Here are some announcements:

This is the schedule of programs at the Cabot Public Library for September.  Click to make the image larger.



 We were at Hastings Store this afternoon and Garey asked that we let people know the Joe's Pond decorative cotton throws are finally here.  He ordered them months ago and they just arrived.  He said several people have asked for them over the summer, so give him a call if you still want one. This is what it looks like - an image  of Joe's Pond in a very nice blue on a natural background.  They are a great keepsake - and nice to curl up with on a chilly evening.  I can't tell you the exact size, but I'd guess they are about 3' x 5'.  Call the store at 802-684-3398 for detailed information or to reserve one.  I'm sure Garey will ship them if you aren't in the area.

I've been looking at the wedding pictures from Namibia all day.  We stopped in Waterford yesterday and Monika gave me not only a CD with at least 200 pictures, but also two DVDs that were made of the wedding. Because the wedding spanned two whole days (and nights), it took two disks for the DVD, and I'm sure large blocks of time were edited out - but it is very interesting, even though I don't understand what they are saying.  The joy and celebration come through.
This is the church where the wedding took place.  Then the celebrations began, making the wedding an interesting combination of modern and native customs.  I won't go into detail, but the events began on  August 13 with a wedding at the church in town (above).  From there everyone went to the bride's mother's village farm for a reception with family and friends.  The following day, everything was transported miles away to another village and the groom's family had another celebration with their relatives and friends.  The bride and groom were visibly exhausted by the end of the whole thing.

This picture of the bride and groom was at the church, when they were still comparatively fresh, although it seemed to me that there was a great deal of preliminary paperwork and explanations by the young priest that had to be done before the ceremony began - and then the ceremony seemed to take a very long time, too.  I guess nothing moves quickly in Namibia.

This is our 5-year old granddaughter, Tangeni, with her great grandmother who is 104.  Imagine - almost 100 years between them.  Grandmother attended the whole two days and Monika said she even walked very smartly through the sand with everyone else, getting from cars to buildings.  And the sand is a force to be reckoned with there.

This picture on the right is the landscape in the area where the villages are.  It's farm land, but as you can see - not much green growing at all.  They do raise some crops, apparently. 

This picture shows some of the children from the village pushing a car up a small grade in deep sand.  So many vehicles churned up the sand and made it difficult.  I'm not sure which would be harder to navigate - our muddy spring roads or their year around shifting sand roads.  Lots of dust, but somehow all the wedding party looked fresh and colorful throughout.  One last picture - the bride and groom with all their attendants - except three or four little kids - flower girls, ring bearers, etc.  I guess they'd found something more interesting to do than hang out for the photographer to take pictures.  That's our 17-year old granddaughter, Jo-Ann, next to the bride.

I'm planning on making a slide show with more pictures of the wedding, but that will take some time.