Random bits and pieces.

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We had a frost last night which finally killed off most of my geraniums and that got me thinking about what comes next.

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I’m not quite at 168…

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But my book corner should last me through mid January.

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I wholeheartedly agree Thomas.

❤️

A friend called the other day and said her ex had just entered into hospice care. She asked if I had any more of the small booklets I was given when my mother passed over a decade ago. Written by a hospice nurse they took the mystery out of the physicality of dying and truly helped at a difficult time in my life.

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I had one more set and was happy to share them with her daughter. Nothing about losing a loved one is easy, but knowing what to expect at the end brought me a small measure of comfort.

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Sunset… lighting up the fall foliage across the road.

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Sure was pretty.

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Even with those awful greenhouses blotting the landscape.

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Random selfie, just because.

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An autumn day.

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A weekend in Maine in the fall calls for a scenic drive to enjoy the glorious foliage, so that’s what we did.

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Stumbling on a covered bridge was a happy surprise.

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On our travels, the husband saw a sign for an antique tractor show and craft fair at a local farm so we detoured there.

Not our best idea.

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Yes, there was a farm.

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And yes there were some old tractors.

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Some in use.

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And while there were two miniature horses…

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And a “dining room” with the worst fried dough I’ve ever had…

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(Hard as a rock, crunchy and tasteless)

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The “craft show” consisted of fresh vegetables, a few tables of American flag boards, patriotic signs and multiple tables of right wing propaganda. There were candidates handing out pamphlets and political ephemera, trying their best to swell the MAGA base.

These are just not our people y’all. And while I respect their right to be there, I have to admit I wasn’t expecting to be arguing about restricting voting rights and ICE roundups at a craft show.

My husband is a veteran of a certain age. He has grey hair and wears a Marine Corps hat. That’s usually all it takes for people to assume he loves the Mango Monarch … which couldn’t be further from the truth.

They kept trying to draw him into discussion but my guy just brushed them off and didn’t engage, other than to make it clear where he stood.

Color me surprised.

We departed soon after and got back on the road…

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Where the husband found a barn sale.

And can you see what’s in his hands?

Another wooden ruler.

🥴

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Which called for a cocktail and some nibbles.

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And more scenic beauty.

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News you can’t use.

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You can’t use it, but I blog about every Monday so technically it is useful.

At least to me.

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My husband is a Vietnam vet and said the peaches and pound cake were the only edible things in MRE’s. The food was so bad he and his men scrounged, traded and pilfered the leftover WWII C rats from supply and far preferred them even though they were over two decades years old.

Now that’s bad.

(And by rats I mean rations, not actual rats. Although with the government, you never know. )

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Proof you’re never too old to be a Swiftie.

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Bat selfies.

Who knew?

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Why doesn’t this surprise me.

🥴

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As it should.

I never wear mine without one.

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Deer me.

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We have a few nice bucks visiting this fall.

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Sometimes with a companion skunk.

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As long as stinky doesn’t get too close the buck doesn’t seem to mind.

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It’s hunting season so I’m always worried about these guys, even though our property and our neighbors is posted.

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A deer’s home range is usually one square mile and while our neighbor’s properties on both sides are 4 times bigger than ours… that still leaves us about 600 acres short of a safe from bullets zone.

😥

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We love our pumpkins.

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Every year the town of Damarriscotta, Maine has a pumpkin festival.

Every year I tell my husband we’re going to attend.

And every year like clockwork?

I forget. And have to enjoy it vicariously through other people’s photos.

So here they are, some of the wonderfully inventive and creative pumpkins I missed.

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Did I mention there’s also a pumpkin regatta where crazy Mainers dress in costumes and try to paddle large hollowed out gourds down the river?

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Yup.

It’s a thing.

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And I missed it.

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Again.

😫

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Maps of nothing the least bit important.

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It’s autumn in New England and that’s a beautiful thing. Turning leaves, apple picking, pumpkins…

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Sadly not everyone gets to experience it.

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I can’t think of one entirely vegan or vegetarian restaurant in Maine, but clearly they exist.

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Sad to see we’re leading the way, but not surprising.

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We love our libraries in Maine and some of them are drop dead gorgeous.

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I’ll take least violent crime. Yay us.

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Someone had way too much time on their hands.

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Ugh. Allen’s Coffee Brandy was the bane of my existence when I was a teenage delinquent. Cheap, disgustingly sweet and at every party I ever attended.

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