Tag Archives: photography

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Coastal trip, part deux.

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Belfast, Maine.

 

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Population  – 6,668.

 

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Once Abenaki Indian territory,  it was used by Native Americans to fish and hunt for water fowl in the summer months.

 

 

Afraid so.

Sorry…

 

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Burned by the British in 1779, rebuilt and incorporated as a city in 1850.

 

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A thriving ship building center at the turn of the century, it grew and was prosperous. Until wooden ships became obsolete.

 

 

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

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Shoe manufacturing and poultry production took over until the recession of the 1970’s, when it fell on hard times.

 

 

Local people left in droves to find employment….

 

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As out of staters were beginning to discover the beauty of the Maine coast and started buying up prime property.

 

 

Today Belfast is part working waterfront…

 

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Part tourist destination.

 

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A quaint town, a scenic harbor…

 

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With various parks to enjoy the views.

 

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In lobster trap chairs…

 

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Or lobster topped benches.

 

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We had a tasty seafood lunch …..

 

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Complete with cocktails.

(Was there ever any doubt?)

 

 

And strolled the day away.

 

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Life is good…

 

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When you live in a such a beautiful place.

 

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Some garden fluff.

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Japanese Iris season.

 

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I like it.

 

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The butterflies like it.

 

 

 

Life is good.

I also like shopping at ginormous greenhouses.

 

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Rows upon rows of blooming beauty.

 

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The colors.

 

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The pointy planters.

 

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The endless succulents.

It doesn’t suck is what I’m saying…. and I always come home with a car load.

 

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And yes, there’s that.

This particular greenhouse even had a Dr. Seuss tree.

 

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And something called a Sensitive Plant that I couldn’t stop touching.

 

 

Have you seen these things?

They’re bizarre.

Touch them, and they cringe like Melania when Donald rolls over in bed.

 

 

But I didn’t buy one because…. let’s face it, it has to be touched. And I’d never get anything done if I sat around touching my plant all day now would I?

 

 

And while I’m sure some of my readers have a similar problem?

Please…

Try to refrain from sharing.

There are some mental images I just don’t need.

 

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Baby chucker update.

28 Comments

 

What…

You thought I’d run out of cute baby woodchuck pictures?

 

 

No, they’re still here.

 

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And still adorable.

 

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So there will be baby woodchuck butt shots….

 

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Baby woodchuck eating apple shots…

 

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Baby woodchuck following momma shots…

 

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Baby woodchuck napping on the deck in the sun shots…

 

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And various baby woodchucks just looking too damned cute shots for days, okay weeks, to come.

There’s even woodchuck baby I’m too  fat  fluffy to take a bath without falling over videos.

 

 

 

 

Which, btw…. took me two and half hours to upload to YouTube with our slow as molasses internet connection.

A little appreciation would not be unwelcome.

 

 

That’s better.

 

 

 

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I wish WordPress had Smell-O-Vision.

30 Comments

 

I really do.

 

 

 

Because it’s apple blossom time at Casa River.

 

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And next to lilacs, they’re my favorite natural scent.

We had a long wet spring….

 

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And now even the smaller trees are bursting with blooms.

 

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Every little branch is covered in fragrant blossoms…. and when the breeze blows?

Pure heaven.

But since Smell-O-Vision isn’t available, you’ll have to take my word for it.

 

 

It’s that good.

Fun fact : Every tree we’ve planted in the past 15 years?

Dead.

 

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I don’t know why… they just died. Some lasted a few years, others mere months.

But this apple tree?

 

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The one I didn’t plant? That must have sprung up from a floating seed….

Grows 3 feet every summer.

 

 

 

And this year, it’s bee nirvana.

 

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Sorry..

I had to.

 

 

 

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More baby chuckers!

33 Comments

 

Remember how I warned you there would be  more pictures of baby woodchucks than you ever thought possible  future photographs of our backyard wildlife?

It starts now.

 

 

Calm down, they’re babies and they’re cute.

How bad can it be?

 

 

In the evening, it usually goes like this…

 

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Mother woodchuck comes out to see if the coast is clear.

 

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And must give some kind of silent signal…

 

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Because before long….

 

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The little ones are scampering around everywhere.

 

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They love our deck and run back and forth so quickly it’s hard to snap a shot.

 

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Two of them chase each other around and love hiding under the grill cover…

 

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While the other two are busy eating deer grain.

 

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With their mother…

 

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Who is in serious need of an 18 hour bra.

 

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Sorry girlfriend, but it needed to be said.

 

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I know you can’t un-see that. 

Apologies.

Maybe this bit of cuteness will make up for it.

 

 

 

He doesn’t quite have the hang of it yet…

But he’s trying.

 

 

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Because I promised I would….

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Squirrels.

Love ’em or hate ’em, you have to admit they’re marvelously clever and acrobatic creatures. Entire industries are built on deterring them from raiding our bird feeders, but squirrels?

They train for it.

 

 

Personally, I enjoy their antics and figure anyone who works that hard deserves a few seeds and nuts.

So as promised, here are a few of my favorite shots over the years.

When we moved to our house in 2002 it was a wasteland of gardenless grass, so I stuck a quick pole in the ground with a feeder.

 

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It didn’t take long for a squirrel to find it.

 

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Reaching it was a little harder.

 

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But eventually he got there.

 

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Although he had a hard time accessing the seed…

 

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It didn’t beat him.

 

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And he happily ate hanging upside down.

 

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Mind you, we have a large open backyard and the winds blow like downtown Chicago so a lot of the feeders actively swing.

 

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Which is what this one was doing. Back and forth, back and forth, with a squirrel happily perched inside and enjoying the ride.

 

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This one didn’t mind sharing the feeder with an orange.

He just used it as a cushion.

 

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Here’s another upside down eater.

 

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Maybe he was raiding seed…maybe he was doing handstands.

Tough call.

 

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Either way, I’m in awe of the leg muscle it takes to hang like that.

 

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This feeder posed a challenge at first.

 

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And for a while all he could do was hug it.

 

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But after a day or two?

 

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Upside down munching.

Squirrels….

 

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Is there anything they can’t do?

 

 

Apparently not.

 

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Babies!

37 Comments

 

Remember the dandelion eating woodchuck I posted about a while back?

We’ve discovered she lives under our barn.

And yes, she’s a she because…

 

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She has babies!

Baby chuckers… can I get an awwwww?

 

 

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They’re just too cute.

Four in total …but I rarely see them together long enough to get a photograph.

Three is the most I’ve captured so far.

 

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Sweetness!

 

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Here’s one trying to hide under my iron garden bird.

 

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Well, not quite.

More like…

 

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This little one seems to like our back deck.

 

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You can hear him scurrying for cover under the grill… then catch him checking to see if the coast is clear.

 

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This looked like trouble…

 

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But after a few nibbles, he decided he didn’t like geraniums…which was good news for me.

 

 

 

I hate to tell you, but this probably won’t be the last of the baby chucker pics.

You’ve been warned.

 

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When I die….

30 Comments

 

My epitaph shall read:

Here lies River

She was swallowed by a quince bush.

 

 

 

This is the bush from Hell that lives and multiplies like a rabbit on our property.

 

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Every fall we wack it down to a manageable level, and every spring it comes back with a vengeance.

 

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Yes, the blooms are lovely.

 

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And yes, the bumblebees enjoy it.

 

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Pardon the bee butt shots. Apparently they’re camera shy.

 

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But damn.

It’s only June and the pink spawn of Satan is already reaching the roof line.

 

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So if I should disappear this summer?

Grab a machete and come get me….

 

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It’s already got three window exits blocked.

 

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I fear the doors are next.

 

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They’re a wee bit confused.

39 Comments

 

I put birdseed out for the birds….

 

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Which the deer eat.

 

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I put apples out for the deer….

 

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Which the woodchucks eat.

 

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Granted, they’re cute as all get out when they do…

 

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But do they have to eat the deer grain as well?

 

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Sometimes they climb right in the bowl and polish it off.

Which leads the deer to eat…

 

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It’s a vicious circle.

And proves that our backyard creatures are a little confused.

Like this Baltimore Oriole….

 

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Who tries to drink from the hummingbird feeder.

 

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Yes, you.

 

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The owner of this house spends a small fortune keeping you in fresh oranges and grape jelly…. don’t get greedy.

Of course….

This guy?

 

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Eats whatever…

 

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And whoever he wants.