.
I think we’re down to two baby woodchucks now.
.
.
There were originally seven…. and I’m choosing to believe momma just booted them out of the den as opposed to the more disturbing killed and eaten by predator explanation.
.
.
The two remaining siblings stay pretty close together.
.
.
Especially when feeding.
❤️
.
.
Our carefully tended lush green lawn is gone. Baked to a crisp by record breaking heat and dry weather.
.
.
How dry? Severe drought dry…
.
.
How hot?
.
.
Feels like 108 degrees before 10 in the morning hot. I live in Maine FFS! This is not supposed to happen.
That bright green patch of sod we laid?
.
.
Dead.
My full and healthy for the past 20 years boxwood shrubs?
.
.
Dying.
The brand new flowering crabapple tree we planted on June 7th over my mother’s ashes?
.
.
Might soon be joining her in the hereafter.
.
.
It’s beyond depressing at this point and moving toward the panic stage. We live in the country and rely on a well for water. As much as I’d like to water the garden, I can’t. Hell, I’m down to doing laundry twice a week and not flushing for number one.
(TMI? Sorry.)
.
.
As I type this, yet another flash thunderstorm is moving past us without a drop of rain falling.
.
.
Now that’s just cruel.
.
.
This weirdo bush was in place when we moved in 20 years ago. It blooms well, in big fuzzy pink blossoms.
.
.
Bees and butterflies love it, so even though it clashes with our red baby barn… it stays.
.
.
In my front bed? A small salvia that doesn’t get any larger year to year but keeps hanging on.
.
.
Then there’s my little daisy.
.
.
She’s so bright and cheerful, I went back to the same nursery later that season and bought two more of her.
.
.
But as you can see, her big sister is large.
.
.
Soooo much larger than they were supposed to be. They don’t even bloom at the same time. Major daisy fail.
😳
.
.
The husband came home from the gas station with something cradled in his hands the other day.
.
.
A perfectly dried and preserved Monarch butterfly he found on top of the gas pump.
.
.
Such delicate, beautiful creatures.
.
.
He (she?) will reside on the auxiliary desk in our home office, with the hummingbird nest a girlfriend gave me and the pig made from nut shells I bought in Chinatown when I was a child.
🙂
.
.
Australians are the kings and queens of chill.
.
.
.
A weekend trip to Christmas Island went off the rails as soon as the family started cooking dinner.
.
.
Coconut crabs don’t rate the nickname “robber crabs” for nothing.
.
.
Crabs were climbing up chairs and table legs trying to steal a bite to eat… but did the Aussie family flip out and run for their boat?
No.
.
.
They popped the tops on a few and calmly batted the crabs off their plates.
🤣
.
.
She’s baaaaack.
.
.
And looking entirely too comfortable next to Casa River’s kitchen landing.
.
.
But what’s even worse than her extreme state of chill?
.
.
Her distended belly which leads me to believe she’s pregnant again!
😳
.
.
The few Australian friends I’ve had over the years always seemed like laid back happy people. This article is making me rethink that description.
.
.
Yes, you read that correctly,… a man chased off a croc with a frying pan.
.
.
I’m in awe.
.
.
😳
.
.
As you know, our cat Lord Dudley Mountcatten is spoiled. He is not however, ill mannered.. and never tries to jump on the dining room table during meals. But for those of you who have misbehaving felines? I offer a solution:
.
.
You’re welcome.
.
.
What do you do when a friend recommends a fabulous blueberry vodka but you have no space on your man cave bar shelves?
.
.
You pack them a little tighter and hope the shelves are up for the extra weight.
.
.
We seem to be down to three baby woodchucks from seven. I prefer to think this is a result of momma chuck kicking a few of the kids out of the den and not the result of predation. But this little guy?
He’s still trying to move in with us.
🙂
.
.
Because we are in desperate need at Casa River.
.
.
Our once beautiful lush green lawn is now brown and crunchy.
Time after time we see thunderstorms roll on by with only a few drops falling on our property.
.
.
So few the baby woodchucks were trying to lap them up off the deck boards last night.
Half our state is experiencing drought conditions and I’m filling our bird bath three times a day. If things don’t change I might have to start providing the ground dwellers with a pool as well.
.
.
How dry and crunchy is our lawn? Even the septic system access is brown and dry.
.
.
If it weren’t for the weeds there would be no green at all.
😫
.
.
We feed birds.
We feed grosbeaks and orioles. Finches and chickadees. Nuthatches and woodpeckers. Cardinals and mourning doves.
We feed a wide variety of birds.
This however, was a first.
.
.
One lone seagull.
.
.
Who dropped in to nosh on the deer grain.
.
.
Proof positive you never know who’ll show up at Casa River.
.
River's world..... 