Tag Archives: maine

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Random rambling.

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The husband and I celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary recently… and there were flowers.

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We’re lucky to have a wonderful local florist just a few miles from our house.

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Or should I say I’m lucky, as the husband is rarely able to forget special occasions.

Our florist posts pictures of the arrangements she makes every week on Facebook and this recent customized request for a chef made me smile.

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How clever is that?

👍

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As seen at the grocery store.

Makes me wonder how spicy this product has to be to warrant such a violent response.

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Enough said.

🤣

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We’ve been having a strange influx of evening gtosbeaks recently. They visit in large groups and are quite a dramatic sight.

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Cold?

Yes, it’s been cold.

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Though you wouldn’t know it by the Juncos. The snow doesn’t seem to bother them at all.

Brr!

❄️

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The world’s best pork chop.

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We headed back down to Windham recently because my husband was craving the world’s best pork chop.

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Christmas decorations were still up.

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And the chickens were still watching me drink.

This cocktail was called Hibernation and was delicious. Simple, fresh… and probably worth spending the winter in a cave.

Vodka, cardamom simple, lime, blackberry puree.

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The husband started with carrot ginger soup and loved it.

Bumbleroot Farm carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, maple syrup, pepitas.

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My next cocktail was a spiced clementine margarita. Ooh la la!.. that was tasty.

Reposado, spiced clementine syrup, lime, Cointreau.

My appetizer of corn and spicy chicken egg rolls were equally as good.

Maine Family Farms chicken, roasted corn, cumin, Monterey jack cheese, chili powder, egg roll wrapper, chipotle aioli, pico-slaw.

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And there it is. Unassuming to view… but this cider brined chop is next level good and perfectly grilled. You’ve never had pork like this, it’s melt in your mouth tender.

Prime center cut chop, French green beans, butternut puree, Ricker Hill Honeycrisp apple, caramelized onion.

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I went with the chicken cordon bleu which was wonderful as well.

Maine Family Farms chicken breast, egg, flour, Bumbleroot Farm spinach, Pineland Farms Swiss cheese, Canadian bacon, cream, parmesan, Waxwing Bakery breadcrumbs.

We’ve come to the realization it’s impossible to have a bad meal at Yolked. Oh, you’ll pay for the privilege… but what’s life without a little splurging?

😊

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Sleeping cats, roach clips and opossums.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten can sleep anywhere at anytime.

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Even sitting up straight in the sun.

He really was sound asleep and tumbled onto the couch shortly after the picture was taken… losing all that hard won feline dignity in the process.

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As promised –

This isn’t the actual feathered roach clip photo I’d been searching for, but it’s from the same Halloween party circa 1981. By the time this was taken I’d lost the headband and tomahawk, but the clips are still there.

🤣

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We have one little visiting opossum.

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It’s so cold, and his fur is just thin hairs.

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I never understand how they can survive Maine winters, but they do.

And speaking of winter…

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This is our immediate future.

With the local news using some pretty technical meteorological terms…

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Major fluff!

❄️❄️❄️

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Not again!

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They say the third time’s a charm, but after two different rammings by passing vehicles that damaged our mailbox and forced my husband to make repairs to the box and the post…. the town snow plow finished the job by completely obliterating our mailbox and sending it sailing into the void on Christmas Eve.

Here’s a picture of the husband valiantly searching for it next to the empty post…

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We had no idea where it was, or how far away it travelled. Which meant another replacement.

This isn’t a fun project even in nice weather, but in deep snow, 7 degree temperatures and a brisk wind?

It’s hellish.

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Especially when you didn’t realize the mounting hardware and post adapter required weren’t included until you started the job.

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Temporary solution?

Bungee cords.

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The day after Christmas my DIY husband decided he could mount the box without the post adapter it needed.

I disagreed vehemently but was ignored…. and out came the sawzall. After removing the offending rear part? He came inside when he realized he’d broken the door off.

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This stupid mailbox cost $100… but the door was only held on by a tiny bit of glue on the little hinge strip seen above.

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We tried every glue we had in the house but nothing held… and since my husband cut a piece of the metal off the back, it’s not like we could return the box to the store.

Solution?

Screw it.

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Literally and figuratively.

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Then file down the pointy screws so the mailman doesn’t slash his wrist open when he delivers mail.

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It’s not pretty, but it works.

Until the next big snow storm.

🥴

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Snow! Glorious snow…

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Christmas was quiet here at Casa River…

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But it was also gloriously white.

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And may I just give a shout out to whoever invented snow blowers…

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Best winter device, ever.

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Yardstick deployment #2.

🤣

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And while the husband was out blowing snow?

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I was enjoying a good book, a cup of tea and the annual homemade rosemary shortbread gift from our neighbor. Delicious!

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After clearing the driveway, the husband ran out of creamer so we drove to the grocery store.

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It was a beautiful ride…

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Until we cruised around a corner and clipped a hanging power line.

Smack! Right on my side of the windshield of the husband’s new car.

Thankfully, it… and we … and the car…were okay. But I called the power company to report the danger.

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They got right on it, as we saw on our way home.

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Winter driving is beautiful, but it can be hazardous too.

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And then there was snow…

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We woke up Christmas Eve morning to a winter wonderland.

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A deep snow had fallen overnight and I couldn’t have been happier.

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It was the beautiful kind that coats the trees…

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And frosts everything in white.

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It continued for most of the morning.

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Giving us the feeling we live in a snow globe.

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Now this is winter!

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And while my husband went out to shovel a path so he could feed the birds…

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I filled the house with the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg by baking an apple pie.

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We may have scaled back our holiday celebration this year, but it turned out perfectly anyway.

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A front porch picture frame.

😊

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And look! My husband finally put one of those stupid wooden yardsticks he’s always buying to use.

13 inches.

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And as soon as I posted our glorious snow photos on Facebook?

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A memory of a previous Christmas trip popped up.

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Florida holidays are fun…

But they never really feel like Christmas to this Yankee girl.

😉

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Winter is here.

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I love winter.

I love the snow and the quiet beauty of a white frosted landscape.

And thanks to menopausal internal heating, I don’t even mind the cold anymore.

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Though things got a bit extreme earlier this month.

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His Lordship?

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He thinks he likes winter, until his feet hit the snow after our first storm…

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And he makes a beeline back to the kitchen door.

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(Not His Lordship, but it could be)

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Winter makes for some interesting parking mishaps as well, though I have no idea what happened here.

😳

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I think we’ve had more snow this month than we had all last winter.

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Note to readers – this post was scheduled before our recent winter storm. It looks a lot whiter here now, as you’ll see tomorrow.

😊

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