Tag Archives: maine

Worms do not like bleach.

May 18, 2022 Rivergirl 20 Comments

Yesterday I started a chore I’ve been putting off for two years. After a month of (not so) subtly hinting the husband could help me, I gave up and did it myself. Armed with a spray bottle of bleach, multiple scrubby sponges and a pressure hose attachment I attacked the shady sides of our vinyl sided garage.

Naturally I forgot to take a before photo…

But this is what I was battling, and trust me it’s a workout. Green, moldy algae discoloration that didn’t want to let go.

It’s the result of kicked up ground water, stuck grass clippings from my husband’s giant lawn tractor and a lack of direct sunlight drying the rain.

The woodchucks tunnel under this door and have ruined the surrounding lawn… but patches of loose dirt that became muddy with bleach soaked water yielded an interesting result.

Worms.

Here a worm, there a worm. Worms everywhere … wriggling out of the ground in protest. Clearly they did not enjoy a bleach bath.

Sorry worms. It had to be done.

*Following photo for Boo who wanted to see my pressure washing attachment. *

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Easy peasey.

May 17, 2022 Rivergirl 19 Comments

I’m going to give away a secret here so listen up.

For years I couldn’t bake a decent cookie to save my life.. and believe me it wasn’t for lack of trying. No matter what recipe I tried, no matter what miracle pan I used they either came out of the oven a gooey sugar filled mess or something resembling a hockey puck.

And then…

Then I found them. The absolutely easiest, most perfect, even River can’t screw them up cookies.

Four ingredients. Four minutes prep and viola!

Sublime every time. Trust me, those are soft baked little circles of heaven right there. And because I live to spread joy…. I’ll share.

So far I have made lemon, chocolate, strawberry, spice, orange and butter pecan. And they were all fabulous, no hockey stick required. I’ve even started branching out by adding flavor extracts to the plain yellow mix … last night, almond.

Take that Mrs. Fields!

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Have you ever had one of those days….

May 17, 2022 Rivergirl 20 Comments

You know the ones, they start out innocently enough, swerve and then drive you straight to Hell. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Mine was this past Saturday when I attempted to do some gardening. Pansies needed to be planted in my pots on the barn porch… but this did not go as planned.

All I did was pick them up, I swear! The bottom fell out of one, the other split in half. I should have quit then, I really should have… but no. I decided to fire up the old weed wacker and trim.

I trimmed around my garden beds, I trimmed around the apple trees and then I trimmed around the septic tank access block.

Bad idea. Very bad.

The ground was still wet… which caused my foot to slip… which caused the weed wacker to knock the cement cover askew… which rammed a piece of rotted wood in the frame….

And… well. It went downhill from there.

Literally and figuratively.

I’ll spare you the odoriferous details, but trust me… they were epic. 🤢

Suffice it to say we spent the entire afternoon with our heads in the septic tank.

I do not recommend this as a relaxing weekend activity. Not one little bit.

A new concrete tank cap was purchased and maneuvered into place (God damn! Those things are heavy.) and a new frame was built so yours truly is not able to repeat this mishap.

I kept trying to tell my husband it could have been worse. The cover could have fallen into the tank and someone… I’m not saying who… would have had to climb in to retrieve it.

Oddly enough, he didn’t find that the least bit funny.

💩

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Junior is back.

May 16, 2022 Rivergirl 8 Comments

Momma Chuck has been visiting off and on for a few weeks now and while I’m not sure if she’s moved back in under the man cave/barn… it’s a distinct possibility.

I threw out some carrot shavings for her yesterday when low and behold…

Junior showed up as well.

Last year when Momma had her babies, there was a runt who was constantly by her side. We worried that he wouldn’t grow big enough to make it through the winter, but it looks like he did.

Although having a pesky teenager following you around could get old quickly.

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Have shovel, still traveling.

May 15, 2022 Rivergirl 27 Comments

More trees were replaced/planted yesterday…. this time as far away from the house as is possible.

And after all the rain we’ve had, I don’t think watering them will be necessary for a while.

There’s a reason none of the trees my husband plants in our far back yard live and it’s called clay. While there’s nice topsoil near the house, our property slopes down to the woods and eventually to the banks of a river…. and around here that means clay. Saturated with water in the spring, cracked bone dry in the summer… but that doesn’t deter my husband. No sir.

Two of these beauties were purchased and planted.

Marrying an eternal optimist makes for a lot of work.

Whether theses trees will last any longer than the previous elms, oaks or apples he planted is any one’s guess.

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Momma Chuck is in da house.

May 14, 2022 Rivergirl 8 Comments

It’s official… Momma Chuck is back, fresh out of hibernation and voraciously hungry.

It seems she had no trouble remembering where the salad bar was located.

And if you’re wondering how I know this is Momma Chuck and not one of the four babies she had under the barn last year…

I’d say it’s the decided lack of that 18 hour bra I recommended last season.

🤣

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I may have set a dangerous precedent.

May 14, 2022 Rivergirl 32 Comments

The husband’s weekly Sunday pool game is still in full swing and I fear I’ve doomed myself to a full day of cooking, serving and cleaning from here on out.

I’m hard wired to feed people when they visit, and though technically no one is visiting me… the men come over to play at 9:00am and don’t leave until 3:30 – 4:00pm which means lunch. Whipping up something in the crock pot works well because it meant less trips back and forth, and with no kitchen or running water in the man cave I’m not serving 3 course meals. But it also means I’m up and cooking at 5:00am every Sunday so it’s ready at noon. Back and forth to the barn with cutlery, plates, serving utensils etc. … setting it all up, feeding them, clearing up, running it all back to house to wash. This is not my idea of a relaxing weekend.

But the sweet little (competitive as hell) old man is a widower so now as well as feeding him lunch… I’m boxing up leftovers for him to take home.

Creamy ham and noodle casserole was a hit last week. As was my plate of strawberry crinkle cookies I made the night before and had to post off limits before the husband ate them all.

I keep telling the guys once summer heat is in full swing the meal train is apt to stop, although the widower’s disappointment is almost palpable. No one wants chicken and dumplings in July… and besides, I’m rapidly running out of crock pot recipes.

🥴

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Have shovel, will travel.

May 13, 2022 Rivergirl 23 Comments

Hard as it is to believe after the apple tree planting fiasco of 2021, my husband was back at it the other day … ripping up the dead apple twigs and filling the holes with bigger and better new trees.

He came home with a beautiful flowering cherry I would have loved for the back lawn where I could see it every day….

So naturally he planted it on the far side of the barn where it’s completely blocked by the building and out of line of sight from our house.

It will however be prime viewing when playing pool in the man cave.

It’s a pretty tree and was an immediate bee magnet. In no time flat they were circling and we were stepping away.

I might just have to buy another for my viewing pleasure.

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Making himself at home.

May 12, 2022 Rivergirl 20 Comments

Our resident fox is feeling comfortable at the buffet.

They’re such beautiful creatures and I love seeing him trot up from the woods every evening.

While he comes for the seeds and nuts spilled from the bird feeders, I also feed him mealworms, apples and berries which he loves.

And small breed, high protein, grain free dry dog food with taurine. It’s the closest I can come to the fox food they sell on UK Amazon but won’t ship to the United States. Boo to that.

I’m hoping if he makes himself at home the law of averages will let him cross paths with a certain… oh so scrumptious… red squirrel who shall remain nameless.

😈