One minute you’re happily eating dinner side by side with your woodchuck brother.
Until he realizes his lettuce and carrot tops might not be as tasty as what you have….
And moves in on your watermelon.
If looks could kill.
That’s one dead chuck.
Tag Archives: maine
Random wildlife shots.
Because it’s time to clear out the photo files again.
Momma chuck has been packing on the pounds with an eye toward winter..
But it doesn’t stop her from scrambling up and over the rock wall quicker than I can move my shutter finger.
I have a feeling at least one of her two remaining offspring will be sticking around when the snow flies.
I keep catching him rooting around under the daylilies, filling his mouth with dead leaves and making off for parts unknown with nesting material.
Last year’s fawn comes every night, and since his new antlers are decidedly unbranched, I’ve taken to calling him the antenna buck. Because I’m old… and remember when you had to wiggle those things every afternoon to watch Dark Shadows.
Though these next two pics were at the outermost limit of my zoom, I’m including them because we rarely see momma turkey and her young.
She raises them in the woods and neighboring meadows, never crossing our large expanse of open lawn.
And finally, a few Bambi shots.
Because they’re so damned sweet, I can’t help it.
They’re still here….
Still stealing deer food.
And when it’s too big to finish in one sitting?
They’re still planting.
And I’m still cleaning up scattered dirt.
And squirrel poo.
Help me out with this…
Aren’t teenagers supposed to grow up and move out?
CSA, grocery shopping in Maine… and pie.
A slightly smaller bounty this week as the neighbor we split with liked more of the offerings than we did.
But there were fairy tale eggplants, so I should probably start this blog with Once Upon a Time.
Once Upon a Time in Maine…. a local grocery store advertised their weekly ware.
Squid jigs at the grocery store.
You know you’re in Maine when….
And meanwhile down at the River ranch, there was pie.
Glorious lattice crust fresh blueberry pie.
No, I couldn’t wait for it to cool completely.
And yes, I had pie for breakfast the next morning.
If that’s wrong?
I don’t want to be right.
Blue Monday.
We’re extremely blue at Casa River.
And loving every minute of it.
Our bushes are full of ripe fruit and we can’t pick fast enough.
The neighbors get a bowl.
The postman gets a bowl.
If y’all lived closer, you’d get a bowl as well.
After picking, it was time to dig out my favorite blueberry recipes.
The coffee cake was wonderful.
Bursting with fat juicy fruit.
Unfortunately, the cobbler didn’t cobble.
The berries were so big the batter didn’t squeeze up through, but sat at the bottom and made cake instead.
Of course, now that I think about it….
There’s nothing wrong with upside down cobbler.
It still tastes fabulous.
So if you care to share your favorite recipe…. I’m all ears.
And blue fingers.
For Boo, as requested.
Because everyone wants pizza.
The husband stopped for gas the other day in his truck. Since I wasn’t with him, he opted for a little haute cuisine a la convenience store.
Pizza slices in hand…. he settled into the truck cab to munch.
And then?
This:
A seagull spotted him. ( Or more likely his pizza )
Husband said the silly thing squawked up a storm, pacing back and forth on the hood.
When that didn’t earn him any pizza, he attacked the windshield wipers.
Husband said it was such a spectacle, people were taking pictures and one woman asked if she could put it on Facebook.
So if you see a retired Marine in a black Ford truck looking like Tippi Hendren on your news feed?
That’s my man.
And his new seagull friend.
I hate to report this….
But the ever dwindling woodchuck family is now down to three.
Momma chuck and two children.
The sextuplets are now twins.
And even more outnumbered by the starlings than ever.
But they’re growing quickly and packing on the pounds for winter.
So much so, it’s getting hard to distinguish them from their mother.
Until…
She stands up.
No doubt about it then.
Does anyone know where I can get a woodchuck girdle?
Asking for a friend.
I don’t know much about guns…
But this seemed like a weirdo even to me.
The husband is always picking up old magazines and articles about days gone by… probably in a vain attempt to identify the piles of crap he collects.
I don’t usually read them but hey, there’s a global pandemic and I tend to twitch if I run out of books.
Like I said, I don’t know much about guns..
But this does seem a trifle excessive.
They’re not worthy.
Not worthy of a blog of their own, but random interesting stuff all the same.
(And by interesting, you know I mean not at all interesting… just random information you didn’t want nor need but I feel compelled to share anyway)
I read a lot…. and before now have never thought of myself as any of these.
But from now on?
I’m an ink drinker all the way.
Yes, I bought myself a frying pan that’s reinforced by diamonds.
Because my fried chicken deserves the very best.
My rose is blooming like a lolly pop.
Is this earth shattering news you can use?
No.
But nothing I say ever is.
This claims to be the perfect Cosmopolitan recipe.
I shall research it extensively and report back.
Sadly, we had to shop for 2 headstones for recently passed members of my husband’s family.
After we picked the size of the stone, and the color of the granite….this was what we were given. Sheets of paper with literally thousands of designs that were printed so small, even reading glasses and a magnifying glass barely helped us make them out.
I believe the husband chose a lighthouse for one…. but it could as easily have been a beer keg.
Time will tell.
Danger Will Robinson!
If you’ve never experienced a browntail moth rash you haven’t lived a full life. Imagine mixing poison ivy with fire ants and chicken pox…. and you might come close.
These little bastards have moved into Maine and are stripping our trees bare. And if you happen to brush up against one of them? Hang on, because you’ll attempt to rip the skin off your bones within 12 hours. Nothing stops the itch except a spray that comes in a one ounce bottle sold by one hospital in the state for $65 per. Insurance won’t cover it and you need a doctor’s prescription to purchase it.
I get the rash at least 3 times a year.
Good times.
And finally, if you’ve been wondering what people are doing to keep busy during the pandemic… or how they’re spending their stimulus money?
Wonder no longer.
Bambi!!
We had our first little guy sighting of the season the other day.
And oh my goodness….
If that isn’t the definition of the word sweet I’ll eat a kale souffle.
The family kept a close huddle on the food.
But Junior managed to push his/her way into the fray.
I think I might have audibly squeaked in joy at that point.
Bambi!
We knew some of the does were pregnant, but they won’t bring the fawns up out of the woods for the first few months.
And even then it’s usually very early in the morning when yours truly is still in dreamland.
So it was wonderful to see them in the late late afternoon when the sun was still shining and providing light for pictures.
Welcome to the herd little one.
You’ll want to stick around, the crazy lady with the camera lays out a pretty nice buffet.
River's world..... 