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Nine years ago… gosh, has it been that long?.. when my mother died, a friend gave me a memorial rose bush to plant in her honor.
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It’s struggled to hang on over the years… through droughts and floods and yes, woodchucks. But when it blooms? It really is fabulous.
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These are untouched iPhone photos.
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The colors really are this bright.
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The variations of shades knock me out every time.
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I think my mother would approve.
❤️
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We’ve been having a lot of hot summer weather lately and with that comes late afternoon thunderstorms. With late afternoon thunderstorms comes high winds. With high winds comes the possibility of power outages… and that’s what happened recently just as I was sitting down to read. Not wanting to give up my book, I grabbed a large battery operated lantern and propped it up behind me on the couch.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was not pleased.
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Something new and strange had been added to his world.
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And had to be thoroughly investigated.
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After a full five minutes of stalking, sniffing and batting…
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His Lordship made peace with the temporary lighting device.
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For those of you not lucky enough to live in my beautiful state, here’s a peek at what you might see on any given day.
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Lobster. It’s everywhere.
Even at the gas station.
When you live on an island like I did, you party near the water on beaches, near the water on piers, and sometimes…
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On the water itself.
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These are pictures from a friend of mine who’s in a local band.
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The concert was staged on a float….
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Which means concert goers had to float as well.
And finally… I doubt there’s anything more iconic about Maine than a traditional lobster bake. If you’ve never attended one, you should. There’s nothing quite like it.
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The food… lobster, clams, potatoes, corn, onions and eggs are all covered with seaweed and burlap and set to steam over a wood fire.
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Clams and potatoes are wrapped in tinfoil.
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It’s a slow process but well worth the wait.
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Just don’t forget the butter.
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👍
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Wild critters.
We love them, but damn.
This is our little kitchen porch, which is really just a covered landing.
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In the corner there’s a stand on which I place potted plants every year. It’s usually well balanced with one begonia on the top and one begonia on the bottom. Until the woodchucks discovered the bottom flower and started nibbling…
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Bottom flower was then moved to the middle shelf and middle shelf decorations were moved to the bottom.
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Which was fine…
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Until a chipmunk found the bird’s nest and decided he needed to deconstruct it.
And if that’s not bad enough?
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Something has started using our man cave/Barn Mahal porch as a toilet.
WTH?
😳
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A few glimpses into my world.
Thankfully we didn’t get much of that awful smoke from Canada’s wildfires… but one night the sunset did look a little hazy.
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Bad air quality makes for beautiful pictures.
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Beer number two from Wisconsin was tasted and thoroughly enjoyed.
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Weird Hat Band from Young Blood brewery sounded absolutely bizarre… a pastry sour with peach, basil, graham cracker and vanilla… but wow. It worked. In a delightfully weird way.
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Lord Mountcatten reclining on the new driveway. He’s still hesitant to walk it’s length, but has no qualms about napping on it.
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The husband, weed whacking the ditch from Hell.
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We are currently waiting for the state DOT man to make his second visit and final pronouncement on the future of said ditch.
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Meanwhile.. here’s the husband, caught in the act of throwing a large chunk of tar into the neighbor’s field.
Bad husband.
🥴
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We have a plethora of birds who visit our feeders.
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Flocks of starlings that devour suet and peanut nuggets in mere hours.
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We have cardinals and gold finches and rose breasted grosbeaks, orioles and sparrows and mourning doves.
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We also have a duck.
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A female mallard to be more precise, who comes early morning and late afternoon.
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I often wonder what the other birds think of her.
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And if they wonder why her bath is on the ground.
😉
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A walk around the property to see what’s popping.
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Daisies. They’re such happy little flowers, I always smile when I see them bloom. Which is why… after seeing how well this one performed… I went back to the nursery for more. See the monster plant to the left threatening to swallow the bloomer whole? That’s a daisy as well, but clearly not the same variety.
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Bee balm, in bright pink instead of the traditional red. I think the bees are confused.
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Day lilies.
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I planted this flowering bush when we first moved in over 20 years ago and damned if I can remember what it’s called.
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The blooms are positively fuzzy.
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More day lilies.
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They’re such low maintenance things it’s hard not to plant them everywhere.
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😊
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It was a relatively cool evening…. and even though I won’t be comfortably perspiration free until the mercury drops and the snow falls…. the husband and I headed out to the Barn Mahal porch for an adult beverage.
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I chose one of the local Wisconsin beers our neighbor brought back from her trip. And while the can was artfully decorated with birds in flight, the Central Waters brewing company’s mango wheat tasted nothing like mangoes and was a tad disappointing.
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But the baby chuckers were on the move and we enjoyed their evening antics.
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I believe there were five in this year’s litter…
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Though it could be six because they’re everywhere you look.
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With some of them head and shoulders above their siblings.
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😊
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I haven’t had a chance to make these yet, but they sound perfect for summer…
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The life of a Maine lobsterman is hard… and often lonely. As evidenced by this picture taken of my husband’s nephew.
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I had to smile at this news item.
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What do you want to bet that chuck wasn’t injured, just craving a beer?
And speaking of chucks…
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Thankfully this one is still too short to nibble on my day lilies.
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How wonderful is this? Free bouquets.
I love my town.
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Though we have not yet driven on our beautiful new driveway, we are walking on it.
Or rather, we humans are walking on it. Lord Dudley Mountcatten remains skeptical.
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Taking him out for a walk has meant strolling around the house on the grass and then watching him plant himself on the kitchen landing.
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Where he sits and stares.
Until yesterday…
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When he finally decided to investigate.
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Momma chuck was watching from the barn porch…
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As his Royal highness took to the tar.
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Not yet a fan of the new black expanse, His Lordship returned to the backyard and his favorite woodchuck burrow.
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This is a tunnel that runs under our bedroom bay window and I wish I was quicker with the camera because a baby chuck stuck his head out, spotted Dudley and let out a true whistle pig screech.
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As far as kitty entertainment goes, squealing woodchuck beats new driveway any old day.
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River's world..... 