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Once or twice a day I hear scampering.
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And when I do?
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I know where to look.
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Out back on our deck where the chucklets are having fun.
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They run across it, they chase each other…
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But they really like the railings.
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In and out.
Out and in.
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It’s a veritable woodchuck amusement park.
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It’s bad enough I have to battle baby woodchucks stripping my flower gardens bare.
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They’re adorable, but it’s very hard to make them stop nibbling.
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I heard shredding Irish Spring around the plants helps, so I’m all in.
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My other problem this year?
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A mouse.
Who beheaded all my lovely marigolds and dragged the blooms under our shed.
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I didn’t even have a chance to photograph the pretty alternating yellow and orange combination before all I was left with was this…
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Because as soon as the mouse ripped off all the blooms?
The chucks ate 3/4’s of the leaves.
But I fixed them.
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I planted a row of taller crown daisies and no one likes those.
😉
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Along with all our other wild visitors we have raccoons, but since they arrive at night I’m rarely able to photograph them.
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Until the other evening when a pair showed up before sunset.
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They really are characters.
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Such expressive faces…
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And those dexterous little paws!
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These little fatties shimmy right up the center pole, knock the suet cages to the ground then empty them at their leisure. Those paws can open anything.
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I was hoping they’d do it while I was filming but no such luck. Seeing their big butts hanging upside down eating the orioles grape jelly is a riot.
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😊
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There’s always one little chucklet that sticks close to mom.
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It might be the runt…
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It might just realize she knows where to find food.
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Either way, momma has a shadow.
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A little mini me chuck.
❤️
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Everyone is welcome at our backyard buffet.
We feed birds, deer, ducks, woodchucks, fox, raccoons, skunks, a sometimes opossum and the occasional pheasant.
We never know who’ll show up and in what combination.
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Fox and duck is an odd one.
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In normal circumstances fox would eat duck.
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But with a steady food supply…
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They’re dining partners instead.
😊
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There’s a hidden road in East Boothbay, Maine that we have to cruise whenever we’re in the area.
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It winds along the rocky coast …
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And offers some stunning views.
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The waterfront homes are really on the waterfront. Sometimes by mere inches.
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The shore is rugged.
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The Atlantic Ocean vast.
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We love it.
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How could you not…?
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💕
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Boothbay Harbor is a lovely little town to explore.
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And nestled down near the water we found a new purveyor of beer.
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Footbridge brewing is small and quirky.
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And they don’t take themselves too seriously..
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It’s a laid back, rustic space.
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And as with any new brewery we visit, we sampled a flight.
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But as much as we wanted to, we can’t really recommend their product. Flat and tasteless, their beer needs a lot of tweaking.
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Giant googly eyes aside.
Just as we were about to leave, a fellow Marine joined us at the bar and a 45 minute conversation ensued. Thankfully for me there was a small cocktail list.
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And a poison apple kept me occupied.
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I’d never had Reaper’s Revenge before but oh my. It’s a spicy cinnamon liqueur that made my tongue tingle happily while my husband endlessly chatted.
After our brewery visit we drove out to East Boothbay….
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A gorgeous but little known area.
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Lovely old homes…
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And water views.
To be continued….
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No words necessary…
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Just the view out our front door the other night.
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😊
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We have almost 3 acres of carefully tended mown lawn. So naturally when I take Lord Dudley Mountcatten outside, he heads straight for the barren patch of dirt under our bird feeders.
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Yes, the bird viewing is up close and personal there…
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But the main reason is he likes to roll.
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The birds eat there. As do the woodchucks, the raccoons, the ducks, the fox and the deer.
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So many good stinky smells in which to cover himself.
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Sigh.
🥴
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The babies are on the move.
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With and without momma chuck.
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They’re mastering eating standing up.
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If they can beat momma to the apples that is.
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Did you know woodchucks can climb trees?
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They also practice on poles.
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Cuteness personified.
💕
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River's world..... 