Most of you have probably seen the news item Fred posted this morning about the wild fires in Quebec causing all the smoke and haze in our area. The odor was so strong last night we had to close the windows. It isn't much better this morning, but the forecast is for the wind to change and then we may get some relief. We really need rain badly. It looks as if northern Maine is getting it far worse than we are. I found this clip: Quebec Wild Fires

I just took these photos looking towards Walden and across the pond towards Rt. 15. It is really thick, but I guess worse closer to the border and must be really awful in northern areas of New Hampshire and Maine. First picture is looking north towards Walden and at far right is the pond which would normally show crisply clear on a sunny morning like this.

I have a few things to share with you tonight. First, Fred and I went to the pancake breakfast the Cabot Fire Department put on this morning. One of our neighbors, Elizabeth, went with us, and we all enjoyed it. The food was really good and we were treated to some really good maple syrup for the pancakes. I had bacon and eggs first, thinking I'd skip the pancakes, but when the other two were raving about how good they were I went back and got a couple, too. I wasn't disappointed. It was an all-you-can-eat breakfast, but the servers gave you the amount you asked for and I really liked that. I hate getting more than I really want.

We met some nice people at our table, too. Two were long-time Cabot residents and two described themselves as "weekenders for the time being," and hailed from Shirley, Massachusetts. We saw other folks we knew, of course, so it was lots of fun.

This message came today from someone whom I haven't met but who reads the blog.

Hi Jane, I live in Duxbury but was passing through Danville early this morning and stopped at the new bakery/cafe. Wow, you were right. The owners are very nice, the place is spacious and pretty with plants, paintings, & photos, and the food is heavenly. I bought 3 things, but it was hard to choose as everything tempted me. : ) I told Nancy about your flattering comments from your first visit there and how you'd written about them in your blogs. She remembered meeting you and the pictures you took and was happy to hear you'd told others about them. I wanted to mention that I enjoy reading your blogs. Enjoy the summer! Mary

Thank you, Mary, for your note. I'm glad you tried the new bakery, and also that you read the blog. It's always fun to hear from people I don't know who have happened onto our web site. Makes the world seem a bit smaller, somehow.

Today was a perfect day to work outside. There was a strong wind most of the day that not only kept it cool, but kept the black flies from bothering so much. I got most of my garden finished - after Fred dug out some really troublesome rocks for me. I wanted to plant my parsnips and when I began loosening the soil, my fork went only about six inches down before striking stones. I pulled out some, but there seemed to be many more. Fred dug out a bunch down to what seems to be a really big one. I suspect these were rocks dug out when my father dug the foundation for our house and because they needed to fill that area for drainage purposes and to make it level, all the loose stones were dumped there and covered with topsoil. The rest of the garden has plenty of depth with no stones, but I'd already planted that and this corner was about all I had left for parsnips. Since they need about a foot of well worked soil to grow in, six inches wasn't going to work. Now they have the space they need, I think, and the earth worms are back at work after being momentarily disturbed. Now if we could have a gentle rain . . .
maybe after tomorrow when everyone has to be back at work.

Here's one more thing I had in my e-mail today, and this is important for people in the Town of Cabot to do. It's a survey from the Planning Commission. I just glanced at it tonight, but will do it later. It looks as if it may take a bit of time. Take a look.

Cabot Planning Commission Survey

The Planning commission has set up a web survey to gauge public opinion on what residents are looking for in their town's growth.

The link below will bring you to the survey where you can easily answer some questions helpful to the commission. The survey is open until June 30.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/cabotplanning

This critter was caught raiding the bird feeder outside the kitchen window at Hastings Store this morning. James told Fred this gray squirrel is a regular customer. We don't see a lot of grays around the pond, but there are a lot of red squirrels. This guy wasn't at all camera shy. Things were quiet at the store this morning and we think that may have been because lots of folks were at the lawn sale the church was having; and there was the sale at Dente's on Rt. 2, plus the JPA meeting, and I'm sure other gatherings due to the holiday. There seem to be a lot of people here at the pond, though.

We had a fine JPA meeting today. Lots of members are back for the summer and we had good attendance. The meeting lasted a little longer than usual - partly because we got started a bit late due to so many people reconnecting after their winter away, and partly because we covered a lot of items. It was quite nice weather and we were comfortable inside the pavilion. I heard someone comment when the meeting was over that it was warmer outside than it was inside, even though the southeast side of the pavilion was open.

We accomplished easily everything on the agenda and have a busy summer schedule ahead. I'll have the minutes of this meeting posted on the web site within a few days. In the meantime, here are some pictures taken at the meeting this morning.
Spring Meeting of JPA

We noticed there has been some progress on the new shelter at the public beach.
It seems to be going slowly, but it's still early even though there have been several days when the beach has been quite busy. This unusually hot weather has people flocking there to get cooled off. Someone at the meeting today told us the pond water is actually quite warm. It's hard to imagine, even with temperatures at or close to 90 degrees for a few days, but I guess we should just enjoy our early summer.

Fred and I plan on going to the pancake breakfast tomorrow at the gym in Cabot. We've heard the firemen always put on a great feed. It's from 7 to 11 a.m. - perhaps we'll see some of you there.

We're going to start off summer this year with weekend weather that's hard to beat. Not too hot, not too cold. We've seen many Memorial Day weekends that were too chilly (sometimes with rain or snow!) to enjoy, so it's nice that this one will be warm.

We picked up our granddaughter, Jo-Ann this morning in St. Johnsbury and brought her home with us for the afternoon. After lunch, she and I went to Cabot where she found a card for her dad's birthday (today) and then we went to Amanda's Greenhouse to find plants for my flower boxes and she picked out some to take home for her garden. On the way back through town we stopped at the new ice-cream stand that is set up between Harry's Hardware and the general store. It was their first day open and there was a line of kids and adults waiting to get the soft-serve. It was very good - they had chocolate or vanilla and offered a mix of the two, which is always my favorite. We both got some.

At Amanda's we saw Rose Bothfeld - she's Cabot's fire chief Skip Bothfeld's wife - and she reminded us of the pancake breakfast that the firemen are doing on Sunday, May 30, from 7 to 11 a.m. at the school cafeteria. All you can eat for $5. They're serving pancakes, sausages, bacon, muffins, juice and coffee. Take the family and have a great breakfast, see some of your neighbors, and contribute to this annual fund raiser for the Cabot Volunteer Fire Department. These folks do a remarkable job and we wouldn't want to be without them.

I'm sure most of you know that Memorial Day - or Decoration Day, as it was originally known - began after the Civil War to honor the dead of both north and south, and was to be observed on May 30th. When I was in school Decoration Day always meant that we would prepare a short program that parents would come to watch and sometimes we'd walk to the Plains Cemetery. I remember once riding in the back of a stake-body truck to Danville and joining with other students there for a program and a visit to Danville Cemetery. We all had small flags and flowers to place on the graves of soldiers. Eventually it became known as "Memorial Day" and is now observed on the last Monday of May to give people a nice long weekend. It doesn't matter what day it's observed, the important thing is that we take some time to honor the men and women who have served our country. Many people mark the day by putting flowers on the graves of their loved ones - simply a day of remembrance for all who have passed. There will be picnics and parades, and summer will officially begin.

Another sign of summer is yard sales. Here's a special invitation to stop by one here at Joe's Pond. Jack and Collette Dente are having a yard sale Saturday (tomorrow) and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at their camp at 3504 Rt. 2 West. That's on the middle pond and Collette says come "by land or by sea." Among other things, they have an aluminum raft, kayak, indoor/outdoor furniture, housewares, tools, books, puzzles, a hammock and an air conditioner for sale. Some items are brand new and the used items are in really good condition, Collette said. Sounds like a sale you don't want to miss.

Have a lovely and safe holiday weekend. I hope to see some of you at the Joe's Pond Association Spring Meeting tomorrow - 10 a.m. at the pavilion.

We've had another beautiful day here at Joe's Pond. This picture was taken today - pretty typical of a summer day here. It was not as hot as it has been, but warmer than usual for late May. I think we are at least two weeks ahead of "schedule." We noticed on our way to Waterford (VT) last night a farm on Rt. 18 was well into haying. The director of CoCoRaHS, Nolan Doesken in Colorado, writes in his latest newsletter that out there they are about two weeks behind and are just now getting lilacs. They have also been having some harsh weather with severe hail storms.

We were in Waterford last evening to attend a Spring Concert at the Waterford Elementary School where our granddaughter, JoAnn is in fifth grade. Everyone did a very nice job and we enjoyed the hour and a half program. There were skits and drills, dancing and rhythm routines. In this picture, JoAnn (middle) and two classmates do a jump-rope routine. All the students seemed to enjoy being "on stage." KATV filmed the concert and you can hear and see it by going to www.katv.org". Click on "Video on Demand" on the menu at the top of the page and you'll find the Waterford concert along with others.

As we were leaving, we noticed the huge thunderclouds to the south and west of us. As we were driving home, we could see strong lightning in the western sky and later on heard about the severe storms that rumbled through Rutland County and through the southern part of the state.

There was a big fire yesterday at what used to be the Bellevance Farm on the road to Cole's Pond in Walden. One of the big barns burned to the ground and 160 head of cattle perished in the fire. Very sad. The farm is now apparently owned by Mike Michaud. We stopped there to see the alpacas they keep. Fortunately, they were in pasture so weren't hurt by the fire.

Don't forget, Joe's Pond people - Saturday is Spring Meeting at the pavilion, 10 a.m. We hope to see everyone there.

From Sue LaGue: I have been on a mission to try to get rid of this red lily beetle that has migrated north. Being an avid gardener, I hate to see all the Asiatic and Oriental lilies (includes tiger and Easter lilies too) get decimated by this bug eating it and then the larvae in a brown gooey mess killing the plant. Walter has hundreds of lilies that are that type, on a stem, not the grass leaf day lilies. I am trying to play catch up to help save Walter’s lilies by using this product with Neem oil that is natural but deters the beetles. The other product I heard people use is milky spore, but it’s more effective to kill the grub form when the beetle hibernates. So if any people have these lilies, squish those bugs and put Neem on. More severe insecticides can work but may be too harsh for the plant or environment. I wouldn’t recommend buying these plants either though I see them mostly in the larger stores. Most small nurseries know the problem and won’t sell them.

The Granite Center Garden Club in Barre is having their annual plant sale on Friday, May 28^th at the Granite Museum, 6:30 to 10 AM so that is why I am here to finish up my potting and plants for the sale. Lots of different plants at good prices, so if there are any gardeners willing to go to Barre, it’s worth it. Just go early. Thanks.

This just came from Carolyn Hamilton --

ABIGAIL CAROLYN ELIZABETH HAMILTON

MAY 25, 2010 12:55AM

9LBS 4 OZ

21-1/2 INCHES

PROUD PARENTS

ROGER AND HEATHER HAMILTON

PROUD GRANDPARENTS

NED AND CAROLYN HAMILTON

FOR PHOTOS LOOK ON FACEBOOK UNDER ROGER HAMILTON

Thanks for sharing the good news, Carolyn. Roger and Heather certainly chose a pretty name for their new baby girl. Congratulations to parents and grandparents!

Good Morning!
Did you miss us? We dashed off to Maine on Sunday to attend the funeral of our friend in York. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and in spite of the sad circumstances, for us it was particularly interesting to be there in May and find things so very busy. The weather has been kind to the beach area and beaches were busy when we arrived on Sunday afternoon.

On the way through Bretton Woods area, we came upon a long line of cars alongside the road. A young moose was trying to get some lunch in the brushy marsh area, and he looked like he could use a good meal! He was distracted by all the onlookers and finally gave it up and wandered back into the brush out of sight.

We stopped at Jonathan's, a small restaurant on Rt. 16 outside of Conway and our car thermometer was reading something like 81 degrees. As we continued through Rochester, N.H. and the into the Berwicks in Maine, it dropped slightly to the high 70's, but as we came closer to the coast, the temperature was suddenly in the 50's. We could see a dark fog bank over the water all along the shore. It was about 3 o'clock and there were some spots without fog, particularly along the beach areas, but the points of land jutting into the ocean were obscured by the fog.

The beach at Short Sands where our hotel was, was crowded with people, some in the water. At Long Beach where were surfers and more swimmers. We have never seen that many people around York in May. It was nearly as busy as mid-summer, when we never go there! However, everyone seemed to disappear Sunday evening and Monday was pretty normal, with only a few locals walking the beach or running along the paths.

On Sunday we took one of our favorite walks to the Nubble Lighthouse. From our hotel it is probably a little over a mile, and we have usually had to bundle up against the cold winds, but this time were were really hot. It was tempting to stop at Brown's Ice Cream Parlor, but we resisted, wanting to save our appetite for a nice seafood dinner a little later on at Cape Neddick Lobster Pound and Restaurant, a favorite spot.

The Nubble parking lot was packed and there were people everywhere. We went again before leaving the area on Monday, and there were only the usual three or four cars with people sipping coffee and reading their morning papers, apparently a favorite quiet place to go for their morning coffee. We had a nice breakfast at another favorite stop, Lobster Cove Restaurant, and then headed off to say goodbye for the last time to our dear friend, Polly, stopping for a moment at the little York Harbor beach where I used to play when I visited as a child.

There was a small group at the graveside service, all good friends of Polly and her late husband, Chester. We met people we'd heard her speak fondly of often, and found many were had been recipients of the Cabot cheese we used to bring to Polly when we visited in the fall. It was a congenial group - we all had stories to tell - but there was an undertone of sadness that our sometimes eccentric friend was gone. Someone will buy the lovely property with the little house she and Chester had purchased from Sears, Roebuck Company back in the 1940's, and it will all change. They'll tear it down or change it, and few will remember the love and care Chet and Polly gave it. They had no close relatives; but they had close friends. This is a picture of Polly and Chet's house. It is several miles from the bustle of the beaches, set in a wooded area overlooking York River in the distance. They loved this spot.

After the service, everyone met at "Norma's" where, at Polly's instructions, there was a nice luncheon for us. Typically, she had, several years earlier, made explicit instructions with the funeral director - another friend - even picking the person who would speak, a local veterinarian. Owen and his wife, Margaret, were both dear friends and Polly knew Owen would do a the job perfectly. She was right on with all the arrangements, and none of us was surprised.

We stopped briefly at Fred's brother Tom's in Laconia, N.H., and although Tom and Ellie urged us to stay for a meal, we were both tired and anxious to get home, so we continued on. We arrived home around 6 p.m. Woody was happy to see us, but I think we were happier to see him and to get home. We'd been awakened at the stroke of 6 a.m. by bulldozers on the beach across the road from our hotel, and that made a really long day for us with everything considered.

If you've made it this far reading the blog, here is a slide show of where we were in York:

Slides, York, Maine

Here's an announcement from Deb Stresing:

Weds. May 26th
DANVILLE COMMUNITY CLUB ANNUAL METING

6pm Potluck dinner, 7pm Business Meeting

at the West Danville Methodist Church

Bring a dish, bring a friend & help plan for summer 2010.

Membership $5 ind. , $10 family

PS The Beach gate will open Weds. May 26th.

I also want to mention that I'll be working with some of the ladies doing census taking around the pond. This is a particularly difficult area because so many places are seasonal, so I'll try to help them verify who is where. You may receive a phone call this week from one of the workers: Claudette Swett, Karen Moran, or Kim Merriam. I'm meeting Kim this afternoon.

We have another nice day, finally. This morning things looked a little doubtful and while we were at the JPA board meeting, the heavens opened up and we had quite a downpour. It didn't last very long, and although it was cool all morning, this afternoon has warmed up nicely with temperatures registering well into the 70's.

I had a call from Vinnie Calcagni when I got back from the board meeting. He and his friend, Dalton Routhier, were out fishing this morning about in front of Homer Fitts' cottage and caught a very nice brown trout. It measured 20 inches and weighed in at 4 lbs. 3 oz. Dalton said Vinnie caught the big fish and he netted it for him. Vinnie said his brother caught a big Northern Pike last year - a fish these fishermen would rather not have in Joe's Pond because it will eat other, smaller game fish. That's Vinnie in the plaid shirt holding the fish, and pal Dalton in the John Deere shirt.

As we were leaving, Vinnie and Dalton were gathering their gear getting ready to go out again - that's them leaving the dock, and we headed for Blanche Lamore's birthday party.

The vestry at the Cabot church was nicely decorated and there were already a dozen or so people there when we arrived. Blanche wasn't there yet, but within a few minutes she came in. I asked her if she was surprised and she said she knew they were going to do something, but she didn't know what. She was presented with a pretty corsage and there were lots of cards, flowers and a couple of hanging plants for her. She seemed very pleased to be so honored. Blanche's 98th Birthday

As we were leaving, we saw our road commissioner, Larry Gochey. Larry just had a hip replacement about three weeks ago. He said he's doing very well and it is a big relief not to have the pain. We're glad he's feeling better. That's Larry with a neighbor heading into the church for the party.

Which reminds me, I saw Sam Lewis today and he's doing well after his recent operation, too, and said he will certainly be at our spring JPA meeting. Cyndi Rouleau, who had a hip replacement like Larry, is doing very well, too. We are happy our friends are feeling better and will be able to enjoy what may turn out to be a very nice summer, if this spring weather is any indication.

Of course, it's still not too late to have a frost . . . ! I was talking with Dot Therrien at the party and she was saying it's risky to start a garden too soon, but like most of us, having such nice weather makes one really want to get those seeds in the ground. I think some are ok, but as a rule you gain very little by planting too early. Better to wait until the ground has really warmed and there's little danger of a hard frost. My peas are doing nicely, though, and I'll plant another row in about a week. I need to get lettuce and radishes in, too - and some of the slower root veggies. Since everything seems to be early this year, why not plant your garden early?

This message came yesterday:

We will be spending a week at Joe's Pond. June 25 to July 2. The cottage at our disposal has no boat. I am interested in renting a row boat while staying at the Pond. Thanks

Sincerely,
Paul Rosenbaum
pretdesign@videotron.ca
514-684-6034

We've had a busy day today. We took advantage of the nice weather - really NICE! - and walked early this morning. Things are pretty quiet along W. Shore Road, but each time we walk there we notice signs that someone has returned for the summer. We worked outside this afternoon. Fred ran through the chipper the limbs from one of our cedar trees that had been broken by the heavy snow we had a couple weeks ago and I did a quick weeding in the flower beds and used the chips as mulch. It always smells so good, especially since most of it was cedar. That and the fragrance from the apple trees was just about as "lovely a spring essence" as you could imagine.

We had a fun time last night. We went with Bill and Diane Rossi to the Tamarack Grill at Burke Mountain. The bar was lively but we had the dining room to ourselves and enjoyed looking out at the ski slopes and watching the bikers coming down off the mountain trails. Diane very much wanted to show us the moon as it comes up over the mountain, but we didn't see it and Rachel, our waitress, said we'd just missed a beautiful double rainbow. We were on the wrong side of the lodge to see the sunset fully, but it was lovely shining through the big windows onto the folks in the bar. When we were leaving, we saw the moon high in the sky above us. Very nice, even though we'd missed it as it came up. It wasn't dark when we left, but we could hear the frogs singing in the meadow below the parking lot. This picture of Bill and Fred was as we were getting ready to leave.

Fred and I had been to Littleton to have the car serviced yesterday morning, and while that was being done, we walked over to Home Depot. It's always fun to go there even when you don't need anything. We picked up some new batteries for our solar pathway lights I put in the garden and found some LED ones that cost less than a package of new batteries! We got two of them to try out and when we got home Fred stuck them out on the lawn to charge. This morning we noticed one was tipped over and when I went to retrieve it I found the point that drives into the ground was broken off. Not only that, the light was smudged with dirt. Since they were on the lawn where there was no dirt, we concluded some good sized animal had investigated them during the night, knocked it over and broke it and then slobbered all over it. At least it wasn't chewed on. And tonight the new light works just fine in spite of getting some rough treatment.

That's me hunting for parsnip seeds. I haven't been able to find any in the regular seed racks. There was a huge selection of both vegetable and flower seeds at Home Depot, but the closest I could come to parsnips was a packet of radish seeds with a picture of a long white root and description saying it tasted "a little like parsnip." I passed on that. I want my radishes to taste like radishes, and I'll keep looking for parsnips.

I had a nice note from a cousin in California today. She told me her husband, my cousin Foster Bolton, just celebrated his 90th birthday and they had an open house thinking there would be only a few people, but about 48 showed up. They had a great time and he was really pleased. It's been probably 15 or more years since I've seen them, but Foster grew up in Cabot. He was the son of Raymond and Maidene (Walbridge) Bolton and has a younger sister, Marilyn, still in Vermont. Marilyn and her husband, David Perrin, are the ones who just published a book about the friendship quilt they came across in North Dakota a few years ago that had originated here in Cabot.

Which reminds me, Blanche Lamore's birthday open house is tomorrow afternoon from 3-5 at the church. Blanche is 98. Also, the Joe's Pond Association board meeting is tomorrow morning at the pavilion at 10 a.m. If anyone wants something you want on the agenda, let me know - or better yet, come to the meeting. Spring meeting for all members is next Saturday, the 29th.

Cabot Fire Dept
Annual Pancake Breakfast
All you can eat!!
Pancakes, sausage, Bacon, Muffins, Coffee, Juice and good company
MAY 30 2010
7:00 am - 11:00 am
Cabot School Cafeteria
$5:00 per person

Our nephew, Dean, sent pictures of our new grand nephew, Ben. I picked out one I really like to show you. Ben was born on May 12 and weighed in at a little over 8 1/2 lbs., and 22 in. "tall." He's been back home for a few days now and his Aunt Jenny is visiting. This is Ben with his sister, Hannah, and Aunt Jenny. He looks a bit worried, and I suppose he's a little confused by all the attention he's getting in this new and unfamiliar world he's suddenly in.

Another lovely day and temps in the 70's. We have a nice breeze, but our black fly population is still with us.

This morning Fred and I walked before breakfast and he took a picture of the piece of dock that was floating in the pond last fall. We secured it on the waterfront between the Clarke/Furloni and Talbert cottages on West Shore Road, and since it is still there we thought perhaps if we post a picture someone might recognize it and come and get it. It appears to be upside down, but is in good condition.

I had an e-mail from our neighbors, John and Liz Randall, with a picture of their daughter, Lauren, who just graduated from College. They have had a graduation each of the past three years - Lauren's brothers, Jason and Matt graduated at Lyndon State here in Vermont in 2008 and 2009 respectively, and Lauren from Keene State in New Hampshire this year.

Here's the announcement of her graduation:
On Saturday, May 8, 2010 Lauren Elizabeth Randall was awarded her Batchelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Keene State College, Keene, New Hampshire.

Lauren is the daughter of Elizabeth (McDowell) and John F. Randall of Miller Place,NY and Joe's Pond, Cabot, VT.

Lauren is a 2006 graduate of Miller Place High School, Miller Place, NY.Immediately following graduation, Lauren, with 12 students from the KSC Biology Club, will take a Trip to the The Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.


Congratulations to Lauren - good job! To John and Liz - if you haven't already gone through the "empty nest" stuff, I'm sure you will, but now that all three kids are grown up, perhaps you'll have more time to spend in Vermont!

This is getting to be a very nice habit, reporting that we have another beautiful day! This picture is of the sky this morning as the sun was coming up. Today has been exceptional as far as sunshine and comfortable temperatures are concerned. But I have to say, the black flies here at Joe's Pond are about as bad as I've ever seen them. We stopped for a few minutes to talk with son, Bob, who was raking the lawn at camp and we were immediately attacked, even in the car. The cold weather must have given them a boost and each time we get a frost and then a warm spell, there's a whole new hatch. Other than those pests, it's really nice here and I think all our friends who leave in the winter should plan to get back a.s.a.p.

I received the following today:

Dear Friend, This Friday (May 21st) my Relay for Life team is sponsoring a Yard Sale in hopes of making a little cash for the American Cancer Society. We are having it on Hill Street in Danville, during the 'Paint the Town Purple" hours, and with any luck, the weather will cooperate. Come and pick over our select assortment of rare & unusual 'crap' and make us an offer we can not refuse...we'll take any within reason. I'm sure there is something amid all this stuff that you can not possibly live without! We will also have luminaries' for sale which make really beautiful tributes/memorials to anyone who has been affected by this terrible disease. We'll have stuff available so you can design your own if you wish, turning a $5. donation into a beautiful addition to the June festivities. Relay for Life is June 12th this year and we hope to raise some significant money. If you wish to make a donation to our team, please feel free to do so; it can be done on line as well as directly to me. And for those of you who have already donated, thank-you soooo very much for your support. This is a cause that is truly near & dear to my heart. Once again, thank you for your support both now, and in the past. Hope to see ya Friday! Sincerely, Smitty aka Dianne Langmaid

We're happy to let people know about this fund raiser. There's hardly a family that hasn't had some experience with cancer. Through research great progress is being made in treating and, hopefully, defeating this dreaded disease. The support and information offered to patients and families by the American Cancer Society is priceless, but it all costs money and this is a way we can help. Mark your calendar - Friday, May 21st, Hill Street in Danville.

Speaking of Danville, we went through on our way to St. Johnsbury this afternoon and things are looking great. Trees are in bloom, flower baskets are out - it's really pretty. This is Goodfella's Restaurant as we were coming down Dole Hill.

In St. Johnsbury, Main Street was very pretty, too. There are lots of ornamental trees along the upper end of Main Street, and all are in bloom. We even saw some lilacs out and we could smell them in a few places. I think this is pretty early for lilacs.
Back in West Danville, there was a brisk wind, as usual, but a great day to sit on the porch at Hastings Store and watch the traffic. There have been a lot of motorcycles around, especially on Rt. 15. Perhaps there's a rally some place, or maybe everyone who owns one just wants to take advantage of the nice weather.

In spite of summer-like weather during the day time, our nights have been close to freezing. Frost was forecast for last night, but we didn't get it here. Perhaps in some other spots, but here it went only to about 35-36.

Jamie and Marie's dog, Otto, learned a hard lesson yesterday. He is really only a puppy even though he's pretty big and gangling, and he had never come upon a porcupine before. Fortunately, the damage wasn't too bad, but they took him to a vet and she was able to find a couple of quills in his muzzle that weren't evident and would surely have given him a lot of trouble. As it is he had to have stitches where she had to cut to get the quills. We think he's smart enough to not go near one of those prickly things again, but you never know. Next will probably be an experience with a skunk. Woody's had that lesson already - he got a face full of spray a couple years ago, and it hasn't happened since, thankfully. We think he probably mistook the skunk for another cat and tried to chase it off. That was a hard lesson to learn for him and for us. That stuff is difficult to get rid of.

It's been a beautiful day here. There's been a strong wind out of the west, I think, although when I was outside this afternoon it seemed to change direction from time to time - but perhaps that is because we're sort of behind the hill and we get a back draft or something. Anyway, mostly it kept the black flies at bay - but they did pester some and I got at least one bite. I had the crocodile stuff on, and it worked fine until I'd perspired and I suppose it got diluted.

We went for a short walk this morning down W. Shore Road. There weren't any people out, but we did see a few folks going by in their cars. Perhaps they were headed out for breakfast at Bentley's. We've heard there have been waiting lines at both Bentley's (for breakfast) and last weekend at Woody's trolley (by the beach in W. Danville) during the day.

Fred is mowing the lawn now, and I'm in for the day. I took a break from my computer today - there aren't as many messages on weekends, so I can do other things. We've been cleaning up dead and broken branches from trees, and I did a little weeding. Sometime this week we'll chip up the branches for mulch. Now that Fred has mowed, I'll probably rake up some of the grass clippings for the garden, too. So far that has worked pretty well, but I have only planted the one short row of peas (which haven't done much!) so I have to wait and see how it goes to plant through the dried and decaying grass. I've noticed there are a lot of earth worms in the garden under the mulch, and I think that is a good sign.

You'll notice I had a comment on this page (on yesterday's entry) about humming birds. Thanks, Carol for letting us know you have had them for a while. And by the way, welcome back to Joe's Pond! I guess our hummers were just a little later than usual getting here, and maybe you'll have more as time goes on - and if there aren't too many storms for them to fly through.

We saw both a male and female at the feeder today, so I think everything is back to normal. There have been bumble bees around the apple blossoms, too, even though the blossoms aren't fully in bloom yet. Now if we could see a bat or two . . . our neighbor, Elizabeth, said she normally sees them around her house but there haven't been any this year. We don't often see them, but with all the black flies this year, I sure hope the bats are around.

Here is a picture of our apple blossoms. They are very fragrant when they are fully out. The ornamentals don't seem to have much scent, but they are pretty. The lilacs are budded, but it'll be a couple weeks before they are out, I think. I guess that's about right - usually around Memorial Day, if we're lucky.

Just had this message from Evelyn Richer:

Hi Jane ...

Just got a chance to visit your blog... and I noticed that you had the
same concern as I, about our little hummer... he's always here by the
10th... no later then the 12th... but we haven't seen him yet... our
females usually arrive a week later.  I have been concerned that
something might have happened to our 'early bird'... We do tend to have
several males show up after the females arrive... but that first guy is
not around yet... anyhow, on the 13th I found this site:

www.learner.org

I feel a little better... maybe he's one that got caught up in the wind
pattern and will be along soon... My feeders are ready... but I would be
interested to see if the female shows first...

Interesting stuff... Enjoy... Evelyn

Thanks, Evelyn, and I thought that web site probably explains why we hadn't seen the birds as early as usual. We actually spotted our first humming bird this noon time. He (I think it was a male) was sitting on the branch of a tree looking in one of our big windows where we normally have the feeder. Fred scrambled to get the feeder out, and now our little visitor is happily stocking up on sugar water. Glad we could oblige, little guy!

We took a ride this afternoon on some back roads in town we normally don't go on. I got mixed up on my dates and thought this was the afternoon for Blanche's birthday open house. It was correct, the 22nd, on the blog, but I didn't bother to check there, I just wrapped things up here in the office and we took off at around 3 o'clock. But since we were a week early, turned out we had a great little break from everything and enjoyed our short "trip" making a circle from Cabot to Lower Cabot and up W. Hill Pond Road, then at the Bothfeld farm took Churchill Rd. to Coit's Pond Rd. We followed Coit's Pond Rd. as far as the pond. If we had gone further on Coit's Pond Road we would have come to Nichol's Ledge. We used to be able to continue on to Nichol's Pond Road and come out in Hardwick, but I'm not sure that road is still used.

We really didn't want to end up in Hardwick today, so we back tracked on Coit's Pond Rd. to Houston Hill Road which took us to the hard-surfaced Walden Road and back to the village. From there we went up Rt. 215 towards Walden and at the top of the hill turned onto the Bayley Hazen Road that connects to Cabot Plains Road. While on the Plain, we noticed something in the field in back of the school house (now a private residence). Fred got some pictures with the zoom and it turned out to be a bear. From where we were and looking at the pictures, I think it was a pretty big one. We couldn't get any closer without going through wet grass and brambles, and it might not be such a good idea to chase a bear through the woods anyway. I nearly forgot, here's a slide show of our meanderings: Back Roads Trip, May 15, 2020

We just had a call from Tom and Ellie on their way back home from being with their new grandson and family. Tom promised to send photos of Ben and Hannah.

We had a call from Homer earlier this afternoon wondering what's up with all the loons on the pond. He said there were five in front of his place this afternoon. Perhaps Evelyn and Ray will have an explanation. I would guess there are some that stop off here on their way someplace else, but I don't know. I hope if they decide to hang out here for the summer it won't be a problem for our nesting pair.

Duty calls - it's time to get some food on the table. It will be traditional beans and hotdogs tonight. Isn't that what every true Vermonter has (or would like to have) on Saturday night?

We had a very nice day yesterday with our two neighbors. They particularly like the "99" restaurant in Littleton, so that's where we went. We had errands to do at Staples and Walmart, then stopped at McDonald's for ice cream. Back in St. Johnsbury, we stopped at White Market on Portland Street to pick up a few items.

The weather wasn't great, but not bad, either. By the time we got back home, around 4 o'clock, there was a little sunshine, but we needed a small fire to take off the chill during the evening. Today started off with some sunshine, but quickly changed and now we're having showers off and on, with a pretty solid cloud cover. The thermometer is reading 48 degrees and there's a brisk northwest wind.

Yesterday the black flies were vicious here when we dropped the ladies off. I don't expect that situation will change any time soon with all the wet weather. We'd hoped that since they arrived very early perhaps their season wouldn't be quite as long as usual, but that may not be the case. With a good wind, they don't bother as much; I guess they get blown off course.

We thought we saw a humming bird yesterday at Elizabeth's. We'll put our feeder out, just in case. Usually the ones that come here each year come to the big picture window as if to announce their arrival back and tell us to get out the feeder, but we haven't seen one here yet. It's past time, though - usually about May 10-12 we've seen them before. There are more flowers out than usual so perhaps they aren't that hungry for artificial food.

Our new grand nephew has arrived. Benjamin Dean Brown arrived on Wednesday evening. He and his parents, Sarah and Dean, are thrilled to have a little boy. He joins a big sister, Hannah, who is almost 3. Ben Brown is cute as can be - we've seen a video from Grandpa Brown - and will post some pictures after the family has had a chance to settle in at home and Hannah gets to know her baby brother a little.

Now I have a million things to do, so I'd better get busy.

Peter Dannenberg just let me know I had the date for the Cabot Historical Society meeting wrong - it's Sunday, May 23rd, not the 30th. Just means I have to hustle a bit more to get things done in time. Thanks to Peter for the heads-up on that.

Yesterday was a busy day, and we got a lot done. Fred is re-working the comments page on the web site. You'll notice a difference, I'm sure. If you have suggestions or if you have problems with the page (or any part of the web site) let us know. Send an e-mail directly to Fred at jpawebmaster@fairpoint.net

I, on the other hand, had more "projects" than I knew what to do with. I'm getting ready for the opening meeting of the Cabot Historical Society on May 23rd, which means I need to collect and list everything I've accomplished over the winter so I can not only get things back there for visitors to use, and I need to make a report at the meeting, too. Of course, our JPA spring meeting is coming right up, so there are certain things I'll need for the board meeting a week from Saturday and then for the regular meeting on the 29th.

By the way, does anyone have information on what will happen to the young maple leaves that were hit hard by frost about a week ago? Many of our young trees look as if the leaves are just going to wither and die. I have never seen this happen to this extent, and we're wondering if new leaves will eventually come or are these trees going to be mostly bare all summer? The good news is that our apple trees, both the ornamentals, the regular crab and the old "regular" apple, which might be a Dutchess - I've never really tried to identify the variety - are budded and going to bloom beautifully. The "regular" apple was a favorite of my parents, along with their Transparent apple tree, which somehow survived over the years in a clump of bushes and we never noticed until last summer. Then the bear got the apples before we did, so we still haven't had any benefit from having found that tree.

We were in St. Johnsbury early yesterday a.m., and of course stopped at the post office in W. Danville to pick up mail. Alyssa was there with her mom and dad and Grandpa Garey. She's such a sweetheart. Morris Burrington came in while we were there and remarked how much she resembled the Hasting children when they were little. That's true, but we think she favors her daddy a lot, too! She's holding a snack pack of cheese her mom gave her for saying "cheese" for the camera.

Fred got this picture of the penstock and brook below the dam. There's still a lot of water coming out of the pond over the dam, and we think they are still working on the penstock were there was a mud slide earlier in the spring, so none of the water is being diverted into the power plant. That makes the brook run higher than it does when the power plant is operating, using water from the penstock.

We haven't had a lot of rain lately, and almost no snow for about a week. Most of the brooks coming off the hillsides seem to be running pretty steadily, though, so there's plenty of water in the ground.

We're going out to lunch in Littleton with Louise and Elizabeth today to celebrate Louise's 92nd birthday. We've been going out for birthdays for a while now. They are pretty well spaced, Fred's in January, Louise's in May, Elizabeth's in July and mine is in October. We always make stops at other places such as Home Depot, Walmart or any other place along the way, so we pretty much make a day of it. I need to get going and make my CoCoRaHS report (.07 in. of precipitation in the past 24 hours) and do a few other things before we leave.

This came this morning from Evelyn Richer:
Hi again...

Sorry, but I forgot to let you know that the loons are sitting on two
eggs... They seems to have followed a past pattern... I always remember
the dates best by recalling that the eggs arrive by Mother's Day and the
chicks by Father's Day... They are right on track.

Again, we ask that everyone be respectful of their space.  They are
having all they can do to deal with the Canada Geese... They are so
active in the cove this year... but the loon is sticking to the nest
despite the geese' curious manner... Also we had a 'fly over' yesterday
by a mature bald eagle.  It was only about 75 feet above the nest... I
was in my garden out front and heard the loon call, thinking it was
signaling the mate to come to relieve her of her duty, but then I saw a
huge shadow cross my garden... upon looking up, I saw this wonderfully
huge 'glider' overhead!  He was looking straight down at me... he circled
the nest twice and then soared off over the pond... never flapping
once... it always gives me chills to see a large bird that close! I could
look into its eyes!! He was gorgeous!! (yeh, no camera at hand either, it
was only a 'Kodak Moment' I will keep in my memories)

Thanks... Evelyn

That must have been almost heart stopping. My first thought when I read Evelyn's e-mail was that the eagle was searching for a meal. I went on line and found this web site: Eagles Depends on how hungry he is, I guess. Hopefully he'll stick to fishing.

Homer Fitts let us know he's going to be at the pond for the rest of the week until Monday when his daughter, Sue, here from Salt Lake for her niece's wedding last Saturday (Homer's son, Doug's daughter) , will be flying home to SLC. We have nice weather today and pretty good for the rest of the week, too, so I'm sure Sue will enjoy her time at Joe's Pond with her dad.

Our CoCoRaHS coordinator in northern Colorado wrote in his newsletter last night they were getting a heavy, wet snow and had at least three inches at around midnight. Other areas of the country are getting unusual weather patterns, too, tornadoes, heavy rain and flooding or draught conditions, so I guess we in Vermont can be thankful our weather is simply acting like some spoiled child that can't decide whether to behave or act out.

Fred has gone to recycle and to help our neighbor update her computer. She has a birthday coming up on Friday and she'll be 92. In some ways she's like Blanche, (earlier blog) but there's one big difference. While Blanche has traveled more than a lot of folks, she was born and brought up in a very rural, unsophisticated Vermont community. Our neighbor was born in Europe where she lived her first 12 years, grew up and worked in New York City and has traveled extensively in Europe and U. S. The important likeness is that both are independent and self-sustaining, despite or because of their backgrounds. Maybe it's in the genes.

Such a pretty day today. Fred and I walked on W. Shore Rd. before breakfast and it was pretty chilly, but as the day progressed, it became better. I was working in my garden late this afternoon and there was still a chill in the air. We are concerned about our young maple trees, though. I thought a sunny day like today might perk them up, but tonight they seem to be just as shriveled and withered as they were this morning. Other trees didn't seem to be bothered much by the frost last night.

The water in the ditch at the end of our driveway was frozen over, but things warmed up quickly under the bright sunshine. At around 3 a.m. this morning the temperature here was 27 degrees - not as cold as predicted, but cold enough to do damage, at least to these tender leaves. They are not only curled, but have that transparent look like lettuce that's been frozen.

More people are getting here - Phil and Joyce Rogers, Sandy and Bill Ricker on our side of the pond. There are no doubt others we haven't seen yet and don't know about. The JPA board meeting is coming right up on the 22nd and spring meeting will be on the 29th, and usually there are a lot of people back by then. The first meeting of the season is always fun, even though seeing those beautifully sun-bronzed individuals makes us northerners feel pretty pale by comparison. If the weather doesn't behave better than it has lately, they may wish they'd delayed their home-coming, though.

I saw in the paper tonight that my friend, Blanche Lamore, is turning 98 soon. Blanche lives by herself, and although she no longer drives, she is still very active in the church, our historical society, Fall Foliage, and half a dozen other organizations in town. She loves to fish and has a couple of fishing buddies who take her a few times during the summer, plus she went ice fishing this winter. What she catches she keeps, cleans and puts in the freezer. When she's at home, she's busy every minute crocheting, quilting or baking, and she'll have a good sized garden this summer, planting and taking care of it herself so she'll have a good supply of food for winter. She looks forward every fall to berry picking and puts up preserves.

Blanche learned to hunt and trap as a child with her father. She went to school, grew up, married, and raised her family all right in Cabot and she is no stranger to hard work. For Blanche, "working out" means keeping house or caring for children for someone else to help pay her bills, and she did that well into her 80's. She's about four feet tall and weighs probably not much over 100 lbs., if that, but we all admire Blanche for her strength, stamina and perkiness, and especially her down-home values and we marvel that even at 98 she can outdo people half her age working a church supper or other event.

There is to be a surprise open house at the church on Saturday, May 22nd, from 3-5. Blanche will love every minute. She'll enjoy seeing old friends, and even if you don't know her, you should drop by and meet her. She's what you can truthfully call a "real Vermonter."

Coolish day today. Bright sunshine, but that wind was right off an ice cap, I swear. It was better than yesterday's weather, though. The auction at Point Comfort was yesterday and it must have been really uncomfortable, but there was a good turnout, we understand. Not the best presentation when the weather is so miserable. Fred spoke with Joe Turner today and here's what happened.

There were some bids during the auction, but nobody met the minimum bid. The auction ended and the auctioneer talked privately to those who had bid and as a result, two of the cottages were sold, a one-bedroom and a three-bedroom. There were seven units for sale, so there are still five available this year. Point Comfort will continue to rent the unsold cottages this summer.

A condo association has been established that will regulate fees for lawn mowing, care of the road, etc. Yearly fees will be $300 - $400 for each condo owner. No new septic system will be built until one of the present systems fails, then each of the eventual 14 condo owners will share equally the expense of a new septic system.
New condo owners can do as they like with the condo. For instance, they can tear down the present building and build a new one. However, some restrictions will apply such as clapboard siding can be used, but not vinyl. Joe said taxes on each condo will be about $900 - $2,000 per year. This is lower than a typical property on Joe's Pond.

It is our understanding that Hirchak Company has the real estate listing until sometime in July. Joe didn't say what will happen then, but if anyone is interested in one of the condos they should get in touch with Joe Turner, 802-684-1010. It will be interesting to see what happens once each of those cottages are individually owned. They have always been similar in design and color. At right is an old photo from Phil Rogers' post card collection taken in the 1930's or 1940's of the Point Comfort cottages. To see the cottages in the Hirchak ad, Click Here

I was scanning old photos today for the Cabot Historical Society and came across this one I instantly recognized as the railroad station at West Danville as seen from the pond. I don't know who the young lady is in the photo, but she may be one of the Smith girls who lived in Lower Cabot. I'm guessing the date would have been about 1924. It's hard to tell what she's sitting on, but it may have been some sort of dock as the water is right in front of her. This might have been when Perley Pressey, of Danville, was station agent. I'd need to check my files to verify that. I'll be adding this picture to my collection of West Danville/Joe's Pond photos.

There will be a hard frost tonight and any tender buds will no doubt take a hit. This might do in much of the apple crop. The new leaves on our maple trees look a bit strange we noticed today - curled up as if trying to protect themselves from the cold. I picked a few daffodils again today, but the ones that are left are beginning to look a bit bedraggled. Many of them have gone by, but there are one or two bunches that survived the snow and were still perky today. Maybe not tomorrow, though. The lilacs have buds, like the apple trees, and they may make it if the temperature doesn't get too low. I think the forecast is for a drop into the teens. Way too cold for the middle of May.

We've had snow flurries all day, but the temperature got high enough so all that was on the ground melted and we're back to lush green except for a little on trees, roofs, etc. Really unfriendly weather, though.

Bill and Monika took us to a Japanese Steakhouse in West Lebanon, NH last night. It was a fun experience, with the chefs cooking in the dining room. The food was excellent, and we enjoyed it a lot. Bill, Monika and JoAnn have been there several times and wanted us to try it. Portions were huge, and we had leftovers for our lunch today.

We got to the restaurant at 5:30 and there were only a few people there, but it filled up rapidly and by the time we left, it was very busy with several chefs putting on their show as they cooked for the customers.

On the way home, we were traveling into a rain storm, just before sundown and caught a lovely rainbow - actually, another double one, but it didn't show up in our photos as well as the one over Joe's Pond last week. We had left home at around 3 p.m. and it was raining then, but the weather in the Upper Valley was clear while we were there.

Bob and Theresa came today with treats for us, so Mother's Day spanned three days. My waistline will need several days to get back to normal, but it's all been a lot of fun.

I hope you are watching the changing news headlines and links on home page. Fred posts late news items every day that we think will interest some of you who don't get the local papers. Sometimes they are just about something we think is interesting and want to share.

We're awaiting the birth of Fred's brother Tom's second grandchild. Tom and Ellie got back from Colorado about two weeks ago and are now in Connecticut where their son Dean and his wife, Sarah, are expecting their second child any day. Their daughter, Hannah, will be three in November, and I expect she will be excited to have a baby brother or sister.

I can hear Fred splitting the wood for tonight's fire. We've kept a slow fire in the stove all day, but the thermometer is slipping downward again, about 32 degrees after a high of about 37, and we expect it will be a chilly night, so he will need a little more wood than normal. According to the forecast, there isn't going to be a warm up all week. This is the kind of spring weather we should have had in April, when we had unusually warm weather. The extremes are hard to keep up with, but we're keeping a good supply of wood on hand and haven't put away our winter garb yet.

By the way, today was the day of the auction of the condo units at Point Comfort. We'll try to get information tomorrow as to how it went.