Bob and I checked things out: 29 degrees outside! There's a thin layer of ice on the pond. The house is fine. Plants are watered, oil is just under 3/4ths. It has just begun to be cold weather in time for Christmas!
Have a happy holiday!

Bob and I checked the house. Met Rene(?) hunter on his way out. Everything looks good. Water's off, plants watered, oil at just under 3/4ths and the temperature outside is just now getting cold. We turned the taps on (and then off) to drain the pipes a bit, left the toilet tanks full.

What a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!
Bob and I have re-winter readied thicut: the refrigerator is emptied and off, the Hot water heater is off and the water is off. The garbage has been taken to the dump. The heat is in the low 50's inside (and 65 outside yesterday!!!). The oil tank says 3/4 full. I saw fish swimming in the pond. There were 2 of them and they look pretty big. I hope they make it through whatever winter we have this year!

No snow at Thicut. House okay; outside temperature is 45 degrees. The brook is rushing by.

snow??

Wet snow fell in Glastonbury last night, grass is still poking through snow this morning! Jen and I are on our way to Thicut to see what it looks like there.

Fall 2011 first post

Happy Fall! Anna Ruth has settled in in Bethesda, so we're officially back on house check/reporting duty. I emptied the fridge and turned it off yesterday, checked around for forgotten items (none!), and did a quick walk through of the house.

• It doesn't look like the oil has been delivered... tank still says 1/4 full.
• I picked up last mailbox mail and will send 1st class to Bethesda.
• The new chimney cap looks good: is there a screen on the opening to keep the squirrels out??
• The leaves are barely colored: a muted color for fall this year, I think.

Hurricane Irene trees

the cedar tree still stands!!!

Rain, Rain, Rain, sun, Rain, Rain.
The grass is growing mightily and the flowers are beautiful and healthy!
The brook is roaring and the pond needs cleaning. We think a hungry BLUE HERON ate the huge bullfrogs from the pond!

• Bob cut out some trees growing in the rhododendron;
  
• I mowed with J. Deere and the push mower,
  
• Anna Ruth weeded.
• The pond needs cleaning out. Is there a leak? the water is low...
  

May 20: Anna Ruth home; Eric A. visit/mow/helped her settle in.
May 29: Jen mowed and ran out of gas!, braved the spiderwebs to get to the gas can and finished the job.
SUMMER has arrived!

Thursday:

• I turned on the refrigerator in preparation for ARM's return!
  
• The grass is long and wet, we've had rain since Sunday...
• I turned up the heat to 62, the house seems cold and damp with all this wet weather.
• WELCOME HOME!!!
  

• humming bird on the flowering quince
• 2 HUGE bullfrogs in the pond
• lilacs blooming and scenting
• daffodils done
• 72 degrees F, warm and sunny
  
• several of the rhododendrons are dead on the tops, I'm waiting for them to bloom before we cut them back
  

Saturday:

• Forgot my camera again! The spring is really here and the trees are leafing out.
• Jen and Johnnie Deere mowed the lawn
• Bob trimmed trees along the driveway from the bridge to the crest of the hill
• Bets pruned the overgrown burning bush next to the barn, so we can open the barn doors more easily!
• and used the old mower to mow close to the edges that J. Deere can't get to
• hopefully some of us will have time to clean out some of the mouse evidence in the kitchen drawers before ARM arrives, we'll see...
  

Happy May Day!

• Bob rode J.Deere around the yard with a jimmy rigged garden tool box on the back, to clean up the yard
• We DIDN'T mow; the purple violets and daffodils are too beautiful.
  
• Bets worked in the gardens around the house and pond; gently removing leaves.
• red tulips, red and yellow primroses, peony shoots, iris leaves all uncovered
  
• There are lots of daffodils in bloom; purple Lenten rose is blooming; flowering quince is red
• the field is full of daff's: even inside the fire pit sitting area!
  

spring has sprung!

• Bob sprayed some barberry around the perimeter of the yards
• Bets started cleaning out some of the gardens
• daffodils are abundant, forsythia is blooming, flowering quince is just about to burst, a few early tulips are about to bloom
• no sign of fish, but several frogs plopped into the pond and a toad hopped in the garden
• turned water on so Bob could use the hose to fill the Roundup sprayer; turned off again before we left
• friends and cousins are starting to call to see when Anna Ruth is returning. there were several messages on the machine.
• 70 Degrees Fahrenheit! Trees will be leafed out soon!
• Bob found a tiny tick crawling on him when we got home! I guess the winter is really over.
  

• chilly 45 damp degrees, rainy
• no mail in the mailbox
• water pump pressure where we left it: 45. I left the water off and the hot water heater on.
  
• oil tank below 3/8
• house temp in kitchen 56, basement 51
  
• 10 blank messages on the machine, one more said; " I'm sorry I keep dialing the wrong number". I erased them all.
• watered plants
• brook is ROARING
  

Saturday:

• Turned H2O on, tried all faucets, tightened some valves: NO PIPE LEAKS that we could detect. We had the pump and water valve on for more than an hour without using the faucets or toilets and the pump pressure remained constant. GOOD NEWS!
• Several valves and/or faucets need new washers, since they drip slowly; except the front bathroom cold which drips steadily. It had been turned off underneath the sink, so Carlie or Anna Ruth must have turned it off before they left last fall.
  
• oil <3/8
• There was mail in the mailbox, dated April 1. I'll check Monday or Tuesday to see if it is being delivered or if this was a mistake.
• Found Lenten rose blooming, as well as one clump of purple crocuses
• No sign of fish, yet...
• cleaned up fallen pine branches and debris around the knoll and driveway
• turned off water before we left, just in case...

Everything looks fine: there is STILL a small pile of snow next to the stone wall. And it is snowing now! We're supposed to get a measurable amount tonight, but the ground is warm, so hopefully it will melt quickly! The oil tank is at just under 1/2 full. I watered the plants. Bob and I are planning a weekend soon to turn on the water and clean the yard. Daffodils are up about 2 inches. There are blooms in the sunniest spots at home.

Oil man came last week, the date on the receipt was the 10th so he must have come later on the day I went last week! Oil tank almost 1/2 full. I turned up the heat to 52 to start getting some warmth into the walls. There are still some snow piles around, but the daffodils are about an inch out of the ground and the pond only has a ice-skimmed surface from last night's frost.

Snow 'mostly' gone, just snowplow piles and piles from roof shoveling, that are fast dwindling.

• inside temp: 52 kitchen, 46 basement
• oil just under 1/8, no delivery of oil yet...
• picked up some brush (mostly the white pine branches) from the driveway
• moved the clocks to Daylight Savings Time (1 hour ahead) in anticipation of Sunday's time change
• Brook is HIGH, but not over the bridge concrete, yet. It looks like it was higher, judging by the debris on the banks. It will probably go higher again with our expected rain storms in the next couple of days. I hope the oil man comes today!
• I left a fragrant white/pink lily bouquet to bloom in the kitchen
  

10:40am arrived:

• outside temp almost 50 degrees F!
• inside 51, basement 44
• oil tank at 1/8th (oil man has been left a message to come)
  
• Bob shoveled down the pile in front of the door almost to the grass
• path to oil intakes is grassy/soft
• replaced all 12 batteries without a hitch, security is secure...
  
• watered plants, cleaned out dead plants/pots, and pulled up blinds in sun room so plants can begin to enjoy the sunny warmer weather
• Bob shoveled snow away from barn doors so he could get to Johnny Deere
• started the mower easily and let run for a few minutes
• cleared some downed branches near the road

Will the snow be gone the next time we go???
11:30 done

The sun is shining and the temperature is a beautiful 40 degrees F. The driveway is icy in some spots but mostly hard mud. The bridge has some ice on it still.

• The oil tank is just over 1/8th full.
  
• I shoveled a path for the oil man, now we just have to convince them that the driveway/bridge is safe...
  
• 12 (yes, 12) alarm unit batteries are low! Next weekend we'll have a 'replace the batteries' party. It is interesting that so many are low at once. But, who knows if some have ever been replaced?! Did that stint of no power effect their effectiveness as well?
  
• the first floor toilet trap is empty of water, but the tank is still mostly full. Does this mean there is indeed a leaky pipe somewhere? the upstairs toilet water level looks just a bit lower.
• The DAFFODILS are poking up out of the ground where the driveway has been plowed to the dirt!!!!! Spring WILL come!
  

Today!

This was taken 2/19/11

This was taken February 5, 2011

2/12/11

Eric V, Bob, Ann and I went to Thicut this morning

• road is mostly clear (read: mud)
• snow IS melting, still sink almost to knees!
• roof(s) are clear of snow and ice
• installed backup security battery without a hitch
• watered plants
• oil at barely under 1/4
  

The Snow is Melting!

• Driveway is showing some dirt, but we couldn't drive up because there was a small blue suv parked at the bridge. We parked at the grassy lane spot. Only sign of a person are footprints going up the road past the barn, so it's probably a hunter?
  
• The roof over the dining room/kitchen is cleared off. Still some ice in the gutters. The doorway was cleared of snow and the 'boys' cleared a path the the mudroom door as well.
• No more dripping inside, although the dining room wall has more water damage showing. I took pictures. We propped up the rug so it would get dry. The blue floor is barely wet under the damp rug.
• The loft is dry. The wall seems dry and the floor and rug are dry so we put that rug back down.
• Oil at barely 1/4. Hope it warms up like it's supposed to this week!
• Huge pile of snow now on the deck from shoveling off the roof.
• We took out the dead security system back up battery so we can get a new one. The alarm started beeping! but as soon as we punched in the code, it stopped and said 'system ready', so all's well there.
• Will try to fix the door/lock system so it's easier to lock on the way out next time.
  

update:
Anna Ruth called the Daneher brothers and they cleared off the lower roof and got all the icicles dangling from the upper roof along that back edge.
Bob and I will go down this weekend to see what the inside looks like.

• Driveway from bridge 1 inch of rough ice. Bert, the SUV, made it up (and out) okay
• snow has about 1/2 inch of ice on top of over-the-knee deep snow, which made getting to the front door interesting, but possible
• house still a warm 54 degrees. I actually turned down the thermostat a tiny bit to conserve oil
• oil tank was less than 3/8ths. Will it last until warmer weather and better road conditions???
• big part of house's roof has a few inches of snow; the addition (dining room/kitchen) has about 2 FEET of snow with major icicles dangling and 6 inches of ice along the gutters.
  
• There are DRIPs from the dining room chandelier and the ceiling onto the table. When we went to look in the loft, we discovered leaking along the wall that connects big part of house to dining room wing. Not much, just enough to get that braided rug wet on one end (moved a box of pictures) and wander to the low spot in the dining room ceiling.
  
• we moved the dining room table to the side of the room and cleaned off the water.
• covered the rug with plastic and a bucket
• Bob opened the window in Nanny's old bedroom and was able to shovel off some of the snow over the door and nearby roof
• We took lots of pictures, will post some and send a link to see the rest.
• Door still hard to lock.
  
• Good news is: the local groundhog didn't see his shadow, so spring is coming!!!
  

Just an update on CT weather: snow, snow, sleet/freezing rain, snow, below freezing temps. No end in sight!
We will try to get to Thicut this weekend. This latest double storm has dropped 3/4 to an inch of ice pellets, more predicted for Saturday...

• Ice and snow last Tuesday; 4" more snow Friday
• outside temp about 19 degrees F
  
• Road's been plowed down to ice-y layer on driveway. 'Bert' drove up just fine (and out too)
• oil: just over half full, furnace on when we arrived
  
• kitchen temp 57, basement 46
• watered plants with water left from last time
• 'shoveled' walk way to door: now path is almost on level with the stone step!
• more snow predicted for Tuesday!!! I'm tired of this now...
  

catalpa trunk

view from porch door

view of brook from bridge

Power's on!
After Several calls, expert plowing by Bobby N., more plowing by CL&P, the transformer was replaced on the telephone pole. We got the call that power was restored Saturday Night at 9pm!
Here's the sequence of events:

• Wednesday we got the first call
• Thursday morning after Bobby plowed, I called to report the outage again
• Thursday evening, I called CL&P to see if power was on: they said there was no record of a problem, If I called ADT, maybe they could tell me if the power was on, or try calling the phone and see if I got the answering machine.
• Friday morning, I called ADT and they said there was a report of low system battery recorded on Wednesday at 6pm but nothing further. If the system battery isn't being charged by the power, it eventually dies and there is no longer security at the house.
• The phone answering machine didn't answer
• I called CL&P and they said the only way to check power was to go to the house.
• Saturday morning, Bob and I went around 9:30am: road well plowed, at least 2 1/2 feet of snow!, but no power and and there were tracks to the house (by CL&P?) and telephone pole.
  
• The kitchen temp was 28 degrees when we got there, there was liquid water in the pitcher that I use to water the plants, upstairs toilet tank was full of water, downstairs toilet had ice in the toilet, but liquid in the tank, and the big ceramic pitcher had about 1/4 inch ice on it's water
  
• We called CL&P (luckily there is a phone there that doesn't require power to operate, yay for old houses!) to report the problem AGAIN
• within 1/2 hour a CL&P pickup truck drove up and told us the electric truck would be there as soon as possible, they were working in Colchester with a subdivision that had no power and Thicut would be next.
• We went home.
  
• 3:45pm got a call from CL&P that it would be longer to get there
• 7:15 got a call, saying they'd had to call their plow to come to get to the pole
• 9:00pm, they called to say it was fixed. Bob and I were out at a Rowing Club dinner, so
• ADT called Eric V and Anna Ruth to tell them that there was now a low system battery and low temperature signal at the house: another indication that the power was on
• Sunday: Bob and I went down this morning and checked for leaking pipes or dripping water and found NONE! Hopefully that means there continues to be none . The water and pump have been off since November and we'd opened the upstairs faucets once or twice this fall so I'm hoping that, if there was water in the pipes, it was able to expand as it froze and not split anywhere.
  
• We covered the piano with a sheet of plastic just in case there are leaks from the ceiling in the future. We lifted the piano lid to the lowest setting so any drips would roll to the floor and not puddle on the piano
  
• kitchen temp 55 degrees, basement temp 46
• oil tank at 9/16
• watered plants with water we brought. Most survived being freezing for several days.
• called ADT to reset alarm panel: the system backup battery was completely dead because the power was off for so long, but is now recharging: should take another 6 hours. If it doesn't charge, we'll have to replace it. Since the power is on, however, the security system is working; the backup battery is for when the power goes off.
• shoveled snow from the doors to the barn so Bob could start Johnnie Deere
• shoveled some of the snow from the roof overhangs over the mudroom door and the entry door
• weather is warming so icicles forming, hopefully gutters hold
• took pictures!
  

Nor'easter of 2011!
4:30pm:
CL+P called (electric co) and said power out at Thicut: couldn't get up the road because of 3 feet of snow! They somehow found ARM's phone number in Bethesda and she told them to call us.
Called Bobby N. and he said he'd plow it as soon as he could.
He called about 8:30pm and was able to clear the 8foot pile left by the town plow at the bridge and get part way up the hill when he got stuck. he will finish tomorrow morning in daylight and call to let me know.
Then I'll call CL&P back so they can get up the road to fix the problem.
I called ADT (security) to temporarily suspend notification service until the power is restored. I don't want them to call me at 3am to say the basement is too cold (due to no heat/power). The system will reset when the power is restored.
The temp is supposed to be below freezing tonight, let's hope the house stays warm enough so the pipes don't freeze... and that the power problem is easy to fix.

Jen and I checked things out today:

• The road had been plowed after the storm this past weekend, probably a 1/2 inch covering the road after the dusting we had Sunday morning
• oil tank at just less than 5/8
• basement at 46, kitchen at 56: felt like the heat had just gone off when we got there
• watered plants
• mouse evidence in upstairs bathroom sink: teeth marks on some Dove soap I'd put on the sink. I brought the soap home :)
• saw large animal prints covered with the dusting of snow; larger than fox/deer/coyote: could it be a bear??? They were out in the yard leading from the woods behind the barn to the mowed field in front of the house.
  

HAPPY 2011!