The donut review.

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On our way back from the disappointing brewery the other day I made the husband pull into The Holy Donut…. because I’ve posted about them a few times but haven’t had the chance to try them.

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The almost $24 half dozen box cradled comfortably in my lap, we made for home.

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I was excited to try these extremely popular, much talked about, potato laden famous Maine treats.

Flavor assortment from top to bottom:

Apple cider glazed, apple cinnamon, toasted coconut, maple bacon, vanilla chai and the one slot I afforded my husband… an old fashioned. Yes, the only donut he likes is plain, to which I respond – why bother.

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As I dove in to taste test, the first thing I noticed was size. These things are big.

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But sadly, like everything else…. quantity does not equal quality. While the apple cider glazed and toasted coconut were tasty enough, I have to admit I was underwhelmed. The donuts were heavy, thick and generally nothing special. I admit to trying a chunk of each one while they were fresh and can’t say they were worth the effort or price (3.75 per). People go nuts for these things in Maine and will stand on line outside the stores in order to purchase them but honestly, after trying them? I don’t understand why.

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A few chuckles for cat lovers.

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As most people owned by cats know, the world revolves solely around them. Our houses are run exclusively for their comfort and the well being of our furry overlords is our number one priority. That being said, it shouldn’t surprise me the furniture industry has gotten on board.

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While Lord Dudley Mountcatten is not a people food eater or beggar, I have a feeling he would enjoy this immensely.

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This illustration speaks for itself.

And because no cat post of mine is complete without His Lordship.

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I must now stop typing and attend to his needs.

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As soon as I can figure out what they are.

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The name says it all.

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It was a crisp fall day, so we headed down Route 1 south to Saco to try a brewery I’d been hearing about for years.

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It’s housed in a refurbished mill complex on the river…

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And the atmosphere was wonderful. Brick walls and rustic wood.

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Naturally my husband headed for the bar where we sat behind some fancy taps.

See who’s in the middle of them?

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Rex.

Bar dog extraordinaire.

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Being a brewery we had to try a flight of everything they had on tap.

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And I enjoyed them so much I ordered a strawberry basil vodka lemonade.

How can so many different beers be so bad? Lager, stout, ale, IPA, amber, brown. Seriously, they were all sub par.

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I really wanted to like this place, but it wasn’t meant to be.

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And while my crab cake appetizer with remoulade wasn’t bad…

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The husband hated his French onion soup so another pub will be added to our never return list.

I guess I should have paid more attention.

It was all right there in the name.

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🤣

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Please tell me I’ll laugh about this one day.

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You know how they say war is Hell? While I’m sure that’s true, I’d like to add an addendum…

Custom made windows are the absolute bottom, flame filled, covered in kale and cilantro, merciless pit of no return, bad hair day Hell.

After waiting a month and half with two faulty windows already installed, and after having two separate store rep / window experts make home visits to tell us the windows were indeed faulty, we went to the store from which they were purchased to seek satisfaction yesterday.

(Please keep in mind both supposed experts suggested we get a refund.)

Our plan was to shop for a similar high grade window made by a different company. After explaining our problem, a nice salesgirl helped us start looking and things were going well until we were interrupted by the manager.

It went downhill from there. And it went downhill very quickly.

Ice covered mountain road with bald tires slathered in butter kind of quickly.

We introduced ourselves politely, stated our issue succinctly and got absolutely nowhere. After a long discussion about quality control at the manufacturing level (it’s non existent), and a longer discussion about expecting to get what you pay for (that was us) we were told –

1. No refund would be forthcoming because it was a special order.

And –

2. I’m quoting here, “Nothing is perfect.”

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To say we were stunned is an understatement.

To say my husband was ready to explode is right on the mark.

Oh, the manager said if the report filed by the second store rep expert came back showing faulty construction they would replace the off square sashes, but chuckle chuckle, hey…. they might be off square as well.

What the utter f*ck?

Are we supposed to pay over $5,500 and shrug our shoulders at defective merchandise? Apparently so.

My husband didn’t punch the manager. He didn’t even curse him out which I felt like doing repeatedly, but he did threaten to get a lawyer as we walked out.

Here’s the problem with that… technically we did not purchase the windows. Our contractor did… for us. So by the letter of the law the store doesn’t owe us anything. I’m having a hard time making my angry as all get out husband understand that, but that’s where we are.

We spoke with our contractor after this fiasco and he will be going to the store as soon as he can to fight for a refund on our behalf. To be honest I don’t see it happening.

But I’ll keep you posted.

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Good morning!

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It wasn’t for me as I spent a miserable night wide awake and trying to get comfortable with sciatic pain.

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I’m never sure how I tweak that particular nerve, but boy it lets me know when I do.

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Rolling out of bed this morning was a slow painful process…

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But I definitely had a gorgeous view.

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I’m off to sit on an ice pack and crunch some Tylenol.

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Hope your day is starting a little better.

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The post where we waited a month to find out what we knew a month ago.

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The day finally arrived, as did the supposed window expert.

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We’d had rain, sleet and snow in the morning but by the time he showed up at 2:30 it was just wet and cold.

After a thorough exterior examination with our contractor, the inspection moved inside.

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Measurements were taken, levels were checked…

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Pieces and parts were removed and given a complete going over.

The result?

A determination that the windows themselves weren’t square and one was 3/16ths off plumb. Which is what we told them a month ago.

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Pictures were taken for the report and we were left with two options.

1. Completely new sashes could be ordered for four out of the five windows. This would take at least 7-8 weeks with no guarantee they would be any better than these.

2. A complete refund could be requested and 5 new windows ordered from a different company… which will also take 7-8 weeks.

I can’t stress how much of an inconvenience this has been and will continue to be. Either option will force our contractor to be installing windows in January.

In Maine.

Grrr… not to mention brrr.

We’ve decided to go with door #2 and will be heading over to the store later today to argue for a full refund and begin the entire window selection process again.

Needless to say I’m not looking forward to it.

😡

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Let’s play.

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Because it’s probably more fun than scrubbing grout.

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I think my answer is a wee bit off the average.

6 days.

And that’s only because we had to wait 3 for the license.

Yes, we knew each other for 6 days before we were married… almost 40 years ago. He proposed on day two.

What can I say?

When it’s right, you know it.

How about you?

Did you date a long time….

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Odds and ends

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As you know, I’m all about the creative cocktails. Infusions? Yes.

Fresh herbs and dried fruit? Perfect.

But lately I’ve noticed a disturbing trend toward absurdly over sugared, cake and cookie rimmed dessert in a glass concoctions and I think they’re getting a little out of hand.

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Enough already. Sitting at a bar shouldn’t rot your teeth. Your liver, sure. But no one needs a vodka driven cavity.

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Do not f*ck with the British.

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Pot is legal in Maine and has been for a few years. Stores have popped up everywhere and while that’s hard enough to get used to…. I had to laugh at this flyer I saw the other day. It was distributed by the government who apparently have an “Office of Cannabis Policy”. My teenage self… who went to great lengths to hide her stash… is silently chortling that a free lunch is provided. At least they know their audience.

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The required photo of Lord Dudley Mountcatten, just because.

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This should be fun. Not.

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The Marvin window specialist didn’t show up the day they were scheduled, which for once was a good thing. Our contractor is back in town now and thankfully will be meeting the rep at our house later this afternoon.

That’s the good news.

The bad news looks like this :

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Not exactly optimal window repair and/or extraction weather.

And while I feel sorry for our contractor… it seems like the expert is getting what he deserves for making us wait an entire month.

😈

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