.
Peonies are the best.
.
.
There, I said it.
.
.
I’ll take a peony bouquet over roses any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
.
.
They’re full and vibrant and smell heaven sent.
.
.
We have two large bushes near our back deck and they never disappoint.
.
.
They’re too high for woodchuck bubblers.
.
.
For which I’m quite thankful.
.
.
His Lordship enjoys them as well.
.
.
Though that might just have been the sun.
😊
.
.
Every morning when my husband sits down, he has an audience.
.
.
He’s none too patiently watched as he drinks his first cup of coffee and feels the pressure to finish.
.
.
Because when there are only a few drops left?
.
.
It must be offered to His Lordship..
.
.
Who has developed an obsession with licking the cup.
.
.
Cats.
💕
.
.
Our little chucklets really love the back deck.
.
.
And when I hear them scrambling across it I have to sit back and watch.
.
.
It’s like their private playground.
.
.
Tag, hide and seek…
.
.
The grill cover is fun to duck under.
.
.
The railings?
.
.
A perfect back yard viewing platform.
.
.
Did I mention Lord Dudley Mountcatten enjoys watching them too?
.
.
Even when he has to duck under a blind to do it.
🤣
.
.
My real life friends are very helpful. Knowing I’ve been looking for coffee and end tables, one of them sent me this…
.
.
And while I’m sure His Lordship would love it?
No.
.
.
This is a church I pass every now and then while running errands.
They have a sense of humor.
.
.
Or try to…
.
.
Now that’s what I call a backyard rainbow.
.
.
This is what $150 worth of handmade gourmet candy looks like. We thought it would be a nice way to say thank you to the nursing and surgical staff for being so kind to an antsy (and sometimes unintentionally violent) patient.
*Note- I wanted to give them a healthy and attractive Edible Arrangement filled with fruit… but the damn stores have closed up shop and left the state of Maine.
Boo to that.
.
.
Living in Maine, we often visit our western neighbor. It’s a wonderful state filled with quirky people, cows, natural beauty and maple syrup.
And now?
They have this:
.
.
Bravo Vermont.
.
.
See?
Delightfully quirky.
.
.
Clearly Max needed more cerebral stimulation than he was receiving at home.
.
.
Congratulations Max.
.
.
Pardon me, Dr. Max.
😊
.
.
We have almost 3 acres of carefully tended mown lawn. So naturally when I take Lord Dudley Mountcatten outside, he heads straight for the barren patch of dirt under our bird feeders.
.
.
Yes, the bird viewing is up close and personal there…
.
.
But the main reason is he likes to roll.
.
.
The birds eat there. As do the woodchucks, the raccoons, the ducks, the fox and the deer.
.
.
So many good stinky smells in which to cover himself.
.
.
Sigh.
🥴
.
.
When my husband first started tearing down the old porch he hoped to save some of the original frame.
.
.
Some of the original wood came off easily, some required gentle coercion.
.
.
I’m not quite sure what went on here…
.
.
When my husband is working a project, I find it safer not to ask.
.
.
New framing meets old.
.
.
In jigsaw like pieces apparently.
.
.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten has been very curious where all the noise is coming from, so I took him out for a stroll to check the progress.
.
.
Naturally he found the old dryer vent hole and had to investigate.
.
.
Do you like gathering friends and family for a good old fashioned game night? Board games, card games, games of skill, games of chance … it doesn’t matter, they’re all fun.
And the best part? You can still take part even after you’re dead.
.
.
Brilliant!
.
.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten is a daddy’s boy. Oh, he tolerates me because I’m the opener of cans and the sifter of poop but it’s my husband he follows from room to room and sleeps with at night. This allegiance also holds sway over freshly folded laundry.
.
.
He curls up on my husband’s.
Never mine.
.
.
A new Sopranos series?
I’m in!
.
.
I can honestly say I’ve never wanted to play ball more in my life.
.
.
#1 mistake?
Eating it. 🤢
(Sorry Mark)
.
.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten is an interactive television watcher.
.
.
Especially when it’s a Nature documentary on birds of prey.
.
.
Summer is coming.
You’re welcome.
.
.
It’s been a weird, cold and wet spring. We still have temperatures dropping to 40 so while the grass is a stunning vibrant green…
Most of the trees haven’t leafed out yet.
.
.
Not that His Lordship cares, there are still mice to hunt.
.
.
The Orioles are still here and eating jars of grape jelly faster than I can buy them. They’re beautiful and hungry.
.
.
A bluebird, just because.
💕
.
.
It’s taken a few days of sniffing and tentative exploring but I think Lord Dudley Mountcatten has finally accepted the new furniture.
.
.
Cats are not fond of change, much like my husband… which is why our new furniture looks a lot like our old…. but I think they’re both coming around.
.
.
He doesn’t look stressed here.
.
.
And before long he was assuming his favorite position with his favorite person.
.
.
Please note that’s not me.
.
.
The last picture?
Proof positive he’s accepted the new ottoman.
🤣
.
River's world..... 