Tag Archives: winter

Look who’s back.

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I went out to the mailbox the other day, battling a fierce wind and falling snow, and saw paw prints. This isn’t unusual at our house, critters visit on a daily basis. But when I came back in the house and heard a cry outside, I knew.

The lovely stray cat we’d taken in, fallen in love with and then had to return to his owners? Was back.

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He was soaking wet, shivering and skittish…. but I managed to lure him into the barn with a bowl of food.

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The poor little guy. What the hell! Why was he out in the cold again?

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After two full tins of Fancy Feast, he jumped up on the pool table….

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And took a bath with the heat blowing straight on him.

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I left him warm, fed and comfortable…. and headed into the house to call his owner and rip her a new one.

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One not so polite phone call later she showed up with a carrier and swore she made a vet appointment for him to be neutered next week and has done her best to keep him in the house. But she also told me her husband opened the bedroom window a crack and the cat escaped. (Open window, with no screen, in Maine, in February? Not likely) She said he’d only been gone for an hour but our house is over a mile away so I doubt that too.

I swear if we hadn’t adopted Dudley…. I would have just kept him this time.

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Because everyone needs a hobby.

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We have wild turkeys that visit our backyard bird feeders to scrounge what’s fallen on the ground.

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We’ve had flocks for decades and it’s never been an issue. They’re goofy…. and honestly, I find them quite comical to watch. But this past year, in which my husband has been home 24/7 hogging all the bandwidth teleworking… he’s taken an interest in feeding the birds.

The man who used to complain I bought too much seed and spent too much money on suet nuggets now glares at me if the 50lb pound bag falls below a quarter. And since he gets up at an unfathomable time of the morning ( pre sunrise people… WTF? ) he’s usually the first one out the door to fill the feeders.

If the turkeys visit in the spring, summer or fall? Fine. But in the winter their prodigious piles of poo land on snow and ice which is not nearly as absorbent as dirt and well…. let’s just say Tiny Tim isn’t going to be singing about tiptoeing through that anytime soon.

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Hence the never ending battle my extremely stubborn husband wages on a daily basis.

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This will go on for hours.

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Even when he’s on the phone for work dealing with a man in violation of FAA regulations.

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He chases them, they run to the edge of the property line and wait for him to go back in the house, they return, he chases them…etc, etc, etc.

If you think you’ve never met anyone more stubborn than a retired Marine? You’ve never met a Maine wild turkey.

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The funniest part of his new hobby? As soon as he gives up and goes back in the office….

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The turkeys call in reinforcements and descend en masse. He chased a dozen…. 26 came back.

And so it goes.

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Of sarcasm and gutters.

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This store has my name written all over it.

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My husband would tell you we don’t need any more sarcasm here, but I beg to differ.

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And maybe that’s what was wrong with this month…. I didn’t make it my bitch.

Snow, rain, freeze, ice, melt, repeat.

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And by repeat…. I mean I keep repeating fix the damn gutter! to my husband so I don’t have to listen to this all day long.

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And in case you’re wondering what kind of weather we have in Maine?

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That sums it up nicely.

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Winter visitors.

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Winter snow and cold has finally moved in to Maine and I for one am pleased.

It’s winter!

I want snow!

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Our deer are only coming at night now and it’s hard to get pictures through the windows.

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The least bit of movement on their part overwhelms my iPhone’s shutter and results in furry blurry blobs.

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Along with the cold and snow has come the wind, which I could actually do without. Menopausal heating only goes so far, and while I’ll walk outside comfortably in 20 degree weather with only a light shirt… the wind cuts like a knife and even my interior furnace is working overtime.

Just ask this poor cardinal.

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Brrr!

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Miscellaneous minutiae.

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Required picture of new family member Lord Dudley Mountcatten.

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And yes, I have to report that Ball Wash is back.

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And speaking of hanging, the other day the husband and I were out in the barn and I wanted to play an album. This is not as easy as you might think…. considering the husband put the stereo as close to the ceiling as humanly possible.

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Vinyl could get interesting after a few toddies. Stay tuned.

And finally, birds. In winter. In Maine.

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I’m guessing it kind of sucks.

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Success.

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Praise the God of Tequila! The man cave in the Barn Mahal is toasty and warm once more.

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A brand new ( to replace the almost new 3 month old ) exterior heat pump unit was installed yesterday afternoon. It looks exactly like the other one, but it damn well better last longer.

I asked the installers what the error codes showed was wrong with the first one and received a long detailed explanation. It went something like this…..

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Refrigerant. Blah blah blah. Coil. Blah blah blah. Build up. Blah blah blah.

The section of explanation that did translate clearly? The fact that the manufacturers say what went wrong was a one in a million occurrence.

Yay us. We have all the luck.

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Flashing lights are never good.

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Danger Will Robinson!

There’s trouble in the man cave.

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I walked into the barn this morning and noticed it was a wee bit nippy.

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We keep the new heat pump ( 3 months old ) set at 68 and with all the sun coming through the windows… it’s always been warm and toasty. But today? The temperature was rapidly dropping.

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Lights were flashing and the unit wasn’t running. After spending an extremely annoying half hour troubleshooting with the owners manual, we broke down and called the guy who installed it… who also happens to be the son of my best friend.

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He had me check the error codes and did some research. Then he called back saying he didn’t have the parts he needed to repair it in stock, and couldn’t get them right away… so he was sending his crew over this afternoon to replace the whole exterior unit.

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Now that’s what I call customer service.

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A path has been shoveled and we currently await the new unit.

While it’s true we like our beer and cocktails cold, we usually prefer to be well above freezing ourselves.

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I love my town… part whatever.

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Haven’t done one of these in a while, so I thought it was time to check my small town’s FB page.

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The ultimate in tree repurposing. Goats!

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The old fashion trade and barter system is alive and well in my town. I have a neighbor who had his garage built with nothing but beer.

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Girl Scout cookies are the new crack. Those little bitches give you a free sample and you’re hooked.

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Sorry bud, someone left it in ours as well.

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That is perfectly evil. And I love it!

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Poor piner. Hope he was alright…

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