Monthly Archives: December 2022

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Miscellaneous nonsense and a few things for Mark…

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I have absolutely no idea what this is.

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Nope. That’s a 10 on my creepy doll scale.

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A pink flamingo Christmas tree for Mark. The ultimate in flocking.

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This sounds entirely too easy. Has anyone ever tried it?

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Another Spam abomination for my taste bud addled blog friend.

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Porktastic? I beg to differ.

Meanwhile back at the ranch..

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The good news? Lord Dudley Mountcatten has not knocked down the tree.

The bad news? My husband broke the we don’t need any more stuff so let’s not exchange gifts paradigm we’ve been clinging to for the past 6 years and put something big under the tree. Since my beloved has two gift giving modes… expensive jewelry I rarely like and wish he wouldn’t buy or appliances I neither want nor need… I’m going to guess the latter.

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I’ve been married 38 years and no matter how many times I tell my husband appliances are not a welcome Christmas gift, to date I’ve received an upright freezer, a toaster, a washer and dryer, a blender, a convection oven and oh yes, let’s not forget that ever so thoughtful dehumidifier.

I have yet to receive a vacuum, but there’s always next year.

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Lake Wow-aby continued…

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For a place we never knew existed and just happily stumbled upon, it was more than a pleasant surprise.

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Lake Willoughby, 5 miles long with a max depth of 325 feet. A glacial lake parked between two fjord like mountains in Westmore Vermont.

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The path around the south end was easy walking and well marked.

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With some seriously beautiful views.

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The little beach was tiny, but I imagine it’s packed with swimmers in the summer.

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The boardwalk was a nice addition as the ground was a bit soggy.

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Shame it was so cold and windy, I could easily have pulled up a stump and relaxed here for hours.

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Even the stairs were kind.

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If you’re ever in the area check it out.

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And don’t forget your camera.

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News you can’t use.

25 Comments

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You can’t use it, but you can laugh… and that’s always better.

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That’s what I call payback.

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You heard it here first Mark.

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I don’t care if you liked Barack or not, you can’t beat that for cool.

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Yes, there really are sneakers for horses now.

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It’s hard to argue with that logic.

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Proof positive there is such a thing as too much tech.

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Lake Willoughby.

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The undiscovered country is always the best.. and when we travel, we love nothing more than stumbling upon a place we never knew existed.

Enter Lake Willoughby in Vermont.

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Imagine randomly picking a road to travel home and finding this.

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Not being in any hurry, we stopped.

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And groaned at the bad grammar.

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But bad spelling aside…. wow.

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There was a path that ran alongside part of the lake and though I wasn’t dressed for hiking, I happily headed out.

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This is a glacial lake and every part of it was glorious.

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My pictures don’t really do it justice, but in spots the colors were positively surreal.

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The wind was ripping and I couldn’t feel my nose, but we pressed on.

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Being careful not to trample any seedlings.

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Mountains, rocks and a glacial lake.

Yes please.

To be continued…

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Deer, a dump run, and rude hosiery.

29 Comments

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Our backyard herd is finally starting to assemble.

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Only five right now, but winter is here. Though you wouldn’t know it from our still green grass. (Photo taken last week. There’s an inch of wet snow right now)

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We have a beautiful buck again this year.

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He’s firm, fit and keeps a close eye on his harem. As well as our bird feeders which he loves to empty.

In other news a small miracle happened the other day. While working on his project down in the cellar my husband decided he would throw a few things out and headed to the dump.

I was happy! I was surprised! I was beyond thrilled!

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Until I realized 95% of what he threw out was mine. Hope springs eternal…. but rarely turns out the way I like.

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I honestly can’t think of a single person to whom I would gift these awful socks… or a single female friend of mine who would wear them.

And for that, I’m thankful.

Lastly, I saw this.

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Uh oh.

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Heading home through the Kingdom.

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All good things must end and after a wonderful 5 days in Vermont our mini vacation did.

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Vermont. The state where even private driveways have covered bridges.

As we left the resort and headed for the Northern Kingdom, I found proof it does exist.

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If only I could have found the garden.

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A lonely cemetery.

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The Kingdom is another world. Rugged, mountainous and sparsely populated.

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With some rather odd inhabitants.

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And as we were heading home, we discovered a hidden, and heretofore unknown to us, gem.

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Lake Willoughby.

To be continued…

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Because you knew it had to happen.

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I was told in no uncertain terms not to string lighted garland in the man cave or bedeck it’s sacred male space with red Christmas bows… so I didn’t.

But I wasn’t told anything about wreaths.

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Or Santas and stars.

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Or pinecone reindeer with shiny ornaments hanging from their antlers.

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Or festive bar placemats.

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Or winterberry trees with bundled up birdies.

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Or glass jars of sparklies with mini glitter trees.

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And speaking of trees…

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I wasn’t prohibited from those either.

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Silly man. He really should learn to be more specific.

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Warning! Huntington Gorge….

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On one of our random scenic drives around Vermont we stopped at a diner for lunch. Wondering if there were any points of interest nearby, we asked the locals who promptly sent us to Huntington Gorge.

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At first glance it didn’t look promising.

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And to be honest, the second and third glances weren’t any better.

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Everywhere we looked there were warnings.

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And while I’m not normally obtuse, I was beginning to get the feeling we weren’t wanted.

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So of course… after all the Danger Will Robinson! signs?

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My mountain goat husband had to investigate.

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Right at the very edge they warned us about.

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Please note yours truly listened to robot and was well out of danger range.

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Yeah. That limb will hold you honey, no problem.

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Needless to say he survived. But it wasn’t for lack of trying.

😉

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When you have a man cave instead of a workshop.

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The last vintage beer crate we found had one issue…

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Wooden bottle separators that would have to be removed in order to house my vinyl. This was not simply a matter of pulling and popping them out. They were old, warped, and not in any hurry to go.

Ergo… it required tools.

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And since my husband turned his barn and workshop into a man cave …. this meant doing surgery in the living room.

Lord Dudley Mountcatten did not approve.

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After the first twenty minutes the husband was grumbling.

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After the second twenty minutes he was sputtering.

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But when the clock struck a solid hour of remodeling?

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One empty crate ready for part of my record collection.

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Although judging from the price of an old can of that beer … I think I’d rather have it filled with those.

😳

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A restaurant post.

23 Comments

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Just down the road from the snowflake museum…

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We discovered a gem.

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Housed in an old inn, the restaurant/bar was warm and inviting.

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Most of the dining sections were full so we grabbed a high top near the empty bar.

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Seeing the empty bar made me wonder about the quality of libations….

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But a stellar blood orange cranberry gin fizz allayed my fears.

Of course this was Vermont, so some of the menu items put me off.

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A skillet full of kale? There wasn’t enough gin in the state to make me order that.

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Ditto the falafel, though the maple chicken didn’t sound bad.

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But the clam chowder was homemade, rich, creamy and full of fresh herbs so I started with that.. accompanied by the most amazing peach cornbread with orange whipped butter you’ve ever tasted. Ooh la la! I raved over them so much the waitress brought me extra of both to take home.

The beer? I thought you might notice that.

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I tried both of these.

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Because a girl gets thirsty when she eats salad.

😉

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We enjoyed this place so much we stayed long enough to order dessert. (Mainly because the husband found a fellow veteran to talk to… and you know how long that can take.)

Pumpkin cheesecake for him, Key lime pie for yours truly.

If you’re ever in the Jericho area of Vermont drop in. You won’t be sorry.

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