.
I drove home under some ominous skies the other afternoon.
.
.
And woke up to our first dusting of snow.
.
.
It was gone by mid day just in time for our contractor to drop by between jobs and seal up the new windows with some not so attractive foam.
.
.
He’s finishing off a barn next door that’s taking longer than planned but as soon as he’s done he’ll be back over here to finish our nightmare project.
.
.
As usual, Lord Dudley Mountcatten couldn’t care less.
.
.
💕
.
.
The Marvin window specialist didn’t show up the day they were scheduled, which for once was a good thing. Our contractor is back in town now and thankfully will be meeting the rep at our house later this afternoon.
That’s the good news.
The bad news looks like this :
.
.
Not exactly optimal window repair and/or extraction weather.
And while I feel sorry for our contractor… it seems like the expert is getting what he deserves for making us wait an entire month.
😈
.
.
We had a really warm week in Maine with temps hitting the lower 80’s. Not my idea of fall, but lots of people were thrilled summer is still hanging on.
With cool nights and warm days comes fog.
.
.
So much fog the deer who usually only show up at dusk are here at dawn.
.
.
This next picture is of a poor starling who smashed into our living room picture window.
.
.
He was okay and eventually flew away after recovering from the shock. But he sure drove our cat crazy.
.
.
Yes, people here still believe caterpillars can predict the weather.
.
.
Looks like a mild winter to me.
.
.
*Note to reader: For optimum pleasure this blog should be read with Marshall Tucker’s ‘Searching for a Rainbow’ playing in the background. *
.
.
Rain? Oh, we’ve had rain.
Almost every day for a month and a half.
.
.
And aside from making our lawn green, lush and almost impossible to keep mowed… there are rainbows.
.
.
Which really isn’t a bad trade off .
❤️
.
.
The new composite boards were stacked and ready.
.
.
The contractor set up a tent to beat the heat of the baking sun.
.
.
He started work on the framing.
.
.
And then my husband went out to talk.
.
.
And talk, and talk, and talk.
At the $55 an hour we’re paying this guy, I could do with a little more work and a lot less talk so I hauled the husband inside and got him busy organizing some of his old magazines and newspapers.
Bad idea. Very bad.
Because as soon as he found some interesting ones?
.
.
He took them out to show the contractor.
And then he talked, and talked, and talked.
Jesus wept…we’ll have to remortgage the house before this is through.
And if Jesus weeping wasn’t bad enough?
.
.
The heavens decided to weep that afternoon as well.
.
.
Torrential rain, heavy downpours and big mud puddles.
.
.
Left us with very little progress.
.
.
But there is a great big tool trailer parked on the lawn.
.
.
That’s a plus, right?
🥴
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
But the baby chuckers were on the move and we enjoyed their evening antics.
.
.
I believe there were five in this year’s litter…
.
.
Though it could be six because they’re everywhere you look.
.
.
With some of them head and shoulders above their siblings.
.
.
😊
.
.
Woke up on Friday to rain, so I thought driveway repair work would be postponed.
.
.
I was wrong.
.
.
There they were, not bright… but definitely early.
.
.
And working in the rain.
.
.
Dirt was dumped.
.
.
Dirt was spread.
.
.
And mud was made.
.
.
Whoever said if you don’t like the weather in Maine, wait a minute wasn’t kidding.
.
.
This is what early June looks like. It’s enough to give you whiplash.
.
.
Another one bites the woodchuck dust. It was a fully bloomed stock. Graceful stalks filled with fragrant pink blossoms. May she rest in peace.
.
.
Route 1 in Wiscasset was closed last week due to an accident. Apparently the Wicked Witch was in town.
.
.
This hall closet contains coats, (spell check changed that to goats which would have been much more blog worthy, sorry) assorted LL Bean bags, a pair of snow boots, extension cords, a pillow, two blankets, a step stool, 4 umbrellas, a lobster pot and the air conditioner we just put in the window.
.
.
Since it’s always full of the aforementioned clutter, Lord Dudley Mountcatten only gets to explore it twice a year and made me wait half an hour to put all the stuff back in there.
Cats.
They’re easily amused.
.
.
It was a long and nearly snowless winter.
Spring was late and with no snow to melt, extremely dry.
One lousy April shower and May took its sweet time showing us some flowers. Heck, we even had frost last week.
But finally….
.
.
The lilacs are popping.
.
.
Which means vases of that heavenly scent are scattered throughout the house.
.
.
And while a little scraggly…
.
.
The expensive dark cherry tree we planted last year is hanging on.
.
.
The blooms are gorgeous.
.
.
So my fingers are crossed it grows big and strong.
.
.
In front of the barn?
.
.
The choke cherry tree is in blossom. The fruit is inedible and sometimes poisonous, but the delicate spring blooms are sweet.
.
.
We’ve had a crazy spring. Or really, a crazy non spring. Cool, overcast and dreary with a little scattered rain here and there. Not nearly the April showers we needed.
.
.
I had high hopes for a deluge when we were driving home under these skies last week.
.
.
They were ominous and promised some good rain.
.
.
It was falling somewhere.
.
.
But not in our backyard.
.
.
This was taken on the other side of town.
Oh well, maybe next time.
.
River's world..... 