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Muddled missives.

27 Comments

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We’re down to one baby woodchuck.

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Momma had five, and I’m hoping she just kicked the other four to the curb like she’s supposed to when they’re grown.

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The alternative is predators, or worse… humans.

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Not everyone loves them like I do.

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This is the front door we need to replace, and of course like everything else in our continuing remodeling nightmare… it can’t be simple.

Our house was built in 1974, added on to in 1994. I have no idea how old this door is, but suffice it to say it’s been here a while. What we discovered when shopping for a replacement is no one makes solid wood doors with one large light panel on the side anymore. So we had to regroup.

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In order to fit our rough opening, we had to configure it this way…. which means the door itself will actually be smaller. Not ideal, but my husband’s carpentry skills are not up to cutting larger holes in the house.

Did I mention we will not be buying a solid wood replacement? The $11,000+ price tag almost gave my husband a heart attack. The fiberglass version stained to look like wood was bad enough…

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Plus tax?

$7,133.

For. A. Door.

Kill me now.

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And speaking of doors, while my husband was slogging away on the front porch, I was out back sanding and repainting our bulkhead doors.

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Yes sir.

They are red.

😊

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A nice meal and a cow.

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After walking around the clam festival for a few hours we were hungry, but not for fried clams. Seems counter intuitive, I know… but the stomach wants what the stomach wants.

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We drove to the next town, Falmouth… and found one of our favorite spots positively deserted.

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Having no problem finding a seat at the bar I sampled a Melano Fizz. This consisted of cucumber-infused vodka, melon liqueur, italicus apertivo, simple syrup, and fresh lime juice.

In a word? Yum.

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My go to appetizer here is the crab arancini.

Husband went with the lobster bisque …

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Which was lovely and loaded with lobster but served in one of those ridiculously small bowls made to look large.

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Toddy number two was the hibiscus berry sangria.

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Nice, but not nearly flavorful enough for me.

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My meal was a wonderful carbonara with fresh pasta and grilled chicken. It was so good I paid no attention to my husband’s meal and failed to photograph it. My bad.

On our drive home?

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Cow!

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Cow, on a rock…

Who didn’t appreciate her meal being interrupted by the paparazzi.

😉

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This is the part where I cringe…

27 Comments

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Along with all the other things that are being replaced on the porch? You can add the front door. It’s original to the house and has been leaking cold air in the winter ever since we moved in. It’s shifted, barely closes properly and requires me taping it shut every December so the wind doesn’t whistle its way in.

A new door is necessary but that doesn’t mean I want my husband in charge of its replacement. He’s the king of gerry rigging and that’s not going to fly here. I wanted to wait and have a contractor to do it… he says he needs to do it now before he installs the stone siding.

So this is where I get nervous.

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Storm door removal?

Fine.

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Protective glass covering the side panel removal?

Fine.

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But then we moved indoors where the new floor was recently installed.

In order to replace a door you need rough opening measurements… and this means removing the moulding.

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My husband’s track record with this task is not good.

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But thankfully he managed the job without splintering anything.

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I know he’s going to faint when we go door shopping because it will have to be a special order.

Ka-Ching.

This paycheck sucking project never ends.

🥴

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Easy is a relative term.

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We purchased a product for our front porch remodel called Versawrap. They’re PVC covers for wooden support poles that add a decorative element as well as eliminate the need for paint.

We discovered their easy to install claim was a misnomer when we wrapped our first pole… but when we moved along to the top and bottom moulding?

We realized it was an outright lie.

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Easy my *ss.

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There are teeny tiny dovetail inserts which hold the pieces together and trust me, they are not easy to seat.

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I’m not exaggerating when I tell you it took us over an hour to place the first crown moulding section.

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If three sides clicked? The fourth would not.

If four sides clicked? It wouldn’t stay in place.

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Frustration was the word of the day.

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Two sets of moulding for each pole.

Four poles.

This is not my idea of a good time.

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Because clams deserve a festival.

21 Comments

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Every July the town of Yarmouth celebrates clams… and we drive south to pay homage to the humble bivalve.

Parking is difficult so we leave the car in a lot that seems like it’s 6 miles away and walk a wooded path.

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This brings us to the rear of the carnival which we try to bypass quickly.

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We’re too old for that nonsense and honestly, the smell of greasy fair food that early in the day is not my idea of ambrosia.

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We spent a pleasant hour strolling through the artists and crafters, appreciating their talent but slightly stunned at their prices. If the goal is to sell things, they may have missed the mark.

I spent considerablp less by opting for some sweet notecards.

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Please note our backyard woodchucks do not present me with flowers, they eat them…. and if our resident red squirrel brought me macarons instead of chewing holes in our walls? I might not dislike her so much.

I may not have bought framed art, but I did take full advantage of the used book tent.

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Yarmouth is a lovely village to stroll.

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Lined with beautiful old homes.

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And when you’re there?

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You have to buy a Lime Rickey.

It’s tradition.

As is the clam shucking contest…

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A highlight of the festival.

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All hale the mighty clam!

As we were leaving my husband found a Bath Iron Works display. BIW is a naval shipyard and a huge presence in our state.

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While I enjoyed reading the history? You know my husband found someone to talk to…

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And talk, and talk, and talk.

Sometimes I think this is why he likes to attend festivals. New ears to bend.

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On our way back to the car we crossed a bridge.

A bridge with attitude…

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🤣

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News you can’t use.

19 Comments

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Because I will never run out of it.

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And they say size doesn’t matter.

Pfft!

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I don’t know.

And honestly? I don’t want to know.

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Why?

Just look at the photograph. These guys have attitude to spare…

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Ouch.

I’m not sure it’s possible to receive a review worse than that.

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Oh my.

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Drunk? Perhaps…

American? I hate to say it, but probably .. she’s upholding the (not so proud) tradition of Yanks behaving badly in Europe.

🥴

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They were supposed to call.

23 Comments

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Our stone was delivered last week… on a miserably hot day.

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Since we spent a fortune redoing our driveway last summer, we’ve been extra careful about turning the wheel too sharply when the temperature and the possibility of damaging it are high.

Which is why we told the company delivering the stone to be sure and call when they were on the way so my husband could be standing out there directing them to avoid damage. We insisted on it and made sure the order stipulated calling prior to arrival in BIG BOLD LETTERS.

We waited by the phone all morning, and naturally no one called. At the precise moment I was in the bathroom and my husband walked around to the backyard?

This.

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A giant truck with two pallets of stone and a forklift not only backed into the driveway, but off it at the same time.

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Needless to say the husband was not pleased.

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The driveway was cracked and sunken in on one side.

Words were exchanged.

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And the stone that was supposed to sit close to the house within easy reach of the project was redirected here.

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Which is actually way over there.

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My husband (being my husband), made the driver wait while he mowed that section of lawn.

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After which two pallets of heavier than hell stone was plopped on a tar free surface.

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The stone comes in 3 foot sections and my back is breaking just thinking about how many trips back and forth will have to be made to ferry it when needed.

🥴

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Blooming things and a close squirrel call.

17 Comments

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The hostas by our kitchen landing are having a good year.

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A really good year. Tall and full of pale purple blooms.

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The day lilies that were dug up by our neighbor’s tractor when our water line burst a few years ago have finally come back to life.

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Half are yellow, half are this interesting double ruffle peach and coral.

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Sadly these two by the road are full of weeds..

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But the colors are spectacular.

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In other news… His Lordship almost caught the dreaded red b*tch.

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That rotten red rodent was sitting on the stone wall chattering at him, taunting him … swishing her tail and daring him to lunge.

So he did.

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But sadly, he missed… and she disappeared into the wall.

Almost, Dudley.

Almost.

🥴

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