Tag Archives: backyard

From Hell it came….

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Moving around the corner of the house with the husband’s new toy….

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More shrubbery was tamed. (Yes, I’m aware we’re missing a few shutters. They’re in the garage, where they’ve been since they blew off the house 4 years ago. That’s how long I’ve been bugging the husband to put them back up. 😖 )

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And in the other corner?

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The flowering quince bush from Hell. I annually curse whoever planted this abomination of a plant.

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Every year we wack it down.

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And every year it grows back up to the roofline. If we let it go unchecked? I believe it would swallow the house in one gulp.

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It’s pretty when it blooms, and yes….

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It produces (inedible) quince fruit, but it’s an utter nightmare the rest of the year. Did I mention the beast is also full of thorns? Good times when you have to gather it up, stuff it in a garden cart and haul it down to the woods, over and over again.

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The woods that are wayyyy down there. At times it seemed like the trimming would never end.

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But we finally got it down to the last few branches.

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Before….

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And many sweaty hours after….

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Is it pretty? No.

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Heck, with the husband wielding the trimmer it isn’t even straight. But it’s smaller… and we can see out the windows again.

That’s a win when battling demonic shrubbery.

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A skunk rumble.

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Every night at dusk, the skunks show up.

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It’s usually too dark to take pictures through the window, but last week they arrived early.

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And trust me, they really are fun to watch.

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Of course, sometimes….

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They don’t get along.

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And it’s on!

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There’s a lot of squealing….

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A lot of posturing and tail raising..

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But more often than not….

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They settle in and eat side and side.

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No air freshener required.

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And though it’s not riveting footage, here’s a little skunk video for your viewing pleasure.

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When your brother gets on your last nerve.

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Two baby woodchucks showed up for apples yesterday. ( we put them out for the deer but these little guys are beating them to it )

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The chuck on the right seemed to be annoying his brother with his close proximity.

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Before long they were squabbling.

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And a sibling scuffle ensued.

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Left woodchuck held his ground, as well as his apple.

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And right woodchuck was forced to step aside.

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Family.

What are ya gonna do?

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Mother and child..

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What… you were expecting Christ and the Madonna?

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Sorry, wrong blog.

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On my page you get momma chucker and the baby that sticks close to her side.

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She’s started to swat them away when they try to nurse….

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But brings them to the buffet every day.

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Happily they love to eat broad leaf weeds.

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Because momma’s not sharing her apples.

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Starling photo bomb on the left.

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One mad mother chucker.

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I’m not sure why…

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But momma woodchuck always looks pissed off.

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Is it because her children are always under foot?

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Or because the pesky human woman keeps spraying all the tasty munchies with coyote urine?

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Maybe it’s because her tatas are hanging so low they scrape the rock wall.

Tough call… but I’m going with gravity. That’s bound to make any woman cranky.

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Well, he tried.

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Last weekend my husband installed the downspout on our new back deck guttering.

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For some reason (Far be it for me to question his process. But I did… and was told to go back in the house) he decided to reroute the water’s path and secured the spout to the side of the corner post instead of the front.

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He was proud of how it turned out.

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And while it passed the water test as far as leaks go…

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With liquid gushing out the end freely….

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I did take issue with the placement.

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Because, call me crazy….

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But unless the rain is going to hook a 90 degree turn and drain into the pipe as it’s supposed to…. we’re going to have a mess.

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