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