I woke up yesterday morning to fog in our neighbor’s field….
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And the distinct sound of rumbling…. which at this time of year could only mean one thing.
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Fall in the country means bush hogging and as the sun started to break through, the hog was hard at work.
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Our neighbor hires a local man every autumn to knock down the growth in her fields. This is necessary if you want to keep fields from becoming forests and since he’s right next door…. we piggyback on the opportunity and have him do our little parcel of back field as well.
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And as I looked out on our backyard pre hogging, I was pleased to see the maple trees we planted this spring had survived the awful summer drought and were beginning to turn color like their larger neighbors.
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It was touch and go for a while. Maine was hot and dry for months and we’re on a well. I had to stop dragging my 300 feet of hose out there to water them and I feared our nearly $1,000 investment would shrivel up and die. But they seem to have hung on and for that I’m grateful.
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Later on in the day it was our turn.
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And those trees sure do make a dramatic background for hogging.
We set off early Tuesday morning and it was a perfectly beautiful day. Sunny, with a delightful bite of crisp fall air.
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We hit the western Maine mountains before 10….
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And the New Hampshire White Mountains shortly after. Leaves were just beginning to turn and it was wonderful.
At 1:00?
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Hello Vermont! We’ve missed you.
And you’re welcome, though I’m not sure what we did to deserve your thanks.
If you’ve never been to Vermont? I have one word for you… go!
Verdant green fields and barn red barns. Gentle rolling hills and well tended farms. Picturesque mountain villages and of course, cows.
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It’s gloriously scenic, delightfully quirky, and utterly addicting.
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We were sad to see The Farmer’s Daughter gift shop had lost its daughter. There used to be a large sign out front of a farm girl with her skirt blown up… but all that’s left now are the hands, hanging disembodied and more than a little creepy.
We did see a giant hammer wind mill down the road…
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But it doesn’t bring the same smile to your face as that saucy wind blown wench.
When we headed north and west towards our resort, the weather took a turn.
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Eerie, ominous skies dominated the rest of the way and by the time we arrived in the little town of Jeffersonville?
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Rain. And so much high fog you couldn’t see the mountains.
While it’s true my face may not be as firm and tight as it once was…
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I have no desire to cover it in Pepto Bismol rubber either. Sometimes the price of beauty is too high.
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Is it? Because that doesn’t look the least bit appetizing to me. I need my meat to bun ratio a lot lower than this.
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Would duct tape work just as well?
Asking for a friend.
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I saw this remarkably accurate John Wayne doll in an antique store the other day and was ready to lambaste the seller for spelling effigy incorrectly…. until I did some research and discovered Effanbee is a company that produces collectible dolls. It’s a good thing my husband didn’t see it. I don’t need that horror staring me down in the man cave bar.
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I see your dogs playing poker velvet wall hanging and raise you one toothless, cigar smoking set of gambling scallops.
We’ve had a lovely pair of foxes visit our backyard for years, but this season?
They brought the kids.
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While we’ve seen a kit or two every once in a while, it’s a rare thing since our back lawn is large and predominantly cover free. Momma fox is a careful parent and won’t expose her offspring to open areas unless she knows it’s safe.
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So you can imagine how our jaws dropped when 6 foxes appeared in our backyard recently.
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No, you’re not counting incorrectly… there are only five pictured.
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By the time I got over the shock and grabbed my phone… number 6 had moved over to the blueberry bushes, out of range.
I’ve been waking up in the morning to completely empty bird feeders, which is odd because I refill them every evening. Usually this means the deer are back… but we’ve only seen one or two wandering around lately. Then last night, I flipped on the light at 10:00pm.
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Busted!
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The seed thief caught in the act.
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If you think those pudgy raccoons aren’t limber, I’ve got news for you …
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They can shimmy up and down poles as well as a squirrel and hang by two feet at will.
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Excuse the poor quality pics, I was shooting through the window.
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When Fatso finished emptying the feeders, he plopped down on the ground with the skunks.
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Who were none to happy to share and gave him their business ends.
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Cute little masked devils.
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.