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The Northern Lights were visible in my part of the world recently.
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And even though we had a little too much cloud cover to make them spectacular….
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This was only the second time in my life I’ve experienced them so I stood out in the cold in my pajamas taking pictures like a fool anyway.
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Pure magic.
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No matter how faint the glow.
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❤️
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Our snow melted for a while this month and it made a nice background for portraits of our resident buck.
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He’s a big fella with a nice size and shape.
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Though his rack is a little squirrelly.
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It’s hard to tell if he’s an 8 or 9 pointer as his angles are all over the place.
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But I love his little white striped feet.
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And his smile of course.
We can all use more of those these days.
😊
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The husband and I celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary recently… and there were flowers.
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We’re lucky to have a wonderful local florist just a few miles from our house.
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Or should I say I’m lucky, as the husband is rarely able to forget special occasions.
Our florist posts pictures of the arrangements she makes every week on Facebook and this recent customized request for a chef made me smile.
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How clever is that?
👍
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As seen at the grocery store.
Makes me wonder how spicy this product has to be to warrant such a violent response.
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Enough said.
🤣
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We’ve been having a strange influx of evening gtosbeaks recently. They visit in large groups and are quite a dramatic sight.
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Cold?
Yes, it’s been cold.
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Though you wouldn’t know it by the Juncos. The snow doesn’t seem to bother them at all.
Brr!
❄️
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We headed back down to Windham recently because my husband was craving the world’s best pork chop.
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Christmas decorations were still up.
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And the chickens were still watching me drink.
This cocktail was called Hibernation and was delicious. Simple, fresh… and probably worth spending the winter in a cave.
Vodka, cardamom simple, lime, blackberry puree.
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The husband started with carrot ginger soup and loved it.
Bumbleroot Farm carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, maple syrup, pepitas.
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My next cocktail was a spiced clementine margarita. Ooh la la!.. that was tasty.
Reposado, spiced clementine syrup, lime, Cointreau.
My appetizer of corn and spicy chicken egg rolls were equally as good.
Maine Family Farms chicken, roasted corn, cumin, Monterey jack cheese, chili powder, egg roll wrapper, chipotle aioli, pico-slaw.
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And there it is. Unassuming to view… but this cider brined chop is next level good and perfectly grilled. You’ve never had pork like this, it’s melt in your mouth tender.
Prime center cut chop, French green beans, butternut puree, Ricker Hill Honeycrisp apple, caramelized onion.
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I went with the chicken cordon bleu which was wonderful as well.
Maine Family Farms chicken breast, egg, flour, Bumbleroot Farm spinach, Pineland Farms Swiss cheese, Canadian bacon, cream, parmesan, Waxwing Bakery breadcrumbs.
We’ve come to the realization it’s impossible to have a bad meal at Yolked. Oh, you’ll pay for the privilege… but what’s life without a little splurging?
😊
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten can sleep anywhere at anytime.
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Even sitting up straight in the sun.
He really was sound asleep and tumbled onto the couch shortly after the picture was taken… losing all that hard won feline dignity in the process.
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As promised –
This isn’t the actual feathered roach clip photo I’d been searching for, but it’s from the same Halloween party circa 1981. By the time this was taken I’d lost the headband and tomahawk, but the clips are still there.
🤣
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We have one little visiting opossum.
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It’s so cold, and his fur is just thin hairs.
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I never understand how they can survive Maine winters, but they do.
And speaking of winter…
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This is our immediate future.
With the local news using some pretty technical meteorological terms…
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Major fluff!
❄️❄️❄️
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We have a nice big buck who thankfully survived hunting season this year.
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His rack is a little strange, but he’s a big impressive boy.
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When he comes to feed, his harem backs off.
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And he’ll chase off the youngsters until he eats his fill
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In the deer world, size does matter.
😉
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We’ve had some super bright moons this month which makes for better backyard deer photos.
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Until said deer spots you through the window and runs.
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It’s amazing how much they play, running, roughhousing and even kicking each other.
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Maybe it was a full moon influence.
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And no, we don’t live on Tatooine…
It’s just a triple moon reflection on the window.
😉
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Our backyard herd is growing.
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We started with two, then five…
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Now there are ten, sometimes eleven.
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*Note to self- buy more deer grain*
😊
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They say the third time’s a charm, but after two different rammings by passing vehicles that damaged our mailbox and forced my husband to make repairs to the box and the post…. the town snow plow finished the job by completely obliterating our mailbox and sending it sailing into the void on Christmas Eve.
Here’s a picture of the husband valiantly searching for it next to the empty post…
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We had no idea where it was, or how far away it travelled. Which meant another replacement.
This isn’t a fun project even in nice weather, but in deep snow, 7 degree temperatures and a brisk wind?
It’s hellish.
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Especially when you didn’t realize the mounting hardware and post adapter required weren’t included until you started the job.
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Temporary solution?
Bungee cords.
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The day after Christmas my DIY husband decided he could mount the box without the post adapter it needed.
I disagreed vehemently but was ignored…. and out came the sawzall. After removing the offending rear part? He came inside when he realized he’d broken the door off.
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This stupid mailbox cost $100… but the door was only held on by a tiny bit of glue on the little hinge strip seen above.
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We tried every glue we had in the house but nothing held… and since my husband cut a piece of the metal off the back, it’s not like we could return the box to the store.
Solution?
Screw it.
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Literally and figuratively.
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Then file down the pointy screws so the mailman doesn’t slash his wrist open when he delivers mail.
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It’s not pretty, but it works.
Until the next big snow storm.
🥴
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Christmas was quiet here at Casa River…
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But it was also gloriously white.
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And may I just give a shout out to whoever invented snow blowers…
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Best winter device, ever.
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Yardstick deployment #2.
🤣
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And while the husband was out blowing snow?
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I was enjoying a good book, a cup of tea and the annual homemade rosemary shortbread gift from our neighbor. Delicious!
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After clearing the driveway, the husband ran out of creamer so we drove to the grocery store.
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It was a beautiful ride…
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Until we cruised around a corner and clipped a hanging power line.
Smack! Right on my side of the windshield of the husband’s new car.
Thankfully, it… and we … and the car…were okay. But I called the power company to report the danger.
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They got right on it, as we saw on our way home.
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Winter driving is beautiful, but it can be hazardous too.
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River's world..... 