there were some small containers of after-bite in the same box with the Crocodile repellant. I figure that's sort of a merchandising oxymoron given that the Crocodile would prevent bites from ever happening, but I guess it was there for the folks who aren't using Crocodile . . .

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. I hope your progeny treat you well; and those of you fortunate enough to still have your father in your life, give him a call or pay him a visit tomorrow - and make time for him on other days, as well.

Needed: Apartment to rent, Joe's Pond/Danville area.

Jesse and Ivy Larocque
http://www.harddrivedoctor.us/

Ivy and I just got the word today from our landlady that her daughter, who just lost her husband to cancer, will be needing our apartment to move into at the end of July. Ivy and I understand and sympathize with her daughter as well.

I was wondering if anyone either has an apartment for rent or knows of an apartment to rent - or knows someone who knows something . . .Any Leads or options will be greatly appreciated.

Jesse Larocque

I can also be reached at 1 646 346 4712


Lots of us around Joe's Pond know and respect Jesse. As Andy Rudin says, "Jesse is the best computer consultant I know plus an all around good guy."

We visited Kingdom Access TV in St. Johnsbury today. That's where youngest son, Jamie, is head honcho. Kingdom Access used to have space at Lyndon State College, but about a year ago, they moved to the old Purina Mill building that Bruce Ralston had renovated for the St. Johnsbury School to use while the town was constructing the new building. It's a big place, and has several businesses housed there now, with plenty of space for more.

Jamie wasn't in his office when we got there, so Will, one of Jamie's crew, gave us a tour of KATV's office, studio and technical setup. When Jamie arrived, he took us through the rest of the building. Pretty amazing. We had no idea about all that's going on there. It's a perfect setting for community television. It's quiet, clean, bright - a very pleasant work space. We didn't take many pictures there - our efforts pale compared to these pros: www.katv.org

Downstairs, there is a very large space for loading docks for various businesses, and at one end of the building, a company called PortaBrace, whose headquarters are in N. Bennington, Vermont. They make all kinds of specialty carrying bags such as for cameras and other delicate equipment that must be transported. I don't know how many people are working there, but there must have been at least 25 or 30 women at work. This photo shows only a small portion of the work space, and there are administrative offices, too.

We were having problems earlier in the week with our TV reception - not connected to the change over from analog - something to do with the signal. The service man came right after lunch today and after only a few minutes of testing, found out we had some big old poplar trees getting in the way of our signal. Fred grabbed his trusty chainsaw and took out two really tall trees in back of our house. I wasn't sorry to see them down because they were shading the garden by late afternoon, and as everyone knows, it's important in Vermont to get as many hours of sun during our short growing season as possible or your plants don't mature in time to harvest before frost hits. Now the TV is working much better, and I'll be interested to see if we get an hour or so more sun on the garden in the late afternoon, when we have a sunny day again . . . In this picture there's one tree down and the second is just leaning out before it falls.

I don't think Fred was ready to get into working up another wood pile quite this soon, but by supper time he already had a lot of the first tree limbed and blocked.

We've had three inquiries today looking for cottages to rent. That isn't counting the one posted on the Comments page. If any of you have cottages to rent, now would be a good time to let us know. Use the comments page if you don't want to invest in a permanent ad on the rental page. We've encouraged people who e-mailed us to put their requests on the Comments page, so watch there if you have some days or weeks your cottage isn't rented this summer.

I think I mentioned that JPA members will be getting ten Ice-Out tickets to sell this year. We have them ready to go and they'll be at the Annual Meeting on July 4th. If you aren't going to be able to make the meeting, please ask a neighbor or friend to pick yours up for you to save us tracking you down this summer or having to mail them to you this fall. Those of you who are not members of Joe's Pond Association can get tickets at the local stores or by contacting Diane Rossi or me - or you'll find them on the web site within a day or so. Our web master is pretty busy working on his wood pile, but he'll have the 2010 tickets posted very soon for you to fill out and print.

Ted Decker sent this photo of sunrise over Joe's Pond.
He wrote: "It was one of those mornings. 'Red in the morning..........'."

Yep, we got the warning, Ted - more rain and wind. Real summer seems to be a bit delayed this year. But, that is some gorgeous color. Thanks for sending it.

I'm hoping we can help find a place for the Johnson family to rent the first week in August. Here's what they're looking for:

We are looking for a house with at least 2 bedrooms-- there will be two adult couples plus a baby. We are also hopeful to find someplace that has either large beds in the rooms, or two beds in the two bedrooms (and of course a 2nd bath would be helpful). We are very open to a larger house.

The dates-- fast approaching-- are arrival on August 1st (could be 2nd); leaving Friday morning August 7th.

The reason for the last minute search is that our son and family are moving from Waterford to Cabot in July. Our other son, wife and baby are coming from Oregon so we can all visit and help with some house repairs that first week of August.

We are in the Chicago area... and will be in Waterford/St. Johnsbury/Cabot this weekend. I'll have my cell with me: 847-204-1850. Our e-mail is ohlroson@aol.com.

Thank you for your help! Ann and Tom Johnson

Hopefully someone will be able to help. If you know of something, either get in touch with the Johnsons at the above number or e-mail - or contact me and I'll reach them.

*****

A friend sent this link yesterday. It loads a little slowly, but worth waiting to see. I think you'll get a chuckle out of it. Fred and I did, and the melody lingered on . . .

Good, Bad and Ugly

We were in Hastings Store yesterday and Fred took this photo. It isn't remarkable except that sign just says it all. Hastings is our market place, deli, bakery, gift shop, and post office. It is also our Information Center - where not just brochures and and maps are available, but where real country "service" is offered so you can drop off a package or scribble a message for a friend and whoever is behind the counter will see that it gets to that person the next time he or she comes into the store. That's Doug behind the sign. He and Mary, Diane, Garey, Jane are always friendly and helpful and they keep a collective finger on the pulse of the Joe's Pond community. We think of the internet as being fast and efficient, but it can't beat the friendly folks at the general store for hands-on helpfulness.

Speaking of being helpful, the other day Fred was on the roof giving our chimney its annual cleaning. It was almost noon and he said he was concentrating on the job at hand and getting off there and cleaned up for lunch when he heard someone whistling a little tune. He looked down towards the road and it was our mailman, Tim, who usually toots his horn if he sees one of us outside, but we guess he'd spotted Fred on the roof and didn't want to startle him, so he whistled a tune instead, and waved as he went on down the road.

Tim's a friendly sort of guy. He waves at the house nearly every day whether we're in evidence or not just in case we're watching, I guess. He used to leave a couple of tootsie rolls for us in the mailbox now and then, but I think he must be trying to limit sweets or something and doesn't carry them on the route any more because we haven't found them in the box for a few years now.

Lots of folks, especially if they're here just for the summer, prefer to go to the post office for their mail rather than having it delivered, and that's fine. The way I look at it, it's a win/win situation. Either way you get special service and a large dose of friendliness.

This picture is Bill Rossi chatting with fellow Joe's Ponder, Ray Rouleau at the store. Both Bill and Fred were tempted to have an ice cream cone, but Bill maintained he was going to be "good" because it was close to supper time. We watched Doug packing ice cream into a cone for a customer, and it did look awfully good. However, we had other stops to make. Bill had picked up the 2010 Ice-Out Contest tickets at the printer's earlier in the day, and Homer Fitts had called to say he needed some so we were headed to Homer's; tomorrow we'll leave supplies at Hastings and the Joe's Pond Country Store. You can contact either Diane Rossi or me if you want some!

From Evelyn Richer:

Good (early) morning!

This is going to be a beautiful day... and to start if off well, we have
a new little baby... the second egg started to hatch yesterday afternoon
around three o'clock... it took several hours for the little guy to work
his way through that shell... but sometime during the late night last
night he was free... this morning the adults are keeping them pretty
close to the nest for many feedings... but, I expect the family will soon
parade out of here onto the pond... it does look like our older chick is
being very dominant... the little guy has been in a submissive pose
several times and is not receiving as many offerings of food as the older
guy... let's just pray that the adults are able to nurture them both
equally... but as we all know this has happened in years past... some
years resulting in a rejected chick or one swept away by turbulant
waters, or the year an immature bald eagle got one of the chicks...

We'll just have to see how we fair this year... What a job the adults
have ahead of them... these guys grow so very quickly!!  (Needing lots of
feedings)  But for now... the chicks are struggling to handle little
clumps of vegetation... and some tiny crayfish or minnows... Both adults
are busy!

As you might suspect... Ray has been in his blind now for two solid
days...this is day three... he comes out briefly ... but then returns as
long as there is daylight he is shooting... We communicate via the
walkie-talkie's... I'll be glad to 'get him back'...

I'll send a new photo as soon as he comes up with one...

Blessings,  Evelyn

I have quite a few things for you tonight. First of all, we were very sorry to learn that Janet Wakefield, of Danville, passed away last night. Janet has been a life-long resident of Danville and worked tirelessly in the community. She was sporty in her yellow convertible, witty, generous, caring and great fun to know. She'll be missed by many, many people.

I want to remind people of the garden tour next week in Cabot. Here's a poster with details. Click to make larger to read.

The following came to me by e-mail today. I put together a slide show I think you'll find amusing. Here's the thing:

Australia had a record heat wave during January and February, with devastating fires as a result. Koalas are not social and don't come out of trees or down to the suburbs very often. Also, they don't actually drink water normally at any time. Their food and water source is provided from the eucalyptus leaves that they eat. They sleep about 22 hours a day because the calorie and liquid intake is not enough to keep them awake long, but they consume enormous amounts of leaves in the short time they are awake.

This slide show tells you how some of them coped with the searing heat - and hopefully survived. Koalas

Evelyn Richer sent this very important announcement:

HI! I’m the newest member of the loon family on Joe’s Pond! I broke loose from my shell at approximately 3:15 am on Monday June 15^th, (as predicted by Ray), I am here waiting to see if my brother or sister will show up… I have been waiting now for about 32 hours for him/her to come out and play… but I don’t know if he or she will or not… My mom and dad are tending to me and my baby brother or sister even though we may decide sometime today to go out to the main pond without him or her if he doesn’t come out of that shell pretty soon!!

Just so you know… I can’t see Ray from here! (But my mom and dad told me someone’s over there in that ‘blind’ on the shoreline…) He’s hidden and he’s using something called a long lens to peek at me… anyway… I’m here to tell all of you that I will be riding on my parent’s back soon… coming to say hi to everyone… but mom and dad are very busy caring for me and ask that you please don’t distract them by coming too close to us… okay?? If you see us and stop your boat motors or stop paddling your kayak or canoe we may come closer to you… but if we don’t please don’t try to chase us… bring your binoculars for a peek at a distance…

Thanks… see you all soon… hopefully we will come with my baby brother or sister… but if not… well… it will be a fun summer anyway…

Signed… baby loon #14 from Joe’s Pond…. (Since 1998)

Here's a link to the Cabot Facebook page: Birthday Celebration

Lots of pictures taken Saturday, June 13th of the party Cabot Creamery threw to celebrate 90 years in business as a co-operative. Someone from their organization posted a link to this blog on their web site, so fair's fair, and I'm sure you'll enjoy looking at the pictures and perhaps you'll spot a familiar face. I did.

Matt Randall (W. Shore Rd.) stopped by the 90th anniversary party at Cabot Creamery yesterday (Saturday). He took some pictures and wrote us a note:

Here are the pics that I took while at the creamery. Vermont Historical Society [exhibit]. They had a whole old fashioned sales pitch too haha. Ben & Jerrys was also there, Lake Champlain Chocolates (samples!), Vermont Common Cookies, etc. They had emu summer sausage, Vermont pepperoni, live folk music, all types of butters to sample. Basically everything that they sell in the visitors' center had a table with a representative and samples of everything for free...I didn't spend a cent except the gas to get there :-) It was very enjoying but small so you couldn't spend too much time there unless you made 3 or 4 rounds to every table which I did haha! Matt

The butter churn they are demonstrating in the photo was popular in the 1890's. There were various types of churns over the years, and they came in all sizes. We have a handmade wooden one at the Cabot Historical Society. I was working upstairs there today and that was one of the items I inventoried. There's a picture of our butter churn below.

We have many interesting items on display. Like the completely wooden washing machine (last photo). It is literally a water tight box on legs and by working a long handle, the clothes were sloshed back and forth in the "box." At one end of the box is a slanted wooden washboard with horizontal grooves for scrubbing by hand. In addition to sloshing the clothes, the same handle would lower a wooden plate against a shelf at the far end of the tub to squeeze out the water before taking the clothes to dry either by hanging over a line strung between trees or by spreading them out on the grass. Later on washing machines were designed with wringers, of course. There is a wooden plug in the bottom of the box tub to drain the water. I worked the handle and tried to imagine how much strength it would take to move heavy wet garments around by that method. Better than scrubbing everything by hand, I'm sure, but still a lot of hard work. Just carrying hot water for the wash would be hard work - the handmade wooden buckets are quite heavy even without water in them.

It's amazing how people made their own utensils and machines to help do the work. Some items are pretty crude, but they were also quite durable. Many of these wooden "machines" we have on display show signs of wear, but still operate.

The historical society building is on Main Street in Cabot and will be open every Sunday through the summer, or other times by appointment if you call Bonnie Dannenberg. Plan to spend some time there as we have lots of interesting items to see. We have a research corner on the ground floor, with historic photographs, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and yearbooks, etc. We even have a farm equipment display off the main display room with some pretty large and unusual items displayed there.

I got a lot done today, but there's a lot more to do. I enjoy documenting our collection, and it's always pleasant to imagine our ancestors using some of the things I'm photographing. Life was difficult and for many, brief. We are very fortunate to have so many artifacts that reveal what life was like in Vermont in the late 1700's and 1800's.

Many of you already know about the death of Charles Semprebon, 67, brother of Joe's Ponder Tom Semprebon. Charles was biking from Los Angeles to Boston when he passed away in New Mexico. Our condolences to the Semprebon family.

Charles Semprebon was an avid biker and in his will left $1 million to complete a bike path in his home town of Barre. Barre City and Barre Town would share equally in order to fulfill his wishes.

Charles Semprebon Obituary

A few things to report tonight. Some of you probably know that Cabot School's graduation was last week. Will Walters sent a link for some of the photos. Nice looking group of young people. We wish them all well as they head to the next phase of their lives. For more photos and other news, click here: Graduation

This came this evening from Liz Randall (W.Shore Rd.) who lives on Long Island. Here's what she wrote:

Check out the raccoon on top of a tree that has been cut-off....The locust tree is about 200 yrs old and we had the power company top it last fall. Anyway, John noticed the raccoon had been sleeping on top of the the hollowed-out tree...Must have babies inside that she is taking care of and she can't fit in the hole with them so she stays on top of the tree...We've been watching this raccoon for some time now and it's fun to watch~ I've zoomed out with the camera so you can see how high up she is in the tree...The zoomed-in photos are pretty awesome what a cute animal~ Liz

Thanks, Liz - what fun! You don't need to be in Vermont to enjoy the wildlife. Madame Raccoon and her brood won't be very welcome in your neighborhood once the little ones grow up a bit and start investigating the streets and homes. They are very clever, but they can also be real pests.

*****

Cabot Blooms Garden Tour, Saturday, June 20, 1-5 p.m.

Tour eight distinctive gardens in Cabot.

Map available at Cabot Public Library from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. day of the tour.

Rain or shine. Refreshments at some of the tour sites.

Sponsored by Friends of Cabot Library.

All proceeds benefit the Cabot Public Library.

Information: (802) 563-2671, zynia13@yahoo.com.