We're into a stretch of pretty nice weather.  We were at a cookout last night, and as soon as the sun went behind the trees, it was chilly!  Felt like late August, when there's a tinge of fall in the air.  Today is much like yesterday - bright sunshine, but the temperature isn't getting into the high figures.  I'm showing 75 degrees outside, which is just about perfect, in my estimation.  There's been a nice breeze - perfect Monday weather (for drying clothes, this being old-tradition wash day). 

We didn't go to the wine tasting event last evening, but we've been hearing very nice things about it.  If anyone took pictures, perhaps you could share them.  Send them to me at janebrown@fairpoint.net, and I'll put them on the blog.  We were told the new restaurant in Cabot, Butters, was one of the exhibitors.  I may have mentioned that we've been getting very good reports about them, too.  Cousin Ora and her friend, Kate, stopped in there for lunch on the Fourth and told me it was very nice - clean, bright, good food and excellent service.  Ora took this picture.  We are definitely going to give it a try - perhaps for Sunday brunch.

We had a very productive meeting of the Joe's Pond Association on Saturday.  The minutes have been posted on the website: JPA Minutes.

As you can see, the pavilion was all set up for the All-You-Can-Eat Ribs dinner (which was a success, too).  Members accomplished a lot of business, as you'll see in the minutes.  I was surprised that the recent very damaging storm of July 4th didn't come up at all at the actual meeting, but I'm sure individuals discussed the damage around the pond, as many properties were hit.   We posted pictures taken from the water showing how waterfronts were damaged, and some of the trees that were uprooted.  

We were fortunate that nobody was hurt.  The picture on the right is of the corner of North Shore Road and Clubhouse Circle, where a very large pine tree came down.  It's amazing how friends and neighbors pitch in to help in a situation like this.  People were grabbing their chainsaws and cutting up trees that were blocking the roads almost before the storm was over.  One older couple said they were still wondering who to call to remove a tree that had crashed over their lawn and driveway when they heard a chainsaw and realized a neighbor they really didn't know very well had noticed and was opening their driveway for them.  When you think about it, it's pretty scary to be without power, but when you also realize you also can't get out with your vehicle and nobody can reach you because roads are blocked, that's really frightening.  It's good we live where there are really helpful, generous people - good neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, we met our new neighbor, John Jenkens, who bought Jeff Downs' log cabin at the corner of Sandy Beach Road and West Shore Road.  He's a very nice young man who is a computer programmer at Vermont Fish and Wildlife.  I thought it was interesting that he brought two cats with him when he moved to Vermont from Colorado, and when he bought Jeff's place, he also sort of "inherited" Jeff's cat.  I think the cat's name is something like Goldie.  Anyway, when Jeff first came here, Goldie immediately began patrolling the neighborhood, and some of us thought she was a stray, but she was very comfortable being outside, even in pretty cold weather.  Apparently Jeff realized moving her to the intersection of Rt. 15 and Rt. 2 in West Danville would not be a good idea, and John agreed to keep her.  John says she is slowly becoming acclimated to him as her new care taker - but perhaps it'll be an even bigger adjustment for her to adapt to two other cats in her household, instead of just one dog, Jeff's Gracie.  John is interested in meeting his neighbors, so stop by and introduce yourself.

Don't forget the pulled pork dinner tomorrow night at the Cabot church, 5:30-7 p.m. - takeouts available.  No reservations are necessary, but if you need more information, check their notice on yesterday's blog, or call Marvey Domey at 426-3281.

Also, there will be more activities going on in Cabot on the weekend of August 11-12, which is Old Home Week there.  The Alumni Association meeting and luncheon and a Flea Market on the Common will be on Saturday; the historical society museum will be open from 1-3 p.m.; and there will be a special church service on Sunday, with a concert in the afternoon at 1 p.m.  I'll have more for you regarding all of this later on, but mark your calendars for that weekend.