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I have a thing for bumblebees.
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Thankfully the bees have a thing for my rhododendrons.
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When the bushes are in bloom they’re covered with fat fuzzy bumblers…. and I love it!
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I’d love it more if the little darlings would stay still long enough for me to snap a decent blog photograph, but you get the idea.
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Long live the bees!
❤️
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I adore early June in Maine.
Daytime temperatures are warm but not hot. Nights are cool and there’s no humidity. The tourists have started to arrive but haven’t yet overwhelmed the state.
But the best part of early June in Maine?
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Rhododendron season. (Please note I have color coordinated my hanging baskets of geraniums… momma didn’t raise no fool)
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We have two large bushes in the front of our house and they never fail to put on a show. They even have it timed so one blooms after the other for a longer burst of color.
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I trimmed this one back last year and was a little worried I’d done it at the wrong time.
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Clearly, I was wrong.
💕
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First, I weeded the garden bed.
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Which…. when you’re old adjacent at 59 and have a blown knee… isn’t as much fun as it used to be.
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Then I sprinkled a container of shake and feed bloom booster.
And worked it into the soil with a blister boosting rake.
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Then I watered the soil and planted the few flowers the woodchucks left me.
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Three hours plus for a few measly perennials.
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$200 worth of flowers barely made a dent. That’s just wrong.
🥴
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The frost danger has probably but who the hell knows because it’s Maine passed and now it’s time to fill that beautiful raised stone bed my husband built last year.
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My first trip to the nursery made me realize another trip is in order. Such a hardship.
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But look at our little crabapple tree.
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Finally in full bloom.
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So far… this is what will be living in the garden.
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I realized I chose too much pink and purple so the next trip will be for peach, red and maybe white to round it out.
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Yes, I hate to admit it…. but I do.
I like a Miley Cyrus song.
The annoying, immature, in your face, twerking, sexpot daughter of the Achy Breaky Heart guy. Ugh.
I never thought it would be possible but her new song “Flowers” has burrowed its way into my head and is happily stuck there.
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Guess I’m not the only one.
Is she telling her ex husband Liam Hemsworth she’s finally over him and ready to move on? Definitely.
Is it turning into a monster women’s anthem of independence and empowerment? No doubt about it.
I still don’t like her… but it’s an ear worm that might be with me for a while.
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We’ve finally received some much needed rain and our lawn has responded accordingly.
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The grass has started to turn green… just in time for it to turn brown in the fall…. and Lord Dudley Mountcatten approves.
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Not that you’d know it by his face.
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And while the grass is busy turning green, my husband is busy turning his rubber truck mat black.
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Back to Black to be precise, which made me start singing AC/DC … and it totally went over my other half’s head.
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Fall is here and cooler temps mean summer flowers are on clearance sale, like these sweet little hibiscus I picked up for the kitchen porch. They won’t last long… but they’re damn sure pretty right now.
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Another reason to love my town. A cart full of free flowers.
❤️
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This weirdo bush was in place when we moved in 20 years ago. It blooms well, in big fuzzy pink blossoms.
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Bees and butterflies love it, so even though it clashes with our red baby barn… it stays.
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In my front bed? A small salvia that doesn’t get any larger year to year but keeps hanging on.
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Then there’s my little daisy.
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She’s so bright and cheerful, I went back to the same nursery later that season and bought two more of her.
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But as you can see, her big sister is large.
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Soooo much larger than they were supposed to be. They don’t even bloom at the same time. Major daisy fail.
😳
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I love finding a new watering hole, and recently we hit the jackpot.
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The Blind Pig Tavern. So named because sympathetic policemen were known to turn a blind eye to speakeasies back in the day.
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This place has a modern rustic feel, randomly placed pigs and the most fabulous craft cocktail list I’ve seen in years.
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Ooh la la!
From the breadth of selection, I knew it was going to be a long afternoon.
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First up? The raspberry basil martini. I’m a sucker for mixing fresh herbs in alcohol and this was sheer perfection. The bartender must have known I was in it for the long haul because she brought me the bonus amount as well. Waste not, want not.
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Next up was the pineapple sage gimlet. As it was being served, the bartender told me she went easy on the sage because a few people said it tasted like tree bark. Amateurs! I took one sip and asked for the full strength version. It was sublime.
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And lest you think all I do is drink, there was food as well. Parmesan garlic brined wings to share…
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And a pulled pork Mac and cheese that was rich, creamy, delicious and enough for three meals.
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There was also a blackberry violet sour. The bartender said a few people told her this one tasted like soap…. which made me marvel at the masses of unrefined drinkers who came before. Go back to the 7-11 and pick up a pack of Bud you heathens! This cocktail was tart, sweet, fragrant and complex. A layered masterpiece.
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As we rounded toward evening, I ended on the Butterfly martini. With gin, St. Germain, violette liquor, hibiscus simple syrup and rose water it was a veritable flower garden in a glass.
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Random picture of the husband’s giant bowl of haddock chowder because yes, he was there too. Someone had to drive me home after all.
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Cute touch. I left the bartender a big tip, but no bucket for the kitchen this time around.
The Blind Pig has earned the top slot on our visited once, have to go back list. So many cocktails, so little time…
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It’s daylily time.
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When we bought this house there were no gardens to speak of and very little in the way of plantings but there were two bunches of oranges daylilies .
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I can’t honestly say that’s where I would have planted them, but they thrive so who am I to complain?
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Orange seems to be the hardiest and most prolific color in my part of the world.
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And honestly they’re the easiest no fuss, no care flower there is.
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I’ve planted a few others over the years….
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But it really is a shame they’re true to their name. Each bloom only lasts a day.
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Because when your local nursery has a buy one get one free geranium sale…
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You bogo the hell out of that and fill your car.
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And your kitchen counter.
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And drop geraniums everywhere there isn’t one.
Empty corner?
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Not anymore.
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River's world..... 