We honor those men and women who have served our country over the years.

I received this photo and message this morning:  

Hi Jane,

Jim took this picture off our balcony today. A wonderful view of the Thames at low tide. We miss Joe's Pond, but can't complain about the view. Hope all is well.
Cheers,
Karen and Jim Desrochers

  It was very nice to hear from Karen and Jim, and we wish them all the best.  

We had our two granddaughters with us for dinner last night.  It's so much fun to see how Tangeni changes each time we see her.  She entertained us with her alphabet song and showing us how she could wink, and kept close track of Woody, her special "nice cat" friend.   She doesn't call him "M'ow" anymore, but he is definitely her BFF. 

Here she was eating ice cream and we realized she is at least for now ambidextrous.  We watched as she switched while using a fork and then her spoon.  Seems comfortable either way.  

Big sister, JoAnn, is liking life as a freshman at St. Johnsbury Academy, but we worry she isn't getting enough sleep - trying to do too much with outside activities in addition to her studies.  I guess that's usually the case with teenagers, but worrying is also what grandparents do.

We awoke to a white world this morning, but by noon most of the snow was gone.  I measured 1.5 inches this morning, and yesterday I reported .5 in.  This is the first measurable snow I've reported this fall, although I did report a trace a couple of times earlier.  This afternoon it has been raining lightly off and on, and the temperature got into the high 30's - or at least, that's as high as I noticed.  It could have been a tad warmer, but I didn't check.  It seems we are easing into winter gradually, and that's a good thing.