.
A few weeks ago we had two young woodchucks fighting over food
.
.
Now?
.
.
Momma chuck is back and the fighting is over.
.
.
Matter of fact, since she’s arrived there’s no one to left to fight.
.
.
The teenagers have left the building…
.
.
And momma reigns supreme.
.
.
Excuse the noise of my dryer tumbling in the background.
.
.
Being of Scottish ancestry I hate to admit it, but the Irish know a thing or two about pubs.
.
.
We recently discovered O’Reilly’s Cure in Scarborough and will definitely be going back.
.
.
It’s upscale…
.
.
And to Hell with the Guinness…
.
.
Their cocktail list is da bomb.
.
.
The Basil Ruby was divine and paired nicely with my delicious crab cake appetizer.
.
.
And the apple cider margarita?
.
.
Lovely, even with its sticky brown sugar rim.
.
.
Husband’s baked haddock, garlic mashed and veggie medley was tasty…
.
.
And my chicken pot (biscuit) pie was a scrumptious thick, creamy delight.
.
.
And yes, they snuck that annoying ‘kitchen wellness fee’ I detest on the bill (it bothers me because I doubt the kitchen staff ever see the money) but the food and drinks were so good we’ll return despite the annoyance.
😊
.
.
Remember my perfect carpet? The expensive Karastan I chose on day one…
.
.
The salesperson from the store where I found it (they have exclusive rights to the brand and none of the other places we’ve tried can sell it) has been staying in touch after giving us an installation estimate. When I finally told them my husband balked at the price and was looking around for something comparable but cheaper, they wanted to help and said they would check their inventory.
I received this message a week ago.. but didn’t tell my husband until he’d had his fill of fruitless floor shopping.
I’m evil that way.
.
.
To be honest I didn’t think carpet was something you could barter… but you live and you learn.
And save $500 apparently.
.
.
Installation in 8 weeks.
😊
.
.
It isn’t often we see a Pileated woodpecker at Casa River…
.
.
But this big guy flew in the other day and had a nosh on the suet nugget cage.
.
.
Pileateds usually stay in the woods and rarely venture into our wide open back yard.
.
.
Good thing I had my phone camera handy.
❤️
.
.
One last cuddle on the old chair.
.
.
One last before picture…
.
.
After that, our farming neighbor and his field hands carried the old furniture out the door and over to his house.
.
.
It’s funny because we gave him the living room set we had before this one as well.
.
.
It was a tight fit…
And made my husband wish our back door was just a little wider.
.
.
One large scratch on the paint later…
.
.
Empty echoing space.
.
.
I love stumbling on a new place to eat.
.
.
And while this seemed like your run of the mill sports bar, the blueberry margarita was quite tasty.
.
.
And my husband’s go to French onion soup was anything but ordinary.
.
.
It was served with its bread on the outside which we thought was odd, but the deep wine flavored beef broth was so full of onions and herbs and melted cheese you didn’t even miss it.
.
.
My appetizer? Loaded tater kegs.
I’d never heard of such of a thing… and not being a tater tot fan, I almost passed. But these were delightfully crunchy on the outside and creamy, cheesy, bacon filled pillows of potato-y goodness on the inside.
Being a sports bar, all the televisions were tuned to this show. I paid less than zero attention until I happened to glance up and see this…
.
.
Thinking it was just a typo, I grimaced and moved on.
Until this popped up on the screen a few minutes later.
.
.
Ugh.
Not a typo.
Good thing the food made up for it.
.
.
Baked haddock and Parmesan herbed potato rounds for the spouse.
.
.
And a massive chicken, broccoli Alfredo (I ate for three days after) for moi.
Poor grammar aside, it might be worth a return trip.
😉
.
Now that the weather is warming and the grass is turning green…
.
.
Our resident woodchucks are showing up more often.
.
.
There’s not much for them to eat yet and since I want them to leave my garden beds alone?
.
.
The buffet is being laid.
.
.
😉
.
.
Shopping for bedroom carpet continues.
And you can tell one of us is not having a good time.
.
.
This is not my fault as I found the perfect carpet on day one… but my husband swore he could find something comparable for less money so we kept shopping.
.
.
This was an interesting display.
.
.
Made even more so by the fact it opened for samples.
.
.
After another whirlwind weekend tour of flooring stores, my husband chose carpets he thought were close to the shade we wanted. Even though I (and numerous salespeople) assured him they weren’t.
.
.
Ironically the two large sample boards he brought home were very close to the price point of my original choice which kind of defeats the purpose… no?
.
.
And since none of them were the right shade (again), my spouse is slowing coming around to the realization he should have just agreed to my selection a few weeks ago and called it a day.
Men.
They always have to do things the hard way.
😉
.
.
After another week of unsatisfactory carpet shopping I had to throw the husband a bone so we headed for the coast.
.
.
Wells is probably the longest stretch of sandy beach in Maine and is overwhelmed with tourists in the summer.
.
.
But on the off season it’s quiet, which is how we like it.
After a stroll, we headed for beer.
.
.
And while we’ve visited other Batson locations, this was our first trip to the laid back Fish Camp version.
.
.
It was more casual than their other locations.
.
.
With an attractive fishing vibe.
.
.
A few raspberry lime sours in…
.
.
I opted for the duck fat cornbread with maple honey bourbon butter.
.
.
Ooh la la! Sheer perfection.
.
.
As was the digital fireplace that didn’t trigger my hot flashes.
.
.
Not sure what they put on top of this outdoor table to hold down the cover…but it looked like a giant wine cork to me.
😉
.
.
It’s hard to tell, but I think Momma Chuck is back.
.
.
I’ve seen two smaller guys around the property the past few weeks, but Momma’s always had a different look.
.
.
And I think this is her.
.
.
If we see babies under the barn next month I’ll know for sure.
.
.
😊
.
River's world..... 