Another cold morning at Joe's Pond. The thermometer is climbing, but the sun seems to be clouding over. Can't have everything, I guess. We got another half inch of snow, and I just heard on the scanner some places are getting snow this morning, too.

Bill Rossi panicked yesterday when his Kubota broke down. Now is not a good time to have a finicky snow blower. He was lucky that they were able to pick up the machine right away and got it back to him late yesterday afternoon, so he's all set again.

Yesterday was pretty cold, but warmed up with the sun. I took this picture around 3 o'clock - see the fisherman? He was sitting between the big island and the mainland.

We went to St. Johnsbury yesterday afternoon - enjoying the ride down with the sun on the snow-covered trees - just beautiful. I'd made cookies in the morning and we wanted to see our friends who live at St. Johnsbury Health and Rehabilitation Center, so we took a little bag of cookies to each and spent some time with them. One dear lady, a friend originally from St. Albans, had a dreadful cough - she said she'd had a cold for about a week; our friend, Inda, was perky as could be and we had a good chat. We saw a couple who are temporarily there, and a neighbor from when my kids and I lived in St. Johnsbury.

Our granddaughter Jo-Ann was playing basketball in Waterford, Vt. last night, so we stopped by the Waterford gym to watch the game. The fifth and sixth grade girls were playing Gilman. Some of the girls on both teams were no bigger than a pint of cider, but they were really good - fast and feisty. We learned they start playing when they are in third grade, so some of them have had literally years of practice. This is Jo-Ann's first experience playing basketball. I guess it isn't a popular sport in Namibia, but she's getting the hang of it and likes playing. That's Jo-Ann, #31. At these games, everyone gets a chance to play, and we noticed the referees and coaches are exceptionally good with these kids. By the time they get to high school, they'll have had a lot of good training.

We were surprised at how much fun it was to watch and enjoyed the game very much. The gym is relatively small, but the bleachers were packed and everyone had a good time backing their team.

We went from there (the game was at 5 o'clock) to Littleton to return a light fixture at Home Depot where it wasn't busy at all, we made a quick stop at Walmart where it was super busy. I couldn't believe the amount of merchandise going through the checkouts. After a really long wait in line to check out our few purchases, we hit McDonald's for a quick fish sandwich and a coffee for me on the way home.

Woody (our cat) was really glad to see us. He was asleep when we left, so when he woke up at around 5 o'clock expecting Fred to be there to feed and brush him but found himself alone, he worried. Woody likes to have his dish kept pretty full. He has only dry food, and when it gets so he can see the bottom of his dish, he begins to pester for someone to fill it up. Lots of times he'll pester, watch us fill the dish and then walk away without touching it. It's as if he just wants to be sure there's going to be enough there when he needs it.

These days he gets exercise by racing through the house and climbing around on the catwalks we have over the kitchen cupboards. He does not like going out when it's too cold, but will venture out as soon as the temperatures get into the mid 20's or so - but doesn't stay very long.