Different day…
Different beverage….
Same deer paying absolutely no attention to us when we mow the lawn.
*Rest assured no alcoholic beverages were consumed while operating heavy machinery.
Or light machinery.
Or, Hell…. even the stove now that we bought a new grill.*
Life is good.
The baby woodchucks are everywhere.
Behind the barn, in the rock wall, on the porch, under the deck.
Which means….
They’re going to be saturating my blog for a while.
Because really….
If there’s anything cuter than a mini woodchuck eating apples?
I don’t know if I’d survive it.
No, not the Hendrix kind.
The Japanese Iris kind.
They don’t last long.
But they sure are pretty while they’re here.
Especially after a rain shower.
At night.
Our second batch of organic veggies from across the street was a nice bonanza.
Red lettuce, spinach, mixed greens, snap peas, zucchini, celeriac, chard, turnip…. and something I couldn’t identify.
Since there was a cornucopia of greens that day, salad was on the dinner menu… and because this was green?
In it went.
Bad idea. Very bad.
It was the bitterest, most noxious thing to ever enter my mouth.
Doing a little research, I discovered it might be a variety of kale.
Curly kale.
No wonder I didn’t like it!
And no surprise it ended up here:
And take my advice, if anyone offers you celeriac?
Run.
It looks like a giant turd….
It’s hard to peel.
And will break your tooth if you’re not careful.
There’s a reason most people throw it out when they grow celery.
And now, I know why.
Our resident buck with the felt covered mini rack has flown the proverbial coop, which is a shame, because I think most of you…. some of you?…. alright, at least one of you… was enjoying the fuzzy updates on antler growth progress.
But never fear.
Our old doe, who we call pregnant because she always seems to be, has last year’s progeny with her on a daily basis now.
So we’ll start from scratch.
Baby buck antlers.
At this point, they’re just little nubs that he keeps rubbing on trees and rocks.
And can you blame him?
The poor little guy looks like a four legged Frankenstein.
Hello my name is River, and I’m an addict.
A cell phone addict.
I always have my cell phone.
In my purse, in my pocket, in my hand. It’s rarely more than 10 feet away from me at any given time…. which drives the husband crazy. (This could be because he’s always doing something photo worthy, but that’s another blog entirely.)
The other day as I was sitting on the barn porch with a book and a cheaters bottled cocktail…..
A fly had the audacity to do the backstroke in my margarita.
This will not be tolerated, so after removing the thirsty Esther Williams wannabe?
My cell phone saved the day….
And the rest of my I still don’t feel comfortable going to our local pub for a real one margarita.
Reason #56 why you should always have your cell phone nearby – cocktail fly blocking.
You’re welcome.
Since our spring was so late and cool, things have been blooming a bit more slowly this year.
But no matter when it blooms, if there’s any better smell than fresh lilacs?
I’ve yet to find it.
Though honeysuckle comes in a close second.
This one doesn’t look like much from far away…
But up close it’s pretty sweet.
These Mallow I planted a few weeks ago have quickly become my favorite new bloomer.
Naturally when I went back to the nursery for more they were sold out.
Boo to that.
June in Maine means rhododendrons…..
As well as Lupine.
And I love these purple beauties!
The unthinkable happened last week.
Our beloved… and only 3 years old damn it… Weber grill died. Not wanting to spend a summer without one, we immediately went hunting for it’s replacement.
I wanted a small one without a side burner, so naturally all the husband looked at were large ones with side burners.
Ah, marriage.
Have you been grill shopping lately?
Holy crap!
I’ve paid less for cars.
Here’s the husband taking one for a test drive.
Literally driving it…. he spun it around a corner and had it up on 2 wheels.
Because Christ, at over a thousand dollars? That bastard better taxi us to the pub on its day off.
I found one I wanted.
Really wanted.
It came with wine!
But no. The husband dragged me to 5 other stores and ended up choosing one from Tractor Supply.
Large?
Oh yeah.
Much larger than we need, but it has stainless steel grates and radiant embers.
What the hell are radiant embers?
I have no idea….
But I bought some lovely filets and we’re going to find out tonight.
Father’s Day was celebrated this past weekend and for me, it was bittersweet.
I was the quintessential daddy’s girl and lost my father when I was 15 years old. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him, miss him and wish he’d been able to share more of my life.
So when I saw this segment on the evening news the other night?
I wept.
If you’ve lost your father, or your mother, or a loved one period…. watch it.
If you have a heart, I think you’ll be moved.
The baby barn.
Now that we’d finished the holy crap did it really take that long construction and paint, it was time for me to begin the beautification process. This meant doing something with the empty flower bed and border.
The ground has always been uneven there… and when I mulched, it tended to wash downhill. So I gathered up a bunch of the old weathered bricks I love and started stacking.
While the husband was watching.
Best.
Idea.
Ever.
Before I knew it?
He was on his hands and knees telling me I was doing it wrong.
And while I normally don’t react well to that statement… if it means someone will step in and do all the work? I can swallow my pride.
In no time flat it was being done properly.
As he gleefully pointed out how my eyeballed straight line wasn’t so straight.
Look at him with his little level.
Isn’t that special?
I damn near burst out laughing when he started trimming the bush with a pair of scissors.
Who is this man, and what have you done with my husband?
Be still my heart.
He actually dipped into his sacred pile of dirt that’s been behind the baby barn since we built the big barn years ago and… look!
He even spread it.
I don’t mind telling you the rare sight of my husband gardening was positively orgasmic.
While he loves to mow the lawn and chop down trees…. anything resembling planting, weeding, mulching, bordering… aka gardening?
It was a miraculous sight.
Unfortunately it used up a lot more material than I had, so I sent out an SOS for additional bricks.
Next door neighbor to the rescue.
They have a lovely old farmhouse with a huge 3 (4?) story barn.
Which the husband was scoping out while I loaded bricks into the truck.
She had enough to let us (and by us, I mean him. All I did was take pictures and moan with pleasure) finish.
And I’m quite pleased with the results.
River's world..... 