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.