Right now is probably the busiest time of the whole year for me - with the exception perhaps of the few days at and after the ice goes out, ending our Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest.  This is prolonged, though.  I need to be outside clipping back flower beds and putting things away in preparation for winter, and when I'm inside, I need to be seeing to things like washing windows and a little general house cleaning before closing things up for winter.  I don't do as much of any of this as I used to or I know I should, but I've found if some or none of it gets done, my world doesn't turn upside down. This year has been particularly "slow going" for me because the arthritis in my neck and back flared up a few weeks ago and even sitting or standing was uncomfortable and while bending was okay, straightening up afterwards was definitely not.  I'm making progress now with regular physical therapy, but I think twice before doing anything dumb like moving furniture or digging in the gardens, and it's a good excuse to put off some of the household and garden chores I'd normally be doing this fall.  That, I hope, will allow me to get through this year's silent auction at the Apple Pie Festival on the 18th.  I have really good help for that, so I'm sure it will be fine.  We've had some interesting donations and there will definitely be something for everyone.  All the money raised goes to the Cabot Historical Society, so we hope you will come spend the day with us, have some pie, enjoy the crafts and silent auction and perhaps go home with some interesting Christmas gifts or other items you wouldn't find anywhere else.  We're looking for pie donations, too - either as entries in the contest or to sell.  There are specific instructions on our websites:  www.cabothistory.com and www.joespondvermont.

The lingering summer weather we've had was wonderful, but I'm happy to report we've also had some pretty typical fall weather that included, finally, some rain.  We did not get a deluge, but enough to raise the water level in the pond a bit and I presume allow some of those who have been late in getting their boats out of the water to do so.  Another good thing about the rain is that there's plenty of water in the brook below the dam - a significant concern before these past few rainy periods.

 When we were on our way down West Shore Road yesterday, we noticed the new buildings going up across the pond on Old Homestead Road.  Here is Fella and Nancy Buttura's - good progress being made there.  

Not far down Old Homestead is the new Cassani home.  That is also well along.  Each of these building crews wants to have things well closed in by the time the winter winds begin to blow.  That (east) side of the pond gets more wind in winter than we do on the west shore because it is open from both the north and the west, while the west side is fairly protected by a hillside on the west, and even the north wind isn't usually much of a problem.


We stopped at the store yesterday and were told Garey's operation that had been postponed was finally happening, and that is good news.  He seems to be progressing well, but won't be home right away.