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I can’t help myself when it comes to these baby woodchucks. I have to try and make friends.
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Apple chunks help inter species relationships.
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This little fellow was so close..
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But ducked under the barn at the last minute.
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Making friends
All posts by Rivergirl
Porters Preserve part two.
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The whole time we were exploring this area we met two other people on the trail.
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Talk about a hidden gem.
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Shame the wild raspberries weren’t quite ready.
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Now that’s my kind of conference room.
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It always surprises me how many beautiful little places there are like this along our coast. I’ve lived in Maine since I was 15 and never knew this existed.
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Another trail lead to a sweet little private beach.
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Hey, it’s Maine. If there’s 3 feet of sand? We call it a beach.
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Ending the hike, we took the final trail back to the parking lot.
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Where there was a wonderful old cemetery. I love exploring those and had just found a headstone from 1837 when I noticed the webs.
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Webs full of squirming worms that could have been the dreaded brown tail moth. No way I was rubbing up against those bad boys again.
Back in the car, there was only one thing left to do to make the day complete. A meal at our favorite Boothbay Harbor restaurant, the Boathouse Bistro.
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It’s not on the water, and the decor might leave a little to be desired but it has the best food around hands down. Spicy Cajun grilled shrimp and veggies on cheesy grits for me.
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And a perfectly cooked filet mignon with herbed truffle butter for the husband.
Life is good.
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What’s blooming?
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This week it’s candy cane dianthus. In previous years the woodchucks stripped this plant bare so I’m glad to see it blooming again.
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I’m not sure what this next perennial is, but it always puts on a nice show.
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Maine winters and harsh and I never know what will survive from year to year.. except the Shasta daisies. Those suckers dwarf everything else.
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More Japanese iris are popping. They’re wonderful spreaders if you let them.
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This is another weirdo bush I don’t know the name of.
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It’s not the prettiest shape but is always bursting with azalea like blossoms.
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Shame they never open fully.
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The silver mound is mounding nicely and the astilbe is almost ready to flower.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten? He’s always in full bloom.
😉
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Porters Preserve
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Another beautiful summer day in Maine meant another walk along the coast.
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This time we headed to the Boothbay region to a little speck on Barters Island called Porters Preserve.
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23 acres of prime property generously donated to the land trust by the Porter family. It’s a little known, out of the way, peaceful haven of wooded trails and rocky coastline.
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The minute we hit the trail? I knew I should have doused myself in bug spray before entering. The black flies were swarming and before long I was scratching like a flea bitten dog.
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We meandered through a few wooded paths…
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And then found the shore.
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So pretty. So quiet. Give me a good book and a glass of iced tea? I’d be happy all day.
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We walked out onto a pier and a float that clearly belonged to someone …
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As it was stacked with new lobster traps.
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But there wasn’t a soul in sight…. which is just the way I like it.
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To be continued…
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Babies!
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The little guys are on the move.
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And damn it, they’re adorable.
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One little fellow loves the wagon wheels and uses them like a jungle gym.
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Momma isn’t a doting parent and I’ve actually watched her steal apple slices from junior.
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I know people dislike them and yes, they can be destructive… but thankfully they’ve never wreaked havoc here other than a few holes.
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Maybe they’re being nice and paying us back for the daily treats.
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Ogunquit Cliff Walk finale.
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As much as I hated the coastal stroll to end, we neared the end of our cliff walk loop.
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That’s Wells beach, one of the longest sandy stretches in Maine.
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I grabbed a few more photos….
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And gloried in the final few feet.
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If you’re ever up this way, please visit. It really is spectacular.
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The turn towards town.
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One more hotel and you’re there.
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Where you’ll probably have to walk another half a mile to find your car.
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🤣
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Cat crazy
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten has been strolling the newly rebuilt stone wall with trepidation. Cats are serious creatures of habit and anything out of the ordinary is met with suspicion.
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But Mr. Sissy Pants doesn’t like to dampen his feet on the morning dew either and will do most anything to avoid wet grass.
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Never walk a straight moist line when you can circle around on dry bricks.
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Yes, he’s in there somewhere.
And if it’s alright with you, I’d rather not tell him about the article I saw the other day..
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The last thing Dudley needs is a throne.
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Random thoughts….
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Have you ever visited a military cemetery and wondered why there are coins on top of the headstones? I get asked this a lot and thought I’d share.
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I once saw a bratty little boy removing coins from graves in a veterans cemetery and while I don’t normally interfere with parents and their children…. you can bet I did that day.
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Judging from the ad photo, I’d say that one.
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I could do without a lot of things in this world, but never my books.
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This is one of our large backyard apple trees. It’s a Granny Smith and has provided us with 20 years of spectacular autumn pies. But last year a massive wind storm ravaged the right side of her and we had to have an arborist in to give her a massive prune. He assured us all would be well but the harvest will be nonexistent in 2022. Sadly there wasn’t a single solitary bloom this spring …. which means a lot less pie this fall.
😫
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Bonk… part 7.
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You know the drill, crazy excerpts from a book about sex, read at your own risk.
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I can honestly say I’ve never owned a vibrator, but if they can drive me to the grocery store and keep the conversation sparkling? I might have to reconsider.
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Reading this list has left me almost speechless. I say almost because I’m dying to know why the plantain needed a condom.
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I am now seriously rethinking the amount of time my husband spends on the throne.
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I enjoy the feeling of a clean and minty mouth…. but not that much.
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While at first glance this doesn’t seem like a bad thing, I can see how it might keep you distracted at work.. or little Susie’s ballet recital.
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Who needs a gym when you have a garden?
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The forest of trees my husband recently planted need to be watered and I’ll give you one guess who has to do that….
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Twice a week I man handle 300 foot of hose down to the back forty to give them a drink.
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And once that sucker fills up with water? It is HEAVY.
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But I’ll do it, despite my bad knee and pinched neck nerve because I refuse to let $700 worth of trees die. The husband loves to plant them, but never offers any follow up care.
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After that I was down on my hands and achy knee to plant. It hurts, but is so rewarding.
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Sadly, the mice are at it again. They live under the floor of the baby barn/shed and damned if they don’t chew the blooms off my marigolds and drag them through a hole.
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I plugged it with some stones, hopefully that will stop the raiding.
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River's world..... 