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I think we’re down to two baby woodchucks now.
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There were originally seven…. and I’m choosing to believe momma just booted them out of the den as opposed to the more disturbing killed and eaten by predator explanation.
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The two remaining siblings stay pretty close together.
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Especially when feeding.
❤️
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Since the stone border was complete, it was time for the next step. Garden soil.
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Thankfully our local Agway had a giant pile and it was only a few miles away.
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(Action shot)
Though why my husband kept bringing back such small piles I don’t know.
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He made 7 trips, half a yard each time. And I kept spreading it while he went back for more.
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I’m hoping it’s good soil.
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But I’ll mix some fertilizer in before I plant just in case.
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Another action shot.
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It should not surprise you to learn that halfway through the process the husband decided I was raking incorrectly and relieved me of the job.
🤣
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Viola!
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The what seemed like never ending stone perennial garden border construction is complete.
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Yes, it’s much smaller than I wanted.
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But I’m pleased with it all the same.
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It was a lot of work and the husband did a great job.
But the best part? Our marriage survived all the arguments it caused.
Next up? Dirt and flowers!
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P.S….. I wrote this a few weeks ago. The lawn is actually the crunchy brown from yesterday’s post.
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Our carefully tended lush green lawn is gone. Baked to a crisp by record breaking heat and dry weather.
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How dry? Severe drought dry…
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How hot?
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Feels like 108 degrees before 10 in the morning hot. I live in Maine FFS! This is not supposed to happen.
That bright green patch of sod we laid?
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Dead.
My full and healthy for the past 20 years boxwood shrubs?
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Dying.
The brand new flowering crabapple tree we planted on June 7th over my mother’s ashes?
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Might soon be joining her in the hereafter.
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It’s beyond depressing at this point and moving toward the panic stage. We live in the country and rely on a well for water. As much as I’d like to water the garden, I can’t. Hell, I’m down to doing laundry twice a week and not flushing for number one.
(TMI? Sorry.)
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As I type this, yet another flash thunderstorm is moving past us without a drop of rain falling.
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Now that’s just cruel.
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Another day, another layer of stone.
It’s back breaking work and though I kept offering to help… I got the look and strolled myself back inside the house.
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Every time I thought he was almost finished, I’d check back to find he’d removed what he previously laid and reworked the section.
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And when he knelt inside the border like that?
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It looked like one very expensive sandbox.
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I’m happy to report it was a dull and uneventful day of stone installation.
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Probably because I stayed in the house. Oh, I was out there bright and early ready to work, but my help was neither needed nor desired.. so I left him to it.
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The border looks great, though it really is a lot smaller than I wanted.
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The perennial bed I had envisioned will have to be dramatically downsized.
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But something is better than nothing and he certainly is doing a good job.
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Because we are in desperate need at Casa River.
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Our once beautiful lush green lawn is now brown and crunchy.
Time after time we see thunderstorms roll on by with only a few drops falling on our property.
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So few the baby woodchucks were trying to lap them up off the deck boards last night.
Half our state is experiencing drought conditions and I’m filling our bird bath three times a day. If things don’t change I might have to start providing the ground dwellers with a pool as well.
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How dry and crunchy is our lawn? Even the septic system access is brown and dry.
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If it weren’t for the weeds there would be no green at all.
😫
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We feed birds.
We feed grosbeaks and orioles. Finches and chickadees. Nuthatches and woodpeckers. Cardinals and mourning doves.
We feed a wide variety of birds.
This however, was a first.
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One lone seagull.
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Who dropped in to nosh on the deer grain.
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Proof positive you never know who’ll show up at Casa River.
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Like a Roman emperor, our fox has gotten so comfortable here he prefers to take his meals lying down.
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Why stand and burn all those pesky calories.
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If the humans are going to lay out a nightly buffet, I guess he figures he might as well enjoy it in comfort.
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🤣
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Our woodchucks are nothing if not chill.
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After a nice nosh on carrot slices?
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Babies be sleepy.
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And apparently warm sunny rocks are just as good as a hammock.
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River's world..... 