Let’s start with the required weekly photo of Lord Dudley Mountcatten.
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Say what you will about cats, the creatures know how to relax.
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This marketing strategy seemed a bit extreme for fresh water from the Alps. Death isn’t normally what I look for when buying natural spring water… but to each their own.
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The husband had been sputtering about a hot air popper for a while now, so I broke down and bought him one. Aside from breaking the top cover on the second go around, it looks like he hasn’t quite mastered the proper kernel to bowl ratio yet either….
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A tent for office naps? I fail to see how this won’t be noticed by management.
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As we began, so shall we end.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten, looking less than pleased with the photographer.
As you know, I live in Maine. Land of lobster, rugged rocky shores and sturdy, no nonsense, salt of the earth people. We’re generally laid back and slow to anger so when I saw this article the other day about things you should never say because they piss us off? I had to share a few…
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They’re not.
Trust me on this.
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This goes for all of you except rawgod. His snow storms and cold temps are epic.
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Sumner in Maine is tourist season and believe me, the locals don’t enjoy much about that. We may need your money, but we can do without your attitude and desire to have a Starbucks on every corner thank you very much.
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Warm winters? You can have them… I need snow.
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I really had to laugh at this one. Though that doesn’t look like my husband physically, they’re definitely brothers in spirit. But I have to disagree with the last sentence … there’s not much room left in our cellar.
The husband and I recently celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary and to be honest, at this point it’s hard to remember a time when we weren’t married. Although looking back at the first ever picture of us together… you know, during those 6 long days of dating before we wed …
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It’s even harder to remember being that young.
Our 39th started out with the delivery of a giant basket of flowers and the exchange of cards.
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We planned to spend the day doing something fun and end with a nice meal. Unfortunately it was the beginning of the week and thanks to post Covid understaffing and the slow winter season in Maine, everywhere I wanted to go was closed. After wasting a few hours driving along the coast….
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We opted for lunch at the Dockside Grill.
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Planning on a larger meal for dinner, we chose light fare. Chicken Caesar salad for me, French onion soup for the spouse.
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One cocktail for me, one beer for the spouse… with tip? $86. For soup and salad! This is getting ridiculous.
By then it was early afternoon and we were still searching for something fun to do… so we sat with our phones Googling like mad. I opted for a museum, but the ones we haven’t already visited were hours away. I did find a quirky cabinet of curiosities worth seeing, but after reading there was no heat in the building? My desire to go quickly waned.
Fun be damned, we ended up antiquing instead. At least the husband was happy.
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I saw these clever mussel shell Christmas trees on sale and thought about getting one, but they were so delicate I didn’t see it traveling or storing well.
As usual, there were some unexplainable items for sale. Most notably, this…
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Made entirely of glass, I can’t imagine anyone wanting that gracing their coffee table.
After a few antique stores, we were back on Google checking our favorite special occasion dinner spots. Par for the course? Every single one of them was closed. By then I was thoroughly disgusted and ready to go home and make a sandwich but the husband wanted another piece of fabulous cheesecake so we ended the day at the same restaurant where I was served crab balls instead of cakes a while back.
I won’t bore you with food photos but the mussels were good and made more interesting by being served with polenta frittes.
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Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. Dipped in the white wine garlic sauce? A meal in itself.
The husband and I went out for a booze filled leisurely lunch the other day at a place I’ve been wanting to try for a while. It’s the sister restaurant to one of our favorites so I had high expectations.
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Right across the street from LL Beans in the busy village of Freeport…the Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro is always packed with a long wait to be seated. We thought showing up at 2:00 in the afternoon would afford us some elbow room, but no. There was a 45 minute wait for a table which made my husband take a direct route to the bar.
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My husband does not wait well. Or at all to be honest.
No matter, I started with a lovely cranberry sage margarita which though tasty, was served in a disappointingly small old fashioned glass.
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And if I ever wondered why I was having a hard time finding vintage beer, wine or whisky crates… one look behind this bar provided the answer.
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A spiced pear margarita was round two…. and was served alongside my crab “cake” appetizer. I ask you – how can a tiny round lump of crab ever be considered a cake? These balls were delicious, but at $23 were a bit of a pricey nibble.
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Lunch was a wonderful 4 mushroom funghi pizza for me and a shrimp scampi for the husband. His lunch portion contained 4 shrimp for $29. I’d hate to see the dinner.
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For me the best part was cocktail #3.
APPLE OF MY EYE apple infused captain morgan white rum lime juice * cinnamon simple * white cranberry juice
Ooh la la! It might sound like a weird combination but it was alcoholic apple pie in a glass. Be still my heart!
For the husband this was the kicker –
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I don’t care for cheesecake, but it did sound divine.
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He said it was literally the best cheesecake he’s ever had… and that’s saying something because he loves the stuff.
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With tip, a $218 lunch.
Christ. That’s what I used to pay for two weeks worth of groceries when we got married. How times change..
I often wonder how Lord Dudley Mountcatten manages to looks pudgy when the silly cat actually eats very little. Maybe half a Fancy Feast tin in the morning and another half at night… on a good day. Sometimes he just turns his nose up and walks away.
He won’t eat fish, or treats, or any human food. He won’t eat anything sliced, diced or shredded. The husband laughs at my attempts to stimulate his Royal highness’s appetite… and it’s not uncommon to see me following the little bugger around the house at mealtime with a bowl of food and a spoon. ( the cat, not the husband )
So when Lord Dudley recently expressed an interest in being fed on the laundry room windowsill?
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His loyal minion obeyed and fed him on the laundry room windowsill.
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Dinner with a view, you can’t blame him. And I’d already covered the dryer with a soft towel for his comfort… so why not?
Personally, I do not pea… but the husband is a huge fan so when hams are on sale for Christmas and I’m left with a bone, there’s only one thing he wants.
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Split pea soup. Which happens to be the easiest soup to make… so it’s hard to refuse even though I can’t stand the smell or taste.
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5 hours later ? A pot full of slop with the consistency of sludge as far as I’m concerned.
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But the husband is in leftover pea heaven, and hey… I have to throw him a bone now and then.
😉
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 