I'd like to report that Daniel and Julie had a wonderful time. Thank you for letting them come. They worked on their wedding planning, and made their rings! It must have been hot, they found several fans from somewhere and put them out. I think they washed the sheets they used: when I went down last week, there was a folded pile of sheets in the kitchen. I'll put them away this week when I go down to mow the lawn. They left the house in good shape. I turned the water heater and refrigerator off again; I'll turn them on again for the 28th weekend!

Beautiful once again. I mowed the yard on a beautiful 70 degree day. The maples and oaks are leafing out again after being denuded by gypsy moths, so it looks like a combination of spring and summer. The crab apples are still barren. Not sure they'll make it. But there's a GOLDFISH in the pond! I fed him/her immediately with the fish food from the kitchen counter.
Daniel has asked to spend some getaway time with Julie at Thicut this long weekend. Aunt Sandy has said yes, so while I was there I turned on the hot water, water, and refrigerator for them.

ADT Security alert

No fire, no break in, but the house alarm went off this afternoon. ADT called Angie first, she called Connie, who called me. Evidently Angie couldn't go down to see why the alarm went off and Connie couldn't find her keys to the house (she went down anyway; we had a good reunion once the excitement died down). The fire department was called by ADT because it was a smoke detector (in the basement) that set off the alarm. When I got there to let everyone in, we discovered that there was no fire or smoke. The alarm probably went off because of moisture on the  ceiling dripping on the alarm. It was very hot and muggy/humid yesterday, so I am not surprised. This has happened before. At least this time it was in the day time! I left the alarm on the kitchen table because I couldn't find any new batteries.
The 2 big fire trucks wouldn't go over the bridge because they didn't know what the weight limit is on the new bridge. As in the past, just the smaller truck drove up to the house. They looked in all the windows while they were waiting for me and the key, to make sure no one was inside hurt, etc. They didn't want to break in unless there was evidence of a fire or medical emergency.
They would like a sign at the bridge indicating weight limit (like we had many years ago). They also asked if we could put a sign at the bridge indicating the house number and an arrow pointing across the bridge. They weren't sure how far down the road the house was.
So now the security system has 3 malfunctioning elements (kitchen window, dining room back door, and now basement smoke detector).

That was the excitement for the afternoon.

No pictures this time for a reason....
The Mountain Laurel is in full bloom all along Rte 151. The two huge bushes at the top of the driveway are beautiful as well. The clematis on the barn is also in bloom - a cluster of large white blossoms.
But the rest of the yard is not in such beauty: there is an infestation of caterpillars this year in the area. Both fruit trees are totally without leaves and the branches are crawling with tent caterpillars. A bunch of the big trees including the old maple that lost the big branch are also suffering with gypsy moth caterpillars and are struggling to produce new leaves.
The deer (?) ate every single hosta leaf along the back of the house! Just the stalks are left. I guess it was deer; what else would do that?
It has been a banner year for vine-y growth. Poison ivy is everywhere, as is bittersweet. Bob said all the shrubbery has bittersweet growing in it.
Bob mowed and I cleaned off the 5 foot weeds, and others, from the patio so the purple and white flowering thyme can be seen. It is thriving.
There's a wasp nest being rebuilt (I brushed it down last time) between the 'real' front door and the storm door. Watch out.
All in all a bit disheartening visit, the place is looking a bit forlorn and neglected.

A quick visit to look for a Vassar yearbook and banner for Aunt Sandy's 65th reunion! (no luck), But I couldn't resist taking pictures of all the flowers in bloom.

This has been a beautiful spring here in Connecticut!

 The double file viburnum and the other white flowering bush,

 The yellow azalea's by the front door,

and the pond: can you see the yellow iris? and the red azalea and orange poppies? I tried to pull out as many dead iris leaves as I could: I didn't even fall in. (won't say I didn't get a bit wet, though). No frogs yet, but the days have been warm, cold, and today, a beautiful 70 degrees.

Happy Spring!

Here's and update for May.

The magnolia in full bloom on April 27. We visited with Bob's college friends from Seattle. They loved the brook - Phil even put a rock in the dam at the old swimming pool. The dam is holding strong and the water is rushing over the slide by the 'sword factory' or satinet factory or whatever it really was...

Here's a picture of the daffodils and flowering quince by the patio pond. We saw lots of frog eggs, but no fish (yet?)

This was taken May 7 after Bob mowed the yard for the first time. The asparagus are still coming up heartily. I've weeded around them, so the next mower will see them and not cut them down!