Tag Archives: backyard

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Miscellaneous nonsense.

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If I was a dishonest person, I could get rich doing my husband’s laundry.

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He’s forever leaving things in his pockets.

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I think I need this book.

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I have long suspected my spider plant was in cahoots with my succulents. Maybe now I can prove it.

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Mr. Hawk is back.

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And currently driving His Lordship crazy.

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I’m not sure what makes this French…

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But Martha Stewart assures me it’s a good thing.

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As seen at a local convenience store.

Better than sour balls I assume.

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That sums it up quite nicely I think.

😉

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Hello beautiful…

9 Comments

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A Coopers Hawk has discovered our bird feeding station.

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And while I haven’t seen the telltale sign of feathers on the ground…

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It’s only a matter of time before some poor slow moving dove succumbs.

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Birds of prey are glorious creatures and though witnessing an innocent death is never easy, it’s most definitely part of nature’s plan.

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Not the most riveting video, but I’m sharing anyway.

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As you can see we have no snow, but the wind was blowing and the hawk was puffed up against the cold.

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This next photo?

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Mid poop.

🤣

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Hawk visitors.

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Another reason I love living in the country.

❤️

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I never thought I’d love it, but I do.

29 Comments

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In my younger days I was a sun worshiper.

A summer lover. A beach bum who loved nothing more than sultry hot days and long walks on burning white sand.

Now? I like a different kind of white.

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I want cold crisp air and a blanket of snow.

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While most people crave warmth as they age, the older I get the more I look forward to winter.

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It’s beautiful…

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And peaceful.

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I love the gentle colors …

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And the stillness of the season.

❄️

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And now I totally want an opossum.

33 Comments

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Though we have the occasional opossum in our backyard nibbling at fallen bird seed, I’ve never given them much consideration as a pet….

Until now.

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Damn you Facebook for having an opossum lovers page and making me want to adopt one.

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Now I want to give an opossum a bath…

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And dress him for the holidays.

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I even want to put one in a box.

And give him a manicure.

❤️

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Good morning!

25 Comments

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It wasn’t for me as I spent a miserable night wide awake and trying to get comfortable with sciatic pain.

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I’m never sure how I tweak that particular nerve, but boy it lets me know when I do.

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Rolling out of bed this morning was a slow painful process…

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But I definitely had a gorgeous view.

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I’m off to sit on an ice pack and crunch some Tylenol.

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Hope your day is starting a little better.

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Royal feline or arctic fox? You be the judge…

17 Comments

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Since the renovation project is at a standstill, walkies have resumed at Casa River.

And with cooler weather coming on that means mouse hunting.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten can hear them scurrying under the foliage and through the rock wall and after long patient observation…

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He’s airborne.

Straight up in the blink of an eye.

Just like an arctic fox.

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He chases birds in the burning bush as well but that’s not nearly as entertaining, though it is more colorful this time of year.

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No worries, he never catches any.

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Catching His Lordship in full arctic fox mode is difficult but I managed one good shot.

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Unfortunately for him none of these flying leaps resulted in a captured mouse.

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Maybe next time…

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He really can’t help himself.

19 Comments

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My husband loves to talk. To anyone. At any time. Even if he’s paying them to work.

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This happened yesterday when the man we hire to bush hog our field every autumn showed up with his tractor.

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That’s the tractor under the arrow at the bottom of the hill. It was turned off and standing still because my husband went out to talk to him halfway through the mowing.

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Mowed field on the right. Unmowed on the left.

The worst part? My husband talked to the man for so long he wasn’t able to finish and we were left with a big patch of untouched field.

No telling when he’ll be able to come back and complete the job .

Things like this make me wish I could duct tape my husband to a chair.

With a gag in his mouth.

🤣

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Of fog and wooly bears.

12 Comments

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We had a really warm week in Maine with temps hitting the lower 80’s. Not my idea of fall, but lots of people were thrilled summer is still hanging on.

With cool nights and warm days comes fog.

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So much fog the deer who usually only show up at dusk are here at dawn.

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This next picture is of a poor starling who smashed into our living room picture window.

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He was okay and eventually flew away after recovering from the shock. But he sure drove our cat crazy.

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Yes, people here still believe caterpillars can predict the weather.

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Looks like a mild winter to me.

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A mantis mystery.

18 Comments

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On a walk with Lord Dudley Mountcatten the other day I noticed he found something in front of the garage.

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Batting it this way and that, I stepped in to rescue the poor praying mantis he was harassing and carried it to my flower garden.

Our yard used to be full of these delightful insects (Females bite the males heads off after mating. What’s not to love?) but in the past few years we’ve seen their number drastically decline.

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And while I’m used to the green version, this mantis was completely brown.

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So I’m not sure if it was a different species…

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Or just going through some sort of molt.

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Either way, I was pleased with the rescue.

His Lordship on the other hand, was not.

P.S…. did a little research on the mating ritual of the mantis and have to share.

Males of some mantid species mate more effectively when decapitated. Why? A nerve center in the male’s head inhibits mating until a female is clasped. If this nerve is removed, such as when the female bites off the male’s head, all control is lost and the result is repeated copulation.

So there is a reason….

🤣

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