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

Christmas Eve Day

Merry Christmas Eve day my friends! The mood in the cabin was gay and merry and quite full of anticipation. There is just something magic about Christmas Eve day - all day! This is true whether you are a monkey or a person.

Early in the day, I heard Marie, Miffy and Martha disagreeing on what snack to leave for Santa that night. Marie wanted to make ladylocks because they are absolutely her favorite cookies, while Martha felt strongly that orange cookies would be the best choice. However - Miffy matter of factly declared that Santa would be in need of a more healthy snack so after several more minutes of bickering they finally settled on orange cookies and a banana. I must say that Marie really, really does not like being told what to do, but even she realised that there was not enough time to make ladylocks. Maybe she would be more prepared next year and make them ahead of time.

On this day more than any other, the little monkeys seem to get along better than usual. Christmas Eve day brought out the best in them. The cabin was noticeably cheerier and bustling with preparations. Molly, Missy, Mildred, Meg and Meredith were all at the kitchen table cutting snowflakes out of white paper. They wanted to decorate each and every window in the cabin.

There was a friendly contest between them to see who could make the most intricate and beautiful snowflake. For a moment, I was sure that there was going to be trouble when Meg, our artsy child, started to make fun of Missy's snowflakes saying that they were ugly and the pattern looked more like a box than a snowflake, but then as if by magic, Meg seemed to think better of this. (Wouldn't you if Santa was watching to see if you were being naughty or nice?)

Meg grabbed the snowflake, praising it all the way to the basement where she proudly displayed it on a back window (where practically no one would see it!) Hmmmmmm.

As the day wound down - each little monkey got a bath and put on their new Christmas jammies. How sweet they smelled and how their fur glistened as they lined up in front of the fireplace to have their picture taken by their empty stockings. Afterward, they ran off to their beds to see who could stay awake long enough to hear Santa and the reindeer land on our roof.

Morley and I finished up a few dishes and then sat down to enjoy a few precious moments of peace and quiet. I could hear whispering and giggling coming from the bedrooms and after about an hour of this - Morley told them in no uncertain terms, that Santa would not come if they were awake. After that, we heard no more sounds. How nice - they all finally fell asleep - or so we thought.

Come back again soon to see what happened during the night.

My love,
Mabyn

Tis the season

Mercy my dear friends. You will certainly have to forgive me. I had such good intentions of keeping you up to date on the goings on at The Cottage at the End of the Lane - but I must tell you, that the holidays are no less busy for we monkeys than for all of you people out there.

I did take many pictures though and here is the picture that I promised you of our little monkeys decorating our Christmas tree. And what fun they had too!.....well, for the most part anyway.

Meg, Mildred and Miffy talked Micah into helping them with the tree. They spent a good part of an afternoon stringing lights and ornaments until it looked just so. Now you have to understand that Mildred is....how shall I say this?.....well in the words of some of the other monkeys mind you....a control freak! She would place each light on the string exactly 4 inches from the last light placed (she even used a ruler just to be sure!)

As Mildred painstakingly worked her way around the tree, Meg ever so stealthily repositioned the lights in a less than perfect position. Mildred was so intent on what she was doing, that she never noticed until she plugged in the lights and stepped back to admire her work.

Mildred freaked out! She knew without asking which of the little monkeys had done this deed. In the first place, Miffy would NEVER even think of such shenanigans and Micah seemed totally unaware of what the problem even was. But Meg on the other hand was doubled over in laughter in the corner of the room - unable to even pretend that she had nothing to do with the lights. Meg laughed so hard and so long that it wasn't long before she had everyone else laughing, even Mildred. Mildred just hates how Meg can manage to make her laugh even when she is still very very mad, but that is the long and short of it. I'll just bet that each and everyone of you know someone like Meg, don't you?

Mildred then made Meg take the lights off of the tree and she started all over again. By early evening the tree was perfectly decorated and after supper was over, the monkeys disappeared into their bedrooms to finish their Christmas lists for Santa.

Peek in a little later because I have a lot more stories to tell you, but I must hurry off now because there is a big sale at the Mall and with a family as big as ours, I can't afford to miss out!

Monopoly Mayhem!

Good evening my dear friends! No sooner had we gotten back to the cabin from our adventure in the woods, when Mitchell, Max, Martha and Molly got out the Monopoly game and began to play.

Morley got busy getting our Christmas decorations down from the attic and I began to make supper.

Have you ever tried cooking a meal that pleases a crowd like mine? Let me tell you - it is No Easy task! Meg simply refuses to eat vegetables and Mildred hates milk. When I serve asparagus spears - well....let's just say that Miffy thinks she has us all fooled when she tucks them in her cheeks and then excuses herself to go the bathroom. Two minutes later she is back at the table and her cheeks are empty!

As I was whipping up a quick supper of mashed bananas and green beans, I could hear a ruckus coming from the corner where the Monopoly game was being played. I could tell that Mitchell made Molly mad because he hid his money under his tail and Molly simply hates that! Just as Molly thought she had a chance to to win (it hasn't happened yet), she rolls the dice and lands in jail. Max then takes his turn and scoops up the last Rail Road (of which he had no others) and begins to taunt the others while laughing hilariously. Truthfully, Max is a 'poor winner'. Do you know anyone like that?

At this point, Martha who had been pretty quiet up to this point, decided that she had enough and simply quit. This caused an uproar and just as the commotion was heading for the next level, dinner was ready and I quickly called them all to the table.

The next time you stick your head in the cabin at the end of the lane, we will be decorating the tree for Christmas. I hope you join us!

Love, Mabyn

Max is found

Monkey Greetings my friends! Oh that rascal Max! The last I left you, we all were at our wits end because Max was missing from our walk in the woods. We fanned out all over those woods, calling "Max, Max - where are you?" As you can plainly see, our woods are very close to a large lake and we were sick with worry about where our Max had disappeared to.





After about ten minutes of calling his name and running here, there and everywhere to try to find him, Morley, myself and all the little monkeys gathered together to catch our breath and to devise a plan to find Max. Poor little Martha was crying her eyes out. She is my serious minded and thoughtful little girl and she was so worried that she might never see Max again.



Suddenly, we heard a crashing sound in the woods and we could tell it was getting closer and closer! We could hear branches snapping and leaves crackling and then all at once, Max came flying through the woods towards us riding on the back of a turkey! Yep, a real turkey.





You can just imagine our surprise. I was so relieved to see Max once again, that I completely forgot to scold him for wondering away and joined in the peels of laughter that rang out of these woods from all the little monkeys and Morley. When Max got down off that turkey we just about smothered him with hugs and kisses, and Martha jumped on his back and hung on like a...well, like a little monkey!





This was certainly enough adventure for one day. So I gathered up my monkeys, grabbed Morley's paw and we headed back to the cabin for dinner and an evening of board games. Don't you just love to play games at your house?

If you do, then you won't want to miss out on the fun. Be sure to knock on the door of The Cottage at The End of The Lane in a little while and have a peek.

Love,
Mabyn

Where is Max?

Hello again my dears.....When I last left you, I was getting ready to take my little monkeys and Morley out for a walk in the woods and a picnic...sort of the last hurrah for the unusally warm weather.



The sisters left The Cabin at the End of the Lane earlier than usual which was just peachy because the days are getting shorter and the monks were so anxious to get outside. I overheard one of the sisters say she wanted to take her horse Thunder out for a little ride because there wouldn't be many more days like this.



Just about as soon as we heard the door click shut, we packed a lovely dinner of fried green bananas, banana pudding, banana pie and some grapes and off we went. We took along Meg, Mitchell, Mildred and Molly, and Miffy, Max and Martha. Morley had them hold the tale of the monkey in front of them (sort of like when children in day care all hold onto a rope when they take a walk, but not exactly) and off we headed for the woods. It is not an easy task trying to keep all of them in eyesight I will assure you.



One of our favorite trails to take is directly behind the Cabin. It is an adventure to be sure. Along the way, we come to Claire's stump (a favorite tree stump of one of the sister's granddaugher) where all the little monkeys have to take turns jumping up and down on it; then to a hugh oak tree that has fallen over the path and that we must all scramble over or under to finally arrive at the "OWL TREE".



Oh, the OWL TREE! If ever there was a tall, dead tree shooting high into the sky and with a perfect hole in it's trunk to be the home of a great horned owl...then this is the tree to be sure! Whenever we can, we all trek to the "Owl Tree' with the hopes of seeing an owl. Now nevermind that we have never actually seen an owl in this tree or even near this tree for that matter....we just know that with enough patience and persistence we will someday be rewarded.



But wait.....we are missing a little monkey! Oh my heavenly stars...I must go for now. Night time will be here soon and we can't seem to find Max! Please remember Max in your prayers and I will let you know as soon as we find him.

Dear friends, as you can surely see, I have my paws full here at The Cottage At The End Of The Lane! As soon as I last left you, I found Micah had chased Meg up to the ceiling fan and they were stuck. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I told you that they were a little afraid.

What am I going to do! With all the little monkeys around the cottage, well...I just don't know what they will be getting into next.

Perhaps you know a little monkey like Micah.
He is so adventurous and not one that likes to sit around watching TV. He always is on the go...thinking up some game or another. He then somehow talks the other monkeys into playing and before you know it...they end up in some predicament like....well...you can see for yourself.

I have promised my little monkeys that I would take them for a walk in the woods....so I must go for now. Be sure to check back in soon to see what is happening at The Cottage At The End of the Lane.

Love,
Mabyn

The Cottage At The End of The Lane

In a cabin, tucked in the woods on the edge of a vast lake lives a mysterious world of sock monkeys. By day the cabin houses Monkey Moments, a greeting card and gift business revolving solely around the classic Red Heel Sock Monkey, but by night.... it is an entirely different world.

Well, hello there! Let me introduce myself. My name is Mabyn and do I have a story to tell. Actually, I have many tales to tell! And because I have finally completed my online writing course and have received my degree in sock monkey story telling, lets get started.

I have learned it is best to start at the beginning, so the beginning is where I will start. I am the matriarch, so to speak, of a cottage full of sock monkeys. This cottage, named The Cottage At The End of the Lane is situated in a deep dark wood overlooking a vast lake.

Our story started several years back. Two sisters, bound by their footloose and fancy free upbringing, not to mention, bohemian lifestyle, needed a way to extend this magical childhood. They wondered if the innocence of childhood could somehow survive adultness. In short, they wondered if they could turn their ability to loathe the sameness of many vocations and their inability to curb their laughter at inappropriate times into a meaningful, not to mention profitable, vocation.

The sisters, Claudia and Carollee, (notice that neither one of their names start with the letter 'M'; I will expound on this later) began to make sock monkeys. They made sock monkey clothes and they made sock monkey backdrops. After all of this making the sisters began to take pictures of the monkeys. In a very short amount of time, they began to view human life through sock monkey eyes!

The sisters created so many sock monkeys that they needed a place to keep them and their many props. So they bought The Cottage At The End of The Lane. And this is where we all reside. By day, we lay around on tables, in drawers, on dressers and even in plastic bins. We are found in many stages of dress and undress. We are docile, uncomplaining, and for the most part, asleep. We definitely have no personalities.

But then....at the end of each day, the sisters turn out all but one light, throw pellets in the stove if it is winter or turn off the air conditioning if it is the summer (how inconsiderate!) and walk out the cottage door.

OH JOY, OH BLISS!

An entirely different world is about to come to life. Our world. The world of the sock monkeys that reside at Monkey Moments - The Cottage at the End of the Lane.

With so many stories whirling around my head, one hardly knows where to start. But oh, it would be wrong of me not to start with my husband, Morley. There is nothing that Morley can not do or fix and that is a good thing, believe you me! Remember, the sisters had this charming notion that a cottage at the edge of a woods would figure nicely into their romantic notion of a most wonderful place to run a business. Nevermind that they had not one clue as to how to keep this cabin in ongoing heat in the winter, or electricity in the storms, or how to keep out the snakes, mice, wasps, ladybugs and occasional groundhog that tirelessly assault the cottage. But not to worry - Morley is the monkey! The Monkey that is, for these jobs!

Oh for pity sake....Meg and Micah seem to be having a problem with each other...so I must go for now.

Check back in with me very soon to find out the latest goings on at The Cottage at the End of The Lane!

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