I took down my perennial sweetpea vines today and uncovered this handsome fellow on the trellis.  I'm not sure what he is - I don't think I've ever seen a bug quite like him.  He wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere, but I'm sure he was surprised that his cover was blown.  He'd obviously been hiding out among the thick vines of the plant and maybe was shaken off as I pulled them away from the trellis.  I left the trellis in place to give him time to find another hiding place.  He looks like he's in the caterpillar family, and if so, I'm wondering what kind of butterfly he'll turn into.

Our weather has turned cooler, and that's a big relief.  We've had a little rain, but not enough to replenish the water table, I expect.  Even so, we're much better off than a lot of people in U. S. this year, and even though it seems as if we haven't had much rain, most of Vermont has had average rainfall this year.  Only the southeastern corner of the state is reported as unusually dry.  Here at Joe's Pond we've had long stretches of days without any rain, but then we've had heavy rain that adds up to about normal overall.

Within a few weeks we'll see a marked difference in the weather and all sorts of reminders that fall and winter are on the way.  We usually get a light frost along about the last week in September.  I used to count on our first snowfall during the first week of October, but that hasn't happened for a few years.  It's always interesting to see when snow first comes, though.  Here it comes on Cabot Plain and along Walden Heights first - then we begin to see is on the lower levels nearer the pond.  The frost is different - sometimes the higher levels don't get the frost that our valleys get.  

I'm noticing the bluejays are getting noisy now, and this morning there was a really big grasshopper on the lawn when I was out picking string beans.  I haven't heard crickets yet, but it won't be long before they're chirping away.  The sun dips behind the big spruces in back of our house a little earlier each afternoon.

Our neighbor is clear cutting around his house, and we're wondering if that will open up our view of the pond.  We won't be able to tell until the leaves are off because we have hardwood trees between us and his lot.  We don't have many very big spruces, though, so we might gain some view.  We're losing view across the road from our house every year, and don't expect those neighbors to take out any lumber right away.  In the meantime, we have trees of our own that we planted as a windbreak growing up quickly, so we may not have much of a view to the northeast.

Fred just sent me a link to a very nice article about Butters Restaurant in Cabot.  We enjoyed brunch there a few weeks ago, and recommend it.  I have their menu and was looking over their breakfast offerings - anything you can imagine, including oatmeal, pancakes, fruit cup, yogurt, french toast - even a breakfast burrito or hash 'n eggs.  Their dinner menu includes pasta, steak, and chicken and there's a kid's menu with things like mac and cheese, grilled cheese, and "chop-sue-wee."  Did I mention they serve beer and wine? 

Butters is open Wednesday through Friday for lunch and dinner 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for brunch.