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Our backyard used to be filled with butterflies. When we moved here 20+ years ago, not a day went by without seeing a dozen flutter by.
Now?
They’re a rare sight.
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Which is why I run for my phone when one does make an appearance.
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Such delicate beauty..
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I miss them.
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💕
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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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Lord Dudley Mountcatten heard something in the woodchuck burrow .
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten investigated.
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On the other end of the woodchuck burrow?
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A woodchuck.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten switched sides and waited on that end.
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Which meant a woodchuck popped up on the first side.
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So His Lordship switched sides again and waited.
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And finally, after Lord Dudley’s servant was tired of standing in the heat and about to drag him back in the house….
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Interspecies communication.
Disclaimer – no woodchucks (or cats!) were harmed in the making of this blog.
😊
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This is Lord Dudley Mountcatten surveying his domain.
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Here’s Lord Dudley Mountcatten noticing an interloper in his domain.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten’s reaction was priceless.
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After some closer inspection?
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And a positive baby woodchuck identification…
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was clueless.
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And looked back at me as if to say, “What am I supposed to do with that?”
🤣
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Day lilies are popping.
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And they’re such a great burst of color…
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I wish they were at least week lilies.
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Here today.
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Gone tomorrow.
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Good thing there are a plethora of buds.
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😊
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Nothing earth shattering, just a woodchuck family having a nosh.
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Carrots and broccoli are their favorites.
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And they make short work of it.
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Momma had five children…
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But we rarely see them all together anymore.
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Let’s take a walk around the garden, shall we….
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Candy cane dianthus.
Almost good enough to eat.
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A tri color pot of begonias on the kitchen porch.
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A red astilbe, clashing with the barn red barn.
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Pink astible out back.
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I love the blooms on these flowers. They’re delightfully weird.
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I can’t remember what kind of daisies these are, but they’re doing well and no one is eating them… so I really don’t care.
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Purple bee balm.
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A fabulous magenta shade.
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Something purple.
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Something red.
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And something wonderful the woodchucks nibbled down to a nub shortly after I took the picture.
😩
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Bowls are for eating.
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But if you’re a woodchuck in our backyard….
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They’re also for sitting.
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And there’s a lot of that happening lately.
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🤣
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Have I mentioned the baby woodchucks like the deer grain?
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They really like it.
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So much so .. they sit in the bowl and repel all foreign invaders.
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The pickle algorithm is right. I don’t believe that’s refreshing at all.
Blech!
🤢
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Are you as tired of seeing AI artwork passed off as real photography as I am?
There’s something about the quality of it that’s very telling.
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I like fruit art as much as the next girl, but come on. No one is that good.
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And come on…
That’s not even close to believable.
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Mark – this is for you.
Please order and report back.
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I dare you to beat our backyard sunrise.
❤️
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A few days ago I posted pictures of a starling riding around on momma chuck.
They were so cute I posted them on a Maine wildlife Facebook page as well .
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Lots of people liked them and left nice comments.
But then Facebook’s AI had to jump in, with its strikingly accurate portrayal of what it was seeing.
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Duck.
Chuck.
It was close… and hey, at least they rhyme.
🤣
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River's world..... 