The Italian Dinner was really good last night. Everything was delicious, and cooked to perfection. The menu consisted of pasta with extra sauce and cheese on the side, salad, dinner roll  and grilled chicken (a whole half chicken!). Then there was a variety of cookies and eclairs for dessert - all super good. There were over 200 people there, as usual, a very congenial group and  we had fun seeing people we haven't seen in a while. We are planning on going to the Pig Roast in two weeks (Aug. 10). You should contact Bo Keach for tickets (801-684-3673), but don't wait too long because they will sell out quickly.
     You may remember my posting about the sheet cake they served at the steak dinner - I didn't know where they got it, but Nancy Buttura told me last night it came from Price Chopper in St. Johnsbury. They took a picture to them of Pearl Island, if I recall correctly, and it was beautifully reproduced on the cake. Not only beautiful, but darned good tasting, too! 
     I have nothing but praise for the folks at Joe's Pond Association for the great meals they put on. Everyone works very hard to make the meals delicious and successful. It is a tremendous amount of work, and like last night - the weather is usually hot and humid, so working over the outdoor grills or in the little kitchen can be really uncomfortable, but each year they continue to put on great meals, without fail. And we have wonderful cooks in the organization! A big THANK YOU! to all who work so hard to give the rest of us a lovely evening out with good friends and good food.
     Someone contacted us yesterday wondering if it is safe to swim here at Joe's Pond. The inquirer was no doubt concerned over the recent reports of blue/green algae in the pond. We reached out to President Joe Hebert and his wife, Pam who is monitoring  the pond this year and this was their reply:
As far as we know the water is safe. We are monitoring three sites weekly - the public beach in West Danville, a spot near Penar's on Narrow Drive (between the second and third ponds), and in the cove by Ginger and Lee Erdmann's (Club House Circle). However, blue/green algae could show up anywhere so people should at least check for themselves [you will see it on/in the water]. If you spot something that looks suspicious, call me (802-684-3655). Pat Parizo (Sandy Beach Road) found something suspicious and called last week; it was NOT blue green algae. We all need to be monitors."
     Remember, not all blue green algae is toxic, but we don't know that until it is tested, so just be careful - check the water before you enter, or if you are swimming and notice scum on the water,  get out, shower and give Pam a call to come test the water. It is also important to be sure your pets don't drink or swim where there are algae blooms.

The bacteria cannot be seen with the naked eye unless they clump together. When this happens, blue-green algae can look like green flakes, greenish bundles or brown dots in a pond, lake or stream. When the algae blooms, it can give look like a blue-green scum has appeared on the surface of the water.

 In case you are wondering, we got the new mower yesterday (Friday) morning. It was supposed to come on Thursday, but the delivery was held up (they were out delivering until dark and said they didn't want to deliver it in the dark), so they came a little before 8 o'clock the following morning. Fred was out mowing by 9 o'clock and now our almost hay field lawn is nicely clipped. I felt inspired to distribute some of the wood chips left from our recent tree removal along our driveway, so things are getting back to "normal" around here. I'm liking the wood chips a lot for mulching flower beds and around trees. I will also be using it under our softwood trees in front of the house - It is shaded enough so not much grows there, but it will be nice to have a surface of clean chips instead of spindly weeds, I think.  It was difficult to mow there because of the tree roots that are very close to the surface and sometimes get damaged with a mower or even the trimmer. 

We have a nice breeze today, but it's going to be another hot day, and looks like the rest of the week will be hot, muggy and probably have some thunderstorms. We've been pretty lucky so far this year - not really big electrical storms. That's just fine with me.

In case some of you don't know - West Shore Road will be closed tomorrow, Monday, from 9 a.m. for several hours while the Town of Cabot does some work on a culvert in the vicinity of LaPrade's and Bertrand's. I think there is a culvert that goes between LaPrade's and Rossi's, actually. Anyway, be aware that you will need to plan accordingly if you want to travel on W. Shore Road after 9 a.m. tomorrow.