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It’s now officially hunting season.
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So as much as I love seeing our big buck…
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Part of me wishes he would just stay deep under cover.
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Thankfully all our immediate neighbors post no hunting signs like we do.
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So at least our herd has a safe refuge here.
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Stay alert big guy.
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And just come out on Sunday.
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Success was hard won, but after another full of month of fruitless used car shopping, we finally found one for our niece.
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A 2012 Subaru Impreza hatchback which cost a lot more money than I planned on spending for a 19 year old’s first car…. but welcome to pandemic era shopping.
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The economy is iffy and people aren’t buying new, which means they aren’t trading old, which means a complete lack of decent inventory on the lots. The pickings are extremely slim in Maine and unless you’re willing to spend $11,000 plus (I wasn’t) or buy something with 225,000 miles (also a no) good frickin’ luck.
Thankfully the dealership where she fell in love with this one allowed us to drive it an hour away to have our trusty mechanics/old friends give it a thorough once over.
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They found a few minor things it needed, while this fellow looked on…
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Hey, our friends run a high class garage…. and can apparently fix anything. Including the tin man.
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Okay, as evidenced by their Hooter calendar…. maybe not that high class.
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But they’re experienced and kind enough to examine the car for free, so I’ll excuse a few scantily clad bimbos.
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The car won their seal of approval… after telling us it needed new tires… and our niece let out an audible sigh of relief.
Time to celebrate.
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At the closest restaurant to the dealership while they got the paperwork together.
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Cheers to a young girl’s first car!
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And a hearty home style lunch. Corn and bacon chowder with a hot turkey sandwich for me. That damn thing was so big I ate off it for 3 days.
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Signing her own paperwork. With a man who needs serious instruction on mask protocol.
Big smiles and key in hand.
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A final hug for the best aunt and uncle on earth.
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A thumbs up behind the wheel…. and off she went back to college.
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One extremely happy camper.
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Still with momma…
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But no more spots!
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He/she is a little smaller than the other fawns.
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And I’m not sure if that has something to do with the fact that he/she is blue eyed.
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But they chow down everyday, twice a day.
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And as long as the deep snow doesn’t roll in too soon, all should be well.
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I don’t know why, but it is definitely a thing.
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Yes, now you can definitively prove your nasty neighbor’s pit bull did indeed hump poor little Twinkle.
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23 and Me take note, there’s a new dog in town.
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Is this really necessary?
No. But I found some fascinating ancestors when I researched my family tree so who knows? Your pooch may be Rin Tin Tin’s great great great great grandson on his mother’s side.
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Bowzer’s family tree.
Frame worthy for sure.
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It’s been fun watching this little fawn grow up.
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Although sadly we’re watching his mother decline at the same time.
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Those blue eyes just slay me.
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Of all the deer we’ve had over the years, this is our first blue eyed visitor.
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Little one stays close to mom.
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Hope she’s around long enough to teach him what he needs to know…
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It’s turkey season.
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And that doesn’t bode well for our fine feathered visitors.
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Momma brought her seven babies for their first nosh under the bird feeders a few months ago…
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And they’re all still with her.
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You go momma.
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They’re comical birds to watch.
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Like big brown chickens who gobble instead of cluck.
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Though her babies are almost full grown, momma is still vigilant…
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And takes off at the slightest perceived threat.
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Picture of pretty backyard trees included… just because I can.
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We thought we’d found the perfect used car for our 19 year old niece. A 2008 Hyundai Sante Fe with only 60,000 miles. It was clean, had new tires, brakes, struts, alternator and battery. It rode well and shifted smoothly.
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It was a one owner car with a clean record.
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The price was on the low end of a fair market range.
But because I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t trust anyone, we took it to our trusted mechanic/old friend for a once over.
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He crawled under it to check for rust.
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He put it up on the lift to check whatever you check when you put a car up on a lift.
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He checked the engine and fluids and belts.
He even test drove it.
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We were pretty sure it would get his seal of approval until we pulled back into his garage …
And the dreaded check engine light came on.
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Hooking it up to his handy code reader…. it said error POO18.
Poo is rarely good, but no one wants to spend thousands of dollars on an engine full of it.
P0018 is the OBD-II generic code indicating that the camshaft position sensor A for bank 2 does not correlate to the signal from the crankshaft position sensor.
The bank 2 intake camshaft is out of position compared to the crankshaft position. The bank 2 camshaft phaser is stuck in one position or will not move.
So, poo!
Back to the dealership she went along with my hopes and dreams of ending the month and half long car search we’ve been on for a 19 year old’s first car.
In my day unscrupulous car dealers used to roll back the odometer. These days that’s too difficult, so they just switch off the check engine light instead.
Grrr.
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The brothers are still with us.
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Getting so fat I can hardly tell them from their mother these days.
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Although how you get fat from eating lettuce I’m sure I don’t know.
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I never tire of watching these little scutters eat.
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And the fact the two remaining siblings still stick close together makes me smile.
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They don’t always get along….
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And have been known to tussle over a prime carrot slice now and then…..
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But you rarely see one without the other.
Am I jealous the brothers are able to go out to eat and be served tasty meals?
Well, maybe a little.
Our resident buck was here the other evening.
Up from the woods with last year’s progeny in tow.
The twin fawns are now young bucks themselves.
Before we knew it the whole family was here.
Chasing each other and ruining my shots.
This year’s Bambi.
And his/her dad.
Yes sir…
There are some good genes running through this family.
Still stealing deer food.
And when it’s too big to finish in one sitting?
They’re still planting.
And I’m still cleaning up scattered dirt.
And squirrel poo.
Help me out with this…
Aren’t teenagers supposed to grow up and move out?
River's world..... 