Tag Archives: maine

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Miscellaneous pumpkin and pickle missives.

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It’s fall… and in New England that means cooler temperatures, turning leaves and pumpkins.

And no town takes pumpkins more seriously than Damariscotta, a coastal village that devotes an entire week of events to the glorious orange gourd. There are parades, size contests, art contests, races, recipe challenges and even a regatta of giant floaters.

They like their pumpkins.

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Every year we say we’re going to visit, and every year we don’t for some reason or another.

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Which is a shame because this year my favorite bar in town has the best decorated pumpkin I’ve seen in a long time.

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Imagine having a few too many and stumbling outside to come face to face with this guy.

😊

And speaking of bars…

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A seasonal margarita that sounds damn near perfect for this time of year.

Moving on, I have a bone to pick with a few of my readers. You were joking about emotional support pickles for cats on my post the other day and while I tried to discourage the topic in fear of pickle retribution from my squirrelly algorithms… the concept has become reality.

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Damn you.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten has his mice.

No kitty support pickles will ever be entering this house.

🥴

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Fryeburg Fair, part three… where I’m in cow heaven.

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Every agricultural fair in Maine has a few cows, but the Fryeburg Fair has multiple barns devoted to multiple breeds, varieties, colors and sizes.

For a cow lover like me, it’s blissful bovine heaven.

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Look at that beauty!

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Beef cows, dairy cows…

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Large cows that pull things…

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Gentle cows who enjoy a scratch.

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Seriously big ass impressive cows…

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Sweet baby cows.

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There’s even a barn filled with Oreo cookie cows.

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Cows!

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I not so subtly pointed out there were even cows for sale to my husband….

But the man kept right on walking.

😉

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Fryeburg Fair, part two….what we didn’t see and why.

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Before I get down and dirty with all the things we saw at the Fryeburg Fair let me point out a few things we didn’t see.

We didn’t see the agricultural expo or the natural resources building ….

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Because my husband met a man who knew our farming neighbor and had to talk to him for 37 minutes.

We didn’t see the craft show or tour the fiber arts building…

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Because my husband struck up a 24 minute conversation with this nice volunteer who was rebuilding the motor on a vintage harrow.

And we didn’t see the rabbits, goats, llamas or chickens….

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Because my husband met a fellow Marine who was stationed in Beirut, Lebanon during the same awful time. It was the ‘83 bombing that killed 241 servicemen, the largest loss of Marines in a single day since the Battle of Iwo Jima. This was a sad conversation and one I didn’t interrupt… but still.

You know my husband, it wasn’t brief.

🥴

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A good time was had by all, even the bartender.

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We went to dinner with my husband’s niece and her fellow last week. She’s finally starting to get over her mothers death and that called for a drink… or 12… so we took them to my favorite cocktail destination The Blind Pig.

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I started with a pear Mojito and the most delicious mushroom Arancini I’ve ever had.

A few cocktails in, niece’s significant other got curious about what appeared to be breakfast in a glass.

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The girls were disgusted, the bartender was surprised and kept asking, “Are you sure?”….but the husband egged him on (I’m groaning at that one myself) and said he’d pay for it … so a bacon and eggs was ordered.

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Blech.

🤢

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The women refused to try it but the guys polished it off… though I can’t say they enjoyed it.

And though our bill was a bit cocktail heavy…

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There was food as well.

I just forgot to photograph it.

🍸

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The biggest and the best.

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I know it’s a little soon after my last series of fair posts, but we hadn’t been to the biggest and best fair in Maine in six years and last week the husband said let’s go.

So we headed west to Fryeburg.

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This was a weird year weather wise, with way too much rain late in the summer so I despaired of finding vibrant fall color.

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Leaves were turning but in muted hues.

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Of course it didn’t help the day we picked to go was gloomy, damp and overcast.

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Still pretty, but not jaw dropping for autumn in Maine.

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Pulling in to the fair grounds parking lot you pass rows and rows ( and rows and rows and rows) of travel trailers occupying every spare inch of ground.

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It’s a virtual RV city and my idea of hell on earth, but to each their own.

Maine doesn’t have an official state fair but Fryeburg is the last of the season, as well as the biggest and the best. Paying our $15 per admission price, we entered the gate by the horses and just missed some live music.

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The band wasn’t there, but the draft horses were and that’s even better.

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Some of these fellas are unbelievably large. I tried taking a selfie behind this guy but he started to back up as I was focusing so I backed up as well. And quite quickly.

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Magic Mike was beautiful…

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As was this dappled grey I would have to name Snowflake.

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For the most part they’re gentle giants but a weeks worth of people gawking and petting would make me want to kick something too.

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The definition of chill?

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Mr. Chunk.

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He really can’t help himself.

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My husband loves to talk. To anyone. At any time. Even if he’s paying them to work.

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This happened yesterday when the man we hire to bush hog our field every autumn showed up with his tractor.

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That’s the tractor under the arrow at the bottom of the hill. It was turned off and standing still because my husband went out to talk to him halfway through the mowing.

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Mowed field on the right. Unmowed on the left.

The worst part? My husband talked to the man for so long he wasn’t able to finish and we were left with a big patch of untouched field.

No telling when he’ll be able to come back and complete the job .

Things like this make me wish I could duct tape my husband to a chair.

With a gag in his mouth.

🤣

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Of fog and wooly bears.

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We had a really warm week in Maine with temps hitting the lower 80’s. Not my idea of fall, but lots of people were thrilled summer is still hanging on.

With cool nights and warm days comes fog.

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So much fog the deer who usually only show up at dusk are here at dawn.

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This next picture is of a poor starling who smashed into our living room picture window.

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He was okay and eventually flew away after recovering from the shock. But he sure drove our cat crazy.

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Yes, people here still believe caterpillars can predict the weather.

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Looks like a mild winter to me.

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Random ramblings.

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Here’s a drone shot of a section of our farming neighbor’s property. It was so pretty I thought I’d share.

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I’m in awe of all those perfectly aligned weeded garden beds.

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In case you ever wondered what type of finish you should be using.

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A local Maine man who did well for himself and ended up owning half his town’s businesses just implemented this program. Free food for school age children. Proof positive there are still good people in this world.

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As you know, once we install new living room floors I’ll be shopping for new furniture. And while the husband is fine with replacing the couches, armchairs and coffee tables he started mumbling that we really didn’t need to update the dining room table and chairs we’ve had for almost 40 years.

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I beg to differ.

🤣

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A new medical study has revealed women who have frequent and long lasting hot flashes… read, me… are at a greater risk for heart disease and stroke. Women who have frequent night sweats… read, me… are at a greater risk for dementia.

So that’s it.

I’m doomed.

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A mantis mystery.

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On a walk with Lord Dudley Mountcatten the other day I noticed he found something in front of the garage.

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Batting it this way and that, I stepped in to rescue the poor praying mantis he was harassing and carried it to my flower garden.

Our yard used to be full of these delightful insects (Females bite the males heads off after mating. What’s not to love?) but in the past few years we’ve seen their number drastically decline.

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And while I’m used to the green version, this mantis was completely brown.

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So I’m not sure if it was a different species…

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Or just going through some sort of molt.

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Either way, I was pleased with the rescue.

His Lordship on the other hand, was not.

P.S…. did a little research on the mating ritual of the mantis and have to share.

Males of some mantid species mate more effectively when decapitated. Why? A nerve center in the male’s head inhibits mating until a female is clasped. If this nerve is removed, such as when the female bites off the male’s head, all control is lost and the result is repeated copulation.

So there is a reason….

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