Another beautiful but cool day. The sun is warming things up and the snow is settling, but there isn't a whole lot of melting going on. People who have been following our weather and purchasing Ice-Out Tickets are perplexed - this is NOT a "normal" spring, they're saying. They know there was more ice than many years, also we've had more snow than some years, and it's not warming up like anyone wold expect now that it's almost April! So how does that relate to when the ice may melt enough to let the block fall and stop the clock? Good question.
     Our recording specialist, Henretta Splain told us she's entered at least one guess that had a June date. There is now way we'll  have ice in the pond until June - we know the block will go down before that, but how about picks in May? That could happen . . . !
     Tickets are flying out of the outlets this week. Everyone is grabbing a fist full before the contest ends on April 1st. The Committee has been distributing more tickets to all the outlets and said they have nearly exhausted their supply of printed tickets, but you can still get them on line - either print some and send them regular mail (postmarked no later than midnight, April 1), or you can purchase batches of ten and pay by credit card. It looks like it's going to be a banner year, and the winnings could be pretty high - like about $5,000, more or less. A pretty neat way to start off your summer if you are lucky enough to guess the correct date and time - or at least are the closest guess.
     Speaking of starting off summer - here's something I bet a lot of Joe's Ponders (and others!) will appreciate. We have a new neighbor about a mile from us on Brickett's Crossing Road, Wilma Shatney. Wilma has a catering business going called "Forever Fresh." She cooks individual meals and delivers them on Fridays. Each week she offers two different specials. This week she's doing Lasagna with a side of Italian Roasted Broccoli, Garlic Bread and a Whoopie Pie for dessert; or Home-made Baked Beans with Hot Dogs, Italian Roasted Broccoli side, a Dinner Roll and Whoopie Pie. Each meal is $12.00 plus sales tax.
     Her meals are all home-made with the freshest local produce available, so if you want her to cook for you this week, you need to order by 6 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, 3/27) for delivery on Friday. Her phone is 802-279-7864, and she's at 1043 Brickett's Crossing Road.
     I know some Joe's Ponders who have already had her lasagna and said it was delicious. And I heard from Ann Batten in East Hardwick today - here's what Ann wrote: 
 Last year my neighbor, Wilma, started cooking and delivering dinners in the East Hardwick area.  I have enjoyed them, as I know she uses good ingredients, and is a clean cook.  I have visited her kitchen, it is spotless.  Now she wants to expand her home business to a new area and has asked me for a reference.  I am pleased to be able to refer her to anyone as a dependable person who cooks foods people like and can depend upon. Yum yum!

     I have met Wilma and she told me she will also provide food for large groups - potato salad, lasagna, baked beans, mac and cheese - whatever you need to feed a crowd. She needs to know ahead of time so she can shop for the ingredients and have ample time to make whatever you desire, so if you have a party coming up and need some help with the menu, give her a call. She also bakes - pies, cakes, whatever you need! Sounds good to me! You can call her at the beginning of any week to find out what her specials are  - they change every week.
     Getting back to our weather - Fred went out on Sunday and cleaned the heavy wet snow off some of our bushes so they wouldn't break. I took pictures. He was on snowshoes and it was tough going because the snow was so deep and heavy - the kind that falls onto your snowshoe with every step so you're lifting several pounds of snow with every step. No more snow until perhaps this weekend, and that is a relief! Perhaps we can get shed of some of the snow we have now before getting hit with more.
    You can see how deep the snow is - that is the grape arbor that Fred, who is about 6 ft. tall can easily stand up under. The snow is clearly over three feet deep there. He said not only was it difficult to snowshoe in, he had a hard time figuring out how to get over the snowbanks around our driveway to even get to the back yard . You can see that we do have some pretty sizeable banks built up. The snow settled quite a bit today, I think - even though it wasn't very warm. Better to have it melting slowly. It's 16.6F right now, so everything is freezing up again; but tomorrow is another nice day, a bit warmer than today, so we're making a little progress.  
     This last picture was after Fred had finished taking the snow off the grape arbor and I took it through the bedroom window. Normally his head would come only about to the window sill, but there is a big heap of snow from the roof under the window now so we were pretty much eyeball to eyeball. I had just dug the game camera out from under a couple feet of snow on the back deck - I never did get that deck cleared off completely - the snow from the roof lands there and it's very deep. I also discovered there is a tough, thick layer of crust under the snow from this last storm that my plastic snow shovel wouldn't make a dent in. In a few more weeks, all this snow will just be a bad memory. We hope.
     In the meantime, the road past our house is looking like it could be a bit dicey - frozen in some spots, slimy mud in others. We're all wondering how bad mud season will be this year - could be a doozy.