We've had very beautiful and welcome sunshine today; however, temperatures got no higher than the low to mid 30's and there was a cold northeast wind that made it feel much colder.  I delayed walking until this afternoon, but that didn't improve conditions much.  Fred reminded me that in winter when  temperatures are in the 20's like today, we consider it a relatively mild day, especially if the sun is shining.  It always seems colder to me with these temperatures and bare ground.  Once the snow gets here, I guess we've had enough acclimation time to handle it better.

We've both been consumed with computer work lately, so this afternoon we decided to take a break and go for a short drive.  After visiting my cousin in a nursing home on our way to Maine recently, I wanted to find out if she was correct in saying the farm in Walden where she and her brothers grew up had been demolished.  So that was our destination today.  We found she was absolutely right - the old farmhouse and barn are gone.  In their place is a very large colonial style house, sitting about where the farmhouse was, but with no trees, shrubs or adornment whatsoever.  It's actually quite a nice setting for farm buildings - but the big, stark house looked out of place surrounded by fields and pastures.  It made me a little sad, but in reality, upgrading old farm houses isn't really cost effective these days.  Most built in the late 1800's, probably about the time my cousin's family built there, had no insulation, and although later generations may have retrofitted it some, it was probably still not very energy efficient, so tearing it down would be more cost effective.


From there we continued on what used to be a seasonal road to Danville, but now has been upgraded to accommodate several  new houses.  On the Danville end, we explored some side roads and found whole communities have sprung up where only a few years ago there were only trees.  The views of the White Mountains are spectacular, though.

We got back home in time to walk/run up Jamie and Marie's driveway before the sun edipped behind the trees and it got really chilly.  If we'd gone around noon when we normally go, it might have been a tad warmer, but the fresh air was invigorating and we came back ready to go back to work.


I am meeting tomorrow with some Danville Historical Society folks who are hoping to do a history of West Danville. They are starting by gathering information about the school, and since my mother taught there for many years, I have some pictures they are interested in seeing and perhaps using.  I also have copies of lots of postcards collected by Phil Rogers.  Phil very generously allowed me to copy a couple of his postcard albums, so I have picture files on Cabot, Joe's Pond and West Danville.  I have collected more photos over the years from people around the pond, so with what the Danville Historical Society already has in their collections, and Jane Larrabee's collection, I expect they'll have lots to choose from.  I'm looking forward to the meeting tomorrow.

West Danville has changed a great deal over the years, and it could see another major change, depending on what happens to the Joe's Pond Country Store (second picture above.)  Owner Jeff Downs died a few weeks ago, and the property has been taken over by the bank and will be sold, we expect.

Just down the street, Hastings Store (third picture) is carrying on after their big 100th year anniversary a few weeks ago.  Everyone is always upbeat and congenial there, and the food in the deli and the baked goods are super good.  I have to be careful - every time I go  in, I see something I'd really like to take home, and I give in once in a while, calories be darned.  Especially the maple cupcakes . . . soooooo good!

That reminds me, there was an item in the Business Watch in the Caledonian Record this week that Tarah Fontaine is the new owner of Bentley's Bakery and Cafe in Danville.  Tarah has worked at Bentley's from time to time, and is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, so she will no doubt continue the quality service Bentley's was known for.  We wish her well.  No word whether she will close for part of the year as the former owners did.  We'll try to update that information soon.

The outlet at the dam is rushing with water from our recent rains, but it seems to be keeping up pretty well.  We've already had about an inch and a half of rain this month, and the month of October totaled only 2.5 in.   September had a whopping 6.04 in. total, according to my daily reports.  We may be getting some snow showers this coming week.