We had a lovely evening with our friends, Bill and Diane Rossi last night. They introduced us to stuffed artichokes, a favorite of Bill's which we both liked very much, followed by a delicious pork roast with mustard sauce. Diane is a great cook (Bill claims he taught her everything!) and we always look forward to a meal with them. Diane had a gift for him, too, cookies in a special box (see photo). You can also read the indoor-outdoor thermometer in back of Fred. It was a relatively cold night and there was a light snow falling all evening.

You know, most folks are greeted enthusiastically by their dogs when they come home; well, Woody may not jump around and wag his tail, but he is often waiting at the door when we come home and will follow us through the house, purring all the while, waiting to hop into my lap as soon as it's available. Then he goes into his tread, purr and knit mode for a few minutes. My father's cat, "Tiny," that we inherited, showed affection a little differently - she drooled. That was only when she was really, really happy, but I'm glad Woody doesn't do that!

This morning dawned bright and cold. We've had about 3.5 in. of new snow in the past 24 hours, but it is so light and fluffy it's hardly worth trying to move. I cleaned off the deck this morning and it was like shoveling feathers.
If the wind begins to blow, there will be a lot of snow in the air very quickly. The trees are loaded, and all the snow we've had in the past few days has been this very light and dry sort. It's beautiful, though.

We haven't been out on snowshoes at all yet. Even though the snow is light, I think it would be difficult going because the snow isn't really packed solidly. There are spots where we'd probably sink into three feet of snow or more where it has drifted and in the woods, that could be a real adventure if there happened to be a fallen tree or brush underneath. Besides that, every tree branch holds a potential avalanche.

I took this picture from our bedroom window this morning. The back yard is beautiful, but the day isn't going to warm up much in spite of the bright sunshine, and tonight is going to be below zero. Real January weather.

We had an e-mail message from Bill and Monika this morning. They are in Cape Town, South Africa, and Bill said it's beautiful there. He said it's a much smaller city than Johannesburg and being on the ocean, more temperate. I checked, and today the high there will be 84 degrees and the low 62, however the humidity level is in the 60's, much different than Namibia. They will be in Cape Town until Tuesday and then will go back to Johannesburg ready to leave on Wednesday. They spent yesterday on the waterfront and in the city and today are going to Table Mountain. They are staying at a B&B that's right in the city, close to everything, Bill said. We probably won't talk with them again until they land in Washington, DC.

I've had quite a number of e-mails about electric drills and also birthday wishes for Fred. Good information and kind thoughts, for which we both thank you.

Fred and Bill found this page on the Cabot School site: Cabot Taxes

This may be the proposed budget that will be presented at town meeting, but it could still change; also, at town meeting, voters may not like the budget and may vote a different one. While it looks as if the School Board has done a good job of cutting costs, anything can happen when it is presented at town meeting. Voters have been known to increase a proposed budget. There is no doubt in my mind there will be a great deal of concern over the cuts made to achieve this budget, and it may be a very long contentious town meeting.