The weather pattern lately seems to be hazy starts for each day, turning sunny, hot and sticky until mid to late afternoon when we get overcast and a few showers.  This morning I had just .01 inch of precipitation in my rain gauge, and that was mainly from afternoon showers yesterday.   We can't complain, I guess, temperatures are slightly higher than "normal" for the month, and things are still looking fairly green due to the frequent brief showers.

Diane Rossi sent this photo of Bill being taken for a ride by Bob Noyes in Bob's 1915 Model T Ford.  What a cool car!  We've often seen Bob taking it out for a spin along West Shore Road.  I think my father had a Model T, but it would have been a later model than Bob's - more like 1925 or so, and it was a coupe.  My father and his brother, Harold, traded a motorcycle they had repaired for the car - they were teenagers, still in high school.

I am scanning the material we used for the Cabot oral history book in 1999.  I may have mentioned this project before - but now I'm well into it and appreciating all the great material in these interviews.  The interviews were done mainly by Barbara Carpenter and Amanda Legare, largely on reel-to-reel recordings which were later transcribed.  Some of the interviews date back to the 1980s; then in the 1990s we began compiling the book from those transcriptions. Barbara, Amanda and I divided the material into "chapters" that included subjects such as doctoring, fires, schools, weather, transportation, etc., and went to work, picking material from dozens of interviews.  Although we ended up with over 200 pages of text and photographs, we weren't able to include every bit of pertinent or interesting information from those interviews.  We are hoping to make all of that available eventually - when I have finished scanning and we decide how to present the material.  In the meantime, I chug along.

We were out early this morning - well, early for ME!  We met Pam Hebert at the Fishing Access where she was meeting the people from Lycott Environmental Services who do the underwater search for problem aquatic plants.  The girls who were to do the search had just arrived when we got there, so Fred was able to get some pictures and I've put together a slide show.  You'll see Pam in one of the first photos, in shorts, and the two women who are doing the inspection, Joy (driving the boat) and Brittany.  We chatted with them for just a few minutes and found out they are from Massachusetts, but do lakes all over - kind of an interesting job, I would guess.  We didn't want to hold them up to find out more about them and their work.

Today is overcast with low-hanging clouds.  I took a picture just west of Danville as we were coming home, and there were wispy clouds wafting over the hillside above Joe's Brook.  It looks as if it might rain any minute, but so far so good.  I asked Joy and Brittany if a cloudy day would hamper their work, but they said not having bright sunshine is actually better for them as there are fewer reflections.

The rain started yesterday afternoon, just like the weather people said, and I got this picture of a very bright rainbow.  I had to search for it because it didn't show up where rainbows usually do in the afternoon.  We got only .24 in. of rain yesterday and overnight.  It rained very hard a couple of times, but the showers were brief.  But that was yesterday.  Today, no rainbows, and so far, no rain.

In Danville, work has progressed almost to an end on the road project.  There were workers installing the traffic signals when we went through this morning.  Elaborate things - far different than the old variety we used to see dangling overhead from a wire across the road.  Fred got a couple of pictures.  It seems they should serve to slow traffic considerably through town, and avoid problems coming off Hill Street or the Peacham Road, which sometimes could get a bit dicey.  There is a grade coming into Danville from the east, and stopping traffic there in the winter might be a problem on some days.  We'll see how that works. 

I picked up a flyer for the Fall foliage Festival which begins on Sept. 30 and runs through Oct. 5 this year.  We have the schedule on our website so you can find out which town is hosting each day.  Walden's day is Sept. 30; Cabot hosts on October 1.  Then Plainfield, Peacham, Barnet and Groton host in that order.  I predict there will be plenty of color by the end of September.  There is a hint of color on lots of hillsides now, and in another month, should be beautiful.

Marching Band on YouTube

Homer sent this link to a very nice presentation honoring the armed services of our nation.  It is the University of West Virginia Marching Band.  Take a look (with your speakers turned up); it is impressive!  Granted, it was filmed in 2011, but that doesn't diminish the impact.  Very nice, and thank you, Homer.

Muggy weather again today.  I worked outside late in the afternoon yesterday, and it was really HOT.  I got done most of what I had hoped, but would like to get outside again later today, when it has cooled down a tad.  In the meantime, I'm into a new project, preserving the interviews we did in 1999 for the oral history book.  It would be nice to make them available in their entirety, now several years have gone by since the book came out, and there is a lot of information in them that we didn't use in the book but that we feel has historic value.

There are other things that are coming right up, too.  First, I want to let everyone know that Helen Morrison will accept returnables at her garage, at 936 W. Shore Road.  You'll see the garage on the left as you make the turn at her mailbox, just before you get to Don Encarnacion's.  Helen said if it isn't convenient to drop them off, she will come and get them.  So, if you're overloaded after the holiday weekend, or still have a summer's worth of returnable cans and bottles, give Helen a call: 563-2488.

Also, if you have items we might put in our Silent Auction at the Apple Pie Festival on October 19th, you can drop them off at my house, just up the road from Helen's, at 640 W. Shore Road, or give me a call and someone will pick them up - 563-2381.  I've mentioned before that the Apple Pie Festival is the major fund raiser for the Cabot Historical Society, and our Silent Auction table is an important part of the process.  We have donations of all sorts of things, hand-made items, useable household items, tools, toys, gift packages and collectibles, among other things.  Let your imagination by your guide.  It's often surprising what items people will bid on.

I  just learned that Joanne Bugbee's father, Charlie Moulton, of St. Johnsbury, died.  Joanne and her husband, Mike, have owned a cottage on Route 2 for several years, and all that time I never knew she was Charlie and Madeline Moulton's daughter.  I've known Charlie and Madeline for a long time, and used to bump into them frequently in St. Johnsbury even after I moved away, but hadn't seen them for a few years.  Charlie was an "old school" sort of guy - full of fun, but every inch a gentleman.  He will be missed not only by his loving family, but by the many friends he made over the years.  He was 89.

Pam Hebert let us know the people who do the under water lake survey will be here early Thursday morning.  Please give them room to do their work.  This is a biennial survey to see if we have invasive plants anywhere in the lake.  Pam will receive a written report which will be shared at our spring meeting.  I'm sure if they find anything suspicious they will let Pam know right away; but in other years the lake has been found to have only normal plant life under water, so we don't anticipate that they will find any problems. 

Spaghetti Dinner at West Danville Methodist Church

The following came from Carol Borland:
  

SPAGHETTI DINNER
A yummy dinner is being planned, prepared and served at the West Danville United Methodist Church on Saturday, August 31st, by granddaughter Angel and me (and a few other family/friend helpers) to help finance Angel's French Club trip to France in April 2014. There are two servings:  5:00 pm and 6:30 pm. 
Tickets are available from me or from Jane Milne. Or they can be purchased at the door. $12 adults and $8 children 10 and under. Really young children are free. Unfortunately our dining room is not accessible, but we could serve those needing accessibility on the first floor if we knew in advance. To help us prepare enough food, please let me know if you are planning to come and want tickets. You can email me at borland.cj@gmail.com or call me at 802-525-6956; or Jane Milne,  jgmilne@charter.net, or call her at 684-3343.

Minutes from Fall Meeting Posted

Those of you who were not able to attend the Fall Meeting of the Joe's Pond Association may be interested in seeing the minutes of that meeting.  Go to "JP Assn" on home page of the website, www.joespondvermont.com and you'll find "Minutes" on the drop-down menu.

After a cloudy and damp day yesterday, the sun is bright and warm today.  I found a little precipitation in the rain gauge, but on mornings like this it's hard to tell if it's actual rain or just condensation.  The air was very humid last night - but still cool enough to be comfortable sleeping.

We were a little on edge yesterday as it was granddaughter Jo-Ann's first day at St. Johnsbury Academy.   I was thinking about some of the "first day of school" experiences in our family, and realized that actually I dreaded those days for my kids more than they did.  It always seemed to summer was such a great relaxed time it should be difficult for them to get back to a strict schedule - early to bed, up at the crack of dawn and off to classes.  But after the dreaded packing up at camp to move back to town,  the transition was actually fairly painless for my kids.  Not so for me when I was a kid - I hated being cooped up in a classroom looking out at a perfect day, and the feel of too-tight shoes and restricting clothes after sneakers and shorts.  Unlike my kids, those feelings didn't wear off quickly for me, and I apparently still have that underlying dread of the end of summer and start of school.

Jo-Ann, however, has been looking forward to beginning high school, and her enthusiasm was still evident when I spoke with her last night.  She said with only five minutes between classes, there was some confusion, but lots of others were rushing in wrong directions, too, so she had lots of company.  Some friends from Waterford School and also her dance class are starting at the academy, too, so she is excited about the whole process.  I felt much better after talking with her.  I wish I'd had that kind of enthusiasm.

Fall is still kind of a sad time for me, anyway.  It has to do not only with shorter days and cold weather a few months away, but also an approaching birthday.  This is also the time of year I get all my annual checkups with doctors, too.  Not that I expect any surprises, but it is a grim  reminder that another year has passed and I'm another year older.  Time flies by faster as we get older - anyone over 60 will tell you that - which I believe is at least partly because we don't have the energy or flexibility we used to have, so everything we do takes longer.  Even things like writing this blog.  I expect my granddaughter would tell me it's because I spell words the old fashioned way, capitalize and punctuate.  I won't be changing any time soon.  I admit reading some of the abbreviated messages these days takes me additional time, and I frequently have to go on-line to find out what those abbreviations mean.  And I type with all ten fingers, not just my thumbs; these crickety old thumbs would simply not adapt to doing all the work.

Now I need to get ready to hike up the hill before lunch.

Presentation: The New Solar System at Jaquith Library Aug. 28

Event starts August 28 at 7:00 PM

THE NEW SOLAR SYSTEM with M. Kelley Hunter Ph.D. Astrologer, mythologist.

The solar system is our cosmic neighborhood. With today's technology, planets are being discovered, promoted and demoted. Dozens of new moons have been seen around our neighboring planets. The expanding universe is getting close to home, reflecting a change in our collective consciousness. This is your update, with help from NASA photos and mythology. Weather permitting we will do a little star gazing after the presentation.

Free! All are welcome. If you like pasta, come early for our weekly (and also free) community supper at the Schoolhouse Commons--every Wednesday at 6PM.

Old Schoolhouse Common, 122 School St. in Marshfield
Number for more info 802-426-3581
Email for more info jaquithpubliclibrary@gmail.co

CABOT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

PLANNING MEETING

Come Join Us!

Wednesday, August 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the Willey Building

Please share your thoughts about what CCA should report back to Town Meeting 2014 was accomplished with the funds awarded at Town Meeting 2013:

Shall the voters of the Town of Cabot grant to the Cabot Community Association (CCA)  the sum of $7,500 from Town funds and $20,000 from UDAG Funds in 2013 for the purpose of helping to hire a part-time Economic and Community Development Coordinator to coordinate volunteer activities in support of economic, educational, and community development in Cabot, write grants seeking funding in support of local economic, educational and community development activities, and undertake such other duties as may be assigned by the Board of the CCA? [2 Australian Ballot items approved March 5, 2013]

Join our discussion of:

· Implementing Town Meeting articles

($27,500 grants from Town and UDAG funds),

· CCA’s role in community development

· Collaborative Community Planning.

 

Thank you for your interest in the Cabot Community Association.

Phone 563-3338        Email: cabotdevelopment@yahoo.com

 

 

Jeanne Johnson

802-595-7710 

The following message came to me from Evelyn and Ray Richer yesterday just as I was leaving for the JPA meeting.  President Tom Dente mentioned it briefly at the meeting, and for those of you who were not there or who are interested in donating for signs re. loon protection, here is more information.  At the end of Eric's message, I've included a link that will take you directly to the Vt. Wildlife website page concerning Joe's Pond.

This is Eric Hanson with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and the
Vermont Loon Recovery Project.We are embarking on a campaign to replace
and repair our aging floating loon nest-warning signs and we would
really appreciate your lake residents' help.We've set up an online
donation box for each lake with a target fundraising goal depending on
the number of signs used on each particular lake.Individuals can go the
website called "Crowdrise" and make a donation to his or her favorite lake.

I am asking your help by sending the announcement below to lake
residents via 1) email, 2) lake e-newsletter, 3) lake website, and/or 4)
paper newsletter.I think the information below is self-explanatory, but
please contact me if you have questions and whether or not you can
assist VCE in this effort.   If you could also let me know approximate
timing of emails, e-newsletters, and mailings.  Our goal for Joe's Pond
is 10 signs at $80 each.    The message below should be able to be cut
and pasted fairly easily.

I'm cc'ing the loon volunteers on the lake so they know this campaign is
happening, and maybe they can help let lake residents know about this
effort as well.

Lastly, I have developed two new pamphlets that I would like to spread
around to boaters and lake shore residents. The first one is focused on
loon natural history and conservation, and the second one is focused
around the importance of shorelines with taller grasses, shrubs, and
trees for both in-water and water's edge wildlife and supporting the
base of a lake's food chain. If there is any way to distribute these by
adding to mailings or other events, let me know. I have 1000s of copies
to hand out. I'd also be available to attend a lake association meeting
in the next year or two.

Thanks -- we could not do loon conservation without so much support from
the communities around lakes.

Eric Hanson, Vermont Center for Ecostudies Loon Biologist.

Here is the link that will take you directly to the page to donate for Joe's Pond signs - but you can explore the website to donate to other lakes and ponds from there.  Joe's Pond sign donations.

We had a very nice meeting yesterday.  There were 35-40 people there and they took time to look over the JPA picture and newspaper clipping albums I brought.  I had included the recent donations of old postcards and deeds from Ted Chase, and also dozens of more recent photos of ice-out seasons and social events over the years that Homer Fitts had given to us.  Members also picked up Ice-Out Tickets - some for themselves, and some took envelopes for neighbors.  Diane and I will mail out the rest, so if you haven't picked yours up at Hastings Store or at a meeting, expect them in the mail soon.
We like you  to have them at least before the holiday season so you can include them in cards or as stocking stuffers, etc.  

After the meeting, everyone pitched in to help put the furniture away.  The pavilion will be buttoned up for winter within a few weeks - the water drained and everything closed up until next May.  As we were leaving, a group of young men came over to the recreation field - it looked to us as if they were getting set up for a ball game.  It was a beautiful day for just about any sport one might want to pursue.  Today is much the same - perhaps a tad warmer, but equally nice.   I've made a short slide show of the meeting.

We stopped at Hastings Store on our way home from the meeting and found Cabot Chronicle reporter, Jeannie Johnson, there, interviewing the Larrabees about their store's upcoming 100th birthday.  Garey showed us the tees and sweat shirts they have commemorating the event.  The shirts have that nice picture of the store on them.

JPA Fall Meeting Is Tomorrow

Let's not forget the Joe's Pond Association meeting tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the pavilion.  This is the last meeting of this season - hasn't the summer just flown by? - so we hope you'll make an extra effort to be there.  I'm bringing some albums with pictures that have been given to the Association, some very old, some not so old, and some very recent, and I hope you'll enjoy seeing some faces from years past that will inspire fond memories.  There are also some deeds and maps from before JPA was founded.  And other memorabilia collected over the years.  So come a  little early and take a look.

Steve Allen found a website for a new restaurant opening soon in Cabot:  "Downstreet Eats" . 
They plan to open in mid-September in the same building where several other restaurants have opened in the past 10 years or so.  "Butters" was the last to be there, and they moved to the back of the hardware store, serving breakfast and lunch and evening takeouts.  They don't have much room, but seem to be doing quite well, and the food is consistently good.  Downstreet Eats appears to be starting out serving dinner only on Friday and Saturday and brunch on Sunday, no breakfast or lunch menu, leaving that to Butters.  We wish them all well.

The rain storms last night ushered in some fresh, cool air that made our day much more comfortable than we've had this past week.  We didn't get a lot of rain - I measured .11 in. in my rain gauge.  We are expecting a nice string of weather for the next few days - and that's both good and not so good for the folks who will be packing up to leave to get back to work or school this next week.  It's harder to leave here when the weather is behaving perfectly.  For those of us who get to stay here year around or well into the fall, this kind of weather is a bonus.

I've been watching the maple leaves turning.  There are beautiful colors showing up already on some of our nearby maples - the ones that usually are the first to turn; deep, deep reds on a tree by Jamie and Marie's, and lots of yellow and orange splashes of color beginning to show on the hillsides.  The crab apples on our tree are turning bright red, and the choke cherries are a lovely deep maroon.  I have watched the tall grass and ferns at the upper edge of our lawn turn from green to a rich bronze, and I have purple phlox among the rapidly turning leaves of our big burning bush.  One of my favorite fall flowers are these tall purple asters - I think they are an old fashioned variety because they were a favorite of my father's, too.  This closeup of a bee is on my desktop right now.  When the nights are chilly like now, the bees kind of hunker down on these blossoms and the petals sort of curl around them.  They become very lethargic, and I've made the mistake of cutting the flowers early in the day.  They blend in with the yellow of the flower so I sometimes don't notice them, but after they've been in the warm house for a while they wake up and begin to fly around.  Then we have to capture them in a tumbler and release them outside.  It's nice to have these, about the last flowers of the year, around to remind us of what a beautiful summer it's been.

Another lovely day here at Joe's Pond.  It's rather sad that the summer is nearly over.  I went to St. Johnsbury for an early morning appointment - after years in the sun, I worry that all those very bad sunburns I endured decades ago might result in some serious problems, but so far so good.  I'm now listening to Debussy - it's his birthday - did you see the Google Doodle this morning?  If not, go there and click on the doodle - be sure your speakers are turned up.   His music is a little sad, but perfectly lovely.  I'm now listening as I type to more on  1st Piano.com.

Here's a clip from YouTube that Fred and I got a kick out of watching - these kids seem to get it right after a few awkward tries.  They are at Lake Eligo.   Makes you want summer to last a lot longer, doesn't it?  

I had very sad news yesterday.  I learned that Margaret "Peggy" Brickett Sawyer (Hosmer) passed away on May 30.  She was in Dover, N.H., with her family.  Peggy was a long-time Joe's Ponder and loved coming each summer to the family cottage on Otis Drive.  Click here to see her obituary.  Condolences may be sent to her daughter, Susan Vaillancourt, 277 Sheldon Brook Rd., Lyndonville VT 05851.  I'm sorry I didn't know about her death earlier, but if it was in the local papers, I missed it.  The family surely understands, and expressions of sympathy will be appreciated, I know.  Peggy was and interesting lady, and it was always a pleasure to talk with her.  I'll miss her.

Did you notice I updated the background colors of the blog?  Fred had made some changes on the web site that kind of forced me into updating the blog, too.  Now there seems to me to be a smoother transition from home page to the blog page.  We are inclined to "tinker" with stuff like that between more serious projects.  I've been putting together pictures to take to the Joe's Pond Association final meeting this Saturday, and Fred has been trouble-shooting for a web site client whose site was hacked recently.  It helps to take a break sometimes and do something less intense - then when you go back to the serious stuff you will have renewed energy, and sometimes a breakthrough just when you need it.

Menu for Cabot's Last Supper of the Summer on Thursday

The choices at Thursday's Last Supper at Cabot church include:

Pulled Pork  -  Italian Chicken  -  Hamburgers
Homemade Salads and Desserts

5:30 - 7:00 p.m.,  Adults $8, Children $4


Benefit:  Cabot Church

The following message doesn't display well on the blog page, but the important information is here in case some of you would like to attend the meeting tomorrow.   The second in a series of regional meetings related to lakeshore protection has been announced by the Lake Shoreland Protection Commission of the Vermont Legislature.

Dear friend of Vermont lakes: The second in a series of regional meetings related to lakeshore protection has been announced by the Lake Shoreland Protection Commission of the Vermont Legislature. PRESS RELEASE General Assembly – 133 State Street – Montpelier, VT 05602 – 802-828-2228 – Fax: 802-828-2424  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: August 14, 2013 Contact: Gabrielle Malina Phone: 802 828 2231 Fax: 802 828 2424 E-mail: gmalina@leg.state.vt.us Lake Shoreland Protection Commission—Rutland County Meeting—Thursday, August 22, 2013, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Lake Shoreland Protection Commission will conduct a public meeting on Thursday, August 22, 2013, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Camp Kehoe Conservation Camp on Lake Bomoseen. The Vermont General Assembly established the Lake Shoreland Protection Commission in Section E.126.1 of Act 50 of 2013 in order to:   Provide information to the public regarding the current health of waters of the State, including the results of the 2012 Agency of Natural Resources’ State Water Quality Remediation, Implementation, and Funding Report;   Inform the public regarding the regulation of State waters, including requirements the State may need to meet in implementing the cleanup plan for Lake Champlain;   Summarize for the public the status of efforts to address and improve the quality of all State waters, and how regulation of shoreland activity impacts water quality; and   Take public input regarding the regulation of disturbance, clearing, and creation of impervious surfaces in the shorelands of lakes.  At the meeting, the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) will provide an overview of the health, value and regulation of lake shorelands in Vermont. After the ANR presentation, the public will be invited to provide input during a moderated question and answer period. Public participants may be asked to limit their statements or questions in order to allow participation by all interested persons. An agenda for the meeting and the location and map of the Camp Kehoe Conservation Camp are available on the Lake Shoreland Protection Commissionwebsite. Please contact Gabrielle Malina or Michael O’Grady by phone or email at 828-2231 orgmalina@leg.state.vt.us or mogrady@leg.state.vt.us with any questions regarding scheduling or documents. For any other questions, please contact Senator Robert Hartwell, Chair, Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy at rhartwell@leg.state.vt.us, 802-345-1552.  TO SEE LEGISLATIVE UPDATES In the FOVLAP website, click on 2013 Legislative Updates to go to the new legislative blog.  ABOUT US “The Federation is dedicated to the conservation of Vermont lakes and ponds through development and promotion of environmental quality standards.” Forward to a Friend FOVLAP's legislative blog If you would like to receive bi-weekly updates through email, enter your email address in the ‘Follow updates by email’ space provided in the blog – click subscribe, and follow the directions.  - An email message will be sent to you to activate your request  - Click the link in the email to activate your updates Vermont DEC Watershed Management Division

forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds, All rights reserved.  You are receiving this email because you gave us your contact information when you signed up as a member, or when you registered for an event, or just because you like us.  Our mailing address is:  Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds PO Box 766 Montpelier, VT 05601 Add us to your address book  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

As promised, here's more on the Thursday Dinners at Cabot Church:

Last Supper in Cabot

Well ... it's the last Thursday/fund raising supper of the year for the Cabot Church on Main Street. This time diners can choose pulled pork and/or Italian chicken along with homemade salads, drinks and deserts.

THIS THURSDAY - Aug. 22, 5:30 pm - 7 pm. Adults are $8 and children are $4.

Thank you for helping church members keep the building open for area meetings and events.  

Amanda Legare

This dinner sounds like a great bargain.  The food is always very good, so give your cook a break and either have dinner at the church or get take to eat at home.  Either way, you'll be helping to keep the church open and having a great meal in the bargain.

We did errands in Danville and West Danville this morning - I had to stop at the Danville town offices to check on some property changes; Fred had stuff to get at Larrabee's.  The Green in Danville is coming along very nicely.  There were a few workers still laboring there, but no traffic delays, at least none for us.   Later we stopped at the post office in West Danville, of course.  

We took a short ride up Old Homestead Road and Fred got this picture - nice view on a beautiful day.  This is where the former Maguire camp was.  The building was taken down this spring and the lot cleared of brush to make an extended lawn on what is now a double lot owned by Mark and Robin Nicholson.  

It was quiet around the village and we hardly saw anyone on Old Homestead Road.  I expect lots of folks have had to return home from Joe's Pond because their vacation time is over and the kids have to get ready to go back to school.  Most schools are gearing up their sports programs already, and classes will begin next week.  

It has been a great summer, for the most part.  We've had some unusual weather, but it has turned out to be one of the better summer seasons, and certainly the past few days have been exceptionally nice.  Some of us are wondering what our winter will be like, but there's no point in fretting about it since we don't have any control over the weather - yet.  I suppose that will come, eventually.  Isn't that an interesting thought!

I spent much of yesterday working in one of my flower beds.  In the process of pulling weeds and recovering bulbs that needed to be separated for replanting this fall, I came across this rather dramatic scene.  A fairly large spider, about an inch across, was  apparently disturbed when I pulled some weeds.  I ignored the spider until I realized something unusual was going on.  At first I thought the spider had caught a fly; but as I watched the struggling pair, I realized it was the other way around.  The insect I thought 
was an ordinary fly was an unusually slim, black, very shiny creature that quickly got the better of the spider, even though it was smaller than its prey.  I watched the bug tugging and pulling the spider, backwards, and although the spider tried at first to free itself, it appeared to get weaker as the bug relentlessly held on and tugged, always moving backwards over the loosened earth where I'd been digging.  In a matter of two or three minutes, the spider was motionless.  I used my trowel to pick them both up and transferred them to a stone away from where I needed to dig.  A little while later, they had disappeared.  I guess it was lunch time in some deep crevasse under the stone.   

You probably wonder if I always have my camera with me in the garden.  The answer is no.  Fred had brought it outside when we thought we saw George Baxter in his (I think) WWII Jeep go by.  We waited for the Jeep to return, but couldn't get a good shot of it through the trees.  It had made lots of noise as it labored up the hill past our house, but on the way back, it was so quiet it got by before Fred could get the camera focused.  Anyway, that's the reason I had the camera and could get the picture of the insect battle.

It's been another great day for doing just about anything outside.  After a pretty extreme workout yesterday in the flower beds, I decided to give my back a rest, so concentrated on lighter duties, unfortunately mostly inside, but with windows and doors wide open.   Laundry had be done (Monday is the day for that!) and this afternoon Fred discovered there was a leak under the sink - that's always a real bummer.  It happens to us every now and then - it's one of the newfangled PVC connections that screws together, and every once in a while it loosens up and begins to leak.  I think we bump it or something - lots of stuff stored under the sink that all had to be moved out.  Not my favorite kind of household job, but at least I got some things sorted, tossed some, reorganized, and all is now back in place, clean and dry.

The last of the Summer Thursday Dinners in Cabot will be this Thursday.  I don't know what's on the menu, but I'll try to find out and post it on the blog tomorrow.  

Also, don't forget that this year's final meeting of the Joe's Pond Association is on Saturday morning at the pavilion - 10 o'clock.  I had a message from Homer Fitts today to let us know he won't be at the meeting because he and Margaret are having a yard sale at camp.  As many of you know, Homer and Margaret are selling their place at Joe's Pond, so of course there are lots of things to dispose of.  Homer said the sale is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and lots of family will be on hand to help out.  Stop by before or after the meeting - you will no doubt find some great bargains and probably some interesting Joe's Pond memorabilia - and you know Homer and Margaret will be delighted to see you, whether you find  anything to buy or not. Yard sales are always interesting.

We've been working in the gardens and Fred pruned out one of our ornamental apple trees that has seen better times.  In the process, I harvested most of the silver dollar plants that have sprung up in surprising places.  I like having a few each year so I'll have some for dry flower arrangements, but for whatever reason, this year I've had more than I want to cope with - and I don't really want them to reseed like crazy.  Of course, in the process of cutting/pulling them, lots of the seeds escaped, but I'll deal with that next spring.  I often don't recognize them until the pretty purple flowers come, and then I sort of forget them until suddenly there they are - those muddy looking disks ready to split open and let more seeds drop.


So here's the thing.  If you'd like to have some - with or without seeds, I've left a pile of them by our mailbox.  Feel free to take as many as you want.  Be sure to enclose them in a large bag of some sort or you'll have seeds all over the place.  They are very dry and ready for the wind to distribute. All you have to do is slide the outer coverings off each disk - it isn't hard, just a little timer consuming - and you'll have seeds to plant  if you want to grow some yourself, and a pretty addition to your dry flower arrangements.  If you decide to plant some seeds, put them someplace where you don't mind if they look a bit bedraggled because they are very pretty for a week or so in the spring when they bloom, but by this time of year, they aren't so pretty.  Here are some pictures.   Top is how they look when they are "ripe" and ready to drop their seeds.  The middle picture shows a few of the disks bright and silvery because both outer coverings that hold the seeds in place have come off, and you can see the round brown seeds on the cement.  After I slid both outer layers off each disk, the bottom picture shows how pretty they look. 

I spread lots of seeds down by the road where the lupines grow each spring, hoping they may take hold there and lend some variety.  I think I may have done that before, but if I did, they apparently didn't "take."

Time is running out for getting your cat or kitten's photo into the contest for the Kingdom Animal Shelter's 2014 calendar.  Go to the Kingdom Animal Shelter website and follow directions.  Then, be sure to vote, and alert all your family and friends to send their votes - I think you are limited to one vote per address per day.  You have until August 31st to get the pictures in, and voting will take place from August 31 to September 29.  Votes will be counted and the picture with the highest number will be on the cover of the 2014 calendar which will be available in mid-November, and will cost $15 -  proceeds going to the shelter.  The 12 pictures receiving the next highest votes will each be featured on a month.  I'm going to enter a couple photos of Woody today.

We moved our rhubarb yesterday.  My rhubarb has been healthy and plentiful until this year.  It was puny right from the start, and went down hill from there.  I'm hoping moving it away from the buildings where it should get more air and light, will be beneficial.  Normally I'd transplant it in the spring, but I wasn't certain it would winter over the way it has been looking, so figured I don't have much to lose.  With the nice weather we've been having, perhaps it will get a good start before really cold weather sets in and with lots of mulch and some good fertilizer next spring, may become vigorous again.  If not, I'll replace it - I like to having rhubarb early each spring.  It's about the first thing available other than dandelion greens, cowslips and fiddleheads, none of which I'm partial to.  I've heard cowslips are great canned in a brine when the blossoms are still in those tight little balls.  I have always meant to try that, and somewhere I have a recipe, but getting to them at just the right time isn't easy - they naturally hang out in swamps which aren't the easiest places to navigate.  I do like dandelions, though - I like the leaves in salads better than cooked, and goodness knows, they are very easy to come by.  They're everywhere, and there always seem to be plenty of young ones in among the older, more bitter plants.

This time of they year there are lots of berries and pretty soon nuts available, even in the wild, but you have to watch carefully or the birds and critters will get them first.  That seems fair, somehow, and buying them from someone who has put the time and effort into raising them is not only a lot easier than scrambling through pucker brush, getting scratched and bitten and risking bumping into a hungry bear, it helps a neighbor trying to make a living.  And we don't rob the wild animals of their livelihood.

Now I need to go select some pictures of Woody for the cat calendar.  I have a rather large file of "Woody Pictures."  I selected about a dozen when Helen Morrison first told me about the contest and put them into a separate file I call his "portfolio," and I'll pick two or three from there to enter in the contest.   Fred should have had the camera yesterday when he discovered Woody in a stand off with his cousin, Rico, on the driveway going to Jamie and Marie's.  Woody outweighs Rico, is taller and probably stronger, but Rico seems to manage to beat him up whenever they tangle.  That happens less often than when they were both younger, but I think Rico is still the wiry little "street fighter" while Woody remains the big underdog.  Fred said they were both crouching on opposite sides of the driveway, growling at each other, so to end it without bloodshed, he picked Woody up and brought him home.  Woody's tail was still blown up to twice its normal size when Fred put him down in our kitchen.   We think Woody has mellowed with age as far as hunting at night is concerned, but one thing that hasn't changed is his attitude towards other cats - Jamie and Marie's Rico in particular.  We appreciate that he's gentle with dogs, humans and particularly with babies, even to the point of waking up from a nap to get up and socialize whenever someone comes to the house.  Now we'll see if he has it in him to be a "model."




 

Work Update

Danville Route 2 Project

Project:  Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WEEK OF 8/19/13

Work this week will include:

The sidewalk work that was scheduled to start last Monday was postponed until Wednesday so crews will continue with the work through this week.

• Sidewalk work will continue throughout the week on Park Street to the Library and also around the Bandstand. 
• Crews will continue installing concrete steps at a residence on Route 2 next to the Diamond Hill Store.  This work will require alternating one-way traffic at various times later in the week when the concrete is being poured. 

New traffic signals still need to be installed at the Route 2/Peacham/Hill intersection.  This work is in the process of being scheduled to take place within the next few weeks.  Traffic will be impacted by this work.  More details will be released once they become available. 

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

This is a beautiful quilt.  I saw it displayed at the church last Saturday and it is absolutely breath taking.  I took a couple of photos of the details.  It has been evaluated at upwards of $1,500. 00.  


The top photo shows the fine, intricate stitching that makes this quilt heirloom quality you'll be proud to display in your home for many years.  I have known Christa for a long time and know what fine work she does.  She will be at the Apple Pie Festival with more of her beautiful handiwork, so you will have an opportunity to meet her there.  I don't know Laurie, but obviously she's a perfectionist and expert at quilting, too.  The quilt is signed on the back (lower picture).

Tickets will be available at the Apple Pie Festival on October 19, or you can contact Christa Scholz for tickets now.

This is an exceptional piece of work - don't miss a chance to win it.