We had a really warm week in Maine with temps hitting the lower 80’s. Not my idea of fall, but lots of people were thrilled summer is still hanging on.
With cool nights and warm days comes fog.
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So much fog the deer who usually only show up at dusk are here at dawn.
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This next picture is of a poor starling who smashed into our living room picture window.
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He was okay and eventually flew away after recovering from the shock. But he sure drove our cat crazy.
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Yes, people here still believe caterpillars can predict the weather.
Here’s a drone shot of a section of our farming neighbor’s property. It was so pretty I thought I’d share.
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I’m in awe of all those perfectly aligned weeded garden beds.
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In case you ever wondered what type of finish you should be using.
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A local Maine man who did well for himself and ended up owning half his town’s businesses just implemented this program. Free food for school age children. Proof positive there are still good people in this world.
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As you know, once we install new living room floors I’ll be shopping for new furniture. And while the husband is fine with replacing the couches, armchairs and coffee tables he started mumbling that we really didn’t need to update the dining room table and chairs we’ve had for almost 40 years.
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I beg to differ.
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A new medical study has revealed women who have frequent and long lasting hot flashes… read, me… are at a greater risk for heart disease and stroke. Women who have frequent night sweats… read, me… are at a greater risk for dementia.
On a walk with Lord Dudley Mountcatten the other day I noticed he found something in front of the garage.
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Batting it this way and that, I stepped in to rescue the poor praying mantis he was harassing and carried it to my flower garden.
Our yard used to be full of these delightful insects (Females bite the males heads off after mating. What’s not to love?) but in the past few years we’ve seen their number drastically decline.
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And while I’m used to the green version, this mantis was completely brown.
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So I’m not sure if it was a different species…
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Or just going through some sort of molt.
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Either way, I was pleased with the rescue.
His Lordship on the other hand, was not.
P.S…. did a little research on the mating ritual of the mantis and have to share.
Males of some mantid species mate more effectively when decapitated. Why? A nerve center in the male’s head inhibits mating until a female is clasped. If this nerve is removed, such as when the female bites off the male’s head, all control is lost and the result is repeated copulation.
While I’m not a huge tv watcher, I do like a variety of series HBO has developed over the years. Every once in a while I can even get my husband interested… which is what happened with Carnivale.
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It was a dark and wonderfully bizarre show that immediately garnered a rabid fan base.
It’s the mid-1930s, and we’re in the middle of the Dust Bowl, a time when sandstorms and disease were running rampant across the Great Plains. After his mother’s death, teenage fugitive Ben Hawkins is picked up by a mysterious traveling carnival run by an unseen force known only as “Management.” Surrounded by magic, Ben reconnects with his long-dormant supernatural powers. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, an evangelical preacher is plagued with apocalyptic visions. What the two of them don’t know is that they’re set to become players in the great (and heretofore hidden) battle between Darkness and Light.
We loved it and though it was immensely popular with its followers and slated for six seasons, it was cancelled after just two leaving viewers with an awful cliffhanger and no resolution. When asked, HBO said the reason was falling ratings but I read the religious right took an instant dislike to it and pushed for it’s removal. Funny when you think about all the other shows that are filled with blood, gore and rampant sex.
Fall is here and leaves are turning….though the temperatures have crept back up to summer numbers. 82 degrees is not the crisp cool air I love, but in honor of the season I wanted to share a few glimpses around my state. .
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It’s a two hour ride to this farm that takes corn mazes seriously…
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And sadly we’ve never been. Doesn’t stop me from being impressed though.
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Good news … as long as the decorations don’t block the windshield and mirrors? You and your skeletons are fine.
After our visit to the fair, we tried a place I’d been hearing good things about for dinner….the Old Mill Pub in Skowhegan.
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It didn’t look like much and since the inside dining room was packed, we headed outside.
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Where the view from our table wasn’t half bad.
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Things started well with a fabulous blueberry mule.
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And an amazing French Onion soup for the husband.
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This is his go to appetizer so when you’ve tried hundreds, you always appreciate when it’s done right.
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Dinner for me was yummy maple bourbon glazed steak tips with garlic mashed red potatoes and sautéed broccoli (not pictured) …. and a light and lovely lemon butter haddock and mashed for the spouse.
We’re not often in this part of Maine, but I’m putting the Old Mill Pub on my list of places to revisit if we are.
Because it wouldn’t be a fair without some chickens.
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There were quite a few prize winning divas strutting their stuff.
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But this all black rooster took the prize for bizarre.
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The next blue ribbon winner?
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Must have won for bad hair day.
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How do these Polish even see?
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There were fancy pigeons, but to be honest these made me sad.
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They’ve clearly been bred for over exaggerated foot feathers and the poor things could hardly walk.
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But the peacocks were lovely.
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And this duck who decided no one could drink because he wanted a bath was funny.
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We ended with a very curious goose who followed me all around the enclosure. I believe he was for sale and wanted to come home with us… but alas, my husband refused.
Because if we didn’t have bad timing we wouldn’t have any at all , the last day our contractor was working on the ceiling project found us out of town… which meant we didn’t see the finished product until the next day. And while I’m pleased to have our living room back to normal without a plastic room in the middle of it…
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I’m not entirely pleased with the end result.
Yes, the section of ceiling that used to look like this….
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Certainly looks much better like this.
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And the beam that used to look like this..
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Is much smoother now.
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And while it’s wonderful not to see the sag in the middle of the room and worry that the roof could fall on our heads at any moment…
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There are two issues I’m not willing to accept.
While it’s true I knew the replacement popcorn wouldn’t exactly match the existing, I wasn’t expecting such a glaring line of demarcation.
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It’s very noticeable in spots and that just won’t do.
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The other issue is stain resolution. Years of slow roof leaks left us with random brown spots on one end and though our guy hit them with some sort of Kilz product and turned them white again…
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It’s a noticeably different white and drives me crazy every time I look up.
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Since our contractor is due to return in two weeks to install new windows and a door in our bedroom, a plan will be hatched to deal with the problems. He knew I wasn’t happy and because he’s probably going to be the one to lay our new flooring in the living room he suggested we wait until then and repaint the whole ceiling. That’s probably what should have been done in the first place but we both thought we could get away with not doing it. Which is what you get for thinking. Trying to save time and money with home repairs is fruitless and rarely works.
Is the beam solid and more structurally secure? Yes.
Does it look better than it did? Absolutely.
Does it still need some tweaking? I’m afraid so.
Sigh…
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 