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Our bird bath has been a Godsend to wild creatures this dry, drought ridden summer. Birds bathe and numerous animals drink… like this thirsty little fellow.
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Now that the random apple tree has matured we’re seeing a lot more squirrels.
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The bath is simply a jump away.
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And perfect on hot days.
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As is splooting in the shade.
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🙂
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I admit to taking a selfie now and then, usually when we go somewhere wonderful… but mainly because I have a husband who never takes pictures. Ever. It’s a harmless if slightly narcissistic endeavor, and my mother is dead… so if not me, who?
Then there’s the Instagram crowd. The influencers. The vapid youth of today who get paid ridiculous sums for photos that go viral. They’ll go to any lengths to get a breathtaking selfie and call me cold hearted, but I rarely feel bad when I read they fall into the Grand Canyon or off a speeding train.
Which is probably why I cringed when I read this article.
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I have been to Le Gorges du Verdon and it was fabulous. Mainly because there was no one else there.
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The husband, a friend and I drove through the French Alps for a solid 10 hours and saw only one other person. A sheep herder with his flock. It was beyond marvelous.
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That’s me sitting on the wall filing my nails waiting for the husband to climb back up from below.
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The gorge was wild and wonderful. Unspoiled nature ruled.
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As did the goats.
We visited in the early 90’s. The fact that’s it now jam packed with insipid, shallow Instagram tourists breaks my heart. And I bet the goats don’t like it either.
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How sweet is this?
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Momma fox brought two babies this time!!
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💕💕💕
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Too many antique stores, too little time. Not to mention money.
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Mantiques? That sounded like trouble…. and as soon as we walked through the door of the large converted barn I feared my checkbook might not survive.
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1939 Rockola Art Deco juke box with unusual pop up speaker? Fabulous! The husband drooled on behalf of the man cave, but I broke his heart and refused to fork over $9,995.00.
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You know it’s not your every day thrift store when you see things like this.
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Embalming pump? That’s a coffee table piece sure to spark scintillating conversations.
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Any ideas what that is…?
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Apparently pumps of all sorts are popular.
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I got a huge kick out of the price tag description on this item.
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Lock the kids in the sweat box. That’ll keep ‘em quiet.
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If a naked blonde doesn’t encourage Junior to save his pennies, nothing will.
Three full floors of amazing items later we almost made it out the door without purchasing anything and then…
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The husband fell in love.
A long conversation with the owner followed. Photos of the Barn Mahal were shared, placement of the item was discussed. Meanwhile, I sought the price tag…
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And while slightly less painful than the first jukebox, it was still a tad more than I planned on spending that day.
Husband eyes were flashing that “I have to own it!” look and yours truly had to do some quick thinking.
A jukebox.
From 1946?
It only played 78’s!
Perry Como, Doris Day, Mitch Miller, Bing Crosby? Not man cave music. Nope. Not even close.
Phew! That was close.
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We might be down to one baby woodchuck.
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Although he/she isn’t a baby anymore.
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To be honest it’s hard to tell this one and momma apart anymore.
I like to think our veggie buffet bonanza has given him/her a good start in life.
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I know it’s definitely expanded their waistline.
🤣
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There’s good news coming ‘round the bend.
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It’s a raspberry type of thin mint without the mint. Sign me up!
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We stopped into an uninteresting restaurant the other day because we were in an area we didn’t know. The atmosphere was lackluster, the meal uninspired… but the fresh seafood chowder with crab, shrimp and haddock? Perfection! I’d go back just for that.
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And I have to admit the restroom sign made me grin.
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I think that’s an advertising bridge too far.
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Of course.
Because when I’m craving comfort food… kale, quinoa and soybean ice cream really hit the spot.
Not!
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Our chuckers are social eaters. They happily munch alongside deer, skunks and raccoons.
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And yes, wild turkeys as well.
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Until said turkey gets a little too friendly.
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And is chased from the buffet for the duration.
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When the summer weather turns hot, our bird bath becomes a popular place.
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I’ve been filling it three times a day, not because the birds have an unquenchable thirst….
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But because their mad orgiastic bathing spills most of it to the ground.
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🤣
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There’s always something that needs to be repaired at Casa River, and sometimes that something is the Barn Mahal porch.
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For some reason ( read – crazy Maine weather, massive frost heaves and lack of gutters ) one section of the porch lifted over the years with the result being smashed and then rotted wood under the corner post.
A cousin was called to assist… as there was heavy lifting required and yours truly sucks at that.
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I also suck at not exclaiming WTF! when I go outside to check on the repair progress.
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I doubt that set up was OSHA approved… but it did the job and supported the roof while the post was removed.
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Rotted wood.
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Please note I am not standing on the porch to take pictures.
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Rotted wood replaced….
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Corner post cut and reseated.
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With a hammer, because fine tuning was required.
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And yes, it’s a bit crooked now.
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But my bat was rehung and the roof is still over our heads… so I’m calling it good.
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A beautiful Maine summer day demands a road trip to the lakes…
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Long Lake, pictured here, is in the Sebago Lakes region of our state with the western mountains rising in the distance. The lakeside village of Naples is charming, and perfect for leisurely strolling with random stops to enjoy the views… unless you’re my husband who drove straight through on his way to a store in Windham called the Den of Antiquities.
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This is the view he prefers.
It was a great store with a converted pre Civil War era barn. Treasure was abundant.
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Like this fabulous old slot machine. Please note at $3,950 the price was not even close to fabulous.
Vintage white enamel bed pan used as a display container? Now that’s fabulous.
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I’m still hunting for vintage wooden beer or whisky crates to house my vinyl collection and thought I’d hit the motherload here..
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But in all those boxes, there wasn’t one alcohol related piece of wood in the bunch. Oh sure, I could have bought this …
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But who wants their records stashed in a giant box of rubbers?
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This crate had promise… it said it housed a dozen quarts which denotes liquid, but for the life of me I couldn’t make out the name. Google search came up empty as did all the other customers I asked. Even the owner didn’t have a clue. We shifted it every which way trying to decipher the lettering to no avail. I was struggling to understand what the hell ‘Caitus Guhs’ was when the owner had a eureka moment and figured it out.
Can you?
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River's world..... 