Monkey Moments

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!

Do you remember?

Hello again my friends!

I am sure that this will not come as a surprise to you. Morley and my few precious moments were just that.....PRECIOUS and FEW!

Do you remember when you were little and how much fun you had playing out in the snow? You could play and play without hardly noticing that - snow is COLD - until suddenly (3 hours later) you realize that you are frozen half to death!

Now multiply this scene by 8 or so little monkeys and it will be easy for you to imagine what happened next.

The cottage door suddenly flew open and in tumbled our very cold monkeys, who proceeded to toss off all of their wet jackets, mittens, hats, snow pants and boots - into one great big sopping wet pile in the corner of the room. But wait - over top of all the whining voices that were busy complaining of their frozen paws and faces - we heard an even louder wail!

Remember that I told you that all the monkeys went out to play but Molly? She wouldn't admit this to you but after about an hour of peace in the cottage, she began to miss the others. So Molly was eagerly waiting for them to come back inside and unfortunately ended up under the great pile of cold wet clothes that the monkeys had carelessly tossed her way.

After we rescued Molly and calmed her down - every one of them enjoyed a steamy mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows while they relived their outdoor adventure.

Morley then suggested they find a quiet way to spend the rest of the day so it wasn't long before Meg had them all sitting around the table cutting out red hearts to hang in all of the cottage windows.

You will surely want to look in again soon at our Cottage At The End Of The Lane. After all....Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

Love to you all - Mabyn

A Few Quiet Moments

A good cold January morning to you all! We are deep in the middle of a long snowy winter out here at the Cottage At The End Of The Lane.

Last night we got 4 more inches of snow and my little monkeys could hardly wait for breakfast to be over. They quickly did their chores and then bundled up and raced outside.

For the next few hours, all of the little monks with the exception of Molly (she especially hates being cold) kept busy building snow monkeys and taking turns on the sled.

Morley and I watched from the cottage window as they frolicked in the snow. It was one of those rare times when all the monkeys played well together, forgetting their petty differences. We all have to take the time to appreciate these moments.

So you will surely excuse Morley and me as we sit back and relax for a bit with a mug of hot chocolate .....just to savor the moment!


I hope to see you soon!

Love- Mabyn

Happy New Year

Good morning dear friends!

I just got our holiday photos developed and knew that you would laugh at this one!

New Year's Day was a cold and icy one which meant our little monkeys were cottage bound all the day long.

Molly and Mildred spent a good bit of the day reading in their rooms. Not only do they love to read, but it is sort of a way to get away from all the commotion that a cottage full of monkeys can bring!

Meg and Marie seemed a little restless and had gotten into a bit of trouble earlier in the day. Meg relentlessly teases the day lights out of Marie because....well....it is so easy! Morley got weary of their fighting and bickering and he told them they better find something quiet to do or else they would be spending the rest of the day in their rooms. May I say that this would be a "life sentence" for Meg so she immediately channeled her energy into a more creative behavior. She talked Murray and a few of the other monkeys into creating a play and they all disappeared into the basement to commence writing a play and practicing the production.

A few hours later, Morley, myself and all the rest of the troop were treated to "Father Time - A New Year's Play".

That is Murray in the top hat and diaper. He is such a good sport. Murray is so easy to get along with. Our Mitchell would rather give up bananas for a week then put on this 'get up'.

Well friends, I must get busy with my chores. I'll be looking for you to soon put your heads in at the Cottage At The End Of the Lane....you wouldn't want to miss a thing!

Love - Mabyn

Missy is caught 'red pawed'!

Dear Friends,

My grandma used to say...'Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see'...but then again, she would often say....'seeing is believing' and in this case....I will have to agree.

When I left last left you, all the little monkeys at The Cabin at the End of the Lane, were cozily tucked into their beds and were finally sound asleep. Morley and I had enjoyed a few precious minutes of quiet by the fireside and then we turned in shortly thereafter.

What we had failed to notice earlier in the day was what our two little monkeys, Micah and Murray had been up to. You can surely believe that it is not unusual to see 'little monkeys' swinging around while they are playing so unless their is a great commotion or someone has fallen - The Cabin at the End of the Lane is generally like a 'monkey house' because..well....that is what we are!

Little did we know that Micah had made plans for weeks to prove once and for all that Santa did not exist. He had been making this claim to all the other little monkeys, causing tears and anger to say the least, and Morley finally took him aside and told him most emphatically, that he must stop. But Micah somehow managed to get his paws on one of those new fangled cameras that can be mounted anywhere to capture movement. Often times hunters use them in the woods to see if deer might come to a certain spot or nature lovers use them to capture pictures of animals. The cameras are somehow triggered when there is movement in front of their lens.

I had noticed the boys earlier in the day huddled on a beam high in the cabin, but I thought that they were just playing. I did not take notice that they were trying to find the best spot to mount the camera - one in which the fireplace was front and center. Apparently none of the other little monkeys noticed either. After all, we were very busy with Christmas preparations!

We did not know as we all slept that night, how our little Missy waited and listened for silence to descend upon The Cabin at the End of the Lane. Now you need to understand that Missy is usually very timid and shy - she is the baby monkey of the family - and well....so quiet and unassuming that she almost goes unnoticed. When Missy was finally convinced that she was the only one awake....she apparently snuck out of her bed and into the living room because she was pretty sure that Micah had been wrong about Santa but she needed to know for sure.

Missy almost got away with her little plan.....almost.

As you can quite imagine, morning came much too soon for Morley and me. Soon all the little monkeys were squealing with excitement as they are sat by their piles of presents. Each monkey took his turn opening a present and with all the little monkeys here, it was nearly noon by the time we were done.

I was preparing our traditional brunch of egg cassarole and creamy rice and banana fluff when suddenly I heard the biggest commotion I think that I had ever heard! All the little monkeys were gathered around Missy and Micah and they were laughing their little heads off. Micah had gone up to retrieve his camera and finally lay to rest this notion of 'Santa'. Instead....Santa was confirmed and Missy was 'busted' ...if you will allow me to use the vernacular of our teen monkeys.

I must close this letter for now but again I invite you to come back as soon as you can. You don't want to miss a minute of life here at The Cabin At The End of The Lane!

Love,
Mabyn