Yesterday, Bob and I checked on the house:

• road was plowed, probably after the storm, but snow had drifted over it; and the town plow left a pile on the side of the road next to the bridge: just room to drive by and get up the hill with Bert, our Toyota Highlander Hybrid
  
• nice coating of snow, maybe 5-6 inches on the yard
  
• basement temp 46, kitchen thermometer reads 54 degrees
• some pink insulation down on floor of basement (a small rectangle near the cellar door); I stuffed it back up into the ceiling
• oil tank at >5/8
  
• watered plants with water I brought so I didn't have to turn on the water
• phone message about a CVS prescription ready in Bethesda... will let Anna Ruth know
• the door to the living room was wide open, I guess I didn't close it tightly last time, so the dining room was relatively warm! closed it tightly this time before we left
• shoveled the steps to back door and main entrance

When we got to the top of the hill to get onto 151, Bert died! We heard a loud CLUNK and then nothing. Had to call AAA and have it towed to the Middletown Toyota... down to one car again.

Thursday Dec. 23rd:

• Bob and I called ADT from the house to check the phone/security connection: this involved setting off the alarm (it is LOUD!) and 3 disconnections and re-connections of the phone. The result: all is well and communication is back.
• the pond is frozen solid: hope the fishes once again are hibernating safely.
• Tire tracks from a hunter's truck (?) in the front yard from the driveway to the edge of the yard where the path to the old spring starts. The ground is frozen so there's no damage to the yard, if we notice it continuing, we'll do what we did last year: put a large branch along the driveway to deter this.
• 
  
• Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I just got a call that the phone is fixed: "squirrels playing on the phone lines on Young Street" (even though the phone line now comes from 151?!) So evidently it wasn't just this phone! Bob and I will go tomorrow to call ADT from the house to reset the alarm communications...
Merry Christmas eve's eve's eve!

Happy Christmas!

• Pine tree near top of driveway (Aunt Gina's tree) dropped another branch (ARM reported this to me on Saturday). Smaller than last year and out of the road
• NO PHONE! ADT panel says "Comm. Failure". Otherwise system works, just can't communicate to ADT and therefore police or us. I have called AT&T and ADT and it is being worked on. I'll hopefully get a call if AT&T needs to get into the house so I can go down to meet them
• In my conversation with ADT I asked if they get a message that the communication is broken, he said "there is a test done" How often? "Once a month".
  
• Oil man came last week and oil tank is 3/4 full
• basement temp is 45 degrees, main floor set at 52 and kitchen thermometer reads 53. It's still cold: 32 degrees F outside this morning
• the cover to the outside kitchen gas tanks was off and next to the house. I wedged it back on: the bolts and metal are bent but it seems pretty secure now.

Eric S. and Anna Ruth stopped by today and were able to fix the door and get in and out quite easily. Thank YOU! They reported everything looked fine.

Today is 50 and raining, after a week of freezing (30's and below) temperatures

• Bob and I started J. Deere
• checked for leaks in the barn: mostly coming in small door due to hole-yness

• watered plants
• checked house: discovered water trickling down chimney in loft: is this a 'normal' occurrence during steady rain? Probably need new flashing on the chimney were it meets the roof. Floor/rug not wet...
  
• checked the basement: oil just under 1/2 full, floor dry by cellar door, insulation coming down in various places, pile of pink insulation at bottom of cellar stairs, Bob put it back in the crawl space that goes towards the kitchen, we'll check to see if it has fallen (pushed out by some animal?) next time
• turned off the valve in the basement to the outside pond side faucet
  
• phone message for some dr's appt: will call Anna Ruth to find out: message hard to understand: static-y
• when we left, the door was very hard to lock: the dampness? has made the bolt not meet the door frame well. We got it locked, we'll see if we can open it next time!

last week: November 30:

• quick check of the house: one more dead mouse in kitchen. I should set more traps to see how many more we get. It's a matter of remembering the cheese!
• oil is 9/16ths
• picked up some twigs from the lawn
• brought a second side-bar mower blade we found in Guilford and put it in the barn near the machine
• watered plants
• brought home some wood for a winter fire
  

Today:

• oil tank at just over 1/2. This week has been cold/at or below freezing and supposed to continue, furnace was on when I went in. House a toasty 55 degrees
• quick walk through: everything looks good
• met Rob Rocks and town surveyor to check boundaries along 151 where neighbor is encroaching. A lovely 35 degrees out, birds singing merrily in the woods
• Neighbors have maintained a yard and put picnic table and fire pit over line, as well as dumping rocks and wood construction debris on our side
  
• John, the surveyor, suggested having the owners write a (certified?) letter to these neighbors to get complaint on the town records. There is some time frame (John thought 15 years) where illegal use of land without notification by neighbors, becomes encroachers' land? I will try to talk to our lawyer to get information about this.
• Got a call from ARM this week to remind us that phone service is on but at higher per call rate: when we replaced window alarm batteries a few weeks ago, we had several conversations with ADT and these calls were charged at the new higher rate. Aunt Sandy called us to make sure these calls were accounted for.