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Spring in Maine means apple blossoms.. and my (not so little anymore) favorite tree puts on quite a show.
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The photos don’t do it justice, but trust me this is one gorgeous profusion of blooms.
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And the fragrance?
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Ooh la la!
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Pure heaven.
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Just be careful of the bees. The tree is positively buzzing.
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I love this time of year in Maine. It’s warm but not hot, we have ample rain and things are blooming everywhere you look.
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Pansies are always the first things I plant in pots. They’re frost tolerant and because that can still happen at the end of May here … they’re a safe bet.
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Lilacs!
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We have two massive bushes that reach for the sky… taller than our roof. It’s fabulous!
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One white, one dark purple. I wish WordPress had Smell o Vision…. because trust me peeps, it is seriously fragrant up in here.
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I planted my annual marigold rotation in front of the mini barn last week.
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And some color coordinated geraniums next to the bulkhead doors.
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When our local pub posted this on their Facebook page?
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I knew I would have to try it.
Samantha is a bartender at our pub and she just returned from an impromptu vacation/wedding trip to Vegas. While there she tried a cocktail with a buzz button and decided she to create one of her own for her regulars patrons.
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I’d never heard of this plant but apparently it’s trending in bars and high end kitchens right now.
“Acmella alba is a species of plant belonging to the family Asteraceae. Common names include brede mafane, Spilanthes, Tingflower, toothache plant, Electric Daisy, and buzz buttons. The flowers and leaves contain spilanthol, a local anesthetic”
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First you take a sip of the drink, then you chew the button fully… making sure to coat your tongue and the insides of your mouth. I did this and almost gagged. Holy hell it was a bitter little thing. Once masticated and swallowed your mouth starts to “buzz”. The tingle lasts about 5 minutes and your drink tastes totally different.
It was a fun experience, but the taste was so awful I doubt I’d do it again.
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While I enjoy a sweet treat as much as the next girl, and am seriously pro dessert…
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The word dump tends to take a little bloom off the rose for me.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten. He tries to hide, but isn’t very good at it.
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A very clever use of faucet handles to be sure. And now that I think about it, a spring flower that even my dastardly woodchucks couldn’t eat.
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Facebook. It’s annoying… but still the best way I know to keep up with old friends. And speaking of old, this was my FB memory from the other day. A photo of me and the hubs in the French Alps many moons ago. Yes, I was rock climbing in flip flops. Oh to be young and stupid again..
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What passes for news these days is beyond ridiculous.
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I neither know nor care what the Rock eats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, if you find a chunk of quartz that eats three squares a day? Now there’s an article I’ll read.
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Hold on… what?
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There you have it. Proof you can earn a living wage without a college education.
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When the headline promises to reveal the number one ice cream in the US? I pay attention. But damn, look how small that container is.
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That’s not my normal type of pint, but with flavors like that I’d be sorely tempted to switch.
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No, I really won’t. Cut flowers are lovely but I will not be sharing my Grey Goose with a bouquet of tulips anytime soon.
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Flowers.
That’s what you get for the outrageously high property tax bills the town of Kennebunk sends out twice a year.
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But what lovely flowers they are.
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Every free space in the village is filled with them.
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It’s impressive and quite beautiful.
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Is it any wonder President Bush’s family has their summer home in Kennebunkport?
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We haven’t seen a woodchuck for weeks now.
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And while my flower gardens are sighing in relief…
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I have to admit I miss the fat little buggers.
( note – spellcheck always changes buggers to nuggets… and is that really better? )
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It’s ironic that now the ground is littered with apples from our trees, the apple munchers have left the building.
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This is the fourth year in a row we’ve had a woodchuck family move in.
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So I guess we’ll say so long chuckers.
( which spellcheck changes to chiclets every damn time )
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See you next year.
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The woodchucks have left the building.
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After momma chuck and her spring brood of voracious garden nibblers cut a swath of destruction through my flower gardens this spring….
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And fattened up quickly at our all you can eat buffet this summer….
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They have now moved on to where ever the hell it is woodchucks go in the fall.
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And all I’m left with is empty flower pots and leftover photos to sort through.
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Our town often posts announcements of items people are giving away for free. Some of them are lovely and thoughtful…
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And some of them make me scratch my head.
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This saw needs a motor, belt and blade.
Good grief, what else is there….?
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I saw this the other day and was sorely tempted.
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I totally need cherry tomato toting ants.
In other local news….
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Such a neighborly thing to do.
And lately a dip in the pool has been sounding wonderful with temps being hot, hot, hot.
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Of course this is Maine, so while it felt like 104 one morning…
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Two days later it felt like 45.
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I replanted my left over garden bed with geraniums after the baby woodchucks ate all the petunias.
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But not before the little bastards darlings chewed all the leaves off my gay feather.
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At least they left the blooms this time.
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Now I’m wondering what an appropriate beef jerky card message would be.
I wanna hold your ham?
Nice to meat you?
Don’t go bacon my heart.
I have a t-bone to pick with you?
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River's world..... 