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We’ve had a crazy spring. Or really, a crazy non spring. Cool, overcast and dreary with a little scattered rain here and there. Not nearly the April showers we needed.
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I had high hopes for a deluge when we were driving home under these skies last week.
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They were ominous and promised some good rain.
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It was falling somewhere.
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But not in our backyard.
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This was taken on the other side of town.
Oh well, maybe next time.
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Sharing some things that made me smile.
I saw the first Baltimore Oriole of the season yesterday and rushed to fill the feeder before they move on.
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They’re such glorious bursts of winged color I try to keep them around as long as I can.
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Perfect for that new Stephen King book.
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Because Lord Dudley Mountcatten always makes me smile.
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This would definitely make me smile.
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Bluebirds.
Always pretty, always look mean.
What have they got to be mad about?
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As I mentioned a while back, my husband purchased a new weed whacker. He’s always had great big gas powered things, but with the ethanol additives in fuel and our cold winters it seems they’re always breaking down and dying.
This time around he went battery operated because he bought this brand’s battery hedge trimmer last year and loved it.
Naturally, he put it together in the living room… because that’s what one does.
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Excited to try his new toy, upon completion he took it outside and starting whacking the first thing he saw… grass along the edge of our garage.
You know, the section you see immediately upon exiting our kitchen door.
Apparently my spouse did not realize the power of his new tool because…
This happened.
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Yup.
He weed whacked a nice long strip of the vinyl siding.
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Ain’t that just ducky?
😩
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As always we begin with Lord Dudley Mountcatten… ever chill, always relaxed.
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Up next… an abomination.
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Not being a dirty martini fan, I can find no plausible reason for this horrible vodka to exist.
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Woodchuck sightings are daily now.
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And the chucker holes my husband filled in have been excavated once more.
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Somehow I doubt that dog was cheering.
🤣
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She’s still here, and still teasing my boy.
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Her presence on the deck drives His Lordship positively bonkers.
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She knows he can’t reach her and seems to take perverse pleasure at his agitation.
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What a witch.
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Is it me, or does she look ready to breed again?
🥴
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As I was reading in the living room the other day, Lord Dudley Mountcatten went running to the window.
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It seems we had a visitor on the deck railing.
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A Sharp Shinned Hawk.
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He’s a beauty and hunts our backyard quite often.
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Though sadly never when Momma Red is scurrying around.
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❤️
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten flew off the couch the other day and positioned himself at the back door.
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Reason?
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The red menace was scampering around on the deck.
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I swear she knows he’s there, cackling like mad and most importantly… unable to reach her.
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She’s a regular rodent tease.
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Critters be multiplying here at Casa River.
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Along with some green grass comes another woodchuck.
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I believe that’s the old momma from previous years at the dish.
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She has some distinctive scars on her face and has been calling our backyard home for the past four years.
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Must be last season’s baby to the left.
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We didn’t have much snow this winter so our spring isn’t as wet as it usually is. No snow means no melt which means no big backyard puddles for our annual visiting pair of ducks to splash.
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But here they are.
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Mr and Mrs Mallard checking out the fallen bird seed under the feeders.
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No water meant they didn’t stay long, but it was nice to see them again.
❤️
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Temperatures are rising, the snow has melted and we’re seeing a bit of green grass.
But the surest sign of spring at Casa River is this:
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Our first woodchuck sighting!
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We’ve had a momma raise her young under our barn for the past 6 years or so and always wonder if they’ll be back.
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Of course laying out some carrot slices helps.
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Welcome back spring!
😌
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River's world..... 