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!