We're headed into a warming trend after several days of bitter cold.  We went to Franconia, N. H. yesterday to have lunch at Polly's Pancake Parlor.  We enjoy going there - Fred especially for the pancakes (we were belatedly celebrating his birthday), and although I've always enjoyed their pancakes, their new menu since they redid the place and are staying open during winter months, is excellent, too.  I had a very nice homemade vegetable soup and a turkey sandwich - sooooo good!  And the tea was HOT!  I was reminded how much my mom would have liked that.  I don't know how many times she sent tea water back at restaurants because it wasn't hot enough.  Polly's served my tea in a lovely pewter teapot and it was piping hot!  The water stayed hot enough for a second cup before we left.  

You'll notice in the picture above there is not much snow in the field or along the roadsides.  We were surprised that they don't have as much snow there on Sugar Hill as we have at Joe's Pond. The weather wasn't great - there were a few clouds along the mountain tops that I think may have been frost - and the temperature stayed in the single digits above zero until afternoon when we were heading home and I noticed we had 13 degrees on the car thermometer.  There weren't many people at the restaurant, but that was nice, too.  We've been there many times when we had to wait for a table.  The waitress (we've had her before and she's great fun and exceptionally good at what she does) told us they were very busy during the weekend.  She said business always picks up during school breaks when families are skiing.  This is their second winter being open.

We stopped in Littleton at the food co-op where we enjoy browsing

.  We were there in the fall and they were just starting an addition on the north end of the building.  It should be finished by warm weather, and will expand the store by a lot.  They are rather cramped now, so it should be a big improvement.  In the meantime things are a little chaotic, but the food and staff are great. 

Speaking of building - this is Lauren VanDeren's new house on Otis Drive here at Joe's Pond.  Larry Rossi's crew is working on it.  It looks like it will be very nice, and I really like the style.  It is where the Begin camp was, and is next door to Lauren's brother, Larry Rossi.  There are other year-around residents in that area now, so I'm sure Lauren will enjoy living there.

Ice-Out ticket sales are picking up again.  There was a lull immediately after the holidays, but Terry Powers, owner of Natural Provisions stores has just taken another 250 to the Williston store, and I'm sure he'll need more before the season is over.  Hastings Store has plenty of tickets for the present, and we'll keep them well supplied.  There are also tickets at Cabot Creamery Visitors' Center in Cabot.  Diane and I will be getting tickets more widely distributed in a few more weeks, but in the meantime, contact any of the merchants mentioned above or go to the ticket page on line where you can fill in and print tickets and mail them with your money to:  JPA, PO Box 111, West Danville VT 05873.  

This promises to be another really good year for our Ice Out Contest.  It doesn't matter if you aren't local or even in Vermont.  Everyone has an equal chance.  People from lots of states have won. Some spend lots of time and thought picking a date and time the clock will stop, and others make totally random guesses, but so far nobody has discovered a formula to outwit Mother Nature.  It's totally just plain luck.  Usually we have one winner, but one time five people picked the correct date and time.  At only $1 per ticket, the contest can be fun for lots of people, and the winner could get a check for around $5,000.  It's definitely worth a try!