The building site on Sandy Beach Rd. was humming with activity this afternoon when we walked by. Then, a couple houses up the road, we saw Jack LaGue was at his place and stopped to talk. Jack is getting everything cleared away so the existing cottage can be taken down. He showed us the plans for the new house - compact and very neat. It will be on the existing foundation, but with much more efficient use of space. He expects it to be closed in in about a month and ready for him and Sue by spring. Really nice what they're planning for it. Jack said they will give year around living at Joe's Pond a try, but they may find it's not quite their cup of tea. We'll try to start them off with an easy winter in 2011-12.

I had this nice note from Homer today:

GREAT 10-10-10 !

WE HAD 18 HERE FOR DINNER. MARGARET DID A FANTASTIC JOB. THE GIRLS DID HELP SO MUCH THAT LAST NIGHT SHE WAS UP UNTIL AFTER 10 AND NOT TIRED.

IT WAS A BIRTHDAY DINNER FOR MY BIRTHDAY ( 84 ON WED. ) MY THREE CHILDREN, 4 OF THE 6 GRANDCHILDREN, -- SUE'S HUSBAND ERIC AND DAUGHTER KALLIE FROM SALT LAKE CITY, ELLEN AND CLIFF WITH THEIR TWO BOYS AND TWO FRIENDS OF DAVID FROM VILLANOVA, DOUG AND HIS DAUGHTER KAREN AND HER HUSBAND DENNIE,

ED AND MARY CORRIGAN, AND THE SURPRISE COUPLE, REV. BOB POTTER AND WIFE CHRISTINE FROM THE PEACHAM CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

THE SUN WAS OUT AND WE ENJOYED A PERFECT DAY.

SUE, ERIC AND KALLIE ARE HERE AT THEIR HOME NEXT DOOR FOR THE WEEK. I DID KNOW SUE AND ERIC WERE COMING. NOT KALLIE. THEY SENT KALLIE FIRST OFF THE PLANE AND IT FLOORED ME. WHAT A GREAT BIRTHDAY SURPRISE !

LOVE AND BLESSINGS TO ALL,

HOMER AND MARGARET

Happy Birthday to Homer!! I had no idea we are both Libras . . .

I had a nice note from Richard Gagne's sister today. She said she reads the blog regularly and appreciates the updates on Richard and Carmen's new home. The Gagne's grew up in St. Johnsbury and she said they had friends who had cottages here when they were growing up. I'm sure she's looking forward to visiting Joe's Pond again.

We went up to the Sousa farm this afternoon to try to find out when we might expect cell service to begin in our area, but there was only a farm hand there and he didn't know anything about the cell tower. Fred has tried off and on today to reach someone who might know, but so far no luck. He'll keep trying.

This is the view from the the Sousa farm. The wind was blowing like the dickens up there - as it usually is. I honestly cannot remember there ever being a day when there wasn't at least a breeze except perhaps for a brief period just before a violent electrical storm. We used to get about the worst storms imaginable when I was a kid. There are great ledges just under the surface of those hilltops and lightning used to literally bounce off them to trees, electric fences, utility poles, the buildings - and none of us ever got used to it. My grandmother would herd everyone into the parlor and we'd wait out the storm, thankful each time the buildings and animals remained unharmed. Too many times that wasn't the case. The farm house was hit several times and small fires started, and from time to time a cow standing too close to a tree or fence would take a hit. And neighbors' farms were very often struck and there would be little anyone could do to save them.

The storms are probably still as violent, although it doesn't seem as though they are as bad as I remember on the farm, and certainly fire protection is much better if a building is struck today; but I still really don't like thunder storms.