Monthly Archives: October 2024

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And around we go…

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Since the new door was in and trimmed, at least on the outside, it was time to resume stonework.

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I’ll be honest and say the husband really wasn’t looking forward to this part.

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Inside corners are tough to line up properly.

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And we know precision finish work is not his forte.

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But he knocked that small wall out quickly and it looks pretty good, from afar.

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The section that’s really giving him a headache is between the door and the window.

The stone siding sections are 36 inches long…

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So of course the distance between the door and the window is 38 1/4”.

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Not wanting little 2 1/4 pieces and seams running the whole height I asked him to cut the sections different lengths so he could stagger the joins.

This suggestion was not well received.

🥴

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Miscellaneous missives.

34 Comments

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was cackling loudly the other day and stalking something through the living room window.

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Closer inspection revealed a line of sparrows…

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Who were no doubt teasing him on purpose.

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I’m going out on a limb here, but this abomination is almost as awful as Spam.

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I tried very hard to talk my husband into throwing this into the truck on a recent trip to Tractor Supply, but at $230 he squawked.

Which is something this chicken clearly isn’t doing anymore.

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His Lordship, surveying his domain.

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Some things are not worth waiting for….

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I realize I haven’t posted many photos of our fall foliage this year.

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The reason being it hasn’t been a very good leaf peeping season.

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Oh, there’s color…

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But by Maine standards it’s been very muted this autumn.

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Too much rain late in the summer and an early mini cold snap that forced the trees to turn too soon could be the reason.

Anyway…

After running a few errands down south, we realized we’d skipped lunch and headed to a very popular Wells restaurant for an early dinner.

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Off season, on a Thursday… and there was a line half an hour before they opened. We weren’t going to wait, but.

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It’s a steakhouse and my husband loves a good steak.

When the doors opened and the mad rush for upstairs dining was in full force, we took the road less traveled and headed for the bar on the first floor.

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This place is impossible to get in during the summer, jam packed every night so we were expecting amazing things.

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My appetizer was not one of them.

Shrimp and crab stuffed mushrooms. Dry uninteresting balls of stuffing they must have waved a crab over and called it good.

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Two overly sweetened cocktails in, my salad was basically a bowl of iceberg lettuce drenched in bottled blue cheese.

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We both ordered the filet mignons, which were decent enough… though nothing to gush over.

Places like this always make me wonder why people are willing to stand on line for basically nothing special.

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Trim and a roof.

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Back at the shed extension project, some trim was added.

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And oddly added at that.

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And even though the third wall/door hadn’t been figured out, work moved to the roof.

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Where my too cheap to buy more husband used part tar paper, part leftover ice and water shield.

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He kills me that way.

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The man thinks nothing of dropping $200 for dinner, but balks at buying a last roll of tar paper or another full piece of wood when leftovers will do.

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Whatever.

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This is where the third wall should go… except the raison d’etre for the extension is rolling the antique carriage under cover so my husband wants to leave it open. I’m lobbying for some type of large door but with the roof angled for rain and the side of the existing building so clearly off square I’m meeting a lot of resistance.

🥴

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Another first for me.

15 Comments

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I started playing Wordle when it first came out in ‘21 … and then stopped.

But I added the NYT app to my phone a few months ago and have picked it back up as a daily habit.

I’m good, and have a 100% solve rate… but I’ve never solved it in just one guess.

Until this morning.

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Wordle 1,211 1/6

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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Yay for me.

👍

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A fabulous first for me.

41 Comments

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Our neighbor called at 7:30 last night and screamed at us to “Go outside right now!”. From the tone of her voice I figured we were being invaded by herds of rabid moose… but when I stepped off the front porch steps ?

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Wow.

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I’m 60 years old and have never seen the Northern Lights in person..

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And there they were, right over our house.

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Again, wow.

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My photos don’t do them justice..

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But the husband and I stood out on the lawn like total weirdos snapping pictures for half an hour.

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It was a truly magical experience.

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I’m not sure I completely understand what causes the phenomenon …

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But I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same.

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❤️

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Otis is officially in residence.

27 Comments

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Mount in place, Otis the Osprey was lifted onto the peak.

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A little crooked, but there.

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After that, it was time to secure the bolts inside.

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Which meant the ladder coming through the window…

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And being secured…

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So the husband could climb up into the rafters.

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Otis!

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He’s a wee bit crooked, but unfortunately that’s the way he was forged.

The mount is perfectly straight.

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Lots of people have noticed him when they drive by and the neighbors have all commented on his arrival.

Some think he’s an eagle.

Some think he’s a phoenix.

We were told he was an osprey, but whatever he is..

He’s finally home.

😊

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Let’s play.

67 Comments

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This week’s question is in honor of a certain Spam obsessed blogger who shall remain nameless.

Oh, who am I kidding?

It’s Mark, he’s crazy for the stuff.

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As far as I’m concerned Spam is a four letter word. A more disgusting gelatinous meat wanna be you’re not apt to find.

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Blech.

🤢

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Fresh off the assembly line in 1937.

I’ve heard rumors they’ll be making a second batch any day now.

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Health food it’s not.

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My late MIL was the queen of spam. Spam loaf, spam spaghetti, spam and beans… hell, she even made spam pie.

I’ve never been able to stomach the canned abomination and don’t understand why anyone would voluntarily consume it.

So my question is… yay or nay?

Where do you stand on Spam.

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Say hello to Otis.

24 Comments

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Have I ever introduced you to Otis?

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He’s a large (expensive!) metal sculpture of an osprey on a nest that my late mother bought us over 10 years ago with the understanding he would be mounted on the Barn Mahal when construction was complete.

Sadly, my mother passed away before that happened and Otis has languished on the top floor waiting for deployment ever since.

Unfortunately the nest on which he was sat was unable to be affixed to the barn roof as is … so we had to hire a welder to design a mount which we just now did.

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Said mount, nest and bird needed to go here.

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And that wasn’t an easy task.

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But on a recent overcast day a friend was called and the job started.

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With little to no enthusiasm I may add.

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Finding the right spot to bolt the mount proved tricky and I was sent upstairs to make sure the holes were in the right place.

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Upstairs…

Otherwise known as my spouse’s airplane hangar of crap.

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If there’s empty space, you know my guy is going to fill it. I rarely get up here since the overhead door is heavy and beyond my meager arm strength.

But every time I do make the climb….

I find new (old) things.

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Did we need 4 wooden sleighs?

We did not, but apparently we own them all the same.

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I also found a rubber chicken…

As one does.

🥴

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