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Every night when the sun starts to set?
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We have a visitor. Sometimes two…
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Apples, berries and some taurine rich grain free dry dog food are the reason.
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They come to nibble seed that falls from our bird feeders but I can’t resist putting out a better snack.
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❤️
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The used car shopping continues. Miles upon miles of traveling only to be disappointed by condition or mechanical problems.
Funny part of this saga? We met up with a friend of ours on the journey who happens to sell cars on the side. When the husband told him what we were doing he gave me a strange look and said, “No offense, but I know money isn’t the issue. Why don’t you just buy new?”
To which I rolled my eyes, pointed, and said “Ask him”.
That launched my husband into his usual diatribe about how new cars are an over inflated rip off that depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot. Then he got started on the car salesman two step. You know the dance… spend half an hour dickering on price only to be told to have a seat while he talks with his manager. Husband hates the whole process.
Because really, used car salesmen are so much better.
🤣
Our last stop of the day was a dealership almost 2 hours from home.
I immediately spotted the car I wanted him to buy.
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Don’t recognize the logo?
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Yeah.
Just a snazzy little runabout in which to do the weekly grocery shopping. Did it cost more than our first house? Sure. But money’s not an issue remember.
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Someone came in right behind us and put a down payment on this thing. To which I thought… what a giant waste of hard earned dollars… but hey, whatever floats your boat.
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This was the vehicle we came to see and might seriously be a contender.
To be continued…
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If you care nothing for the feeding and rare sightings of our fine feathered friends please feel free to skip this post because I’m about to gush like a horny ornithologist.
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Yesterday evening at 7:41pm I walked by one of the windows that looks out over our backyard and saw this.
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We’ve lived in this home for over 20 years and I’ve only spied this elusive creature twice.
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They’re big, usually 20 inches long.
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They like deeply wooded areas and though we hear their jackhammer like drilling occasionally it’s rare to see them out in the open no less hanging on our suet nugget feeder having a nosh .
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To say I was thrilled is an understatement.
There was a female pileated woodpecker in our backyard!!!!
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The sexes can be distinguished by the amount of red feathers on their heads. Red halfway down the face to the eyes? Female. Red all the way down to the beak? Male.
River the bird nerd at your service.
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Not exactly a riveting video, I know.
But I had to share.
❤️
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A little bit of this and a whole lot of nothing.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten … taking a break from strolling to survey his domain.
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You either get it or you don’t.
My husband went to the original Woodstock, then turned around and left… saying it wasn’t his scene.
Clearly he didn’t get it.
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Book banning?
Huge pet peeve.
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Funny how that works.
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King Eider’s is a fun pub on the coast.
Their sign is always equally as fun.
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I walked outside this morning to fill the bird feeders and found this.
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A pile of feathers.
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Having a hawk who uses our backyard as his personal hunting ground, this isn’t unusual… but seeing this around noon was.
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A young starling made numerous trips to the pile and gathered all the feathers in his (her?) beak.
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I’m sure they make wonderfully soft nest liners…
And are the perfect example of Mother Nature’s ability to recycle.
❤️
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I love to read.
I love Lord Dudley Mountcatten.
Sometimes… these two loves collide.
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Why my little guy finds it necessary to mark certain books is beyond my ken, but he certainly seems to enjoy it.
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It’s fiddlehead season and Mainers go absolutely nuts for this peculiar green.
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Basically they’re just new, unfurled fern fronds but people guard their harvest locations closely and take the secret to their grave.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten is still demanding his morning coffee.
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Cats. They’re creatures of habits too.
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The sides of Maine’s highways are turning out to be perfect places for solar farms. Panels are popping up everywhere.
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In case you were wondering just how big the giant roof lobster on top of the restaurant that sells the giant lobster roll actually is.
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Yes, after owning his current BMW sedan for barely 2 years my husband has decided he wants a new vehicle.
And by new… I mean my husband’s version of new which is usually 20 years old. He’s rough on vehicles and puts a lot of miles on them quickly so while I buy new, he doesn’t. Which is why he always wants a different one every few years. He plum wears them out.
His current car is a 2006 and since he’s on a BMW kick, the next one has to be as well. Tired of him constantly buying and selling I persuaded him to go a little newer this time. Ya know… preferably in the last decade. It was a struggle but I convinced him to draw the line at 2014. Nothing older.
I also leaned heavily on the idea of an SUV. River’s bad knee has had enough of climbing out of low slung rides.
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We found this blue one..
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And took her for a spin.
But the porridge was too hot.
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We found this brown one and took her for a spin.
But the porridge was too cold.
We drove for 7 hours that day randomly hitting car dealers and private sellers. The result? Those two.
Apparently the BMW X3’s are a rare breed in our part of the world.
The search continues…
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Twenty one years ago… when we moved back to Maine and bought our house in the country, I gazed across the road at the giant empty field and dreamt of cows.
Yes, I’m that person. The one you take on road trips who points out the window and yells cow! every time she spots one.
I’m not sure why. I certainly didn’t grow up with bovines in New Jersey, but I’ve always found something immensely soothing about watching cows graze quietly in a meadow.
As you know, the property across the road was sold to an organic vegetable farmer… and while over the years he’s had goats and chickens and ducks, nary a cow has been spotted.
I’d given up my dream of wandering across the street and making hooved friends.
But last weekend?
I spotted something wonderful next door.
Something I never thought I’d see….
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Woot!
Cow!!
Well, a two week old calf to be precise… happily munching our neighbors front lawn. One ecstatic phone call later I learned he’s actually a class project for a grand daughter. Feed and raise a cow? That was never part of my school curriculum, but yay!
Our neighbor told me she has a feeling the adorable (cow!) project will more than likely be a permanent resident when all is said and done.
And I am beyond thrilled.
Cow!!!!
💕
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After a year of hemming and hawing.
A year of deciding and then changing his mind.
A year of yes he will and then no he won’t.
He finally did it.
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One final rub down …
And then.
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He put her on the front lawn for sale.
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It’s been a long time coming. We really don’t ride much anymore and throwing $1,000 into her every year to counteract the inactivity wasn’t doing her… or us…. any good.
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So the husband finally agreed to let one of his babies go.
We put her out on the lawn at 2:00 in the afternoon. At 2:30 I listed her on FB marketplace and Craig’s List. At 3:00 we got a call from a man with cash.
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The next morning at 10:00am she was gone.
I think my husband is still in shock.
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River's world..... 