Tag Archives: backyard

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Weird, not so wonderful and downright disgusting.

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Every spring Maine has a pollen problem. The trees explode with new growth and yellow powder covers everything. And since winter hung on a little longer this year? The pollen season has stretched into summer.

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This was I-295 southbound a week ago.

Not fog. Not smog….

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Pollen. Choking the air.

Makes me glad I don’t have allergies.

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It’s rare, but woodchucks do climb trees. As evidenced by this photo I took of a youngster checking out our apple tree branch.

Even rarer?

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Capturing a picture of the young woodchuck kamikaze diving off said branch.

He was fine and wandered off shortly after the drop.

😳

Warning – little bit of grossness ahead.

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I bought a rotisserie chicken for a chicken and dumpling casserole recipe the other day. But as I started carving it?

Eewww …

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I can honestly say I’ve never seen whatever the hell this was before.

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A big blood spot on the breast and something disgusting that looked like pumpernickel bread in the meat.

What the hell!

Was it an infection? A tumor?

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Either way, it was disgusting and completely off putting.

Needless to say we ordered pizza that night.

🤢

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Balancing broccoli is tough.

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Momma Chuck and two babies showed up for broccoli yesterday.

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The little guys look so funny trying to maneuver their veggies.

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They watch mom sit up and eat so they try to mimic her stance.

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One little fellow holds his broccoli too high…

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Which throws him off balance.

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His brother says to hell with that and just sits.

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But baby number one is determined.

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And more than a little crooked.

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Baby chuck discovers the deck.

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I’ve only seen three baby chucks this year which is unusual as momma tends to have four or five. But one of them is brave and has been scampering off on his own.

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Right up on our deck.

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After a rain shower.

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He was a bit damp and bedraggled.

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And stopped for a quick drink.

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Before heading back home.

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They’re so cute when they’re young and uncoordinated.

💕

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First baby sighting…

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Just when I was getting worried we hadn’t seen any baby woodchucks?

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One brave little guy followed momma out of the shed.

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At first he didn’t know what to make of the carrot buffet…

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And wanted mom to feed him.

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But momma chuck isn’t exactly a hands paws on parent…

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And let him figure it out for himself.

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Before long he was happily munching alongside her.

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Skeleton bikinis and a naughty woodchuck.

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As seen down the road from our house.

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This giant skeleton was installed last Halloween and has been making me laugh every holiday and season since.

He was a pilgrim for Thanksgiving, Santa for Christmas, Cupid for Valentines Day, and a very large leprechaun for St Patrick’s Day, For Easter he wore colossal bunny ears and now that summer is near?

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Someone sewed him (her?) a seriously plus sized bikini.

🤣

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Proof positive tequila and online bumper sticker shopping are not a good mix.

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Momma Chuck.

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She takes her carrots seriously.

And speaking of chucks, we noticed our grill cover had been looking a little worse for wear…

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We have hellacious wind here and if it’s not tied down? It’s going to blow. If it is tied down? It’s going to flap.

So we figured this cover had seen one too many N’Or Easters over the winter.

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Until….

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Damn.

Stealing the seat cushion off the barn porch clearly wasn’t enough nesting material this year.

🥴

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For the birds.

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Every once in a while we have a strange bird drop by the feeders.

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We’re not near the beach, though our property does back up on a large river.

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But this wayward traveler spotted the woodchuck buffet and decided to munch.

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You really don’t want to encourage a seagull.

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Before long one will become twelve and your backyard will resemble a landfill, with a dozen squawking birds fighting (and pooping) everywhere.

So after a few quick pics for blogging purposes, I went outside and shoo’d him off.

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Or so I thought.

Because when I turned around to go inside…

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He’d taken up a recon position.

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Seagulls don’t play.

😳

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Trees be poppin’!

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A few warm days was all it took for our apple trees to pop out in riotous bloom. I’ll spare you the pictures of the rest, but this beauty by the road deserves a shout out.

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It’s so large now it obscures the man cave/Barn Mahal and part of the shed.

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I wish WordPress had smell-o-vision because it’s heavenly in person.

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But it’s also filled with bees so be careful where you sniff.

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The pictures don’t really do it justice, but trust me. It’s lovely.

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And I have to say I wasn’t holding out much hope for our flowering cherry trees. The deer destroyed the other three we planted but this one held on…

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It’s much smaller and not as full as it should be with a big empty hole on the right side…

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But it’s still alive and blooming.

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So I’m calling that a win.

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😊

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