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Lately we’ve just had the junior woodchuck visiting the backyard. He was the runt of last year’s litter and though momma chuck is famous for booting all the kids out of the den as soon as they’re grown, this little guy is still living at home.
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But momma is not pleased.
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Every time he gets near her she barks and bites and drives him off.
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Watermelon is not to be shared with deadbeat kids who live in the basement.
🤣
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You can’t use it. But it may make you smile…
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Sorry, it will always be the Wienermobile to me.
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And you know someone had to actually lick it to warrant posting that sign.
In local news, the Wiener was recently spotted boarding a ferry in Maine.
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You don’t see that everyday.
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Well, if Tik Tok says it…
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Another headlines that begs the question… why?
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Weirdest. Plant. Ever.
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Now that the apple tree (I didn’t plant but grows better than those I do) is spreading it’s branches we have more squirrels coming to visit our feeders.
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We have a wide open backyard and they prefer tree cover for safety. Like this hefty momma hanging out on the garden bed border.
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What a chonk!
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This my friend, is the perfect bowl of chowder. Found at the Freeport Cafe, an unassuming little place on Route 1.
Thick, rich, creamy and loaded with clammy goodness. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Driving along Maine’s back roads you never have to wonder where the rednecks live.
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They tend to leave their calling card.
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Smaller than the pileated, but still pretty.
He’s called the Red Bellied Woodpecker. Though I never have figured out why.
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I swear I don’t think it’s possible for our little front yard crab apple tree to have any more blossoms.
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Okay, maybe it’s not so little.
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But it’s small compared to the giant old apple trees in the backyard.
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People walk by and compliment us on it every year at this time.
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She’s a real beauty!
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If you’re a loyal reader you’ll remember we had a massive wind storm two years ago that did serious damage to our beloved ancient backyard apple trees. We had a professional arborist in to trim and prune them back and last year they were barren. No blooms, no apples.
But this year?
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Ooh baby.
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They are positively bursting.
And if you’re wondering how big they are?
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That’s the Barn Mahal for scale.
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I wish WordPress had smell-o-vision because trust me… it’s glorious.
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My little you never planted me but I grew well anyway crabapple is starting to spread out, but is lagging behind in bloom time.
Now I just need to fill my new rock bordered bed with perennials for a burst of summer color.
🙂
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It was a long and nearly snowless winter.
Spring was late and with no snow to melt, extremely dry.
One lousy April shower and May took its sweet time showing us some flowers. Heck, we even had frost last week.
But finally….
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The lilacs are popping.
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Which means vases of that heavenly scent are scattered throughout the house.
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And while a little scraggly…
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The expensive dark cherry tree we planted last year is hanging on.
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The blooms are gorgeous.
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So my fingers are crossed it grows big and strong.
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In front of the barn?
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The choke cherry tree is in blossom. The fruit is inedible and sometimes poisonous, but the delicate spring blooms are sweet.
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Yes, I’m still bird nerding out that a female pileated woodpecker has found our backyard .
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Two sightings in twenty years and now twice in one week.
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Woot!
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Needless to say I’m making sure that particular feeder is always full in case she drops by.
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A bag fills the cylinder once with 1/4 left over, and I have to fill it every other day.
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Pricey, but worth it.
(Photo includes another of my coffee table metal sculptures since you seemed to like the hermit crab.)
🙂
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Yesterday was a sad day for our immediate neighbors.
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The row of willow trees that have graced the front of their property for more than 80 years…
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Were deemed a nuisance to the power lines and cut down by the state.
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As a rule willow trees don’t live that long but these were glorious and well cared for.
We will miss them.
😰
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Squirrels.
Nature’s seed stealing acrobats.
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My husband was thrilled when he received this red seal five dollar bill as change the other day. I made the mistake of asking why it was special but zoned out after the first 17 minutes of rambling explanation. Here’s a more succinct recap.
On June 4th, 1963 President Kennedy signed executive order 11110 which allowed the US government to make it’s own money and bypass the Federal Reserve. The 4+ billion dollars of United States Notes (backed by US gold and silver) were put in to circulation in denominations of $2 and $5. The $10’s and $20’s were printed but never released as he was assassinated and the program was shut down.
How thrilled was he?
The man actually ironed it.
😳
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Every night when the sun starts to set?
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We have a visitor. Sometimes two…
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Apples, berries and some taurine rich grain free dry dog food are the reason.
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They come to nibble seed that falls from our bird feeders but I can’t resist putting out a better snack.
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❤️
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If you care nothing for the feeding and rare sightings of our fine feathered friends please feel free to skip this post because I’m about to gush like a horny ornithologist.
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Yesterday evening at 7:41pm I walked by one of the windows that looks out over our backyard and saw this.
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We’ve lived in this home for over 20 years and I’ve only spied this elusive creature twice.
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They’re big, usually 20 inches long.
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They like deeply wooded areas and though we hear their jackhammer like drilling occasionally it’s rare to see them out in the open no less hanging on our suet nugget feeder having a nosh .
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To say I was thrilled is an understatement.
There was a female pileated woodpecker in our backyard!!!!
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The sexes can be distinguished by the amount of red feathers on their heads. Red halfway down the face to the eyes? Female. Red all the way down to the beak? Male.
River the bird nerd at your service.
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Not exactly a riveting video, I know.
But I had to share.
❤️
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River's world..... 