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Now that the peonies have faded it’s time for the day lilies to shine.
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As with all other perennials it’s a shame their blooms don’t last longer.
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We have them in other places around the property but this is the biggest batch.
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Such pretty faces.
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But gone too soon.
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I’m greedy and want more than a day.
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😊
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Momma chuck is a good mother and protective of her brood.
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I’ve seen her chase off a fox, a deer and a turkey.
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Every evening the littles gather to nibble under the bird feeders.
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And momma is right there keeping a close watch on the surrounding area.
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Mess with momma at your peril.
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You have been warned.
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😳
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Because nonsense is everywhere I look.
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I have no desire to cuddle fake bread, but if that was real? Pass the butter baby!
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Fox and chucks are still munching happily together. Guess this is what happens when you lay out an ample backyard buffet.
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I’ve been getting hundreds of junk emails lately. Somehow, someone got my address and has been flooding me with spam. ‘Stuck poop’ is an interesting enough subject line but the fact that the word ‘solder’ is in the sender’s address?
Priceless.
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This is what’s left of the pretty yellow deer proof flower I planted out back. The deer may not like it, but clearly the woodchucks did .
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Ditto that for coneflower leaves.
🥴
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I had to dig up the phlox, lupine and mallow due to voracious woodchuck appetites….
So now they’re all crowding my deck table in pots.
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The neighbor I was cat sitting for returned from vacation and brought me a thank you gift from the Wisconsin Dells.
A bag of local beer! She knows I like sours and brought me a variety to try. Some of them are wonderfully bizarre. The lime green can? A pastry sour with peach, basil, graham cracker and vanilla.
Cheers!
🍺
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It’s hard being a woodchuck.
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And if it’s not bad enough you have to battle your siblings for the daily buffet…
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Now you have to fight off a squadron of starlings when you’re trying to steal the fox food.
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Lots of little beaks make short work of the pile.
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Life is tough.
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The little nibblers are on the move and nibbling everything.
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They love carrots and lettuce and broccoli and apples.
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They also love our back deck.
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Unfortunately they love it a little too much.
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How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
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Too much!
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🥴
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A few weeks ago I bought a lovely dragon wing begonia for the Barn Mahal/man cave porch.
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Thankfully the woodchucks don’t care for begonias and have left it unscathed.
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Until yesterday when I sat down to read and noticed the evidence.
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Muddy footprints.
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All over the table.
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They don’t like begonias and didn’t nibble, but clearly it wasn’t for lack of trying….
🥴
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If there’s anyone who puts on a better show in a garden than a peony, I haven’t yet met them.
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For a pure burst of color they’re hard to beat.
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I have a few small plants in the front of the house, but it’s this old backyard beauty that was here when we moved in 20 years ago that makes the biggest statement.
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Peonies can be fussy and hard to establish.
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But if you manage it, they’re carefree beauty that will be enjoyed for decades.
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Now that the driveway renewal project is complete it’s time to turn our attention to other areas of Casa River that need help…. starting with our back deck.
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Granted it doesn’t look bad from far away.
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And the husband did replace the old wooden railings with these snazzy new metal ones 3 years ago…
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But on closer inspection you can see it’s time for a change.
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This viewing hole was not planned… just the result of dry rotted wood.
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And seeing that it was a direct result of staining this old deck that blew my knee out in 2020? I’m done with old wood.
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If you look closely you can tell this deck is actually composed of two different sized boards. On the left, the original wide planking. On the right, the already weathered, thinner cedar deck boards my husband hauled home from a yard sale because – wait for it – they were free.
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The size difference has driven me crazy for years, but since we’re if it ain’t broke don’t fix it New Englanders … it’s only now that our feet are in danger of breaking through that the whole deck will be replaced.
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With oh crap this stuff is expensive TimberTech composite boards. At $96 per I’m not looking forward to the bill, but if I don’t want to break the leg of my already damaged knee… it has to be done.
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The baby chucks are growing and feeling their oats.
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Feeding time at the backyard buffet sees it’s fair share of squabbles these days.
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Carrots and apples are clearly worth fighting for.
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The little devils may wreak havoc in my flower beds… but I have to admit they’re fun to watch.
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Case in point…. the husband keeps his old garden cart in our woodshed.
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And the other day when I was out back weeding, I heard noises coming from that direction.
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Chucks.
They’re everywhere.
P. S. … did you notice my fabulous astilbe, aka false goat’s beard?
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It doesn’t look like a goat, but it sure loved all those dark rainy days.
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When it’s a wet and rainy afternoon you’re apt to find us in the man cave/Barn Mahal.
Sometimes alcohol is present.
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I’m blaming the Jack Abbeys blood orange wheat for that Scrabble tile arrangement.
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Red Sox game? Check.
Pizza? Check.
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Sweet Thai chili wings and more beer?
Double check.
Life is good.
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Looking out the window back at the garage, we saw a baby chuck perched on the woodshed’s extra room doorstep.
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They’ve completely taken over this little storage area and have dug such a big tunnel the door neither opens nor shuts. Good thing there’s nothing in there we need to retrieve…
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