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Our backyard herd is growing.
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We started with two, then five…
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Now there are ten, sometimes eleven.
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*Note to self- buy more deer grain*
😊
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Our backyard herd is growing.
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We started with two, then five…
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Now there are ten, sometimes eleven.
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*Note to self- buy more deer grain*
😊
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Christmas was quiet here at Casa River…
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But it was also gloriously white.
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And may I just give a shout out to whoever invented snow blowers…
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Best winter device, ever.
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Yardstick deployment #2.
🤣
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And while the husband was out blowing snow?
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I was enjoying a good book, a cup of tea and the annual homemade rosemary shortbread gift from our neighbor. Delicious!
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After clearing the driveway, the husband ran out of creamer so we drove to the grocery store.
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It was a beautiful ride…
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Until we cruised around a corner and clipped a hanging power line.
Smack! Right on my side of the windshield of the husband’s new car.
Thankfully, it… and we … and the car…were okay. But I called the power company to report the danger.
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They got right on it, as we saw on our way home.
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Winter driving is beautiful, but it can be hazardous too.
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We woke up Christmas Eve morning to a winter wonderland.
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A deep snow had fallen overnight and I couldn’t have been happier.
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It was the beautiful kind that coats the trees…
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And frosts everything in white.
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It continued for most of the morning.
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Giving us the feeling we live in a snow globe.
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Now this is winter!
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And while my husband went out to shovel a path so he could feed the birds…
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I filled the house with the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg by baking an apple pie.
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We may have scaled back our holiday celebration this year, but it turned out perfectly anyway.
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A front porch picture frame.
😊
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And look! My husband finally put one of those stupid wooden yardsticks he’s always buying to use.
13 inches.
👍
And as soon as I posted our glorious snow photos on Facebook?
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A memory of a previous Christmas trip popped up.
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Florida holidays are fun…
But they never really feel like Christmas to this Yankee girl.
😉
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I had a birthday recently.
But now that I’ve entered my 6th decade? I can’t say I celebrate like I used to.
Though my sweet husband tries.
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A lovely flower arrangement was delivered late morning.
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And he insisted on driving an hour and a half north to a restaurant we tried once and liked.
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The place had erected bubble tents for segregated seating during Covid and because they were so popular, they’re still in use.
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Cute… but when it’s 11 degrees and starting to snow?
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I prefer indoor dining.
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My spiced pear cranberry mule?
Perfect. It tasted just like Christmas.
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And though I devoured some excellent crab cakes before I thought to photograph them, I did get a shot of the husband’s
CIDER-BRAISED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
Cinnamon Crème Fraîche with Crisp Kale…
Just as he ruined the decorative swirl.
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My
CAJUN SHRIMP PASTA
Roasted Sweet Corn, Sweet & Spicy Peppers, Garlic-Parmesan Cream Sauce, Pappardelle Pasta, Micro Cilantro, Lime….
Was spicy and fantastic after I requested they leave off the cilantro.
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The husband chose a
SOLSTICE HALIBUT
Lemon Quinoa, Warm Squash Confit, Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, Meyer Lemon Marmalade, Beurre Blanc, Pea Tendrils….
Though I have no idea why since he hates quinoa and didn’t eat the tendrils. That left him with a piece of fish and a half a cherry tomato… for $46.
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The sky on the drive home was photo worthy.
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And our backyard buddies greeted us upon return, so I’ll call it a good day.
Even though…
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🥴
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It’s that time of year!
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Temperatures have dropped and the ground is covered in snow.
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The deer are back…
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And they’re hungry.
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Such beauties.
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We love them.
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❤️
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We’ve been having some crazy weather lately.
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As you can see from the storm clouds rolling in around our property.
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High winds and rain.
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At times it was downright spooky.
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The next morning?
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Fog.
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Which is always hard to photograph.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten is a fair weather cat. He doesn’t like heat, humidity, wind, rain, cold, fog or snow. Summer is too hot for backyard walkies, winter is too cold.
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But fall? When the leaves are turning and the air is crisp and cool?
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He’s totally down with that.
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And gets so frisky he thinks he can climb trees.
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Which he really can’t. Most of the time he just sits in them looking puzzled.
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Oh, he tries.
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But more often than not, he gets stuck.
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And requires careful plucking from between the branches.
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He’s awfully cute when he does it though.
😊
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Another beautiful fall day called for another scenic drive.
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I’m sorry, but autumn in New England is hard to beat.
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The air is crisp and the trees give us a splendid tableau of color.
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It also means the last gasp of yard sales and antique store sales that my husband can’t drive by. This particular shop had auxiliary rooms made out of tractor trailer boxes and were filled with vintage horrors.
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Ack!
😱
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Wow.
Please note the base table of this lamp lights up as well.
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Inside, my husband combed the shelves for treasure but thankfully came out empty handed.
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I’d much rather view foliage.
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Statue of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Bowdoin College. Hero of Gettysburg, he taught rhetoric and modern languages as a professor and later served as the college’s president. His home is across the street.
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It’s been squirrel central at Casa River lately.
Our beef feeder pole is out in the open, and with our resident hawk patrolling the skies we usually only have a single squirrel show up to nosh.
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Seven is a record.
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But after something scared the others away one brave little guy took advantage.
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I know people hate squirrels because they eat the bird seed, but we’re equal opportunity feeders here and all critters are welcome.
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I enjoy watching their gymnastic performances.
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Rats with bushy tails?
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Maybe.
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But they’re still sweeties.
💕.
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We have a few nice bucks visiting this fall.
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Sometimes with a companion skunk.
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As long as stinky doesn’t get too close the buck doesn’t seem to mind.
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It’s hunting season so I’m always worried about these guys, even though our property and our neighbors is posted.
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A deer’s home range is usually one square mile and while our neighbor’s properties on both sides are 4 times bigger than ours… that still leaves us about 600 acres short of a safe from bullets zone.
😥
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