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Junior chuck is still here and momma still tolerates his presence even though she has a new batch of children.
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This is surprising and has never happened before.
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She usually kicks the kids to the curb as soon as they can fend for themselves.
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But Junior persists. Though like every adult child who lives in the basement, I’m sure he gets on her nerves now and then.
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Walking through the tree tunnel….
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Brings you to a little beach entrance…
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And a beautiful home at the end of the trail.
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The path simply stopped. It dead ended and other than strolling across someone’s lawn, our only option was to turn around.
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With a last look at a perfectly placed hammock…
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We headed back the way we came and as always… noticed different things.
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The husband was mesmerized by this gravity defying stone and had to investigate.
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No adhesive, no bolts.
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Just the perfect combination of natural depressions and angles.
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Back on the path…
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I took time to love me some rocks.
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The striations, the colors.
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The wind blown ruined hairdo…
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It was all good.
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I do love my rocks.
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Quirky windswept trees have so much character.
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But watching where we were stepping became important in places. I don’t think this trail has been repaired for decades.
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If you ever visit Maine you have to do one of the cliff walks. It’s a truly fabulous way to experience our coast up close and personal.
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Rugged, rocky and glorious.
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You won’t find many straight sandy beaches here and that’s just fine with me.
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Windswept and craggy is more my style. Look at that house! Pure perfection.
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If you don’t mind a little wind.
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The cliff walk is well named as you’re basically walking along the edge of a cliff.
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Some sections are wider than others but the views are all the same.
Beautiful.
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Was I in rock heaven?
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You betcha!
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I know it’s hard to tell but this is a photo of a bald eagle fishing the ocean.
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Such majestic creatures.
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Around this next bend was a beach.
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And nice we ducked through the trees…
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To be continued…
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After the pretty but oh so short Fisherman’s Walk path, we knew there had to be more to see so we continued onto the beach.
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Reaching the curve….
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We found another path.
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Knowing it wasn’t a continuation of our first walk but eager to explore new ground… we kept going.
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Past some fragrant wild beach roses.
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And up some large stone steps.
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Through some root bound trees.
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Where we caught glimpses of the ocean. Some of the walking was treacherous, but I’d figured out that we were on another of my bucket list trails – the York Cliff Walk – so we sucked it up and hiked.
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Nice.
Tell us when we’re already committed.
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To be continued…
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It’s Japanese Iris season at Casa River and I couldn’t be happier.
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While I’ve never been a fan of the fleshy full size irises that always hump their monstrous rhizome roots out of the ground… I adore their smaller less arrogant cousins.
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Daintier, more delicate and frankly less look at me darling, aren’t I gawgous!… they’re a lovely pop of perennial purple.
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Number two rhododendron is now in full bloom though not nearly as full as it’s neighbor. Why this should be is a question that stumps gardeners everywhere. Same soil, same sun exposure yet one is always bigger and better. Personally I think Mother Nature just likes to keep us guessing.
And if you’re wondering what the woodchucks have been chewing this week ?
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The toothy little buggers are eating marigolds!.
Marigolds!
The plant so disgusting no one will eat them. I don’t even like the silly things but have been putting them in my pots on the barn porch simply for the woodchuck gag factor. I thought they’d be safe.
I was wrong.
Very wrong.
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Still working my way down the There are so many wonderful places to see in Maine I fear I won’t live long enough bucket list… we headed south to York.
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Fisherman’s Walk is beautiful… but let me tell you it’s not easy to find. Punching the address in GPS brought us to someone’s private driveway. Backing up, we turned around multiple times, then turned around some more…. searching in vain for signage. How bad was it? The husband was so frustrated he stopped and asked a stranger.
Trust me, that’s bad!
The local man pointed us down a hill but said we couldn’t park there. Of course not, that would have been too easy. Turning around again, we found parking, but it was permitted for residents only. By this time my husband had lost all enthusiasm for the experience, but I do not admit defeat easily. Circling around again scored us a free spot… and vindication for me. Though we still had to hike back up a hill and down another hill to find what we’d come to see.
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A scenic coastal walking path.
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Make that a poop free scenic coastal walking path. My very favorite kind.
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Lobster boats were plentiful.
And look…
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Now that we were actually on the path?
A sign for the path.
Never let it be said the state of Maine doesn’t have a sense of humor.
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I didn’t know what to expect, so the chances of being disappointed were slim.
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But it was a gloriously cool sunny day, so off we went.
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Past private piers…
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And hilltop homes.
And then? Nothing.
It ended.
We had driven an hour and a half for a 3 minute walk and I was getting some serious stink eye from my spouse.
Refusing to believe it, I kept walking. Past a high fence. Across a road. By a marina. Across another road. Past some tennis courts. Through a parking lot. Until I found…
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A beach.
To be continued…..
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My husband has a bad habit of leaving the little barn/shed doors open in the summer. He thinks he’s airing it out and cooling it off but in actuality all he’s doing is this:
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Giving momma and baby chucks another area to explore.
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And chew.
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They seem to enjoy it.
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Though if they start chewing tractor wires my husband may have to rethink this habit.
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I call this news you can’t use. And if you can use it? I don’t want to know…
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Somewhere in Miami a man is questioning his Visa bill for a tummy tuck and boob job.
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Take that Swan Lake.
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No comment.
😳
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The odds of finding a blue lobster are one in two million, so finding a yummy orange crustacean?
Wow.
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When there’s a summer thunderstorm on the horizon? We head for the barn porch.
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And if it’s cocktail hour?
We add an adult beverage.
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This particular storm was disappointing as all the good rumbling stayed to the north…
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But the gentle rain brought our old friends the ducks to the backyard and they’re always fun to watch.
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I don’t know how long mallard ducks live but we’ve had this visiting pair for close to 4 years now.
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When there’s rain and puddles? They plop right down and make themselves at home.
❤️
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Finishing the outer loop trail brought us close to the end of our walk.
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Another sculpture.
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That my not a fan of modern art husband had a hard time deciphering. I keep telling him you don’t have to understand art … just enjoy it.
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The lilac gardens were next and though it was a small area ….
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The scent was gloriously large.
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Even she thought so.
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Or maybe she didn’t. It’s hard to tell.
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We really enjoyed the time we spent here. A true hidden oasis in the middle of our state’s capitol.
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I had to laugh that my husband has the old wooden apple press shown on that sign.
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So there you have it.
A full tour of Viles Arboretum.
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Ending with the least expensive and smallest sculpture on offer.
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River's world..... 