We hope everyone has had a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. The weather has been perfect - today was a little dreary, especially in the afternoon, but still - it's better than snow! I can't believe how quickly the trees on our back hill have grown their leaves. The fresh light green looks soft and delicate against the strong darkness of the evergreen trees, and there are cherry blossoms dotting the landscape. Our apple trees are almost ready to bloom and the service berry is in full bloom! Our first humming bird came up to us one day last week when we were working outside and announced it was time to get the feeder out. It came so close to me I thought at first I was under attack - but it hesitated right at eye level and then darted off. Usually they come to the window - either the one in the livingroom or my office window to let us know they are back. We got the feeder out the next day!

Such a pretty time of year. We have been out a couple of times today. Just before lunch I delivered the manuscript for our book to the historical society where it was picked up and taken to our editor for the final edit! That is exciting for all three of us, but I'm pretty sure we are all going to feel a little lost for a while with no emails back and forth. It's been a rush getting everything done, but we made it by the deadline of Saturday - and I needed a couple of days to check it and be sure I had all the components ready to go. I pulled the trigger on it this morning. There will still be things to do - corrections to be made and a number of decisions to make, but the really hard parts are done. Now we wait to see how many pages it will be with photos included - and keep our fingers crossed that we won't have to do major cuts.

We just got back from our second venture which was to go to Tootsie's for a creemee. I got a maple, Fred got chocolate.  The small size is all I can handle - that's a lot of calories, sugar and tooth-chilling cold! But it tasted really good. We took the long way home, down Brickett's Crossing Road to Harrington Hill Road and then down to Route 15. We hadn't been that way for a long time and were surprised that the road is really good. It is very narrow, and the sign at the top of the hill says it all - "Class IV Road - Pass at Your Own Risk!" As many times as we've been on that road in the past, I don't think I ever met anyone else on it, but today there was a pickup truck booking it just before the steepest, narrowest part. I was glad we met where we did as I had plenty of chance to pull out; however, the driver of the pickup was kind enough to simply stop and let me ease by.

There seem to be a lot of people around the pond, but not a lot of activity on the pond, probably because of the wind. The water has been very rough all day. Now we're in for some showers and muggy weather for a day or so.

We heard what we thought was a seaplane this afternoon, but didn't actually see it. We were told the one that landed here about a week ago belongs to Jim Craige (West Shore Rd.), but that hasn't been confirmed. It's been quite a number of years since we've had a resident seaplane on the pond. We've had two that I can remember in the past - Dick Corley back in the 1980s and Ned Hamilton in the 2000s.
This photo of Ned's was taken in 2006.

Keep up the good work wearing masks and distancing - if we keep the numbers of new infections down, things will get back to normal faster. It may seem bothersome, but I hope you know that we who live here in Vermont really appreciate those of you who are quarantining for 14 days when you get here and then wearing masks and distancing when you do go out where there are other people. It makes us very uncomfortable when we see someone not wearing a mask - and it's usually those people who don't bother to keep their distance, either. It's very disrespectful, and also can be dangerous to others. If you don't have masks, we can help, so let us know. I would be happy to sew one for you! Stay safe, and help keep your friends, family and neighbors safe.