All posts by Rivergirl

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A real time weather post.

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It’s that time of year again.

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The white time.

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The first N’or Easter, dump a foot of snow time.

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The time of year I seriously love my husband because he goes out in the middle of the storm to feed the hungry birds.

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And yes, it was entirely his idea. Yours truly does not venture outside in 10 degree 40 mph wind for anyone. No matter how cute and fluffy.

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The majority of snow removal took place this morning.

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And the measured height was 11.5 inches.

Welcome winter! A white Christmas is looking good.

❄️❄️❄️

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My husband shops in the strangest places.

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On our way home from the antique mall the other day, we stopped at a bar.

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You’re shocked, I know.

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One Paloma in…

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The husband started examining bar chairs.

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They were tall, sturdy, rustic… and swiveled.

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Two Palomas, a cup of clam chowder ….

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A Cosmo and a Cajun fried chicken sandwich later….

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The husband decided he wanted these exact chairs for his bar.

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After tracking down the restaurant’s owner we discovered they were custom made by a company an hour and a half away….

So away we went.

To be continued.

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Is it possible to die laughing?

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After hanging a seasonly appropriate wreath on the Barn Mahal’s door, I wandered inside.

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Which is where I found my husband knee deep in nostalgia and flipping through his high school yearbook.

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First we smiled at the graduation photo.

The hair. The prominent ears. The innocence of youth.

But then…

Then he showed me something I will never be able to erase from my memory.

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My husband… was a … gymnast?

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And not just any gymnast. No.

He was a covered from head to toe in silver paint gymnast.

What. The….

What????

He can’t remember exactly why they struck that pose…. But that’s him, crouching on the lower right.

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And I’m afraid the image is burned onto my retinas and into my frontal lobe.

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Hooking.

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No, not that kind.

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This kind:

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Ring the Bull is a traditional hook and ring game played in sports bars, ski lodges and quaint watering holes all over the world.

And it has a very long history in British pub culture.

In fact, legend has it that English Crusaders brought the game back from Jerusalem in the 12th century.

If you happen to play Ring the Bull at Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, the oldest inn in England (1189 AD), you just might be experiencing the true origins of this game.

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Ringing the Bull (also known as Ring Toss or Hook and Ring) is a simple game in concept, but it definitely takes some skill and requires careful concentration. The hallmark of any great bar game

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In most set ups, the metal ring is attached to a rope, hanging from a ceiling by a rafter or other means. The object of the game is then to swing the ring and try to land it on the hook.

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This game looks simple but can be challenging.

And after a few toddies? It’s damn near impossible… at least for me.

Of course after a set number of toddies walking and talking is as well, so what do I know?

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More notebooks we all need.

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In case you’re still searching for stocking stuffers.

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Does that come in extra large?

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That one will fill up quickly.

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Admit it, you’ve had a few of those yourself.

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Sad, but true for a lot of people.

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“…. because I spend too much time blogging”.

Is there a notebook for that?

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I’m going to require an extra large one of those as well.

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My husband mistakenly touched my vinyl album collection last week. It’s large, and alphabetized.

Need I say more?

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Vintage recycling.

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Since I multi purposed our giant crock as a trash can, I decided I wanted something equally fun and antiquey for returnables.

You would think shopping in my husband’s vast array of crap stuff would yield the appropriate receptacle, but sadly nothing was found. Which is when my spouse gleefully suggested we visit the antique mall.

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I was on a mission and didn’t dilly dally. The same can not be said for my spouse.

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I moved him quickly away from this horror…

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Because right now the only thing the barn Mahal doesn’t have is a kitchen sink… and I wasn’t taking any chances.

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Fresh lobster made us laugh. There’s nothing worse than cheeky crustaceans.

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I had my eye on that wagon to the right. But at $520 it seemed a bit pricey for empty beer bottles.

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Even the chicken thought so.

And then I found it…

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Buried in the back and full of oars.

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$50 later…. the old barrel with original lid… made a perfect returnable container.

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The Photo Ark… Part Four.

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I love this book so much I have to keep sharing.

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Sulawesi Babirusas.

Okay, if you say so. I only know he’s delightfully weird and wonderful.

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Tasmanian Devils.

Looks like my in laws at Thanksgiving.

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Lemur Leaf Frogs.

Is that not the sweetest thing!

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Guianan Cock of the Rocks, female.

Birds…

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Guianan Cock of the Rocks, male.

The only time men are prettier.

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Tortoise Beetle.

Okay, I am completely smitten with this fellow and want to suggest our state use his likeness for directional road signs from now on.

Route 1?

This way…

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Stump Tailed Macaques.

Wow. Someone got up on the wrong side of the tree this morning.

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The search continues.

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The search for appropriate height bar chairs goes on.

And on.

And on……

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After 4 more stores  we found one.

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The husband gave it  a test drive and was less than thrilled, with the design and the comfort level, but at that point we were ready to settle. Problem was that chair was the only one….  in the entire store. None in the back. None at the factory.

But this?

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This you could buy 5 times over.

Wow.

The 70’s are calling…. they want their velvet back.

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We found this chair at the next store. It was the right height, but had a tiny seat that was surely designed by the Marquis de Sade.

At the 6th store we visited that day, when we despaired of ever finding anything… we sucked it up and realized we’d have to pay a small fortune and go custom.

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Working with a salesman, we chose this.

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I won’t tell you what they cost per, but trust me….. it was enough to make you catch your breath.

So just when we were ready to pluck down a massive down payment to get the ball rolling, we were told that due to the pandemic….. the wait time on production was 12 plus weeks.

We’d have to wait 3 months to sit at our bar? Damn.

I didn’t like it…. but I liked the swivel, large seated, comfortable, attractive option so I was willing.

Husband on the other hand, was not.

The search continues.

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Beer run!

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Are we the only people who wait for a wind driven snow to make an hour long trip to the nearest military exchange to buy beer?

Probably.

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But look! They sell beer soap too.

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As well as this evil spirit I discovered when we lived down south.

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Purple Passion was my neighbor’s favorite and when I drank 5 or 6 of them because they tasted like Kool Aid? I was sorry.

Very, very sorry.

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Beer shopping with my husband sometimes gets out of hand.

7 six packs and a case of hard cider later?

He came home with a little something extra for the barn.

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*Gulp*

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Shopping is not for the faint hearted.

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Our search for 30 inch tall bar chairs has begun.

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And it’s not going well.

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24 inch counter height chairs abound.

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But apparently no one else (builds a two story barn with a farmer’s porch for storage, decides they rather have a spectacular man cave, spends endless months and thousands of dollars making it attractive, contracts out construction of a full bar and) needs taller than normal chairs.

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11 furniture stores later?

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Liquid sustenance at our local pub, and the husband came home with these instead.

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I’m seriously beginning to wonder if he’s going to live out there.

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