Tag Archives: maine

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Not for the feeble minded anymore.

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Today Pineland Farms is

…. a 5,000-acre working farm, diverse business campus and educational and recreational venue that welcomes visitors to enjoy its beautiful rural landscape.

Pineland Farms’ mission is to provide a productive and educational venue that enriches the community by demonstrating responsible farming techniques, offering educational opportunities and encouraging a healthy lifestyle through recreation.

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But back when I was young, it was basically an insane asylum…euphemistically called the Home for the Feebleminded. My cousin worked there briefly in the 70’s and it was a complete nightmare. Think bedlam in the Victorian era. Rumors of neglect and abuse warranted decades of investigation until its closure in 1996.

Now?

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It’s a giant tourist attraction.

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When we’re in the area we stop at the market and have a bite to eat at the cafe.

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It’s a lovely place to just… be.

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Though I’m sure the feeble minded didn’t think so. Shame the money and attention couldn’t have been put to use back then.

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Let’s just drink.

12 Comments

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One of our favorite restaurants has been letting us down lately.

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And while the cocktails and atmosphere are still wonderful ( fresh blueberry mojito, yum!) the quality of the food has been going downhill. Garlic Parmesan wings? Dry and tasteless.

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Pricey pan seared scallops on risotto? Over cooked seafood on a soggy bed of mush.

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Burgundy braised short ribs? Chewy shoe leather. It all looked good, but wasn’t. So we’ve decided one of our favorite dinner restaurants will now just be one of our favorite watering holes.

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Cucumber and elderflower cooler? Yeah, I’m not giving that up.

And the regular bar crowd is a hoot.

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Mr. I Drink My Jameson With A Cover and A Straw In Case I Spill was back, and you have to appreciate a man who knows his limitations.

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News you can’t use.

20 Comments

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This week’s headlines fall under the I really didn’t need to know that category.

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Sorry, but I can’t answer that question. My algorithms are bizarre enough as it is…. I didn’t click because I don’t need to be flooded with vaginal tightening ads.

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Ditto that for this poor woman.

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And this one as well.

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Sorry, but this makes me very glad we don’t have children.

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The fecal-oral route?

That’s a highway I’m definitely going to avoid.

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And finally, the other side.

20 Comments

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Because my husband never likes to rush things he moved around to the back side of the baby barn yesterday to complete the gutter installation…. 12 days after he did the front. Better late than never is his middle name.

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Did things go more smoothly on the flip side?

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They did not.

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Miscalculation on length left him with two short pieces instead of the one long piece he needed which meant yet another trip to Lowes for additional connectors. Sigh.

Was the finished gutter line straight and true?

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Not quite, but it doesn’t leak. That’s probably as much as I can hope for.

And if you’re wondering just how dry it’s been here?

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Dry enough for the husband to a pan under the downspout to catch the small amount of rain we got last night.

Please note the green you see is all weeds. Most of the grass is still brown.

😕

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I love my town.

18 Comments

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I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that living in a rural town with numerous family farms, our local food bank would benefit from the bounty.

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But the quality and quantity of selection in our little bank makes my heart burst with pride.

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New Englanders have a reputation of being stand-off ish and cold but I’ve always known my Maine neighbors to be kind and generous of spirit, always willing to help their community.

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Look at those full shelves.

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And in case you’re worried about Fido and Fluffy?

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We have an organization that feeds them as well.

❤️

And if that doesn’t put a smile on your face when thinking of my town, maybe this will.

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Feeding seemed to work. And they were happily reunited with their owners before long.

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Damn. So am I!

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Baby fox!

16 Comments

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It doesn’t happen often. Our house is too far away from the woods and they have to cross a long wide open space to reach the buffet.

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Matter of fact this is only the third time in twenty years we’ve seen it.

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But momma fox brought a baby to the buffet last night.

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And we were beyond thrilled. Baby is on the left, and as you can tell not a little baby anymore, but momma won’t risk them in the open when they’re small.

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A pool table tune up.

24 Comments

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The husband came in the house the other day complaining his pool table felt was loose. You know, the extra expensive, special order, professional grade imported fabric he just had to have when we bought the table. Fearing this would be the usual Casa River nightmare… I was pleasantly surprised when after one call to the store of purchase the owner’s son was here to fix the problem the next afternoon. For free.

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Free is always my favorite word and to be honest I never even knew pool tables needed tune ups but apparently it’s quite common.

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And it isn’t a quick fix by any means.

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Rails must be removed, fabric must be loosened and peeled off the slate. The wax seal must be checked and smoothed.

And then tugging begins.

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Which of course the husband had to be in on.

Men. You do love a good tug.

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After a solid two hours of pulling and tugging and securing on this side, and then pulling and tugging and securing on that side, only to repeat the pulling, tugging and securing on the first side etc etc until I would have heaved the whole table out the door, it was done.

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Rails were replaced, stray threads were trimmed, felt was cleaned and no bill was presented. When I asked the young man how long the warranty on the table lasted… he floored me by saying forever. Granted the fabric will only have so many stretches in it, and because ours is thinner than normal felt it won’t last as long… but as far as normal maintenance goes we’re golden.

This happens so infrequently I was at a loss how to respond. So I pressed a big old tip into his hand to show our appreciation.

🙂

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Treasure.. part 3.

15 Comments

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The husband bought another vintage cocktail recipe book, though to my knowledge he’s never mixed a cocktail in his life.

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He knew it was old because it said so right in the title.

🥴

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Mixed drinks are no mystery to me, but whatever.

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Pinch bottle and spot bottle? Now I know what my mother was talking about when she said she added a pinch of this and a pinch of that.

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Those are some pretty potent potables, and I definitely could have used the income tax cocktail during my 8 hour conversation with the IRS last month.

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And look, they even have vintage snack recipes. Though no crudite …. sorry Mehmet.

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Husband’s other little treasure was this promotional package of Squirt. Can’t say I ever drank it, but I’m thinking it’s citrusy.

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False advertising.

22 Comments

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Since his lordship destroyed his last scratching post it was time to purchase a new one.

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Thank goodness it came with instructions. I’m sure I would have had no idea where to put the screw otherwise.

Sigh.

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This was the picture on the box. A happy cat totally focused on exercising his claws.

In my world? Not so much.

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Oh, Lord Dudley Mountcatten ran right for it when I placed it on the floor. He sniffed it, rubbed against it and laid down in front of it. What he didn’t do was scratch it.

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Even after I purchased and sprayed it liberally with awesome stuff.

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Though his eyes did look a trifle dilated…

😉

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