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!

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

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.