A couple of reminders for you this morning. First, we hope you'll attend the Beatrix Potter presentation at the Cabot Historical Society next Wednesday. It's free, and Helene Lang does a nice job of story telling. It's at 7 p.m. and there will be light refreshments. Very informal, it's a nice way to spend a summer (?) evening. There are lots of things on display at the Historical Society Museum, and you may want to come a little early to see some of the artifacts. Hope to see you there.

I received the following message from Amanda Legare (Amanda's Greenhouse on Rt. 215 south of Cabot Village):

If your garden is failing you in some way, every Wednesday morning three miles from Joe's Pond the solution comes in the form of the Danville Farmers' Market. In addition to eight vendors offering all kinds of fresh picked vegetables and fruits in season, there are bakery chefs providing superb deserts and fine breads, and all kinds of bouquets and flower plantings. One person sells fresh caught trout and you can also find honey, meat and eggs. Of course there are also some crafts, jams and jellies, wood products, but this is primarily a true farmers' market with offerings from your neighbors. A person selling wine is scheduled to participate soon, and a woman selling wonderful cheeses should arrive July 22. Right now there are 22 vendors. To add to the enjoyment of a comfortable walk on the Danville Green there is usually entertainment from 10 am - noon. July 22 David Carpenter and a friend will provide traditional fiddle music and July 29 a quartet from the Barre Tones will entertain. If it's raining the entertainment is postponed, but the vendors are always there, rain or shine. The market is held Wednesdays from 9 am - 1 pm and is a great place to get the best vegetables and at the same time, enjoy a terrific Vermont experience.

Pictured above is Bill Half from Walden, and here on the right is Linda Farrow with her beautiful flowers, and Nicholas Forman of Newbury. We are fortunate to have such a nice, well organized farmers' market so close by. The produce you find here is fresh out of the garden and you'll notice the difference in taste, I'm sure. Stop by, check them out. There's something for everybody, and free entertainment in the bargain. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Our weather has deteriorated - again. We had a very nice day yesterday, although it never really got hot. Fred and I went to DMV in Montpelier to get our EDL (Enhanced Driver's License). We were prepared, with reading material and my sudoku puzzle, to spend at least the entire morning there; the Department of Motor Vehicles is noted for long waits. We got there at about 10:45, found parking right on State Street, a stone's throw from the DMV, and as we were getting change for the meter, a young woman parked ahead of us was just leaving and said, "Why don't you just pull up and use the remainder of time on my meter?"

That was cool! There were about 45 minutes left. We wondered if that it might be a good indicator since she'd come from the DMV - but decided she'd probably forgotten something and would need to come back again. When Fred had called about getting our EDL's he'd been warned to be prepared to wait because they are so busy.

Inside, the waiting room was nearly empty, but there was a short line and only one person at the counter. She moved things along well, though, and we were soon filling out forms. We got our numbered ticket and sat down to wait. We were there perhaps fifteen minutes, tops, when our number came up. We found the proper desk, and about 20 minutes later we were back in our car, headed home!
We each have a temporary "license" and our EDL's will come in about two weeks.

We were home in time for lunch as usual. We're still flabbergasted that things went so smoothly and quickly. Of course, it helped that we'd done our homework, as Claudia, our processor, mentioned, but we were impressed with the efficiency of the whole office. We have had long waits in the past at DMV, and I'm sure that still happens, but either things have improved or we were just plain lucky. Anyway, we're good to go to Canada (and get back into the U.S.) if or when we want to now.