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Just when I was getting worried we hadn’t seen any baby woodchucks?
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One brave little guy followed momma out of the shed.
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At first he didn’t know what to make of the carrot buffet…
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And wanted mom to feed him.
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But momma chuck isn’t exactly a hands paws on parent…
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And let him figure it out for himself.
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Before long he was happily munching alongside her.
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Our new barn porch furniture has arrived.
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And it’s a whole lot bigger than our old ancient set.
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I can’t say I’m overly thrilled to have an outdoor recliner, but my husband sure is.
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You may notice that something is missing.
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And by missing, I mean on a table inside the barn.
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You’ll see there are five throw pillows. The set came with six. But the day after I set up the furniture and went outside to read?
There were four.
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I retrieved number five from under the barn.
Number six seems to be gone for good and I’m sure Momma Chuck is to blame. She’s been on an insane search for nesting material this year and it seems our porch furniture is irresistible.
😡
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So since I can’t have color contrasting pillows due to thieving critters, I’m thinking of adding a rug .
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Even she won’t be able to steal that.
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As seen down the road from our house.
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This giant skeleton was installed last Halloween and has been making me laugh every holiday and season since.
He was a pilgrim for Thanksgiving, Santa for Christmas, Cupid for Valentines Day, and a very large leprechaun for St Patrick’s Day, For Easter he wore colossal bunny ears and now that summer is near?
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Someone sewed him (her?) a seriously plus sized bikini.
🤣
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Proof positive tequila and online bumper sticker shopping are not a good mix.
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Momma Chuck.
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She takes her carrots seriously.
And speaking of chucks, we noticed our grill cover had been looking a little worse for wear…
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We have hellacious wind here and if it’s not tied down? It’s going to blow. If it is tied down? It’s going to flap.
So we figured this cover had seen one too many N’Or Easters over the winter.
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Until….
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Damn.
Stealing the seat cushion off the barn porch clearly wasn’t enough nesting material this year.
🥴
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This first one is slightly exaggerated, but not by much.
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And by the looks of things in the backyard?
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I think there are baby woodchucks in our future.
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Remember the days of mixed tapes?
I stumbled across a few of my old ones and had a flashback of sitting on the floor by the stereo manically timing the recording sessions.
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Some of the songs are questionable, (Richard Marx? 😳) but I’ll stand by the Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young.
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A lesson I learned early in childhood that still holds true today.
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Worst. Coffee. Advertisement.
Ever.
🥴
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The barn porch rotted wood replacement project continues.
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Or rather, it continued without me noticing and is now complete.
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(Yes, the left hand post still dips… but that’s a frost heaving, ever shifting Maine ground problem.)
And while my husband used similarly weathered boards…
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They still don’t match the existing and stick out like a sore thumb because he refused to replace the entire length of the boards like I suggested.
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This anomaly doesn’t bother my husband, but will drive me nuts for years to come.
And did you happen to notice anything else amiss on the porch?
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Perhaps the furniture that I had recovered a few years back at a rather large expense?
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A cushion is missing.
As in… gone.
We noticed the other chair cushion had been torn, or more precisely… chewed. And there was stuffing blowing here and there around the bottom of the barn so as crazy as it sounds, we think it was stolen.
By the critters.
Most likely the by Momma chuck who nests and has babies under there every year.
Ordinarily this would piss me off to no end, but I’ve been wanting to replace this set for some time so now seems as good a time as any.
😊
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Our grey squirrels are determined fellows. As evidenced by the never give up attitude of this little guy during a recent rainy morning attempt at reaching the bird feeder.
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Wet poles be slippery.
🤣
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If you like shrimp?
Give this recipe a try.
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In a large stainless steel skillet over medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp. butter. Pat shrimp dry; season all over with Old Bay.
Arrange shrimp in a single layer in skillet and cook, turning halfway through, until translucent, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate.
In same skillet over medium heat, melt remaining 1 Tbsp. butter. Add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes .
Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add wine to deglaze skillet, scraping up any browned bits, and cook, stirring, until liquid is almost completely evaporated,
Stir in broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
Stir in orzo and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until orzo has absorbed most of the broth and is almost cooked through,
Add cream and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened and reduced,
Return shrimp to skillet along with any accumulated juices.
Stir in lemon zest and lemon juice; season with salt. Top with parsley.
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My tweaks – I didn’t have vegetable broth but used low sodium chicken broth and it was lovely. I used salted butter, so I left off the salt at the end. And since my husband isn’t a spicy food lover, I ignored the red pepper flakes. There was plenty of flavor so I think that was overkill anyway.
Use large or jumbo shrimp. You won’t be disappointed.
Yum!
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Mother Chuck is back and her runt from last year’s litter is still here.
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Though not for lack of trying to kick him to the curb.
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There are daily squabbles over food and squealing arguments over bolt holes.
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Momma isn’t subtle, but Junior refuses to take the hint.
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Momma Chuck is back…
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And enjoying some broccoli.
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Early spring means red winged black birds, starlings and grackles.
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Lots of them.
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And they’re hungry. So hungry they devour the suet cake in less than an hour and strip three feeders in two. It’s a pricey time of year.
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We have three or four skunks who visit every night but one little guy arrives early, oftentimes alongside the deer.
That does not however, mean he likes them.
(Please ignore the background noise. The husband was battling an angel food cake container)
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Skunk -1.
Deer -0.
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And then there’s Lord Dudley Mountcatten who waits patiently for his morning coffee.
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He doesn’t actually drink it…
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Just likes to lick the mug when the husband is finished.
Cats.
What can you do?
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❤️
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Our gray squirrels are quite acrobatic and during a recent snow storm… when I brought in all the bird feeders except the one from which they have trouble stealing… this little guy went above and beyond for a snack.
I’m guessing he has six pack abs under that fur.
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He fell quite a few times, but finally found a stable perch.
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In other wildlife news, our first chuck of the season arrived.
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In the middle of the storm with nothing to nibble but fallen seed.
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Poor chuck.
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I doubt that was the meal he dreamt about all winter.
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We’re down to one woodchuck.
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He visits morning and early evening and I oblige by providing treats.
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On this particular day it was baby carrots and carrot shavings.
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And though he munched them all….
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From the look on his face?
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It’s clear he would have preferred watermelon.
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Momma Chuck thought she’d found the perfect place to escape the kids.
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Through the hole in the cover and under the grill.
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Unfortunately, her solitude didn’t last long.
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And three out of four babies joined her.
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Poor Momma.
There’s no rest for the weary…
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🤣
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River's world..... 