Tag Archives: maine

A little catch up… the baby barn, a sunrise and some deer.

 

Now that the Virginia vacation saga is finally over, it’s time to clear out the photo files.

If you remember… before we left for the Cape Cod vacation in November, the husband was desperately trying to finish the remodel on our baby barn from Hell before the snow started flying.

 

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He started putting the siding on….

 

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Which was a nightmare of non squared corners and uneven ground.

 

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Yeah, there was a lot of that.

His answer? Plant a shrub in front of it.

 

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He was still using his 1950’s power tools and probably wishing for a larger wheelbarrow.

 

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Siding around the window resulted in some very colorful language.

 

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As did turning the 3rd corner where things didn’t exactly line up.

Unfortunately that’s as far as he got before the weather turned….

And now I have to stare at this split personality horror show until spring.

 

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In other news, our neighbor and her daughter fed our deer while we were gone.

 

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She sent me this picture while we were in Williamsburg, and wanted me to know the child took her responsibility seriously.

And for that she was rewarded.

 

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Flowers for mom and a thank you deer for her daughter.

 

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That little guy cost me a fortune but he was hand made and too damned cute to resist. Look at those feet!

 

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It snowed right after we got back.

 

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But the white stuff sure does make a nice contrast for the sunrise.

 

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We were happy to see our resident buck was still around.

 

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He’s an impressive fellow….

 

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And clearly his women agree.

 

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He’s got quite a little harem going.

 

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With 4 fawns that we know of.

Funny thing is….. as much as I love to travel, it’s sights like these that always make me glad to be home again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coulda, woulda, shoulda…….

 

If if it wasn’t for this nasty Coronavirus:

I could have been spending a nice long weekend here.

 

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A beautiful and rather expensive resort on the Maine coast.

I would have been walking these vast halls….

 

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On the way to our timeshare condo  (which go for up to $700 a night in the summer, but which I snagged at the bargain basement off season price of $300 for 4 nights as a surprise for the husband’s birthday) ….

 

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I should have been sitting here…

 

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Fresh out of the hot tub with a cocktail and an ocean view.

I could have, would have, and should have been doing all of those things. But instead I’m stuck inside the house blogging while hiding from an invisible bug that wants to kill us all.

That’s just wrong.

It’s supposed to be almost 60 degrees today, a rarity for March in Maine.

I could have been walking here :

 

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The Rockport breakwater, which leads to….

 

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It’s very own teeny tiny lighthouse.

It’s cute damn it! And I should have been taking photographs for a future blog.

But no.

 

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I won’t be eating at one of the resort’s 2 restaurants.

 

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Or having a cocktail at the ice bar.

 

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Granted, that would probably have been slush by tonight…  but still!

I could have, should have, would have been enjoying it all.

But I did the right thing and cancelled the trip so I can social distance, or shelter in place, or avoid the plague…. whatever they’re calling it these days.

But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

 

 

 

 

It’s official….

 

The end really is near.

 

L.L. Bean closing all U.S. stores amid coronavirus concerns

This is the first time in history that the Flagship stores in Freeport will close for more than 24 hours

L.L. Bean is closing all U.S. retail locations beginning midnight Monday through March 29 out of precaution for the spread of coronavirus, COVID-19, L.L. Bean President and CEO Steve Smith said in a press release Monday. 

 

Yes… the store that’s open 24/7 seven days a week, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas…. is closing.

 

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For those of you who don’t live in Maine? ( I’m sorry, you really should.)

Or are unfamiliar with L.L. Beans? (Where have you been, under a rock?)

THEY NEVER CLOSE!

Ever.

It’s kind of their thing.

They don’t even have locks on their doors!

Of course this is huge news up here as they employ like half the state…. so I can only surmise one thing.

We’re doomed.

The end is truly near….

It’s been nice knowing you.

 

 

 

 

 

The herd.

 

Crazy weather this winter left the wildlife a little shell shocked.

Snow, rain, ice, warm temperatures, then more snow and ice. They didn’t know what the hell was going on.

We had skunks in January and fox in February.

And deer?

 

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Yes dear, we had deer.

 

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Veritable herds of deer.

 

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Who we love to watch.

 

 

I mean really….

How can you not?

 

 

Such beautiful creatures.

 

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They almost make the slow internet speed we have to suffer in the country worthwhile.

I love my town…. Part 6.

 

Time for an update on the stories making the news on my town’s Facebook page.

Traffic jams are awful, no two ways about it…..

But in my town?

 

 

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They’re not always bumper to bumper.

 

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And then there was this:

 

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No, damn it! I did not.

We’ve lived here over 17 years and the only moose I’ve seen was a dead one on I-95.

Trotting right down Main Street?

 

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Another missed opportunity.

And finally, there was this:

 

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My first thought was the zombie fish apocalypse had begun… and I started to get a little nervous.

But it turns out a bald eagle was fishing the river, dropped his sturgeon while flying and decided to munch on it in situ.

 

 

Because the thought of zombie fish taking over my blog?

Not cool.

 

Random ridiculousness.

 

I live in Maine.

We have terrible roads due to the high water content underneath and a never ending cycle of freezing and melting.

Frost heave is a separate season here….

 

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And the potholes can be large enough to swallow your car.

So this made me chuckle the other day….

 

 

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Mainers.

We’re an odd bunch.

 

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With funny license plates.

I also ran across a strange product:

 

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Are slipping nerd glasses really that much of a problem?

 

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Apparently it is.

 

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And speaking of ice….

 

Oh, we weren’t talking about ice? Well, I am now.

We had ice this year.

Lots and lots of ice.

The shovel the snow off the driveway, watch your feet slide out from under you and land smack on your ass kind of ice.

Everything was covered in sheets of ice for weeks on end.

Of course this made for some pretty fabulous icicles.

 

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On the garage, they started out small.

 

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But then they grew.

 

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Which made getting in and out of the garage rather perilous.

 

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Did I mention this was the section of the garage I was nagging the husband to put a new gutter on all last summer and fall?

 

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Maybe now he knows why.

The one thing you definitely don’t want to see in the winter in Maine.

 

Even with the milder winters we’re having, we still see our fair share of snow, ice, and sleet. But temperatures are warming and we’re not seeing those epic dumps of the white stuff like we used to.

 

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This used to be a normal February.

 

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Tunneling was a way of life.

Now? We get a few inches and it melts.

Then it freezes.

 

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I am so done with ice.

 

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Yes, it’s pretty.

 

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But when walking to the mailbox means you might slip, fall and crack a rib?

 

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You can have it.

 

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Give me a foot of snow over pretty shining crystals any day.

 

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And with all that snow, melting and ice?

This –

 

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A leak in the roof.

 

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And what looks like an expensive repair to the ceiling.

 

 

It’s the worst possible time of year for it.

So from now until spring, when we can get it fixed, I’m going to cringe every time it rains.

Good times.

 

Elizabethan Gardens… Manteo, Outer Banks North Carolina

 

Next up on our Outer Banks day trip? The Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo.

But first?

Some rocks…

 

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You’re welcome.

From Nags Head to Manteo?

 

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Scenery.

 

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Scenery from a bridge.

 

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More scenery.

How’s that for detailed description?

 

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The Gardens were recommended to us as a must stop… so we did. Even though it was off season and very little was blooming.

 

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Gardens without flowers? Let’s go!

 

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It was a pretty spot… with lots of different areas to explore.

 

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They were in the middle of their annual Christmas light show….

 

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So of course we went in the middle of the day when the sun was shining.

 

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There was an impressive set of gates.

 

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Neatly trimmed boxwoods…

 

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And Queen Elizabeth I.

 

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There were paths with balls…

 

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And paths with statues.

 

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And some extremely large butterflies.

 

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Funky Christmas lights were everywhere.

 

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And I’m sure it would have been quite pretty….

 

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Had we been there at night.

 

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Okaaaay.

Not sure what that was all about, but I don’t like peas either….. so, huzzah!

 

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There was a lonely ruin of something.

 

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And a man shivering in the cold wind.

Oh, wait. That’s the husband…. I didn’t recognize him from the front.

 

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There were fountains.

 

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And ass ends of statues.

 

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Surrounded by tightly trimmed bushes.

Stop snickering…. I know where your mind went.

 

 

There were creepy garden gnomes.

 

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And an indoor butterfly garden…

 

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With no butterflies.

 

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But plenty of fluffy gnomes.

 

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Garden path U turns…

 

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And yay!

Finally something was blooming.

 

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There were also the type of Christmas decorations you only see down south.

 

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Wouldn’t be much point of laying these on the ground up my way.

 

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But there was an impressive old tree.

 

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And yes, I do mean old.

 

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Now that’s a senior citizen!

 

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More paths…

 

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More decorations….

 

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A courtyard….

 

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A gift shop….

 

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And a fellow with a wilder hairdo than me after the windy pier.

 

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By this time we’d looped back around to the beginning.

But not before we learned a few things…

 

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About bees.

 

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In case you’re wondering, Maine’s state insect is also the honeybee. Although we designated it as such in 1975.

Long live the bee!

 

 

And plagiarism apparently.