Winter has arrived!

The 3 inches of slushy snow we got the day before Thanksgiving has melted, but it is a cold rainy day here. Mom and I checked the house (Mom from the car: checking the 'new front lawn'). All's well. I watered the plants (left water bottles to use next time), the oil tank is low, but when I talked to the oil man (he came to our house for a water heater estimate!), he said he planned to go down soon. Jolly fellow. I took the garbage from the green garbage can home, the recycle bin I left alone. Happy Christmas season!

Winter Ready

First off, we had a great visit with Anna Ruth, Carlie, John, Annie, Leah, and Scottie! Oh, and Zodie too. Thanks for coming for tea (and bringing pie)!

• It was 27 degrees when I arrived at Thicut this morning! A glazing of ice on the pond. But bright sun.
• I turned off the hot water heater (at the electric box) and turned off the water switch and valve. I flushed both toilets and turned on all the taps to drain as much water out of the pipes as possible.
• The Oil tank says less than a 1/2.
• There is a laptop computer and wires on the floor next to the bay window in the kitchen. Was that left intentionally?
• I emptied the coffee grounds from the coffee maker and rinsed it out (I don’t know what made me look in there, except possibly because Daniel did the same thing at the Cape house and it was at least a month before we discovered it : and the whole coffee maker was moldy, YUKK!)
• The house already smells a bit like dead mouse. I didn’t come across any. I saw all the Bounce sheets, so hopefully they will keep more away. No evidence of Abercrombie either, thank goodness. Although he/she did a good job of keeping mice under control last winter.
• The Trash and Recycle containers are still full of garbage. I moved the blue one back to the house next to the green one. I’ll try to bring a big garbage bag next time to get rid of that. Did you cancel the trash pickup? Don’t they usually take the containers?
• I emptied the garbage in the kitchen and took it home.
• It looks like the downspout over the porch has been reattached. That will help keep the water/ice off the roof I hope.
• I moved the mess of blue and white tarps that were at the foot of the Knoll (from the septic work): folded them and put them behind the canoe behind the barn. If they were left there on purpose, I can move them back next time.
• The alarm console now says there is a kitchen window alarm battery that is low, in addition to the upstairs smoke detector. Not sure what to do about that.

I’d like to know what the expectations are for someone to consistently look after the house this winter. I go down randomly to absorb some perfect alone-ness and peace or if I’ve been asked specifically.  I don’t think I can promise more than that. Connie and I can work out keys, if she wants to do it again. Just let us know.

'New' lawn!

And here is a picture of the swing tree minus leaves. It's still a beautiful tree:

And pond garden: if you look closely, there are still flowers!
And fyi, the down spout on the porch is not connected:

Inside: all is fine. I watered the plants, and listened to and erased all the political messages on the phone. I closed the sun room shades: it's supposed to get to freezing this weekend!

The Septic is DONE!

And while I was there, I took a wonderful walk up the road (the culvert Bob fixed survived the backhoe trips) and down to the brook: here are some fall Pine Brook pix.

I also went into the house: the power had gone off at some point this past week, only for a half an hour, I think. I reset the stove clock and the light timers. Inside, the house was COLD: outside it is 75 degrees today!

Last Sunday, Bob mowed the yard and field, put in the storm window to the back door.
Today, Bob and I went down to get the ice cream from the freezer and some of the meat. Bob pulled down all the storm windows upstairs and the one or two downstairs. While there, Carlie called thinking she'd called ARM in Bethesda :) We had a nice talk. Hope the rowing was fun! The phone messages are: Rodney-Aunt Sandy, please call him, Jean S., East Hampton CVS, and John Whiteside!)Here are some pictures of the current work on the septic system and yard. It looks... better ...

Its Fall!

I went down today and took out the 'perishables' from the fridge. The house looks fine. Oil at 1/2 so that's fine too, especially since it's near 80 degrees today!
Aunt Sandy, Anna, and Richard left last Wednesday for a sightseeing trip on the way Bethesda. Called to say they'd arrived safely.
Yard still a mess, no sign of change since the last time I was there (last Sunday)
I left the freezer for another day. We've tried the English cheese tonight (mmmmm)!
Happy fall.

Some pictures of the new septic system progress.

B+B visited long enough to: (Jen [she's back!!!] and Matt stayed home with Mom)

• turn on water
• turn on all faucets and flush toilets: all's well
• turn on water heater
• turn on fridge set temps to 'setting 3' on freezer and fridge
• put out Calla lily pot and water it heavily (no shoots yet...)
• notice 'low battery 12 smoke' notice on alarm: were batteries changed?
• mow most of lawn: discovered that the small mower won't start (!) so brought it home to fix
• Angie arrived to turn on water too!: had a chat: she showed me a couple emails from Jim Hutcheson (sp?) and/or Larry Frye to ARM about damage by ATV's on our property down 151 (house next to Maletesta's) and altercation with 'conservation officer' (Rob Rocks?)/ police called, etc.!

B and B mowed and weeded. Bob got the front field mowed too: left some daffodil clumps for show. Bets pulled the first crop of feathery ferns from around the house. There are 2 Jack-in-the-pulpits under the (barely hanging on) Holly. And the Bleeding Heart by the door are now visible since the ferns are gone.

Got the mowing done before the Rain! yay!

What a beautiful spring day! Bob and I worked on the yard today (didn't go inside at all): Bob mowed with J. Deere after cleaning up the fallen branches in the yard. I helped clean up the yard and then cleaned up the deadwood from shrubs and bushes. The rhododendrons and holly bushes really took a beating this winter. With all the various snow storms, the deer simply walked on top of the snow and ate the tops of most of the bushes! There is green at ground level but the tops may not make it. There's no green showing. We let them alone for the most part to see if anything grows with this current warm/wet spell. A frog jumped into the pond as I walked by. The magnolia blooms are falling to the ground. It must have been beautiful. The flowering quince is in full red bloom. The bleeding heart is blooming by the front door, and the baby's breath (? it's pink) is in full bloom on the left side of the patio. I took some pictures of the yard with my cell phone. I'll see if I can get them to show up here... but first I am planting Mothers' Day flowers in Mom's and my gardens in Glastonbury! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all moms!

 The Rock Garden

The Brook is High!

It was just too beautiful to pass up a visit to Thicut today! I also went to the cemetery: just a tinge of green on the grounds. The trees are still tightly budded, but the daffodils are ready to bloom! I brought in some for'cynthia' to force.

 Looking downstream from the bridge

 The Grassy Lane Falls!

Spring IS COMING: these are daffodil shoots in the plowed part of the barn driveway!
Bob and Dave K. checked things out on Sunday afternoon. They had a nice walk up the Grassy Lane to the falls. The only slippery/icy part was the hill up from the bridge to the house. Bert, the SUV made it up fine, walking was slippery. Inside the house all was fine. The ice on the brook was amazing, they said.
The oil man evidently came at some point, the tanks are 3/4 full! YAY...

Bob checked out Thicut this afternoon. He says:
"The road was evidently plowed after the 'big' snow storm, but not the most recent one. There were about 2 inches of wet snow on the road. (He parked at the grassy lane.) It looked like the snow was plowed up against the barn door. There were LOTS of deer prints on the lawn. They've had a feast of Rhododendrons and Holly.
The inside of the house is in good shape, except it looks like water damage on the wall in the corner just inside the door where the cane/umbrella can is. The roof over the dining room is iced but thawing, probably the source of the water. The rest of the house looks good.
The brook is high with ice melt."

Oh, and after questioning, he walked up slushy/icy road (2" deep) and the through knee deep snow to the house. We're so ready for this snow to give up!

Eric and Bob stopped by Sunday afternoon. A couple of inches of snow on the ground, no evidence of plowing or cars driving up to the house, but there were footprints up the drive and to the door (Connie?). Eric and Bob went inside and walked around outside, inspected the bridge and discussed options. They said they had a good time and all was fine.
The weekend in Glastonbury consisted of very nice visits with Eric, George and then Conor on Sunday.
Keep warm!