Snow shoeing in the woods

What a difference a month makes! Bob and his friends Dave and Jim took their snow shoes for a hike in the woods. Two feet of snow, about 0 degrees Fahrenheit and almost sunny at 9am. They parked at the 'Grassy Lane' and snow-shoed up the (un-plowed) road. Dave and Jim wandered around outside while Bob went in the house.
The house looks fine, there's snow and ice on the dining room roof, some water marks on the walls inside by the door. Bob says the oil tank is at an 1/8.
Bob, Dave, and Jim snow-shoed all around the property, starting out by the spring and going up to the power/telephone right of way and then following the boundary line to the road, then went by the (what we call) the hunters' cabin and down all the way to the big falls. Then back to the house. There were LOTS of deer tracks and some other smaller tracks, no other human evidence.
Here are some pictures.

                       Looking up the brook from the bridge.

 Bob noticed marks on the table from water dripping through the chandelier. He lowered the leaf and put a pan on the floor to catch future drips.

 These are the 'grassy lane' falls! The ice is in front of the falling water. Bob and friends are on our side of the brook looking upstream.

The snowshoes kept them from sinking too far into the snow. Only 2-3 inches instead of 24! More snow and ice and rain expected this evening and tomorrow.

Brrr

Happy winter!
Bob, Mom, and I went down to Thicut Saturday morning. Had a bit of trouble getting up the last hill: Bob had to back down across the bridge and try again. The road was icy, not snowy. Mom stayed in the warm car while Bob and I reconnoitered. The house seems fine. I think the oil man came, the oil tank registers 1/2 tank full and according to Connie's note on the table, it was low at the beginning of the month. The telephone is not connected still (sounds buzzy/clicky, not dead), and the house alarm is also not working: there were multiple beeps when I opened the door, but they stopped on their own and punching the buttons didn't register on the display. Connie's note says she changed a bunch of smoke alarm batteries. Bob started J. Deere; sluggish start he said, but ran it for a while so that's good. The yard looks good, the pond is completely frozen; we almost tested it by walking on it, but thought the better of it :)
Today, Sunday, is rainy and 40 degrees!

Winter has arrived!

The 3 inches of slushy snow we got the day before Thanksgiving has melted, but it is a cold rainy day here. Mom and I checked the house (Mom from the car: checking the 'new front lawn'). All's well. I watered the plants (left water bottles to use next time), the oil tank is low, but when I talked to the oil man (he came to our house for a water heater estimate!), he said he planned to go down soon. Jolly fellow. I took the garbage from the green garbage can home, the recycle bin I left alone. Happy Christmas season!

Winter Ready

First off, we had a great visit with Anna Ruth, Carlie, John, Annie, Leah, and Scottie! Oh, and Zodie too. Thanks for coming for tea (and bringing pie)!

• It was 27 degrees when I arrived at Thicut this morning! A glazing of ice on the pond. But bright sun.
• I turned off the hot water heater (at the electric box) and turned off the water switch and valve. I flushed both toilets and turned on all the taps to drain as much water out of the pipes as possible.
• The Oil tank says less than a 1/2.
• There is a laptop computer and wires on the floor next to the bay window in the kitchen. Was that left intentionally?
• I emptied the coffee grounds from the coffee maker and rinsed it out (I don’t know what made me look in there, except possibly because Daniel did the same thing at the Cape house and it was at least a month before we discovered it : and the whole coffee maker was moldy, YUKK!)
• The house already smells a bit like dead mouse. I didn’t come across any. I saw all the Bounce sheets, so hopefully they will keep more away. No evidence of Abercrombie either, thank goodness. Although he/she did a good job of keeping mice under control last winter.
• The Trash and Recycle containers are still full of garbage. I moved the blue one back to the house next to the green one. I’ll try to bring a big garbage bag next time to get rid of that. Did you cancel the trash pickup? Don’t they usually take the containers?
• I emptied the garbage in the kitchen and took it home.
• It looks like the downspout over the porch has been reattached. That will help keep the water/ice off the roof I hope.
• I moved the mess of blue and white tarps that were at the foot of the Knoll (from the septic work): folded them and put them behind the canoe behind the barn. If they were left there on purpose, I can move them back next time.
• The alarm console now says there is a kitchen window alarm battery that is low, in addition to the upstairs smoke detector. Not sure what to do about that.

I’d like to know what the expectations are for someone to consistently look after the house this winter. I go down randomly to absorb some perfect alone-ness and peace or if I’ve been asked specifically.  I don’t think I can promise more than that. Connie and I can work out keys, if she wants to do it again. Just let us know.

'New' lawn!

And here is a picture of the swing tree minus leaves. It's still a beautiful tree:

And pond garden: if you look closely, there are still flowers!
And fyi, the down spout on the porch is not connected:

Inside: all is fine. I watered the plants, and listened to and erased all the political messages on the phone. I closed the sun room shades: it's supposed to get to freezing this weekend!

The Septic is DONE!

And while I was there, I took a wonderful walk up the road (the culvert Bob fixed survived the backhoe trips) and down to the brook: here are some fall Pine Brook pix.

I also went into the house: the power had gone off at some point this past week, only for a half an hour, I think. I reset the stove clock and the light timers. Inside, the house was COLD: outside it is 75 degrees today!

Last Sunday, Bob mowed the yard and field, put in the storm window to the back door.
Today, Bob and I went down to get the ice cream from the freezer and some of the meat. Bob pulled down all the storm windows upstairs and the one or two downstairs. While there, Carlie called thinking she'd called ARM in Bethesda :) We had a nice talk. Hope the rowing was fun! The phone messages are: Rodney-Aunt Sandy, please call him, Jean S., East Hampton CVS, and John Whiteside!)Here are some pictures of the current work on the septic system and yard. It looks... better ...