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We haven’t seen much of our resident deer this winter because… well, we didn’t have much of a winter in Maine this year.
But with the late season snow storm came our backyard buddies.
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I sure have missed them.
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Love to watch the young ones kick up their heels and scamper around.
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That big guy in the foreground is a buck.
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He has a nice little harem.
😊
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While most of you are enjoying tulips, daffodils and other cheerful harbingers of warm weather…in Maine things look a little different.
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We had a good old fashioned N’or Easter on Thursday.
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With high winds and wet heavy snow.
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It was the pretty kind that sticks to bushes and makes everything feel like a winter wonderland.
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But it also weighed down trees, snapped branches and left half of our state without power.
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I think we ended up with a foot, though with the wind it’s hard to tell.
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Since the temperatures hovered near freezing it was that awful wet, heavy snow that you have to constantly go out and clear before it becomes too saturated to move.
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Yes… springtime in Maine can be a bit of a challenge.
😉
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My husband may not be a mailman, but his version of that age old creed says nothing will come between him and his television. Not even the ripping Maine N’or Easter with 50 mph winds and heavy wet snow that pummeled us yesterday leaving half our state without power.
Thankfully we never lost electricity… but when my spouse lost the satellite signal?
Out he went.
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Digging in the shed for a ladder.
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Trudging across the back lawn…
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To knock the wet snow off the dish.
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Reception restored, he trudged back in the house…
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Only to return an hour later for more sweeping.
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What can I say?
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The man really likes his tv.
🤣
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We headed west recently… which is always a nice drive.
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Destination?
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An unassuming little Italian restaurant housed in an old shoe factory.
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Lots of original exposed beams and sunlight.
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And some seriously good mojitos. This one is blackberry.
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I passed on the pickle.
🤢
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Lunch for me was a tasty chicken carbonara tortellini. Their pasta is fresh and fabulous. Mojito #2? Mango.
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Husband went with haddock piccata minus the capers, garlic butter linguini and maple glazed carrots. Scrumptious.
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I meant to ask the bartender about this rather odd Nesquick placement but was too busy eating.
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Raspberry cheesecake for the spouse.
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And a rare bananas foster for me. I love this caramel and rum soaked treat but rarely find it in Maine. It was too apt to melt for a leftover box so I had to each the whole thing in one sitting.
I had to.
😉
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Oh what a difference a day makes.
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The beginning of green grass and our first chuck sighting of the season.
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The next day?
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It’s back to winter.
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And one very limber local cat.
In other news…
She’s baaaaack.
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It’s the sci fi franchise that just won’t die.
And finally, a little help if you’re planning a vacation.
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😉
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My husband couldn’t understand why I wanted to visit sooo many different furniture stores. We’d picked out the style of couches….
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And the matching chair and ottoman.
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I’d even decided on the fabrics.
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But the price quotes were all over the place.
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That’s a considerable difference, and surprising because the highest quote came from the large chain store that constantly crows about its low prices.
And just when my (very patient) husband was crying uncle and telling me to “buy something already!”….
I found an even lower price for the exact same thing.
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From $7,775 to $5,798.
A savings of $1,977.
Yay me.
Less money and the satisfaction of supporting a small business that’s been in the same family for over 100 years.
That’s what I call a win win.
Free delivery in 6-8 weeks.
😊
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After spending an hour here…
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I needed to spend two hours here.
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At the bar of one of our favorite restaurants.
Though this sangria was a tad disappointing…
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The thyme and temp martini and crabmeat arancini appetizer more than made up for it.
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Sicilian Table in Falmouth, home to the fabulous fish.
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And a Wagyu filet in burgundy glaze for the husband.
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Shrimp and scallop lemon risotto for me.
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Tiramisu with brandy soaked cherries?
It almost made me forget how much money we have to pay the IRS.
Almost…
😩
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Spring is here … though to be honest I’m still waiting for winter. March in Maine used to mean cold and snow but temps have been near 50 most of the month and up until last week’s snow storm we had green grass in places.
Sigh.
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It’s been damp and too warm all winter.
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Though I admit the morning fog is soothing.
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His Lordship?
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Never misses his morning coffee.
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And now that his scratchy post has been returned to its normal living room site…
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All is right with his world.
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I just hope the furniture stores don’t mind a little cat hair on their fabric samples.
😉
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We had a terrible rain and wind storm two weeks ago. It wasn’t a N’or Easter but with 65 mph gusts and power outages it might as well have been.
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When the power went out, I plopped myself down and read a book.
And watched the shingles on our roof flap.
That’s always fun.
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Not.
My husband spent the next day on the roof replacing those we’d lost. Homeownership is a bitch.
Shortly after, his Harley returned from the shop.
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Again
$1,500 later…
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He’s sputtering about selling and I think he might finally be ready to let her go this time.
🤞
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Replacing the trim around our new bedroom windows was painful. We tried multiple types and colors of stain but never really came close to matching the existing. The only saving grace there was the new pieces didn’t lay against the old and with distance there’s room for variation.
Not so this new living room flooring project. New baseboard had to butt up to old at the two kitchen entrances and the hallway… not to mention the fireplace and built in bookcases.
It was a major challenge.
The husband and I made three trips to three different stores and bought three different colors but nothing worked.
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The piece on the left is what we needed to match. Most never came close. And mind you baseboard moulding is sold by the foot so every test piece that fails?
Ka-Ching! 💰
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We had to stain over 100 feet and I wanted it to look nice.
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Three more stores, three more rejects. I couldn’t understand it, we’d bring in my sample piece and match it perfectly to theirs only to find it wasn’t close when we got home and applied it.
Then we went to Sherwin Williams. Turns out they’ve bought the Minwax company… and guess what?
They can color match stain.
What!!! Why did no one ever tell me this was possible?
They also told us the reason we could never match our color was because all the store samples are done on oak and baseboard moulding is typically pine.
What!! Why did no one ever tell me this?
After stifling my anger at the stain industry, we purchased a can of perfectly tinted stain and happily started the process.
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Have finger, will travel.
Yes, the stain looks red but when gently applied with a rag and my forefinger instead of heavy handing it with a brush, it was almost perfect.
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Sadly my old Grateful Dead tee shirt gave its life to the cause.
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Two coats of stain, two coats of amber poly and one giant air bubble in the plastic later, we were done.
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River's world..... 