.
I spotted our resident Cooper’s hawk hanging out under the flowering plum tree the other day.
.
.
It’s close to the bird feeders so you know he was there looking for lunch.
.
.
A few minutes later I spotted the husband taking a picture of something.
.
.
It was a baby red squirrel and it was scared to death.
.
.
Probably of the hawk.
.
.
So scared it clung to the husband’s slipper and had to be pried off and tucked under a shrub for safety.
.
.
We woke up to another glorious sunrise last week.
.
.
But as I was standing on the back deck taking pictures, I noticed something to the left.
.
.
In front of the woodshed.
.
.
We have a few morning skunks nibbling under the bird feeders now and then and they often scurry into the shed if they spot me.
But this one wasn’t scurrying.
😰
I’m going to issue a warning now.
This poor little guy was dead, and since we love our backyard visitors like family … and I’ve never been close enough to touch a skunk…. I did that morning. I also took pictures, which might be disturbing.
So again, here’s my warning.
Dead animal photos to follow.
Please leave now if you find it distressing.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Skunks don’t live very long in the wild. On average only two to four years. And since we didn’t see any signs of injury, we’re guessing it was just this sweet little fellow’s time.
.
.
He looked very peaceful. As if he simply laid down and went to sleep.
.
.
I like to think the beautiful sunrise helped him on his way.
.
.
❤️
.
.
It’s apple season in Maine and though I don’t know how they managed with the terrible drought we’ve had this summer….
.
.
Our two mature trees are loaded with fruit.
.
.
Which means…
.
.
It’s time to pick apples…
.
.
And bake pie.
.
.
🍎👍🍎
.
.
Another colorful sunrise, this time with something stinky underneath.
.
.
Stinky..
.
.
But also cute.
💕
.
.
There’s a crabapple tree in our stone garden bed.
.
.
We didn’t plant it, but it sprouted and grew well…. so we let it be.
.
.
Ten years later it perfumes our yard with blossoms in the spring and provides shade for the flowers and respite for the birds.
.
.
Until this week when it literally split in half.
.
.
The lower section on the left broke away from the trunk and got tangled up in the other big section resulting in a mess.
.
.
Knowing it was going to break off and wreck havoc in the first storm, we decided to cut off the broken parts.
😰
.
.
Which were absolutely loaded with fruit.
.
.
I hated to do it, but there really was no choice.
And as with most projects around Casa River as soon as we started…. things went wrong.
.
.
After a few initial swipes with the chain saw?
The chain fell off. And when we tried to fix it?
.
.
It started to rain which drove us into the shed.
Grrr.
.
.
Half an hour later we were back at it.
.
.
With me sighing as each branch fell.
I hate cutting mature trees.
.
.
But kudos to my husband for not destroying my blooming sedum.
.
.
Only one blossom lost.
.
.
The garden bed looks like hell because my knee hurt too much to tend it this year and we’ve had a horrible drought all summer.
.
.
My knee isn’t the only thing crunching around here.
Everything is brown.
😩
.
.
We had a few blue jays at the bird feeders yesterday.
.
.
And for a few minutes it was a sea of blue.
.
.
They’re noisy and knock a lot of seed on the ground.
.
.
But are still a pretty bird to watch.
.
.
This first picture was on the Facebook page of the Island where I used to live… and it made me laugh.
.
.
It’s from a visiting veterinary service but look, we share a name. Though she definitely wears it better.
Also from the Island, a party invitation.
.
.
The ‘I’m Still Not Dead’ party. Wouldn’t want to miss that.
.
.
Believe it or not this ancient picture is of my husband’s mother on a Harley. That’s her driving the middle one. It was taken in 1944 and she was wearing a custom made white leather jacket.
What a hoot.
.
.
Our lawn is browning in weird spots thanks to the summer drought. His Lordship checked out the dead grass on a recent walk and alerted me to a disturbing fact.
.
.
The woodchucks have dug a burrow under the cement cover to our septic tank access.
This may not end well, for anyone.
🫤
In other news, I’ve discovered a funny Facebook page that reminisces about the good old days in the Garden State and it makes me miss my crazy childhood.
.
.
Jungle Habitat was bizarre. You paid admission and drove through the park in your car. You couldn’t get out and let me tell you…. as I kid? I definitely didn’t want to. I remember ostriches ferociously pecking at our windows, a baboon trying to rip off the windshield wipers and a chimpanzee masturbating on the hood of our station wagon. It was a strange form of family entertainment to say the least.
.
.
Cinnamon crumb coffee cake.
I buy it today, but it never tastes the same.
.
.
We have a new backyard visitor who is showing up every day, twice a day.
.
.
He’s a juvenile Coopers Hawk who has discovered our backyard bird feeders.
.
.
We’ve named him Henry and he’s quite content to hang out in the gardens and wait for a meal to fly by.
.
.
He’s young, and his hunting skills need some fine tuning.
Honestly? He misses more often than not.
.
.
But he’s one very chill little dude.
.
.
In other news, we seem to have a squirrel ready for the stripper Olympics.
.
.
I say this because his pole acrobatics are quite impressive.
.
.
That’s a 9.5 right there.
🤣
.
.
Now and then, right before sunset in the summer… we have an eerie backyard light.
.
.
Sadly none of those rain clouds dropped anything on us.
.
.
But they made for pretty pictures.
.
.
Now that is a bowl of lobster stew.
No tiny minced pieces or disappointing puree there. No sir.
.
.
Much as I hate to admit it, I’ve finally reached the age where a new sheet of stamps excites me. I may have oohed when I first saw this one.
Sigh.
.
.
I’d live here anyway, but it’s nice to know we have high rankings.
.
.
This is now a skunk water dish.
Other backyard critters need not apply.
.
.
The husband at a yard sale, or more precisely a barn sale.
The barn was filled with rusty old things and he was in heaven.
See the sign posted on that giant cabbage shredder?
He bought the shredder.
😩
.
.
Porch geese have been around for years and women have been dressing them in seasonal costumes equally as long. But a bar in downtown Bath has taken it to the next level.
.
.
Cluck Norris.
Best. Porch. Goose. Name. Ever.
.
.
I’m always saving these lists of helpful hints but rarely try them. Though chalk in the jewelry box sounds easy enough.
.
.
Just sayin’…
.
.
A skunk-less rainbow this time.
😉
.
.
Only in Maine.
Fun fact? The house where I grew up on the Island was built in 1842 and had a large two story garden shed in the back yard. At the rear of the building? A three hole outhouse.
Because togetherness is everything.
🤣
.
.
This was yummy.
.
.
Though I added some sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Next time I think I’d half the mozzarella amount or use Parmesan.
Meanwhile in the backyard…
.
.
Someone else is looking well fed.
🤣
.
