Tag Archives: nature

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Darby’s Tavern

August 12, 2023 Rivergirl 13 Comments

A trip up the coast to Belfast brought us to Darby’s Tavern.

It was built in 1865 and still has its original tin ceiling.

The bar screams prohibition era retro.

And speaking of the bar…

A ruby red grapefruit martini hit the spot.

I think the Babe approved.

Darby’s is famous for it’s “from scratch” kitchen, and lunch did not disappoint.

I started with homemade cornbread with blueberry maple butter. Ooh la la! So good I didn’t want to share.

But the husband started with a sinfully rich cream of broccoli soup and kept reaching for my bread.

Above the bar? The antique Budweiser lamp my husband has been trying to cajole off his brother who owns the same one . When you switch it on, the lamp lights and the Clydesdales start walking. Real man cave material, but Darbys wouldn’t sell theirs either.

I ordered off the specials menu, though I had no idea what made a crab’s toe peek.

Didn’t matter, it was delicious. Toes et al.

Husband chose a broiled haddock in scampi sauce with a fresh green salad and maple Dijon vinaigrette.

Good drinks, good food, good place!

👍

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A veritable sparrow torture chamber.

August 12, 2023 Rivergirl 12 Comments

Warning: disturbing avian photo to follow, but trust me… no birds were harmed in the making of this blog.

If you remember, our contractor had just laid rubber protective tape over the framing of our back deck.

I can’t say I examined it too closely after he told us it would protect the boards from water damage. I figured he knew what he was doing…

Until yesterday when I heard something strange out back and went to investigate.

What I found was a small sparrow hanging on the board, with one wing stuck to the tape. It’s little bird companions were tweeting and pecking and trying in vain to free it. I didn’t take a picture, I didn’t have time. I just wanted to save the poor thing.

Which I did, and it flew away happily.

Although with a few less feathers attached.

Feeling pleased with myself for saving the small fellow I went back in the house, until I heard something strange out back an hour later.

Another bird was caught in the tape.

I saved that one as well and hoped that was the end of it.

Nope.

Bird number three… who I did take a quick picture of before I scooped him up and freed him. This one bit me for my trouble.

Not wanting to continue the sparrow torture sessions, I grabbed a knife and made small cuts in the tape so it would lay down flat around the upright posts.

Thankfully no more feathered friends were trapped after that.

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Random snippets

August 11, 2023 Rivergirl 13 Comments

Cow!

Mister Cow is happy in his new home and growing rapidly.

Billions returns for its final season this weekend. Axe is back… and I’m totally on board.

👍

Pineapple margarita, just because.

The baby chucks don’t look much like babies anymore.

It’s getting harder to distinguish momma from the group.

I performed a minor miracle last week and dragged my husband to the movie theater. This happens approximately once a year, so I have to choose carefully. And since I’m a history nerd? It wasn’t Barbie we went to see.

When His Lordship is determined to look outside, no mere blind will stop him.

🤣

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No searching required.

August 9, 2023 Rivergirl 13 Comments

*Note to reader: For optimum pleasure this blog should be read with Marshall Tucker’s ‘Searching for a Rainbow’ playing in the background. *

Rain? Oh, we’ve had rain.

Almost every day for a month and a half.

And aside from making our lawn green, lush and almost impossible to keep mowed… there are rainbows.

Which really isn’t a bad trade off .

❤️

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Untouched color.

August 8, 2023 Rivergirl 11 Comments

Nine years ago… gosh, has it been that long?.. when my mother died, a friend gave me a memorial rose bush to plant in her honor.

It’s struggled to hang on over the years… through droughts and floods and yes, woodchucks. But when it blooms? It really is fabulous.

These are untouched iPhone photos.

The colors really are this bright.

The variations of shades knock me out every time.

I think my mother would approve.

❤️

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Is nothing sacred?

August 5, 2023 Rivergirl 18 Comments

Wild critters.

We love them, but damn.

This is our little kitchen porch, which is really just a covered landing.

In the corner there’s a stand on which I place potted plants every year. It’s usually well balanced with one begonia on the top and one begonia on the bottom. Until the woodchucks discovered the bottom flower and started nibbling…

Bottom flower was then moved to the middle shelf and middle shelf decorations were moved to the bottom.

Which was fine…

Until a chipmunk found the bird’s nest and decided he needed to deconstruct it.

And if that’s not bad enough?

Something has started using our man cave/Barn Mahal porch as a toilet.

WTH?

😳

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Around the house.

August 4, 2023 Rivergirl 16 Comments

A few glimpses into my world.

Thankfully we didn’t get much of that awful smoke from Canada’s wildfires… but one night the sunset did look a little hazy.

Bad air quality makes for beautiful pictures.

Beer number two from Wisconsin was tasted and thoroughly enjoyed.

Weird Hat Band from Young Blood brewery sounded absolutely bizarre… a pastry sour with peach, basil, graham cracker and vanilla… but wow. It worked. In a delightfully weird way.

Lord Mountcatten reclining on the new driveway. He’s still hesitant to walk it’s length, but has no qualms about napping on it.

The husband, weed whacking the ditch from Hell.

We are currently waiting for the state DOT man to make his second visit and final pronouncement on the future of said ditch.

Meanwhile.. here’s the husband, caught in the act of throwing a large chunk of tar into the neighbor’s field.

Bad husband.

🥴

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One of these things is not like the other….

August 3, 2023 Rivergirl 8 Comments

We have a plethora of birds who visit our feeders.

Flocks of starlings that devour suet and peanut nuggets in mere hours.

We have cardinals and gold finches and rose breasted grosbeaks, orioles and sparrows and mourning doves.

We also have a duck.

A female mallard to be more precise, who comes early morning and late afternoon.

I often wonder what the other birds think of her.

And if they wonder why her bath is on the ground.

😉

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Blooming things..

August 1, 2023 Rivergirl 17 Comments

A walk around the property to see what’s popping.

Daisies. They’re such happy little flowers, I always smile when I see them bloom. Which is why… after seeing how well this one performed… I went back to the nursery for more. See the monster plant to the left threatening to swallow the bloomer whole? That’s a daisy as well, but clearly not the same variety.

Bee balm, in bright pink instead of the traditional red. I think the bees are confused.

Day lilies.

I planted this flowering bush when we first moved in over 20 years ago and damned if I can remember what it’s called.

The blooms are positively fuzzy.

More day lilies.

They’re such low maintenance things it’s hard not to plant them everywhere.

😊

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Drinking, with woodchucks.

July 31, 2023 Rivergirl 11 Comments

It was a relatively cool evening…. and even though I won’t be comfortably perspiration free until the mercury drops and the snow falls…. the husband and I headed out to the Barn Mahal porch for an adult beverage.

I chose one of the local Wisconsin beers our neighbor brought back from her trip. And while the can was artfully decorated with birds in flight, the Central Waters brewing company’s mango wheat tasted nothing like mangoes and was a tad disappointing.