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We’ve had a banner crop of grey squirrels this year.
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I know people hate them because they eat the bird seed, but I love watching their acrobatics.
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And they can shimmy up a pole faster than any stripper.
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Our guys are well fed.
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And don’t even bother burying anything for winter.
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😊
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We’ve been having some crazy weather lately.
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As you can see from the storm clouds rolling in around our property.
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High winds and rain.
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At times it was downright spooky.
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The next morning?
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Fog.
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Which is always hard to photograph.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten is a fair weather cat. He doesn’t like heat, humidity, wind, rain, cold, fog or snow. Summer is too hot for backyard walkies, winter is too cold.
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But fall? When the leaves are turning and the air is crisp and cool?
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He’s totally down with that.
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And gets so frisky he thinks he can climb trees.
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Which he really can’t. Most of the time he just sits in them looking puzzled.
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Oh, he tries.
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But more often than not, he gets stuck.
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And requires careful plucking from between the branches.
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He’s awfully cute when he does it though.
😊
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Another beautiful fall day called for another scenic drive.
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I’m sorry, but autumn in New England is hard to beat.
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The air is crisp and the trees give us a splendid tableau of color.
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It also means the last gasp of yard sales and antique store sales that my husband can’t drive by. This particular shop had auxiliary rooms made out of tractor trailer boxes and were filled with vintage horrors.
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Ack!
😱
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Wow.
Please note the base table of this lamp lights up as well.
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Inside, my husband combed the shelves for treasure but thankfully came out empty handed.
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I’d much rather view foliage.
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Statue of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Bowdoin College. Hero of Gettysburg, he taught rhetoric and modern languages as a professor and later served as the college’s president. His home is across the street.
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It’s been squirrel central at Casa River lately.
Our beef feeder pole is out in the open, and with our resident hawk patrolling the skies we usually only have a single squirrel show up to nosh.
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Seven is a record.
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But after something scared the others away one brave little guy took advantage.
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I know people hate squirrels because they eat the bird seed, but we’re equal opportunity feeders here and all critters are welcome.
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I enjoy watching their gymnastic performances.
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Rats with bushy tails?
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Maybe.
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But they’re still sweeties.
💕.
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A weekend in Maine in the fall calls for a scenic drive to enjoy the glorious foliage, so that’s what we did.
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Stumbling on a covered bridge was a happy surprise.
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On our travels, the husband saw a sign for an antique tractor show and craft fair at a local farm so we detoured there.
Not our best idea.
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Yes, there was a farm.
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And yes there were some old tractors.
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Some in use.
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And while there were two miniature horses…
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And a “dining room” with the worst fried dough I’ve ever had…
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(Hard as a rock, crunchy and tasteless)
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The “craft show” consisted of fresh vegetables, a few tables of American flag boards, patriotic signs and multiple tables of right wing propaganda. There were candidates handing out pamphlets and political ephemera, trying their best to swell the MAGA base.
These are just not our people y’all. And while I respect their right to be there, I have to admit I wasn’t expecting to be arguing about restricting voting rights and ICE roundups at a craft show.
My husband is a veteran of a certain age. He has grey hair and wears a Marine Corps hat. That’s usually all it takes for people to assume he loves the Mango Monarch … which couldn’t be further from the truth.
They kept trying to draw him into discussion but my guy just brushed them off and didn’t engage, other than to make it clear where he stood.
Color me surprised.
We departed soon after and got back on the road…
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Where the husband found a barn sale.
And can you see what’s in his hands?
Another wooden ruler.
🥴
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Which called for a cocktail and some nibbles.
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And more scenic beauty.
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We have a few nice bucks visiting this fall.
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Sometimes with a companion skunk.
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As long as stinky doesn’t get too close the buck doesn’t seem to mind.
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It’s hunting season so I’m always worried about these guys, even though our property and our neighbors is posted.
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A deer’s home range is usually one square mile and while our neighbor’s properties on both sides are 4 times bigger than ours… that still leaves us about 600 acres short of a safe from bullets zone.
😥
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We have anywhere from two to six raccoons show up nightly now.
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I think this is the same family that discovered our buffet when they were babies.
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We’ve watched them grow up…
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And, out.
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As they are a wee bit rotund these days.
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❤️
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The skunks beat the fox.
Now the raccoons are beating the skunks.
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It’s first come first serve at River’s critter buffet.
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Though the deer are lucky… as no one else wants their grain.
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Three deer and three raccoons.
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All are welcome.
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But I really enjoy watching these little devils tussle and push each other out of the way for the best spots.
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❤️
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We drove west to Fryeburg the other day for the last fair of the agricultural season.
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It’s always a gorgeous drive this time of year…
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But due to the ongoing lack of rain and drought conditions the leaves weren’t nearly as bright.
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Patches of color, yes.
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But the trees have been stressed this year.
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They started turning early and in much more muted shades.
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Disappointing.
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But still scenic.
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😊
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River's world..... 