Bob, Anna, and Ethan went on Sunday to cut up and clean up the nut tree (at the hole in the stone wall) that Eric (?) cut down before ARM left for Bethesda back in October! Anna took Ethan down to the slide/dam/satinet factory.
I talked to Connie this morning and she said the oil had been delivered and she and Angie are keeping a good eye on the house. Happy 2014!

Betsy and Mom went down to check on power for ARM (she said her electric bill seemed big): There is nothing drawing power except the few lights on timers. The water heater and fridge and freezer are off. The latest bill must include part of October when everything was still on.
However, I discovered that the power had been out at some point recently. The stove clock was blinking. I reset the clock and checked the light timers which seem fine, so the power must not have been out long. Everything else seems fine. The oil tank is down a bit to 9/16ths: it's been COLD the past few days!
The pond is frozen, the brook is VERY low and has ice on it! Rain (LOTS) is expected tonight so the ice should melt for now... But winter is coming! Happy Thanksgiving and Hanukkah!

Bob and Betsy mowed the lawn and leaves. A balmy fall day, nice to be outside! House was fine. J. Deere full of treated gas, small lawn mower empty. Cleaned up the barn garden a bit for the winter. Thank you to Connie for watching Thicut this winter!

The water heater is ON, the refrigerator is ON (still noisy).
The Phoebe has built her nest AGAIN (on the window frame this time) next to the door. There may be babies there, she kept trying to get me to go away.
There are beautiful dogwoods blooming, some late daffodils still blooming.
A strange message about Verizon and some charges on the phone answering machine. It's still there to listen to.
There was NO mail in the mailbox.
The lawn needs to be mowed: I left the J.Deere instructions on the seat of the machine just in case! Not sure of gas status.
WELCOME to THICUT and Summer!

Summer! It's in the upper 70's! Rain and cooler weather, maybe even a frost, is coming in the next couple of days.
Bob mowed on Sunday, but purple flowers are still all over the yard. We had some rain yesterday, so the grass looks very healthy and green.
I vacuumed up A LOT of Ladybugs this morning - and a few cobwebs. Just the downstairs. I cleaned up the sun-room plants, and turned on the water and pump so I could give them a healthy dose of 'local' water. I'll turn on the water heater next time, and the fridge when ARM tells us "I'm coming up!"
It's a beautiful sunny day. Enjoy!

Haddam Neck and Spring at THICUT

 Is this Aunt Yee's House? for sale?

 The Magnolia

 The Lenten Rose (3 blooms)

Mom and I drove all over Haddam Neck and found Aunt Kate's house (now YELLOW), and the church, cemetery, and we think Aunt Lil's house which is for sale. We'll have to take the drive with you, Aunt Sandy, to get the history and locations correct!
The grass is green and filled with violets, purple and white, the magnolia is in full bloom, the daffodils are spent, as are the forsythia. The flowering quince is full of red flowers.
Inside, the front hall is crunchy underfoot with all the dead ladybugs! I'll try to vacuum before you come up! Otherwise, all is well.

The magnolia is just blooming, the forcynthia is out fully, the daffodils on the hill are in full parade mode. The flowering quince is budding. SPRING is finally here! All is well at Thicut.
Well, almost. 'fault: second floor battery #12 is low' Isn't that the one that I keep replacing? It's upstairs. Next time I go, I'll replace the battery and look at the alarm/smoke detector list to see if that was replaced recently.
Happy Spring!

April 13:
Bob, Mom, and I met an insurance inspector for ARM at the house. He came, took pictures inside and out and was very pleasant and quick. Then,

• Bob cleaned up the pine tree by the driveway, 
• cut down some dead spruces behind the field/knoll. 
• I cleaned up the fallen branches in the yard. 

It was a beautiful day, if a bit chillier than last week. But more daffodils were out and the yard is greener. The birds were singing madly, too.

It's sunny and 70 degrees!
Mom and I enjoyed the gentle breeze and the sun at Thicut today.

• The grass seems greener and the snow pile with the fallen pine branches is almost gone. Can you believe we still have some of these piles?!?
• Inside was colder than outside! I opened the dining room doors to let in the fresh air.
• Watered plants, checked oil (still 1/2)
• I'm a little nervous when I go down the basement stairs now, but haven't seen any movement or activity so the snake (or whatever?) is keeping its distance thankfully! Still NO evidence of mice anywhere.
• The forsythia is still tightly closed, but I can see a tiny yellow here and there. The magnolia is also tightly closed: what buds are left. The decimated holly next to the door is still green, and maybe a glimpse of new tiny buds are there if I look hard enough.
• There are open daffodils on the hill behind the forsythia, not exactly a sea of yellow, but a start.
• I noticed that the dogwood tree next to the pond has part of its top broken and dangling down; another casualty of our heavy snows.
• The brook is tumbling noisily. There is a part of a large tree across the brook tangled against the big rock just downstream from the bridge. It goes nearly all the way across the brook and so far is not damming the water, but debris is getting caught in it.

As Mom and I drove away, she said, "I wonder what will become of all this." Even though we are all busy with our current lives, I think it is time to give this some serious thought.
Enjoy the spring.

Happy Easter!

• The daffodils are about 5 inches out of the ground.
• There are smaller snow piles.
• It's about 50 degrees!
• The crab? apple at the bottom of the yard has a broken limb. I tried to take a picture of it for you.
• The power went out sometime this past week. The light timers were off by about 4 hours and the stove clock (and bedroom) were blinking. I reset them.
• Not much oil has been used, it's been in the 40's and low 50's this week! Barely at freezing at night.
• Bob cleared away some of the dead branches from under the old swing maple in the back.
• Happy Spring!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Bob, Mom and I have just returned from visiting Thicut on a sunny Palm Sunday afternoon. Bob cleared some of the pine/hemlock branches from the sides of the road while Bets checked on things inside the house and Mom enjoyed the sun from Bert, the car. The outside temperature is about 45 degrees F. 

All is fine: the pond water is melted, the snow is gone except for piles by the road. Inside, the plants are eager for spring, they seem perked up with the sunny weather. I sprinkled the planter that sits in the dining room fireplace in hopes it will wake up soon. As I came towards the basement stairs from checking the oil tank (still just over a 1/2 tank), I saw from the corner of my eye and heard a noise just where the wall meets the ceiling at the bottom of the stairs. The snake (or mouse or ??) is evidently still enjoying the warmth inside the house! 

Some snow/rain predicted for tomorrow!

Sunday March 10: I forgot to post last time:
Bob and Anna Ruth visited the house after the nor-easter dropped heavy snow on the Thursday-Friday before. The road had been plowed right up to the house and the turn arounds as well. They noted the pine branches down from the weight of the snow and plowing. They walked around the outside of the house to look at the deer eating damage: most rhododendrons and holly were eaten at least somewhat. Inside all was fine.

Jen, Mom (Ann), and I went to Thicut yesterday. Mom stayed in the car while Jen and I scoped out the house and yard. The snow was mostly gone and the daffodils are poking out of the ground. Snow predicted for today has arrived: Glastonbury had about 3 inches before the rain/sleet started and stopped and began again. More predicted for this evening. Will Spring ever get here???

• The oil tank reads just over 1/2 full.
• The pond must have thawed and refrozen. It has a thin layer of glassy ice.
• There are a LOT of pine branches on the sides of the driveway. The big pine (from Aunt Gina?) is really bedraggled now from weighty snow breaking its branches. The snow plow (we think it must have been the town) pushed them all to the sides of the road. It will take a bit of man/woman power to clean that up once the snow is gone.
• No evidence of mice or snakes inside on this visit!
• Jen watered the plants. They'd like a bit more sun I think. Enough of cloudy days!

Pictures from March 1st visit. I hope these bushes recover! The deer had a feast!
We are waiting another nor'easter that hopefully will be mostly rain. Washington DC area is supposed to get the brunt this time.

February 23, 2013
Bob went down to check on things.
Remember last week? We had to follow the deer trail up the road to the top of the driveway. Well, on Saturday, Bob discovered that the deer had followed OUR foot prints to the door and decided that the Holly looked delicious. He said they nibbled off ALL the leaves on that big bush!!! Hope it recovers in the spring! I'll try to get a picture next time.
All else was fine. Still a lot of snow. I'm ready to see the grass and blue skies again...

February 9th snow storm pix taken today

 Road NOT plowed: after several warm days, down to about a foot of snow from 2 and a half!

 We are following a deer path over the bridge: well traveled by the deer.

 Bob scraped off some of the snow from the roof and entry step.

Will this spring back in the Spring??

• Oil had been delivered evidently before the storm: the tank is 3/4 full!
• Inside the house all is fine: the power never went off.
• Oh New England winters!

Pictures from February 1st!

It is COLD today! After a few days in the 50s it is back to 32 degrees.

• Oil is just at 3/8ths
• I tried pulling the snake skin out and it broke off at the ceiling, so we won't know how long (is it Abercrombie the 15th?) he/she is.
• I refitted a down spout together on the front corner of the house.
• We had terrific wind yesterday when this cold front came through: there are a few small branches in the road, and several good sized ones fell off the swing maple tree onto the swing!
• Although we heard reports of lost power, it didn't go out here
•  After I left, I drove to the Haddam Neck cemetery to see the family graves and enjoy the quiet on top of the hill. Peaceful.

All's well at Thicut. It's been COLD so the heat's been on: oil tank reads just over 3/8ths.

Here's the picture of the snake skin!!!

More snow fell this past week! Glastonbury got about 5 inches, it looked like a similar amount could have fallen at Thicut. But it's been 40-50 degrees for the last few days and now mostly melted. The road was plowed.

• Other than the snow, it's been a warm week: barely a change in the oil tank level!
• However, on my way to go back up the cellar stairs, I saw  the tail end of a SNAKE SKIN hanging from the ceiling between the outside cellar door and the stairs!!!! What a shock. I didn't notice it on the way down. It was 1-2 inches in diameter. That's one reason there is NO evidence of mice in the house!
• I watered the plants, and checked all the lights/timers.
• Bob let the J. Deere run for a bit to keep the battery/motor in shape.
• Very cold weather on the way, so the weathermen say.

January 9th:
Visited Thicut:

• road is plowed and snow is melting (we had about a foot of snow after new year's!)
• LOTS of deer tracks all around the house! Most of them going to and from the field to the pond!?
• oil tank at 1/2
• watered plants
• no evidence of mice either by smell or turds YAY
• pond completely frozen, but a thaw is on its way tomorrow for a few days.
• only vehicle tracks are from the plow and probably hunter vehicles which only go to the brook path turnaround.