mother nature at her finest

what i love most about our time in maine
is the safe haven my husband has created
for all the creatures
and that duke doesn't bother
from the chipmunks

to the birds

to the grey squirrels (not the red ones)

we've even had some visits from a woodchuck and some raccoons
but this one...
mother nature is not at her finest...

a chipmunk photoshoot

remember the safe haven for nature i described
that my husband has made
besides having nature all around you
it has other benefits
like offering photoshoot opportunities that aren't the norm

amy and i found this scale while antiquing one year
and sean and i turned it into a bird feeder

that is enjoyed by all creatures, great and small, at all times of the day and night
like birds, chipmunks, squirrels and even raccoons

it was so much fun snapping away
while this little guy filled his cheeks to the brim

i realize the pics aren't the sharpest but they sure are cute!!!

the last few weeks

I'm spending tonight recovering from all the company we've had the last several weeks.  I thought I would sum up our time together in a few pictures.
There was a lot, a lot, a lot of eating...

like packing on 10 pounds type of eating...

catching some rays...

a little drinking...

some mischievousness...

some holding on for dear life...

trying to keep these guys safe from Duke's visitor...

and celebrating our independence...

Hopefully tomorrow I'll post about our lobstering trip - what a BLAST!

My husband's kids

So they're not really kids, but that's what he calls them. They all have fur or feathers. I knew he had an obsession with them before we got married but it's getting out of control now. We buy more food for them then we do Duke (ok so Duke only weighs 6.5 lbs but still). He has to fill up all 12 feeders multiple times in a week. But it doesn't stop with the birds - he has to feed the squirrels and chipmunks too. In one of his recent trips to Blue Seal he found the ultimate block of food for his kids. It is about 12x12x12 (inches that is) and solid food.

Since I knew he was obsessed and he loves to take pictures I found the best birthday present for him - it's called a BirdCam!!! I quickly bought it for him for his birthday earlier this year (May). What I learned from this (and the iPod I bought him several years ago that it took him over a year before he used) is, yes he's completely a computer nerd, but he likes what he knows. So after asking him multiple times when he was actually going to try out his new BirdCam I decided to learn how to use it myself. I thought the pictures of the kids eating the new block of food would be cute. Come to find out the BirdCam is super easy to use! It has lots of options though - you can do pictures or video and you can choose to have it take them automatically or with a remote sensor. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures we captured over the weekend.

Day 1: All butt shots.

Day 2: We moved the block in hopes we'd get a picture of their front sides. You can leave the camera out all night - it's weather proof. However, we cannot leave the block of food out all night as it's not night creature proof. We have a family of racoons that ate a lot of suet before we figured out where it was going so fast. We now have to bring the suet and the block of food in each night. That's why the first few pictures have the block missing - we hadn't gotten up yet. They didn't seem to have a problem cleaning up the leftovers from the night before though.

The sun was on the wrong side but I thought he just looked guilty in this one.

Some feathered friends.

Posing....

Posing...

Mourning Dove showed up to the party.

Looking for a tasty spot.

Found it and enjoying it.