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.

Bob and I went to see if we could 'jump  start' J. Deere. Success! Bob mowed the yard, but high enough so that the beautiful purple violets are still visible. The trees are still tightly budded, but a haze of green promises leaves sometime soon! Speaking of green: the pond is that color too. I still didn't see any fish.
We spent some time pruning out the forsythia; I followed Jenny's advice and cut from the bottom and didn't give the bushes haircuts as we do in Gbury... I think you all will be pleased with the results! There's a bit more room to hang clothes, but still the drape of yellow flowers (soon to be green leaves). There has been no rain to speak of, yet tulips, and daffodils and the forsythia are in beautiful bloom. We may need to water soon if we continue to get no rain!

Bob and I did some spring clean up of the yard. Not much debris, but cleared some leaves from gardens and dead brush from front garden. J. Deere's battery won't start, expected since we never started this winter... Next visit will bring battery charger and see if that fixes it. Lawn not quite ready to mow...