We hope your Friday the 13th was a good one. We had a busy morning working on our computers, and after lunch went for a walk. The weather has held off very well today. Perfect for walking. We had intended to walk to camp and back and then get to work again, but it was so nice outside, when we got to Bill and Diane Rossi's, we decided to see if they wanted to walk up to their pond with us. We haven't been up there all summer and that hillside is very nice. Lots of hard wood trees and leaves on the ground.

When we got to the pond, we were surprised to find "cat ice" on it. The back side had melted, but where the sun hadn't hit much, there was plenty of ice. It's very nice up there and the view of the big pond below is beautiful now the leaves are off.

We flushed a couple of partridges along the way, but saw no other wild life. Of course, we were anything but quiet. No danger of surprising any bears or deer. But tomorrow would be a different story for there will no doubt be hunters in the woods. It's the first day of deer hunting and it isn't safe to go into the woods unless you're wearing plenty of bright colors and making at least as much noise as we were today.

We took pictures, of course. By the time we were back at Bill and Diane's, the sun was low, shining on the hills across the pond. It was beautiful.

We made a quick stop to sample a loaf of panettone (Italian Christmas bread) that Bill's mom, Alba, had given them. A nephew makes it with a recipe Alba gave him years ago, and sends several loaves to Alba to share. It was very good - lots of fruit and delicious flavor. I really like bread and the panettone is as good as any dessert as far as I'm concerned.

By the time we left Bill and Diane's, the sun was well behind the hills. We got a couple nice pictures of the evening sky as we were walking up W. Shore Rd. I've put a slide show together for you. A Walk in the Woods

When I finally checked my e-mail tonight messages had piled while I'd been away. I'll tackle most of them tomorrow, but I want to share a couple of them with you now. George Parizo sent the following about the LED Christmas lights, and as I read it I remembered a picture of their tree he sent last year. This is it. Nice work, Pat and George! Gets the holiday season off to a good start!

Here's what he said today:

Jane, about LED tree lights - We swapped over to LEDs last year and like them. They do not run hot and use less juice to boot ( ours are colored). As for putting string lights away, try rolling them up on a large wood dowel like a piece of closet rod and putting them in a plastic container with the rest of the decorations. We did this years ago and it works better than trying to stuff then back into the original box. Next year just start them on the tree and unroll them as you go. ( I make Pat go around the tree with the lights because I get dicey. In truth, she does most of the tree after I put it in the stand. )

I thought that was a really good tip about rolling the strings of lights. I'll do that this year. Whether we switch to LED's or not, we haven't decided, but it seems like a good idea from what George is saying.

He also sent this bird photo. Maybe our climate really is changing, do you think?? This handsome guy was apparently way off course. Here's what George had to say about their visitor:

We had a strange Bird in our yard this fall. It is a Common Snipe from the Midwest. Must be it wanted to see Joes Pond on it's way south. It stayed with us all day eating it's fill, the next morning it was gone.

Thanks for the picture, George.