Old habits are hard to break, so this morning Fred went down to get some "after pictures" of the Ice-Out. I put some of them into a slide show so you can see there's still a lot of ice left on the pond. However, historically, it will all be gone in another day or so. You can tell it is pretty mushy in most spots - all we need is some warm sunshine instead of cold rain or snow to finish it off.

Yes, we awoke to snow this morning. During the night we got an inch or so, but soon after daylight it was all gone. It's 40 degrees now, and the sun is trying to break through. The weather people this morning were saying Jay Peak got a foot of snow overnight, and some other areas nearly as much, depending on their elevation.

Today started off wet and raw, but now it looks as if it will be pretty nice. There were workers installing a new fence at Ned and Caroline Hamilton's tennis court this morning, but they didn't seem to mind the spitting snow and rain.

Yesterday was very busy here with e-mails and phone calls flying in all directions, all related to the Ice-Out. Today I will be settling down to finish off the Joe's Pond Association newsletter ready for printing, and then will update all the Ice-Out records I keep on my computer. We're gearing up for summer, looking forward to another great year with fine weather and good friends gathering to enjoy Joe's Pond.

Speaking of being busy, during all the activity yesterday we had John Hammer, our plumber working here. John was cutting pipes in the basement at one point, and our cat, Woody, got a little frantic. He's had a hard time adapting to all the workers we've had in and out this spring doing weatherization, etc.

Sunday was also hard on Woody with baby Tangeni here. She is crawling and pulling herself up to stand, and is very curious. Here she is with her mom and dad, exploring a basket chair just her size that her dad and two uncles had. She was fascinated by Woody and tried to catch up to him, squealing in piercing hi-pitched excitement whenever she got close. Woody, being used to a very quiet household, got pretty nervous and, even though he really loves to be around people, Tangeni was a bit much for him. He was able to stay out of her way and still managed to socialize with the adults, but I doubt he relaxed much until the family left.

Today, as a consequence of all his anxiety during the past several days, he's zonked out completely in my chair. We've been working around him - I swept the hearth and he didn't even wake up for that, his favorite activity - the TV was on, but nothing is going to prevent him from making up for all that tension.