We are in the process of getting 3-6 inches of new snow - depending on when you get a weather report. The forecast started off at something like 6-9 inches, and on the scanner I'm hearing the guys on the road crews saying we've had "an inch or so" in most areas, and the storm warnings have been taken off reports. Those guys seem to think there won't be much more snow. It seems to me the temperature is inching upwards, so it may all turn to rain soon. The thing they are watching out for is that roads will get slick, so they are salting the roads. Right now my thermometer reads 30 degrees and it's is snowing lightly.

I was at Hastings Store this morning on my way to Danville town offices to check property transfers for the newsletter, and Garey told me Hazel Greaves (Barre Ave. and Walden) had emergency surgery over the weekend, but is doing well.

Garey also told me the latest report he's had about the thickness of the ice is that it is between 16 and 18 inches. That's down considerably from the 24-30 in. we'd had reported about two weeks ago. No surprise, though, with lots of warm days melting the snow on the hills, rushing warm(ish) water into the pond.

We are thinking Ice-Out ticket sales may be down a bit from where they were last year at this time - but we need to remember that last year we got spring weather earlier and we didn't have nearly as much snow as we have this year, and this year it still seems like winter even though there are only 10 days left before the contest closes. That said, I just checked back and on March 24, 2010, Kevin Johnson reported 32 in. of ice, but there was hardly any snow on the ground. The more information I gather from previous years, the more confused I get. It's very difficult to figure out why the ice went when it did even in the past, let alone try to guess when it's going out this spring. Lots of people are holding onto their tickets or delaying buying them until the last possible moment. Can't fault them for that!

I spent yesterday afternoon working on the computer with granddaughter, Jo-Ann, designing an invitation to her 13th birthday party. We had a great time doing it, and they were pretty cute. She's having 24 kids - everyone in her class at school and two friends she calls "cousins" from Norwich - and the girls will all be sleeping over. I didn't ask how many girls there would be, but I can only imagine the bedlam. Fortunately, boys don't have sleepovers - or at least mine never did until they were old enough to camp out in the woods. But we had a garage at camp that served as a summer dorm, and it was often filled to overflowing with somewhat grubby teenage boys sprawled between drums, keyboards and guitars.

We had corned beef and cabbage - really an old fashioned "boiled dinner" with potatoes, turnips and carrots. I got the corned beef at Hastings Store and it was really excellent. It was a risky choice to serve Monika and Jo-Ann because I was pretty sure they'd never had anything like that. Although they had never had beef that way, they both said they liked it. Jo-Ann wasn't too keen on the turnip, but she tried cabbage the way I like it, with a little vinegar on it, and came back for more. We didn't have much left over, so that's a good indicator. Leftovers are on the menu tonight.