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 . . .