Tag Archives: maine

Interspecies communication takes patience.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten heard something in the woodchuck burrow .

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten investigated.

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On the other end of the woodchuck burrow?

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A woodchuck.

Lord Dudley Mountcatten switched sides and waited on that end.

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Which meant a woodchuck popped up on the first side.

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So His Lordship switched sides again and waited.

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And finally, after Lord Dudley’s servant was tired of standing in the heat and about to drag him back in the house….

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Interspecies communication.

Disclaimer – no woodchucks (or cats!) were harmed in the making of this blog.

😊

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Where else can you dance with a turnip?

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I love my town.

We’re small, rural and delightfully quirky. It’s all about community and neighbors helping neighbors.

Our food bank serves home cooked meals on pick up day and has coffee and pastries for patrons .

Our recycling barn has a “gift shop” where everything is free.

The farmer’s market is a great place to support local businesses, buy organic produce, bring home handmade goodies…. and now?

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Apparently you can partner with a cabbage or eggplant and cut the proverbial rug.

😉

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She’ll need a name.

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Meet my new car.

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A 2025 fully loaded Subaru Forester touring.

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Crystal pearl white…

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With the swanky two tone leather interior and suede inserts.

And if that’s not sweet enough? She comes with Easter eggs…

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How fun is that!

No, I’m not in actual possession of her yet. She had to be special ordered from the factory and will arrive in 6-8 weeks.

I’ve never owned a white vehicle before. And before you say, “Oh, it will show all the dirt!”, I’ve been driving black and dark charcoal grey for 22 years… trust me, they show all the dirt as well.

This purchase required intense negations, at which… let’s be honest, I suck. Thank God for my husband who hates the new car purchase game but loves to haggle.

We went into the office where our salesman gave us a final price… and my husband balked.

The assistant manager came over, lowered the price by $1,500… and my husband scowled.

The sales manager appeared, lowered the price by $2,500… and my husband started to walk out.

The top financial guy got into the mix and lowered the price by $3,500… and my husband did walk out.

We went to lunch, during which time the manager called and lowered the price by $4,000, saying that was the absolute best he could do. When we went back to the showroom… my husband said lower the price by another $500 or we’re out.

Mind you this particular car is flying off the lots. We couldn’t find a single one in the entire state. I also added a few extra options.. splash guards, moon roof air deflector etc. but when my husband has a number stuck in his head, you’re not going to change it.

The top guy was summoned. He hemmed and hawed, fiddling with the numbers trying to come up with a way to discount the price further. Turns out Subaru is running a charity drive for local schoolchildren until the end of this month. You purchase 10 school supplies for donation and they take $500 off the price.

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We went to Target and purchased 15 fun school supplies.. and bam! My husband got his $4,500 off a brand new car.

Is it any wonder I love this man?

💕

My current Forester is Ethel. Named by my late mother. My new beauty will need a name as well… any suggestions?

You have 6-8 weeks to dazzle me with ideas.

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A lakes region road trip.

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When the thermometer is reading temperatures this high?

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You ditch yard work and take a road trip west.

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To the lakes region, over the Naples causeway.

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Through Bridgton…

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Past ski slopes that look a little strange in the summer.

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To a premier pub in Lovell, Maine.

Any similarities between my husband and the pub sign mascot are purely coincidental.

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Ebenezer’s is famous for its extensive beer menu and hand blown glass taps.

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It also has a buzzard on the bar.

It’s hard to top that.

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They’ve won multiple awards and though they’re small and off the beaten path… those in the know, know.

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Belgians.

A white for the husband, a geuze boon for moi.

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I love their vintage signs.

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And their coconut shrimp with sweet Thai chili sauce.

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Some signs are prophetic.

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Good beer, beautiful lakes.

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A perfect summer day.

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Murals. Yea or nay…?

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You either love them or hate them. There’s rarely any in between.

I happen to love them, even if I don’t always understand them.

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This mural is in the old downtown area of our state capitol, Augusta. It’s undergoing a rejuvenation and this certainly brightens things up.

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The Kennebec River flows through the city and the Kennebec is full of giant sturgeon, so I understand the fish.

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The prehistoric cyborg dinosaurs?

Not so much…

🤣

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Off it comes.

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Now that the decking has been laid, it was time to strip the vinyl siding.

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This isn’t as easy as it sounds when the people who put it on decades ago used nails as long as your arm.

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Sometimes finesse is required…

Sometimes brute force.

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After the siding was removed?

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The soffit had to come down.

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That was easier, but still awkward.

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It’s amazing how much dirt gets up under there, especially when you live across the street from a farmer who’s always plowing his fields on windy days .

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White on one side, brown on the other.

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Soffit.

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No soffit.

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I have no idea what this is all about.

It’s not mold, just black spray paint.

🥴

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“But what do I do with it..?”

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This is Lord Dudley Mountcatten surveying his domain.

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Here’s Lord Dudley Mountcatten noticing an interloper in his domain.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten’s reaction was priceless.

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After some closer inspection?

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And a positive baby woodchuck identification…

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was clueless.

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And looked back at me as if to say, “What am I supposed to do with that?”

🤣

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You may think I’m too hard on him… but.

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As you know, my husband takes on a lot of projects around our house.

A lot of projects he probably shouldn’t.

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Yes, he saves us money we’d otherwise spend on contractors… but those savings come at a price.

Workmanship he would never accept from a contractor are commonplace. Like these unevenly matched boards I’m sure to stub a toe on.

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Mitered corners?

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Not his strong suit.

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Gaps?

Yeah, we’ve got those too.

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The composite decking is finished.

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And while this end looks pretty good…

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The other end was a total clusterf*ck.

I gasped when I went out there and saw how far off the edge was… thinking, surely he’s going to fix that.

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But no.

That’s the finished product.

Close on the left, but not nearly close enough on the right.

This is what you get when you don’t hire a professional.

🥴

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