Martha's first real Valentine

Let me tell you friends that the level of excitement has really grown over the past week at The Cottage At The End Of The Lane. The monkeys could hardly wait for 'the sisters' to leave at the end of each day. Why - the door was hardly closed before they jumped up to get busy finishing their valentines.

Morley and I heard a lot of giggling and whispering going on. Meg was teasing the daylights out of Martha. Apparently, Martha has a 'not so secret' admirer at school. From what I could gather, his name was Morton and he follows Martha around like a little lost puppy--------I mean monkey.

My sweet sweet Martha pretended to find Morton nothing more than an annoyance, but something in her demeanor told me that perhaps she might be just a wee bit pleased over the attention.

Supper was a little later than usual this evening because Morley had been tinkering with the pellet stove 'again' - ever since 'the sisters' left for the day. Those girls are not very good at remembering to clean out the ashes and load up the stove and more than once we have wakened up in the middle of the night to a very cold cottage. So Morley has taken it upon himself to make sure that the stove is always cleaned out and more pellets added. (You might think that the sisters would take notice of this - but actually they don't. They arrive every morning without a thought as to why the cabin in still warm and cozy.) Morley is a pretty laid back monkey but I have heard him muttering under his breath about how 'the sisters' should be more aware of how to keep a cottage in the woods running smoothly.

But let me get back to the story. Just as we were finishing our dessert of sliced bananas with sugar and milk, we heard the tinkling of the door bells (another one of the sister Claudia's quaint additions to the cottage - it makes her heart smile). Mitchell hopped up to answer the door and then he called for Martha.

There standing at the door was Morton holding a dozen roses. As he handed them over to Martha, he could hear the shouts and giggles of all the other monkeys and he quickly turned and ran back the way he had come. Martha's face turned 10 shades of red as she closed the door but I could read beneath the color and Martha was surely pleased. The monkeys spent the rest of the evening reliving the event until Morley insisted that they head towards bed.

Well good night and sleep well my friends. I have some planning to do while it is quiet around the cottage. Next week is Morley's birthday and I want to make sure that all is ready for the celebration. See you soon.

Love- Mabyn

Valentine's Day Preparations

Come in my dear friends. It is much too cold for you to be outside peering in the windows!

As you left us last time, the little monks were getting ready to make some very special valentines.

Meg gathered all the red and white construction paper she could find and the monkeys sat around the kitchen table. Missy who loves to scrapbook, contributed scissors and a mountain of embellishments, too! (I must say that I had no idea she had so many embellishments!)

It seemed that all the monkeys were having fun and getting along so well...until Mildred became a little too "helpful" to Miffy and Marie. I am sure that Mildred had their best interests in mind when she tried to gently point out that Marie's hearts were lopsided and Miffy's valentines were a bit misshapened. Somehow or other, the girls read "bossy" in Mildred's manner and they didn't like it a bit! Add Meg's air of superior artistic snobbiness and then you can easily see how this wonderful afternoon of valentine making turned into a 'squabblefest'.

Oh my....it is terribly hard to find 10 minutes of peace and quiet at the Cottage At The End of The Lane. But can one expect anything less from a cottage full of monkeys?

Well my friends, I must get back to my chores. I do hope you will visit again soon, because Martha is about to receive her first valentine!