It's Snowing!
It snowed on Christmas eve, so there's a light covering on the ground and Today, it's snowing again. We're supposed to get several inches.
Bob and I went down today before the snow started to check on things:

• Hunter truck parked; having a good time in the woods, I'll bet
• the oil is just below 5/8ths
• the plants are watered
• the pond is iced over: it's been below freezing for the past day or so

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thursday, December 20.
Bob and I went to thicut for a quick look. Everything's fine.

• watered plants, oil at 5/8ths
• Rene and Steve hunting again, said hello
• as Bob and I walked around (orange hats ON), Bob noticed 2 trees down. Broken off up high. One a spruce in the woods at the end of the field, the other the top of 'Paul's Blue Spruce': the dead spruce behind the rhododendrons. About 20 feet of it snapped off the top and lying on the ground! Very dead. There must have been a strong gust of wind?

All else looks good. Merry Christmas!

Another cool, sunny, day at Thicut.

• 2 state of CT trucks parked (probably Rob Rocks again?)
• house and yard are fine
• oil tank now at 5/8ths 

I stool outside in the quiet, listening to the rumbling brook in the distance. aahhh.  Peace.

• Snow still in the shadows from last week's dusting. 
• One hunter truck parked at the path to the brook. 
• Quiet, sunny, and cold outside; all's well inside.
• Rob R. phone message indicates he and co-worker began their marking boundaries on Wednesday.
• Oil tank at 11/16ths; checked water heater: it's off.
• Pond has a thin layer of ice.

Friday after Thanksgiving, Bob and I visited Thicut to check things out. Everything is fine.

• There was junk mail in the mailbox. I'll send appropriate stuff to ARM. Maybe a phone call to the post office is in order? I think it's the weekend mail person.
• Bob ran the push mower out of gas and replaced the filter on the field mower.
• J. Deere's hood was up. Did we leave it that way the last time or did someone look at it? Barn 'securely' locked.
• Betsy watered plants, and checked the house. 
• Oil tank is on 3/4ths and house is at 50 degrees.
• Rene D. and Steve LaRosa came out of the woods from hunting while we were there. We had a very nice conversation with both. They said they'd seen lots of deer, but didn't get any today.
• We expect some snow this coming week.

Visited Thicut today with Mom. Two parked vehicles at the top of the driveway: hunters? I took a picture of their license plates, but the white truck is the Garbage man's I think.
A dead mouse smell met me when I opened the door and sure enough, there was a small gray mouse lying in the MIDDLE of the living room rug. I took it outside...
As I walked around the outside, I noticed a pamphlet stuck in the mudroom door: from Watch Tower! I've thrown it away. A little disconcerting to realize they made their way all the way to and around the side of the house!?!
Everything else looks fine.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

There is snow at Thicut! It's quickly melting, but covering the grass still. Glastonbury had 5 inches, Thicut may have had the same. The road surface is mostly clear and muddy. It's supposed to be 60 by Monday!

• Inside it felt cold, because it's been 32 outside and the house is set at 50. By Monday it won't be so cold.
• I replaced (went to ACE Hardware to buy) 2 smoke alarm's batteries: the upstairs front and the basement. I bought an extra set of batteries for the next time.
• I watered the plants
• reset the kitchen clock (from Superstorm Sandy)
• listened to and erased 14 mostly political phone messages.
• One message from Rob Rocks that we'll need to follow up on? (Nature Conservancy guy) 

Snowflakes are falling from Nor'easter Agnes...

Visited Thicut on Friday.

• As I drove up the driveway, the last hill, a fat raccoon trundled off ahead of me and up the knoll. Raccoons have such a funny gait. She stopped to check me out as I continued slowly by, then continued on more slowly.
• Small branches litter the road, but no big ones are down. 
• The power went off at some point, because the clocks are blinking, but it's on now. 
• There was a receipt in the door from the oil man, dated October 31st, so the oil tank is now 3/4 full. 
• The alarm display shows 2 smoke alarms with low batteries; we will replace them soon!
• Besides several answering machine messages from the Town of East Hampton warning about Sandy, and offering places to go; there was a nice message from 'Adam', the new minister in East Haddam, checking on Aunt Sandy and hoping she was safely in Bethesda.
• I turned off the water. 'Emptied the faucets, flushed the upstairs toilet. A 'small' Nor'easter is coming on Wednesday! Possible snow, but definitely wind and rain.
• Picked the last of the bright yellow mums from the garden in front of the barn to share with Mom.

Hurricane Sandy has turned into 'Superstorm Sandy' in the media and rightly so for the Connecticut  shore, NYC and the New Jersey shore. Here in mid-CT the storm knocked out some power and some trees. We hope to visit tomorrow to check out the house/grounds, but the answering machine works, so it seems power wasn't lost.

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy is on her way. Mom and I went to Thicut to check on the house.Predictions are for lots of rain and gusty winds.

• I moved the small tables and green metal shelves off the porch to the back of the barn
• put the garbage can and recycling bin in the garage
• The yellow mums are beautiful in the garden in front of the barn
• There's NO wind today; it is very still and peaceful
• the leaves are mostly down off the trees
• And as I walked toward the pond, I heard but didn't see, a frog jump in.

Bob, Mom, and I went to Thicut today

• the yellow house looks wonderful against all the colorful fall leaves!
• we mowed thoroughly
• cut down the brown peony stems/leaves
• Mom enjoyed the scenery and activity from Bert's windows: the temperature was a nice 64 degrees
• firepit looks good: field is a little long but Bob says it will survive the winter

Welcome Fall!
Aunt Sandy and Eric drove to Bethesda on Monday. I stopped by yesterday to 'just check on things':

• the basement looks AMAZING! Eric and Aunt Sandy really took a lot of stuff out (Eric burned some in the fire pit!) and the floor is swept. 
• all garbage bags,etc fit in Bert (our SUV) and disposed of at our dump
• the oil tank reads 1/2 full
• I turned off the water heater
• The house temperature set at 50, storm windows all in and down (I didn't check the attic: will do that next time)
• found a boiled egg in a pot on the stove. Thanks, Aunt Sandy: it was a nice addition to our stir fry dinner last night :)
• the fall colors are peaking and very beautiful 
• the Catalpa leaves have dropped ('foomp'), so we'll rake them up next time (bought a new rake to replace the one I broke!)
• probably will need to mow once more
• there was mail in the mailbox; I'll send that along

The last of the beer bottles have been delivered to Thicut. Mom (Ann) came inside to take a look herself! Impressive pile(s) in the parlor...to do with whatever you wish. Welcome to CT Alex and George!

Have been twice since the last post: once to mow with our mower- around all the trees and edges - and to meet the Colchester johndeere guys to service the Johnny Deere (sharpen blade/clean/oil/ new battery)... Not cheap but worth it.
I also went this past Friday to mow with Johnny D. to get ready for ARM to come back with George and Alex on Sunday!!!
While I was mowing, I nearly ran over a turtle! It was a mottled shell and it's head/legs were RED?!? Any guesses on kind? I don't think it was a snapping turtle, maybe a kind of box turtle. It stayed around the whole time I mowed...
Bob bought a new blade for the push mower, we'll install that the next time we go down.
The refrigerator is on, the water heater is on, the plants are healthy, the yard looks good! Welcome Summer!

Bob and I mowed (jump started Johny Deere AGAIN)... need to fix or replace the push mower (emphasis on push) as well... There are 3 stalks of green asparagus, two bright yellow azaleas in the front, a hoppy toad in the yard, and lots of bird song on this sunny warm spring day.

Mom (Ann) and I brought boxes of old papers, dinnerware, bottles, and the stamp collection (back) to Thicut yesterday after many years sitting in various places at 77 Horseshoe. I put all in the parlor. Eric A. wants the bottle collection stored there, too: another trip and ?where to 'store' 54 boxes?
The lawn needs to be mowed: that will have to wait for another trip as well.
House looks fine, plants freshly watered: the 'stalks' in the square planter usually wintering next to the dining room fireplace are showing themselves: a sure sign of spring!

Bob went down today to check on Thicut: the lawn needed to be mowed after the wonderful rain from last week. However, Johhny Deere didn't start again. Battery dead. Bob jumped it with our (new) Bert battery. (another story: Bert died in Pratt/Whitney parking lot after work yesterday, AAA supplied us with a new battery on the spot - not free ). I guess, we'll have to spring for a new Deere battery now...
Anyway, the lawn is mowed, indoor plants watered, lilacs blooming, the small rhododendron by the fruit tree near the field is completely eaten by deer! House looks fine.

Bob and I went to see if we could 'jump  start' J. Deere. Success! Bob mowed the yard, but high enough so that the beautiful purple violets are still visible. The trees are still tightly budded, but a haze of green promises leaves sometime soon! Speaking of green: the pond is that color too. I still didn't see any fish.
We spent some time pruning out the forsythia; I followed Jenny's advice and cut from the bottom and didn't give the bushes haircuts as we do in Gbury... I think you all will be pleased with the results! There's a bit more room to hang clothes, but still the drape of yellow flowers (soon to be green leaves). There has been no rain to speak of, yet tulips, and daffodils and the forsythia are in beautiful bloom. We may need to water soon if we continue to get no rain!

Bob and I did some spring clean up of the yard. Not much debris, but cleared some leaves from gardens and dead brush from front garden. J. Deere's battery won't start, expected since we never started this winter... Next visit will bring battery charger and see if that fixes it. Lawn not quite ready to mow...

March 30--
A wonderful family gathering for Eric V.'s memorial. Cousins from all sides, friends from near and far. Masters/Whitesides stayed at Thicut for reminiscences and ashes scattering. Rainy and cool outside, but warm and cozy inside.

Spring is coming! The daffodils have buds, the forsythia is about to flower, the quince, too.
The house seems chilly because it's warm outside! Furnace at just over 5/8ths.Driveway dry and not muddy, warm weather expected all week with little rain. The brook looks well within its banks, but the Connecticut river is high, so spring waters are coming from somewhere. We look forward to ARM's visit next week!

March 7
Daffodils up at Thicut! (not blooming, but out of the ground anyway). Pond murky but no ice. house fine. Snow last week was minimal and gone by today. The plants were VERY wilted but perked up after a healthy drink of H2O. I left the water on, ran the upstairs sink faucet until the rust was gone, same with kitchen, and flushed both toilets.
Brook looks great: not high, not low. Forsythia buds still tight...

The sun is shining brightly! and 35 degrees. Snow predicted for tomorrow!
Everything looks fine; a skim of ice on the pond. The oil tank reads just over 1/4 full, cold weather predicted for next week will bring it down some.

Feb 4

Bob and I checked things out; what a mild winter!
The oil tank registers about 3/16th and 49 degrees on the basement thermometer, 55 in the kitchen. A balmy day.
The pond is unfrozen, but of course, no sign of fish.
Bob sawed himself a cane from a thin maple tree near Lady Brook for a sprained ankle he sustained while running around our neighborhood: tripping on a rut formed by the October snow storm's fallen trees... no real snow since then!!

Reporting on last week's visit: I went down on Thursday the 27th to find that the snow from our mini storm was mostly gone, but I could see that Bob had plowed the driveway: piles of snow on one side all the way up. The winter has been mild, so the house is staying heated easily. The oil tank registers about 3/8ths or so. The pond is frozen.
Today, the temperature in Glastonbury was 60 degrees! And tomorrow is predicted to be at least as warm. What a contrast from last year at this time.

I visited yesterday:
The house is fine. There is a dusting of snow from Monday's unexpected storm, but no need for plowing. I picked up a couple small branches from the driveway. Inside a toasty 54 degrees; oil just under 1/2. I brought water to water the plants and fill the watering cans, so no need to turn on the H2O. Everything looks good.
We had about an inch of light snow last night, the driveway is probably covered, but it is supposed to be bright sun today and another more substantial snow tonight, then warming to upper 40s next week! A very different winter than last!

A balmy 48 degrees at Thicut!

• oil at just over 1/2 full
• house comfortable at 55
• watered plants, which seem to be very healthy
• ice on pond; it was about 10 degrees for a day late last week; nights are low 30's lately
• checked light timers
• no phone messages