The water heater is ON, the refrigerator is ON (still noisy).
The Phoebe has built her nest AGAIN (on the window frame this time) next to the door. There may be babies there, she kept trying to get me to go away.
There are beautiful dogwoods blooming, some late daffodils still blooming.
A strange message about Verizon and some charges on the phone answering machine. It's still there to listen to.
There was NO mail in the mailbox.
The lawn needs to be mowed: I left the J.Deere instructions on the seat of the machine just in case! Not sure of gas status.
WELCOME to THICUT and Summer!

Summer! It's in the upper 70's! Rain and cooler weather, maybe even a frost, is coming in the next couple of days.
Bob mowed on Sunday, but purple flowers are still all over the yard. We had some rain yesterday, so the grass looks very healthy and green.
I vacuumed up A LOT of Ladybugs this morning - and a few cobwebs. Just the downstairs. I cleaned up the sun-room plants, and turned on the water and pump so I could give them a healthy dose of 'local' water. I'll turn on the water heater next time, and the fridge when ARM tells us "I'm coming up!"
It's a beautiful sunny day. Enjoy!

Haddam Neck and Spring at THICUT

 Is this Aunt Yee's House? for sale?

 The Magnolia

 The Lenten Rose (3 blooms)

Mom and I drove all over Haddam Neck and found Aunt Kate's house (now YELLOW), and the church, cemetery, and we think Aunt Lil's house which is for sale. We'll have to take the drive with you, Aunt Sandy, to get the history and locations correct!
The grass is green and filled with violets, purple and white, the magnolia is in full bloom, the daffodils are spent, as are the forsythia. The flowering quince is full of red flowers.
Inside, the front hall is crunchy underfoot with all the dead ladybugs! I'll try to vacuum before you come up! Otherwise, all is well.

The magnolia is just blooming, the forcynthia is out fully, the daffodils on the hill are in full parade mode. The flowering quince is budding. SPRING is finally here! All is well at Thicut.
Well, almost. 'fault: second floor battery #12 is low' Isn't that the one that I keep replacing? It's upstairs. Next time I go, I'll replace the battery and look at the alarm/smoke detector list to see if that was replaced recently.
Happy Spring!

April 13:
Bob, Mom, and I met an insurance inspector for ARM at the house. He came, took pictures inside and out and was very pleasant and quick. Then,

• Bob cleaned up the pine tree by the driveway, 
• cut down some dead spruces behind the field/knoll. 
• I cleaned up the fallen branches in the yard. 

It was a beautiful day, if a bit chillier than last week. But more daffodils were out and the yard is greener. The birds were singing madly, too.

It's sunny and 70 degrees!
Mom and I enjoyed the gentle breeze and the sun at Thicut today.

• The grass seems greener and the snow pile with the fallen pine branches is almost gone. Can you believe we still have some of these piles?!?
• Inside was colder than outside! I opened the dining room doors to let in the fresh air.
• Watered plants, checked oil (still 1/2)
• I'm a little nervous when I go down the basement stairs now, but haven't seen any movement or activity so the snake (or whatever?) is keeping its distance thankfully! Still NO evidence of mice anywhere.
• The forsythia is still tightly closed, but I can see a tiny yellow here and there. The magnolia is also tightly closed: what buds are left. The decimated holly next to the door is still green, and maybe a glimpse of new tiny buds are there if I look hard enough.
• There are open daffodils on the hill behind the forsythia, not exactly a sea of yellow, but a start.
• I noticed that the dogwood tree next to the pond has part of its top broken and dangling down; another casualty of our heavy snows.
• The brook is tumbling noisily. There is a part of a large tree across the brook tangled against the big rock just downstream from the bridge. It goes nearly all the way across the brook and so far is not damming the water, but debris is getting caught in it.

As Mom and I drove away, she said, "I wonder what will become of all this." Even though we are all busy with our current lives, I think it is time to give this some serious thought.
Enjoy the spring.

Happy Easter!

• The daffodils are about 5 inches out of the ground.
• There are smaller snow piles.
• It's about 50 degrees!
• The crab? apple at the bottom of the yard has a broken limb. I tried to take a picture of it for you.
• The power went out sometime this past week. The light timers were off by about 4 hours and the stove clock (and bedroom) were blinking. I reset them.
• Not much oil has been used, it's been in the 40's and low 50's this week! Barely at freezing at night.
• Bob cleared away some of the dead branches from under the old swing maple in the back.
• Happy Spring!