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Maps, they’re more than navigational.

47 Comments

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Ever wonder how livable your climate is?

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Wonder no more.

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I was once written up for stepping off a boat onto a pier with a beer in my hand. Thankfully the officer was an idiot who put two different dates on the ticket and it was thrown out of court.

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Maine does have a lot of older retirees so I won’t argue with this one.

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I’ll blame our broken ankles on ice and slippery snow.

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Uh, Mark… do we need to stage an intervention?

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Guess I can thank Stephen King for ours.

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This is crazy. I don’t know how young people just starting out do it. Our first home cost $45,000, at a time when my husband’s annual salary was $35,000. The numbers are much farther apart now…

😥

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Uncategorized

A miniature feeding frenzy.

32 Comments

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There have always been hummingbirds at Casa River.

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I put a sugar water feeder out (no artificial dye) as soon as we spot the first one appear in May and enjoy watching the brilliant little jewels drop by for a drink now and then.

We rarely see more than two at a time.

But this year we have three, and four…

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And five.

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And then?

Holy hummers Batman!

We’ve been bombarded by hungry avians.

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I had to put out a second feeder and I’m refilling them every single day.

It’s been crazy…

But absolutely marvelous!

💕

Uncategorized

A garage no more.

16 Comments

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Have you ever eaten in a garage?

I mean an honest to goodness previously grease stained filling station?

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Thankfully the grease and transmissions are gone and a Wiscasset, Maine landmark restaurant once known as Le Garage (clever, no?) is now Water Street Kitchen and Bar.

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It’s a great place to drop in for a craft cocktail…

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Fresh basil limeade with Tito’s please.

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A cream of asparagus soup for the spouse…

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And some spicy Cajun shrimp for me to start.

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Never let it be said their bartenders don’t go the extra mile for top shelf.

🤣

We were happily drinking and schmoozing so I didn’t photograph our entrees, but dessert was a delight.

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Creamy limoncello cake for the win.

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On the way home?

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We marveled at the tourists who don’t know any better and wait on endless lines in the heat at Red’s Eats.

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Their lobster is frozen and comes from Canada.

No self respecting Mainer would be caught dead there.

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Uncategorized

News you can’t use.

15 Comments

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Truly.

I can’t imagine a single scenario where any of the following would be useful.

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See?

Useless.

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Does this mean we can go back to the good old days where only winning teams received trophies, because you know.. it’s a sport? By definition a competition, where someone wins and someone loses. There’s no lesson learned when everyone wins.

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That’s definitely how my husband was raised. When his father’s belt came off, they ran.

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Great.

Yet another thing I’ve probably been doing wrong.

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Power peeing?

Is this even a thing….

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Interesting.

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He’s quite a regal looking fellow.

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Exactly how bad does your underwear need to be if the cat won’t steal it?

On second thought, don’t answer that.

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From the way things are going in the U.S. right now? This isn’t news at all.

😥

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Uncategorized

Surgery… with a view.

21 Comments

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A friend of ours had to go in the hospital for pancreatic surgery recently so we ordered a bouquet from our outstanding local florist to brighten up his room.

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The arrangement was so beautiful I wanted to keep it myself, but I did the right thing and rode with it on my lap for the drive up the coast to the medical center.

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I didn’t even know this hospital existed.

But north on Route 1, past a boat with a beard…

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And a non partisan political sign…

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On a peninsula in Damarriscotta, stood a waterfront hospital with rooms that really didn’t require cheering up.

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Talk about gilding the lily.

He had a corner private room with a view that can’t be anything but healing.

❤️

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Uncategorized

Functional, yes. Attractive, no.

24 Comments

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My husband comes from a long line of thrifty New Englanders who didn’t buy new if the old could be fixed.

The man who doesn’t blink at paying $200 for dinner refused to replace our broken mailbox pole and opted to piece it back together instead.

Sigh…

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Yes, it worked.

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Though it certainly isn’t pretty.

Could he have trimmed the wood to fit the pole’s width?

He could have.

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He also could have bought a new mailbox to replace the twisted mess that drunk driver left behind, but no…

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He glued and screwed and deployed his giant antique vise instead.

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Does the door open completely? No.

Is there a gap in the rear where rain can leak in? Sure.

Is the pole crooked and listing slightly to the right? Yes.

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But he didn’t have to buy a new one, and isn’t that all that counts?

🥴

Uncategorized

Let’s play.

24 Comments

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A quick question about quick food.

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I’m not a nugget fan and have never had Shake Shack’s or Burger King’s but of the other four, I’m going to choose Chick-Fil-A.

They seem to be the most chicken like and have the highest probability of containing actual chicken.

I’ve never figured out what McDonalds puts in their tasteless and stale version.

I’m guessing Pterodactyl.

How about you…

If forced to eat a nugget, which one would you choose?

🐓

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Uncategorized

Aren’t repairs supposed to look… better?

22 Comments

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In the summer of 2023 we had our old driveway torn up and replaced. It cost an arm and a leg (seriously, I think I could buy prosthetics for less) and we expected it to last a long time.

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This was last week.

When after months of complaining to the manager of the company about a weak spot in front of our garage that was starting to break up, my husband got satisfaction.

Or did he?

A full crew showed up free of charge and maneuvered what looked like a mattress into place.

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Turns out it’s a tar heater which melted the offending spots.

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I watched and photographed from the window for hours while they worked on the bad section.

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The end result?

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Hideous.

A black jigsaw puzzle.

This is supposed to solve the problem but to be honest I don’t think it will as the surface looks just as pocked as before.

And to make matters worse?

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They rested the flaming mattress on our lawn and browned a perfect rectangle.

Grrr…

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Uncategorized

Random nonsense.

35 Comments

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Interspecies dining.

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It’s a thing.

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Enough with the pickles.

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I swear all I have to do is type the word here and they show up everywhere.

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Blech!

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The recent wildfires in Canada gave us hazy skies and some eerie sunsets.

* Warning – the following image may cause nightmares. *

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That abomination must be destroyed.

😳

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I really need to separate this line of hostas next spring.

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The bloom is pretty and the bees love it…

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But they’re getting a tad out of control.

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Uncategorized

Boom!

28 Comments

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We woke up to this the other morning.

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Our mailbox used to live there.

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But the mailbox was on the driveway.

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Along with pieces and parts of our busted post.

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My husband called the sheriffs department, sure that nefarious vandals with sledgehammers were responsible.

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Of course, a long conversation took place once the officer arrived …

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Complete with a visit to the man cave/Barn Mahal before the investigation started.

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But it soon became clear my husband’s club wielding delinquent theory was incorrect.

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And the simpler explanation of a drunken, speeding driver was to blame.

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The evidence… a broken side mirror… was found in our ditch.

🥴

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