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Our local deer herds wax and wane.
Some years we have 3, some years we have 10. Our record is 21.
This year?
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It started with 4…
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And has now gone up to 6.
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Sadly we haven’t seen the big beautiful buck from last season.
I hope he’s just moved on and hasn’t fallen to a hunter’s bullet.
😰
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The plastic was attached to one of the greenhouses across the road the other day, and then…
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We had a wind driven rain.
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Which made for an interesting show.
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It was almost hypnotic.
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And proved a little more attachment work was needed.
🥴
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So much beer, so little time.
The husband and I like craft breweries and since our state seems to have one on every corner, we’ve made it our life’s work to try them all.
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This satellite location of the popular Definitive brand in Kittery left us a bit underwhelmed.
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And after doing a flight of four mediocre brews including a dishwater Helles and two strange milky sours…
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There wasn’t much to keep us from moving on.
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Atmosphere and a friendly bartender are important to my husband…
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Sadly this brewery had neither.
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Neither can be avoided, though I’ve done a good job dodging the first so far. Unfortunately the latter keeps clawing its way into my checkbook like the greedy bastard it is.
Last year our property taxes went up $1,200. This year? Another $1,400. WTH!
I live in a small rural town that has no police force, or ambulance, a completely volunteer fire department and a consolidated school system that shares costs with 3 other towns.
WTH are we paying for?
Our home is a comfortable 2,000 square feet with a little over 3 acres. But we don’t have a pool, a guest house or a professional chef’s kitchen.. so what gives?
I know everything goes up, but $2,600 in two years seems a bit extreme. And the worst part? The assessor hasn’t reached our area yet and doesn’t know the barn is now a fully insulated and heated man cave.
And if I have my way?
He never will.
🥴
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On a bright and sunny afternoon, we headed west.
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To a small craft brewery called Ambition.
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To be honest I think it was misnamed. Not only was it small, but the barkeeper was more interested in talking with his friends than introducing new customers to his beer. We muddled along on our own, ordered and picked up our own flight…
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And were quite underwhelmed. The only brew that any flavor? Burned your throat too much to drink.
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With this many breweries in our state… we won’t be returning to the ambitionless Ambition.
Tasting complete, we headed across the street to a favorite restaurant.
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Housed in an old shoe factory with an original boiler door that fascinates my husband..
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Calzolaio Pasta Co. never disappoints.
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An apple cider mule with a garlic, chicken, broccoli Alfredo pizza on fresh basil dough for me.
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And a fabulous ravioli special for the husband.
Sautéed shallots & local Macintosh apples finished with baby spinach in a sherry & sage cream sauce over butternut squash & pumpkin filled ravioli.
All the flavors of fall right there!
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It is said man cannot live on bread alone.
I beg to differ.
We dropped in to one of our favorite restaurants the other day for a quick lunch.
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Royal River Grill House rarely disappoints.
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One cranberry margarita in…
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We enjoyed the views and the virtually empty space.
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It was a beautiful autumn day, everyone must have had outdoor plans.
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A new item had been added to the menu recently and we took full advantage.
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You can have your charcuterie boards filled with meat…
I’m all about the bread and butter.
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With a cup of creamy herbed clam chowder?
Damn near perfect.
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Having only had cats as pets for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware the following service was available for dog owners.
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Yes, there’s a company that will come to your house and dispose of Fido’s waste for a fee.
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After seeing this advertisement and having a good chuckle?
I did further research.
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Poopocalypse?
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Kudos to the marketing teams.
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Free belly rubs.
Who doesn’t love that?
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Yes, there really is a company called Doody Calls.
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They even have a truck.
🤣
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Having driven by this tiny brewery multiple times, the husband and I decided to drop in and try it the other day.
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It’s small, and colorful.
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Even their creative tasty beer is color coded…
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To the colorful flight tray.
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We spent a pleasant 2 hours sampling, drinking and chatting with the owners, a very nice young couple… who happen to live in our town.
They’re beer lovers and dog lovers.
Unfortunately the brewery’s mascot wasn’t there that day.
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But his picture was.
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And I came home with some fun pug inspired swag.
❤️
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Leaving York Beach the other day, we headed north along the coastal route.
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Past the park…
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And down to Cape Neddick….
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Home to the (famous in these parts) Nubble Light.
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Built in 1878 at the cost of $15,000, Nubble is still in use today and contains its original Fresnel lens.
Fun fact?
Nubble Light is a famous American icon and a classic example of a lighthouse. An image of the lighthouse is included on the Voyager Golden Record carried by the Voyager spacecraft as one of Earth’s most prominent man-made structures or natural features, alongside features such as the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal, to be viewed should it fall into the hands of intelligent extraterrestrials.
And though my picture looks like you could just walk right up and explore, the lighthouse actually sits on an island and is inaccessible to the public.
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No matter, the scenery is pretty sweet from this side as well.
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😊
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A blueberry mule by the ocean is a beautiful thing.
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Even if the restaurant’s decor leaves a bit to be desired.
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Lobster Cove got good reviews for its seafood so we gave it a whirl.
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View from upstairs?
Not too shabby.
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My clam chowder was excellent and aside from the weird onion ring topping on my husband’s beloved French onion soup, his was tasty as well.
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Fried sea scallops for me, a decadent seafood casserole in lobster bisque for my spouse and we were happy campers.
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Almost as happy as these seagulls…
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Who were fed by this kind stranger.
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No… don’t leave!
😉
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River's world..... 