Tag Archives: maine

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Winter is finally here.

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After an extremely mild December with a greenish brown Christmas and a warm rainy January…

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February is roaring in strong….

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And cold.

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The ice has finally frozen solid enough to hold the fishing shacks on the river, which is big business up here in Maine.

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Do I want to sit in an 8×10 plywood building and stare at a hole in the ice in subzero temperatures waiting for an oily little smelt to swim by?

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I do not.

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No matter how pretty the sunsets are.

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But more power to the rugged souls that do.

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Enough already.

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It rained again, in January, in Maine. That’s not supposed to happen. Most years we’re positively buried in snow.

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And I have to say I’d much rather be doing this…

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Than dealing with this…

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It rained…. and our roof sprung yet another leak.

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In yet another brand new spot. Every time the husband thinks he’s fixed it? It leaks somewhere else. And while the temperature has been mild (for us) it’s still not warm enough to strip and replace a roof. So while we wait for spring and pray for snow, our ceiling is being ruined. I’ve bleached this 3 times …

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And it still bleeds through.

Kill me now.

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Word of the day – adaptation.

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Adapt or die, you’ve all heard the phrase. And never has it been more crucial for small businesses to do just that.

Bars and restaurants have been especially hard hit by the pandemic and though take out food helps them stay afloat, it’s in the bar that establishments realize their largest profit.

Enter The Great Lost Bear.

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A veritable institution of alcohol and beer consumption in Portland, Maine for the past 40 years. With 80 rotating taps…

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And a large creative menu, it’s worth the hassle of trying to finding a parking spot on the always crowded Forest Avenue.

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(If you’re a fan of John Connelly’s books? This is the bar Charlie Parker uses as a makeshift office.)

Sadly, we haven’t visited this paragon of drunkenness for quite some time but I was pleased to see they’re adapting.

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With outdoor drinking during good weather…

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And cocktails to go when Mother Nature says no.

Brilliant!

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Some of them sound quite tasty.

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And now that we have our own bar, I might have to mix a few.

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Pie in a glass?

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Who doesn’t love that?

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Birds in snowy trees.

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Sadly our snow is all gone, but here are a few pretty pics from our last storm.

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We have a few cardinals visit our feeders now and then…

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But it always surprises me that they show up en masses during a blizzard.

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Perfect winter scenes if ever I saw one.

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They spend most of their time huddled in the small apple tree.

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But every once in a while make a dash for the seed.

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With light fluffy snow? It doesn’t always end well.

🤣

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A real treat.

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A few more pictures from my camera last month.

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Look at this beautiful juvenile red tail hawk.

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Just hanging out on the bird feeder pole waiting for lunch to drop in.

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We see him cruising over the property now and then…

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But he rarely perches so close to the house for an extended period of time.

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Heck, he was even comfortable enough to take a bath.

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They really are spectacular creatures.

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Thanks for dropping by big guy.

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And if you happen to see a mangy little red squirrel wandering the roof line?

Please don’t miss.

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The Great Goat Escape …. Update.

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Sadly, the goat is still on the loose.

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Updates are posted every few days on our town’s Facebook page.

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It’s become a bit of a hoot.

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Apparently this goat was given to the owners a few weeks ago and as soon as they opened the pen to transfer it to their yard… it ran off. They’ve tried putting out food, luring it with other goats and even set up a warm shelter near where it’s been spotted… but nothing works. It runs from everyone who tries to catch it.

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In 2020, this is what passes for hard news in my town.

Ya gotta love it.

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Sad backyard news.

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I knew it would probably happen, but it doesn’t make it any easier to take.

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Our little blue eyed Bambi is all alone now.

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We haven’t seen his mother, the old always pregnant doe, for weeks. She was nearly skeletal the last time she visited and I think her poor old body just had enough.

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I’m glad she taught the little guy this was a safe place for his daily nosh. I just hope he can hook up with the rest of the herd before the full brunt of winter sets in. There’s safety in numbers when you’re a little fella.

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Vintage recycling.

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Since I multi purposed our giant crock as a trash can, I decided I wanted something equally fun and antiquey for returnables.

You would think shopping in my husband’s vast array of crap stuff would yield the appropriate receptacle, but sadly nothing was found. Which is when my spouse gleefully suggested we visit the antique mall.

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I was on a mission and didn’t dilly dally. The same can not be said for my spouse.

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I moved him quickly away from this horror…

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Because right now the only thing the barn Mahal doesn’t have is a kitchen sink… and I wasn’t taking any chances.

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Fresh lobster made us laugh. There’s nothing worse than cheeky crustaceans.

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I had my eye on that wagon to the right. But at $520 it seemed a bit pricey for empty beer bottles.

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Even the chicken thought so.

And then I found it…

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Buried in the back and full of oars.

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$50 later…. the old barrel with original lid… made a perfect returnable container.

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