Tornado warning

Stella here.
We been sittin' here lis'nin' t' th' radio an' hearin' TORNADO WARNIN' on th' NOA.
Good thing Moose Cove ain't along th' line o' th' thunderstorm that might be crankin' one out. Some folks must be settin' in their basements right now, though, waitin' f'r th' roof t' rip off.

Ain't too often we get a tornado warnin'. 'Bout as often as we get a earthquake... but y' never know.
Harvey says if th' sky turns green t' grab th' pot o' chowder I got on th' stove an' bail down t' th' basement an' he'll grab th' cat.

Earlier in th' day we had some real pretty weather. T'morra I'll hook up th' digital cam'ra an' show y' some pictures.

...Geez, now they got a flash flood warnin' f'r th' County! (Aroostook, f'r those of ya from away.)...

I guess I'll get offa th' laptop. If we happen t' get thunder n' lightnin' I don't wanta have one o' them power surges blow th' thing up!
Talk t' ya t'morra.
Love,
Stella

Rain and damp and cold

Stella here.
We was some excited a bit ago... th' sun come out an' we saw some blue sky!!
Hope it lasts!

It's been SO gray an' rainy lately. Everything's damp!

Our daughter Deb stopped by with her husband last night.
They was goin' out t' supper f'r their anniversary an' she was all gussied up in a pretty green wool sweater (cuz 'twas so chilly an' damp) an' green eye shadow she'd got special.
Well, she walks in an' Harvey takes one look at that eye shadow an' says,
"Geezum crow, Deb, run an' fix y'r face... y' got MOLD growin' on y'r eyelids!!"

Well, I guess I don't gotta tell ya she wasn't none too pleased, tryin' t' appear glamorous f'r a change.
But she's used t' Harvey sayin' things like that so she didn't pay him no mind. Only said, "Daddy, its eye shadda an' you know it!"
I ain't s' sure he did.
She called up later t' say they'd had a fine meal over t' th' Lighthouse Diner an' was home again, but she said she was givin' up wearin' eye shadow. Leastways when Harvey's around.

I was in th' IGA yest'day an' overheard a couple ladies - musta been from away - an' they was complainin' about th' cold.
"I dunno but what I'm like t' freeze t' death," says one. "I mean it IS after Memorial day an all... Summah, f'r goodness sakes!"
T'other one just kinda clucked an' pulled her little bitty Summer sweater tighter around her an' I c'd see goose bumps all over her legs cuz she was wearin' shorts! Sandals, too.
I was some glad I had on my old brown wool sweater an' heavy slacks.

Why these folks think just because th' calendar says it's almost June they're guaranteed t' get balmy days is beyond me!
Me 'n Harvey never put away all o' our wool stuff, no matter what time o' year it is!
But some folks just don't get it, I guess.

I'm OK with it bein' cool cuz it means no mosquitoes or black flies f'r a while yet.
...Although I did kill two mosquitoes back a bit when we had that warm spell. Pesky sons o' guns!

That's about it f'r now. I ain't got nothin' else t' report cuz we ain't been doin' much, what with th' rain an' all.
Love,
Stella

Marty Engstrom, the weather man

Stella here.
Harvey's right about th' 5 cars from away that we saw yest'day - an' th' whole slew of 'em from Maine. I'd say we're off to a fine start tryin' t' see one from ev'ry state.
It don't take much, I tell y', t' keep us amused.

I was talkin' t' Pat G last night. She was sayin' she'd talked recently with a nice man who was a friend o' that Marty Engstrom fella that usta do th' weather re-ports from th' top o' Mt. Washington f'r WMTW-TV.

Geez, didn't that bring back some memories!
Harvey'n me usta get th' biggest charge outta him givin' th' weather an' then signin' off with that big ol' grin. Ain't nobody like that since.
He's retired outta th' weather re-portin' business but y' c'n watch his last re-port from Dec. 28, 2006 if y' go t' www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNATQANryFc

An' he's got him a book out called Marty on the Mountain: 38 years on Mount Washington.

I ain't read it yet but I bet it's a corker! 'T think o' some o' th' ex-periences he musta had bein' up there f'r all that time! (Well, I guess they let him come down now'n then. But still...)

Y' c'n also check out th' views from atop th' mountain by goin' t' www.mountwashington.org/weather/cam
It'll show y' a bunch o' "webcam" pictures from th' top.
Only trouble with some days - like t'day - is that if it's cloudy all y' get's gray. They're wicked high up! Wait till a good sunny day t' check out that one!

Looks like both t'day AND t'morra's s'posed t' be rainy. Gosh-a-mighty, how're me'n Molly gonna go off sightseein' if th' weather stays like this! I might just as well go park myself beside th' stove an' work on that afghan I started a ways back.
Talk to y' later.
Love,
Stella

Counting license plates

This here's Harvey talkin'. My 2 cents.
Stella says she tol' ya about our license plate game.
So far we got Maine,
New York,
Rhode Island,
Texas (!),
Colorado (!),
Ver-mont.
Seen 'em all at th' parade yest'day.
44 t' go.
H.

Memorial Day parades

Stella here.

I am SO annoyed with myself!

Harvey'n me went off t' th' parade an' I left th' blankety blank new cam'ra a-settin' right on th' kitchen table an' never gave it a thought till th' parade was comin' down th' street.

Then when I went t' get it out 'twasn't there!

I wanted t' show you th' Moose Cove marchin' band an' all o' our parade, an' I couldn't do NOTHIN"!

So what y're seein' here's some pictures Pat G sent me o' the parade down t' Brunswick. I guess they's better'n not havin' any, an' she said 'twas a fine thing t' watch... but I don't know none o' them folks, so I can't give y' no details like I woulda if they'd been pictures I took.

She did say t'was an endin' of two eras there, cuz th' Navy base is closin' down an' this was th' last parade f'r them. An' also th' Hawthorne Elementary School's closin' its doors after this year, so 'twas their last parade, too.

She said there was some older folks was talkin' nearby an' they was mighty sad f'r th' loss o' both.

I guess when times change an' things disappear that'd always been, there's bound t' be a lotta sadness goin' around. I know how I'd feel if th' Chester Greenwood School here shut down!

Th' last picture is of some lilacs Pat G saw as she was headin' home. She said she knew how much I loved 'em, so she took that photograph for me.

I can't ever get enough o' lilacs!

Pat G tol' me one time she was visitin' down south... 'twas Alabama, I think, an' she happened t' mention lilacs an' a young woman said, "What d' they smell like?"

'Twas th' first time Pat G'd discovered there was was places where they didn't have lilacs!

Ain't that amazin'!

Well, we had us a fine parade. Th' weather couldn't o' been better - although 'twas nippy early on. Little further north o' here they got a touch o' frost. I'm glad we're on th' coast an' missed it.

Th' kids from Chester Greenwood had a float depictin' soldiers from all o' th' wars all th' way back t' th' revolution. They looked some cunnin' all dressed up, although I wished they'd had somethin' besides soldierin' t' show. Makes me so sad t' think o' all th' waste o' human lives.

Wouldn't y' think we'da learned by now?

Kids still think it's a fine thing, goin' off t' war... but it's just a game t' them - they don't get what th' reality's like.

I have t' admit t' sheddin' some tears when th' (real) old WW II soldiers went by. Some of 'em're older'n Harvey but they was marchin' as best they could.

There's only a couple left. I'm some grateful to 'em for what they done an' th' sacrifices they made.

We went over t' th' Legion Hall afterwards an' socialized f'r a while b'fore we went home.

Glad t' get back here an' put our feet up. I can't imagine how glad them old soldiers musta been t' do th' same!

That's all f'r now.

Love,

Stella

At the cemetery - May 24

Stella here.

We'll be headin' off t' th' parade pretty soon so I thought I'd better send these pictures now. They're from yest'day when we went t' th' cemetery with flowers t' pay respects t' folks in Harvey's fam'ly.

Our daughter Deb gave us a little bitty cam'ra - th' digital kind - that she found on sale at a Big Lots store. It's pretty basic, she said - an' so far I ain't had no trouble figurin' it out. Harvey says he ain't so sure about all this teck-nology that th' kids're draggin' us (mostly me) inta, but I say it beats foolin' with film an; waitin' around f'r developin'.

Now all I gotta do's be patient while it (th' laptop) uploads (downloads?) what I took.

Geezum, it's a pure wonder what's possible these days!

First picture's some o' Harvey's ancestors, way back.

Th' next one puts me in mind o' th' time my four brothers all dressed up as ghosts one Halloween t' go trick-or-treatin'! They're all alive an' kickin' at present... all younger'n me. We don't see 'em too often, though.

Harvey wanted me t' take that third picture - th' one with th' anchor on th' stone. 'Tain't no relation,,, he's just always liked th' seafarin' "motif" on it. He says he'd like t' have one like it when he goes. I tol' him he'd be lucky t' get an ol' stove-up lobster trap, not some fancy-carved stone, th' way th' e-conomy's been goin'!

Last one's th' geranium we got f'r Harvey's ma. I promised I wouldn't in-clude her stone cuz he said she'da had conniptions if she knew she was gonna be all over th' internet! I guess she was kinda like Harvey... didn't want no fuss.

In case y're wonderin' why I ain't in-cludin' no photographs o' me or Harvey it's cuz we don't want no fuss either. It's bad enough Pat G's out there tellin' tales in public 'bout our lives here in Moose Cove!

If I put out our pictures here on th' blog I expect we'd be mobbed by folks drivin' up here lookin' f'r our house... all wantin' t' gab... or t' have our autographs or some such.

No thank you!

We ain't th' sort t' wanta deal with that.

Well, I gotta run get ready f'r watchin' th' parade.

Hope y' have a fine day!

Love,

Stella

Mister Fish's brush with death

Stella here.
Well if that don't beat all!
Pat G sent me this picture. She'd been readin' what we posted 'bout th' fish ladder up t' Damariscotta Mills an' she sent this photograph of her goldfish. Says it's goin' on 9 years old an' has grown from about an inch up t' its present size of over six inches. She calls it Mister Fish, although how she knows it's a mister's a mystery t' me.

Harvey says when it gets a little bigger it'll make a fine chowdah.
... Ain't he terrible!!

That fish has survived a couple o' moves t' new livin' quarters, an' also bein' outta water once f'r at least an hour, an' maybe longer!
Tough son-of-a-gun!!

Pat G says she come home one night after work (this was when th' fish was still only a year or so old), an' he/it wasn't in th' bowl she kep' it in.
She said at first she thought the fish'd been kidnapped by aliens, cuz where would a fish GO if 'twasn't in its bowl?
Guess she looked all over, an' fin'lly found a lump o' brown down on th' floor over by th' baseboard. When she poked it it wiggled.
Turned out t' be th' darn fish!

'Parently, it'd decided t' swim upstream ' n spawn or somethin' an' jumped clean outta its bowl.
Landed in a potted plant Pat G had settin' on th' floor.
Musta rolled around in th' pottin' soil an' got good'n covered in dirt...
an' then flopped out onta th' floor where she found it.

She says she didn't know what else t' do so she just scooped it up an' dumped it back in th' fishbowl.
An' when th' dirt washed off, that fish was pure white! Shock, I guess.

She says she expected it t' be floatin' in th' mornin', but there warn't nothin' she c'd think of t' do, so she just let it be.
And come mornin', there's th' fish - back t' its right color an' swimmin' around waitin' t' be fed!!

An' that was 7 or 8 years ago.

Pat G says she now knows a goldfish remedy f'r if y' got a goldfish that's doin' poorly.
Her daughter found out about it on th' internet by Googlin' "sick fish" or some such.
It seems what y' do is drop a pea (like y'd buy frozen at th' IGA) inta th' tank an' somethin' in that pea'll cure what ails th' fish.
Honest.
Ain't th' world an amazin' place!

Sky's tryin' t' clear off. Hope so.
Tomorra's s'pposed t' be nice. If I c'n get some parade pictures I'll send 'em to ya.
But we're off t' th' cemetery in a bit t' put flowers on th' graves o' Harvey's folks like we always do, so I gotta go.
Just thought y'd en-joy readin' about that fish.
Love,
Stella

Alewives!

Stella here.

That Harvey... Ain't he somethin'!

Findin' that website last night an' gettin' in word o' Molly's 'n my trip down t' th' alewife run b'fore I could.

I bet he wishes he'da come along... fish stuff 'n all that... but he's always sayin' Molly 'n me's just like a couple o' ol' tourists, an' anyways he'd be bored stiff with our wanderin' around sayin', "Now don't THAT appear t' be a likely road," an' follerin' it t' see what lies at th' end.

He's got t' have a course plotted an' a destination in mind.

Unlike us.

:-)

But Molly'n me had us a fine ol' time, watchin' them fish a-swimmin' up that fish ladder! Them folks up t' Damariscotta Mills is doin' a right good thing, restorin' it so's th' alewives c'n swim upstream easier than they usta be able to.

If y're readin' this on Sat'day or Sunday, y' might take a drive over there y'rself. They got a pile o' e-vents scheduled this weekend t' help raise money t' continue th' work they're doin'.

Take a cam'ra along if y' got one. Even if it's gray y'll prob'ly get some good pictures.

And ain't it just some GRAY t'day! I'm glad I was up early, 'fore th' clouds come in. I do love t' see th' sun rise!

Well, that's all I got t' say f'r now. Busy day comin' up, so I'll leave y' t' en-joy y'r holiday.

Love,

Stella

Alewife run

This here's Harvey talkin'.
Stella an' Molly Eldridge went off on one o' their "toots" t'other day. They ended up in Damariscotta Mills watchin' th' alewife run. 'Course they didn't have no camera along but I found this website if y' wanta see what they saw.
Wicked good bait, them alewives!
www.unity.edu/facultypages/aphillippi/alwife.htm
That's all I got t' say.
H.

Summah's here!

Stella here.
Memorial Day weekend! "Summah's" here.

Me n' Harvey's excited cuz now we c'n get on with playin' th' license plate game.
In case y' don't know, we been playin' this f'rever ev'ry Summah from Memorial Day weekend t' Labor Day weekend. We try t' spot as many outta state cars as we can, an' whoever gets th' most is th' winner.
'Course, th' goal is t' get all 50, but 'tain't never happened, so we're content with just th' highest number.
I think th' most we ever got was 38, but that was a record an' we've never got that high a number again. Can't remember now if 'twas me or Harvey got it.

We started playin' when the girls was little. They ain't stopped either, even though they're grown an' Deb's got kids o' her own.

Down here on th' Pier Rd. you'd be surprised how many folks from away drive by. Sometimes they're lookin' t' buy lobsters, sometimes they're lost. Don't matter where we see 'em, though... in town... drivin' around... wherever we are.
Harvey once chased a car from away halfway t' Bucksport tryin' t' get a look at its plates! Just goes t' show y' how "inta" the game we get.

:-) It don't take much, I tell y', t' keep us happy.

Well, I'm up early cuz I got my bread dough risin'. I'm bakin' extra t'day cuz o' th' holiday weekend. Comp'ny's sure t' land an' if I ain't got enough I'll be reduced t' runnin' out'n buyin' store-bought!

We'll be goin' out t' th' cemetery on Sunday, like we always do. Take some flowers t' put on th' graves.
Parade's Monday an' we're all hopin' f'r good weather.
Warn't yest'day some warm! I'll admit, I was happy not t' be bakin' till t'day. It's a mite cooler t'day an' that's fine by me.

Harvey was out pert' near all day yest'day on our son-in-law's boat. They come back with a fairly decent catch, so they was happy. Mister man got him a fine sunburn, he did. Hadda slather him with some ointment when he got back, seein' as how he wouldn't put nothin' on b'fore they went out. I warned him...
But, I swear, y' can't tell that man nothin'!

I'm gonna sign off f'r now. I hope y' have a fine weekend. Watch out f'r th' folks who're gawkin' more than payin' attention t' their drivin' - an' don't you be one of 'em! Th' coast o' Maine ain't goin' nowhere, so y' got plenty o' time t' look at it.
Love,
Stella

Off on a "toot"

Stella here.
This is gonna be short an' sweet cuz Molly E. 'n me's headin' out pretty soon on our mid-week "toot" 'fore all th' folks from away land f'r Memorial Day weekend!
We didn't go yest'day cuz 'twasn't such a great day in th' weather de-partment. But t'day's just the finest kind an' we ain't wastin' no time doin' chores that c'n just as well wait a day.
Harvey's off with our son-in-law on his boat an' I'm free as a bird -
so I'll catch y' later an' tell y' what-all Molly an' I end up doin'.

If y're one o' them as only checks y'r computer now an' then... or if y're headin' out y'rself on y'r own toot f'r th' weekend, hope y' have a fine time... an' I'll be talkin' to y' later.
Love,
Stella

What we did on th' weekend

Stella here.
Y' may be wonderin' where I been th' last couple o' days...
well, Harvey an' me, we've been over visitin' with Deb an' her husband an' kids -
just sittin' around an' jawin' about fam'ly stuff... you know, how th' kids is doin' an' how their "an-tee-Q" business (as Harvey insists on callin' it) is gettin' on, an' all like that.

Went to a music re-cital thing at th' kid's school Sat'day ev'nin' an' that about wore us out. 'Twas fun watchin' Erin an' Douglas up there singin' in th' chorus - although them kids is got a ways t' go in th' harmony department, if y' ask me.

I once read a piece by Sarah Orne Jewett (who wrote Country of the Pointed Firs) describin' an elderly lady who sang. Miz Jewett said somethin' like, "If her singin' was as far outta town as it was outta tune, she wouldn'ta got home f'r a week!"
That's kinda th' way them kids sounded - although I got t' ad-mit, they was good n' LOUD!
Kep' Harvey awake f'r 'most th' whole program.
But they shore appeared t' be havin' a good time, so I guess that's what counts most.

Anyways, we had a good time but came home right tuckered out, so we just kinda lay low yest'day an' didn't do much.
Now it appears we might get a frost t'night an' I'm some concerned about some o' them little plants I been puttin' outside, gettin' 'em ready t' plant come Memorial Day weekend.
Guess I'd better bring 'em indoors... or at least stick 'em inside Harvey's shed f'r th' night.
Indoors is better, I guess, although earlier when I mentioned it, Harvey says t' me, "Might's well knit 'em some little scarfs t' wear 'r somethin'."
Well, I ain't gonna have my seedlin's all froze up come mornin', so I don't much care what he says, I'm bringin' 'em in!

That geranium I got a while back t' take t' th' cemetery Memorial Day's been bloomin' like crazy. Kinda hate t' part with it, but I do th' same ev'ry year... buy one, enjoy it f'r a spell, then take it t' decorate where Harvey's ancestors is buried. My fam'ly bein' mostly in Massachusetts, I let my brothers deal with them.

Well, enough about plants.
I'll be writin' again soon.
Love,
Stella

MOOSE pictures

Stella here.

I got two pictures from Pat G that a friend o' hers took at th' MOOSE gatherin' on Wed. night. Here they are.

First is her up on stage holdin' a bottle o' Moxie an' performin'.

(F'r those who ain't familiar with Moxie, it's a Maine soft drink that y' either love or y' can't stand. Been around f'rever! Some say it tastes like medicine. Some'll walk a mile t' get a bottle. They's no accountin' f'r taste. Harvey 'n th' twins love th' stuff, but I won't go near it.)

Second one's Pat G showin' off th' shirt I wrote y' about a couple days ago. Like I say, th' woman ain't got no taste in clothes, no-how!

Life th' way Maine used to be... is what it says at th' bottom. That's what she says about th' stories she tells about us.

Geez, I don't see as things're all that diff'rent here now-a-days from what they "usta be".

Yeah, we got computers an' satelite dishes 'n such, but other than a bunch o' folks from away movin' inta places, an' th' price o' lobster fallin' till it's hardly worth goin out... an' fish getting scarcer... Hmmm, maybe things HAS changed a good bit, after all.

We're still mostly just gettin' by in Moose Cove. Times is always been kinda tough here on th' coast. Ain't nobody gonna get rich livin' up here, that's f'r sure! On th' other hand, when they's a re-cession, most o' us hardly even notice!

Anyways, that's Pat G. (with what Harvey calls a s--- eatin' grin) wearin' th' shirt Deb made. LL Bean ain't got nothin' like THAT, let me tell ya!

An' don't go writin' us askin' how t' buy one, cuz it's a one-of-a-kind.

Thank goodness!

I was some annoyed at Harvey yesterday, lettin' me sleep s' late. Why, I didn't wake up till near six o'clock! That's what I get f'r stayin' up s' late.

But today Harvey's off fishin' with our son-in-law. He's fill-in stern man when th' regular guy can't make it.

They headed out wicked early, so as t' get in a good day an' be back safe in case it turns stormy later.

I made us some sassage an' some toast, an' fixed mister man a thermos o' hot tea t' take along. Now I got bread dough risin'. Good thing, too, cuz that toast was th' last o' th' batch o' bread I made last Friday.

I say it's a pure crime t' pay four or five bucks (or more!) f'r a loaf o' store-bought bread! Folks don't know what they're missin' by not bakin' their own. Whole house smells good all day, an' there ain't nothin' like a slice 'r two o' Anadama right hot outta th' oven!

Well, I've about run down, so I'll say g'bye f'r now.

Talk to y' later.

Love,

Stella

Harvey talkin'

This here's Harvey talkin'.
My 2 cents.
Stella's still sleepin cuz she stayed up late talkin' t' Pat G. on th' phone last night.
T'was a pile o' folks showed up t' hear th' stories. Pat G. was some tickled, I guess!
Geezum crow, she wore th' shirt.
They's even pictures.
What next?
H.

Wednesday "toot" with Molly E. / tee shirts

Stella here.
Y' ain't gettin' no pictures this mornin'... I'm gettin' ready t' go off with Molly Eldredge f'r part o' th' day, an' I got no time t' set around waitin' f'r that bless-ed thing t' upload... 'r download... 'r whatever it does.

Me 'n Molly ain't been off on one o' our "toots" f'r a couple o' weeks now an' we're some ex-cited about th' fine day this one's shapin' up t' be.
Dunno where we'll end up, or how long we'll be gone. I'm leavin' Harvey some chowdah t' heat up f'r his dinner (lunch - f'r those of y' from "away")... an' a slab o' pie an' a plate o' crackers t' crumble int' th' chowdah th' way he likes. Oughta hold him till supper time, I guess.

I'm feelin' just a bit nervous. Pat G's gonna be down t' Portland t'night tellin' them stories she's got about Harvey 'n me... Geezum, I ain't sure I'm wild about all them folks list'nin' t' her talk f'r an hour 'bout our lives here in Moose Cove, Maine. We keep sayin' we ain't no diff'rent from all th' other folks around here. But she seems t' think we're enter-tainin', an' evidently there's some that agree with her cuz they show up an' set an' listen.

Y' know what that blamed fool woman's gonna do b'sides tell tales? She's wearin' that tee shirt that our daughter Deb cranked out a week 'r so ago... th' one that says "Harvey and Stella - life th' way Maine used to be", an' on th' back of it's got this blog address printed in letters big e-nough t' see a mile away!

Seems Deb had a friend was down t' th' L.L. Bean outlet a while back, an' she saw some wicked cute tee shirts that said "Maine the way life should be" or some such acrost th' front. Thought they was a hoot an' when she gets home th' friend calls up Deb an' says get y'r butt down here an' get one o' those f'r y'rself... they're some cunnin'!! Only Deb couldn't get loose t' drive all th' way t' Freeport, so she emails her sister Jeannie who's in Portland an' says run up an' get me one o' them shirts!

Trouble was, by th' time Jeannie gets up t' Freeport there ain't nothin' left but two size "M's" an Deb's a mite beyond "M"... she's more of a "X-L".
So Jeannie hadda let 'em go, bein' a size "L" herself.

But a couple weeks later, Deb's over t' th' Salvation Army on half price day lookin' f'r clothes f'r th' kids an' sees a tee shirt with a lobster on th' front an' a lot o' unoccupied white space on th' rest of it.
Now Deb, she's wicked clever with crafts an' stuff - don't know where she got it from - an' she gets some letters rubber stamps an', like I say, cranks out this shirt.

Well, Pat G see's it an' blast if she don't buy it offa Deb right on th' spot! Paid her twice what Deb paid f'r it, so they both come away happy.
But Geez, I never thought she'd wear th' dang thing out in public!
If y' see her t'night, you tell her Stella says she's got questionable taste in clothin'!

Oh, I gotta go! Molly's here. Runnin' late as usual, but better late than never, I guess.
Talk to y' later.
Love,
Stella

Olive Kitteridge / Stuart McLean / chicken suit

Stella here.
I dunno how t' put in a picture where I want it in this blog. Dunno how t' turn one around so's it's right ways up either. Sorry. So if y' wanta know what y're lookin' at off t' th' left here, y' gotta read down a couple paragraphs.

I was list'nin' to public radio t'day an' happened on an interview with Elizabeth Strout who's won th' Pulitzer Prize for writin' a book called Olive Kitteridge. Called up Pat G. an' asked her if she's read it cuz I know she reads a lot. Said she hasn't yet, although a couple o' people've recommended it to her.

It's about a Maine woman an' her neighbors 'n I s'pose now ev'ry time Pat G. goes out tellin' stories 'bout me 'n Harvey people're gonna say she's tryin' t' imitate Olive Kitteridge. I sure hope they don't, though. I happen t' know she's been collectin' stuff about us f'r a lot longer'n that book's been out. It's just taken her a while t' figure out how t' go about tellin' what she's accumulated.

She was sayin' she got in-spired when she went t' Portland back in Feb. t' see that Stuart McLean "Vinyl Cafe" fella tellin' his stories up on th' stage at the city hall there. She said watchin' him give her th' courage t' get up like he does, an' if he can get heard over all nine provinces in Canada f'r years on end, she oughta be able t' stand up down here in Maine an' tell some tales about Harvey an' me.

I have t' admit, me 'n Harvey like t' listen t' Mr. McLean of a Sunday afternoon, an' I tell y' there's times I ain't laughed s' hard since th' year Jeannie, our oldest, said she was comin' over with chicken f'r dinner f'r my birthday an' she showed up in a yella chicken suit! I swear, sometimes that girl's just plain foolish! (That's what th' picture is, it's Jeannie comin' outta th' costume store in th' rig she rented.)

Well, anyway, I just wanted t' mention that book in case any of y' want t' check it outta th' library where y' are.

Oh, b'fore I forget... we had a fine day yesterday havin' Mother's Day supper here. Both th' girls was here (although there weren't no chicken suits this time - they just come as themselves), an' Molly E. from up th' road, an' Deb's husband an' th' kids.
Kinda crowded, but we managed.

Catch y' later.
Love,
Stella

Mother's Day

Stella here.

Beautiful mornin' early, although it's clouded over again. I'm goin' f'r postin' another picture after pullin' off last th' last one.

...Hah! It worked!! :-)
Just wanted t' say Happy Mother's day t' any moms readin' this. Our girls're coming later f'r supper, an' bringin' most of it with them so's I don't have t' cook hardly atall. Ain't that sweet of 'em?!

'Course I been scurryin' around neatenin' up a bit, but other than makin' some deviled eggs, I ain't done nothin' t' exert myself.

Harvey says he's helpin' by stayin' outta th' way. Ain't that some sweet o' him!

Molly Eldredge is comin', too, seein's how her kids is so far away an' can't be here - an' she's bringin' a casserole, so we oughta have plenty.

We in-vited Pat G t' come but she's gettin' ready f'r her performance o' some o' our stories in Portland on Wednesday night an' said she can't do any socializin' till after she gets done with that.

Storytellers is funny folks, sometimes!

If y' want t' get details, y' c'n email us at harveyandstellastories@yahoo.com an' we'll send y' directions an' such.

Or just drop us a line. Always nice t' hear from folks.

That's all f'r now. Just wanted t' show off by sendin' another picture, say hello, an' hope y're havin' a good day.

Harvey sends his best.

Love,

Stella

Another picture (sun this time!)

Stella here.


Well, I guess Harvey got one up on me with gettin' a picture int' the blog 'fore me. But I c'n be just as patient as he can, I betcha. I got one in th' works now an' it oughta show up any time now. IF it does - an' I ain't makin' no guarantees that it will - y'll get t' see a bit o' sun 'fore it goes away again.

Woo hoo! There 'tiz!!! Never thought I'd actually get it t' work!

Mighty pretty when there's sun, don'cha think?

It rained somethin' awful last night! When I went out this mornin' all my flower pots an' winda boxes was just brimmin' over. Hadda dump 'em out so's all my little plantlings wouldn't get drownded.

Just a note that Harvey jumped th' gun on that equal marriage bill gettin' passed. It ain't law yet. They's still folks who's against it, I'm sorry t' say. So while Maine's makin' progress toward havin' equal rights f'r all, we ain't 100% there yet.
His brother Raymond was one that woulda been some tickled t' see things becomin' more tolerant.

Raymond went out t' California when he was a young man. Ev'rybody 'round here figured he was lookin' t' get int' th' movies. He was a good-lookin' fella an' always kinda dramatic, so folks wouldn'ta been surprised t' see him actin' in pictures. Got a job workin' on scenery an' such, though. Made a good livin' at it, too, an' only came back here a couple times just t' see our girls when they was little.

I was always surprised Raymond never got married an' had kids o' his own, but th' last time he come back t' Maine, him an' me was sittin' up drinkin' coffee one night an' he tol' me that he had someone special back in California, only 'twarn't no girl, 'twas another fella an' they'd been together f'r years.

Well, you coulda knocked me over with a feather! I never knew anybody that was gay b'fore! Least not that I knew about.
He told Harvey a coupla days later, just b'fore he went back. Harvey was kinda upset at first, but he was more upset that Raymond'd never seen fit t' tell us sooner an' that we'd never got t' meet Bill - that's Raymond's fella.
Sometimes Harvey surprises me.

Well, Raymond died a couple years ago. We still get a card from Bill at Christmas, an' th' girls get cards on their birthday. I wish Bill'd come out an' see us. I'd sure like t' meet him in person. But ain't none o' us gettin' any younger an' it's a long way t' come.
If Bill an' Raymond coulda wed just like Harvey an' me, maybe they'da come t'gether t' visit.
Well, they's still hope f'r th' younger folks, anyway.

Goodness, I didn't intend t' go on so about fam'ly like that.
It's cloudin' up again, so I better get back t' my chores. Bread's almost done bakin'.

If y' get a chance t' vote about equal marriage, though, just remember that love's love, no matter who th' couple is.
That's all f'r now.
Love,
Stella

Equal Marriage bill

This here's Harvey talkin'.
Again.
Just wanted t' say that I think it's a fine thing that our governor just signed th' Equal Marriage bill int' law.
Wish my brother, Raymond, had lived t' see it.
H.

See a picture!!!

This here's Harvey talkin'.

Ain't Stell gonna be some suprised when she gets home an' sees this! (Check out down below, what she wrote earlier t'day.)

Too d--- cold out in m' shed t' do anything out there, so I thought I'd mess around with th' blog some while she's out.

I think puttin' in pictures is kinda like fishin'... y' just gotta be patient enough.

Guess I ain't just another pretty face after all.

H.

Long johns and wool socks

Stella here.

Some damp an' chilly this mornin'! Glad o' th' rain, though, we sure needed it!

Harvey's wearin' his long johns an' I got on a wool sweater an' socks. There's nothin' like wool f'r keepin' a body warm.
Now, I know folks who've moved here from away who put all their their wool stuff up attic come th' first warm weather. They never do it two years runnin', though. Either they leave an' go where it gets warm an' stays warm, or they just learn t' keep their winter duds handy "just in case" just like th' rest o' us.

I been tryin' t' get a picture on this blasted blog so's y' c'd see what it looks like on a dreary day in Maine if y're from away, but so far I ain't had no luck. Next time Jeannie's here I have t' ask her t' give me a hand.

Harvey's some happy, though, that it's been rainin'. He still remembers th' big fire over t' Bar Harbor when it was so dry back in '47, an' he says he don't ever want t' go through nothin' like that again! (He was among th' volunteers who tried t' keep it from burnin' ev'rything in its path. Scared th' bejeezus outta him, it did.) I guess y' never forget somethin' like that.
So we got no complaints about wearin' wool an' not seein' nothin' but clouds 'n rain f'r a couple days.

I'm kinda disappointed, though. Molly Eldredge 'n me was gonna go off on one o' our midweek "toots" (as we call 'em), an' drive around an' see what ex-citin' discoveries we might find.
I know there's some who can't imagine what Molly 'n me find t' look at, 'havin' lived in these parts f'r so long - but she 'n I never seem t' tire o' roamin' around gabbin' f'r half a day 'r so. Sometimes we meet folks, 'n sometimes we just look around. "Cuss-ed tourists" is what Harvey calls us, but we don't pay him no never-mind atall.

Well, since I can't seem t' "upload" (or is it "download"? I never can keep those terms straight) no pictures, maybe I'll walk down t' Molly's place an' have a cup o' tea with her an' talk about where we been other times when th' weather was decent.

Catch y' later.
Love,
Stella

Monday mornin' after a quiet weekend

Stella here.
Well, I hope y' had a nice weekend. Harvey an' me certainly did.
We stayed t' home an' didn't do hardly NOTHIN'!
Didn't write in th' blog.
Didn't have comp'ny.
Didn't clean.
Didn't tinker in th' shed.
Didn't pay bills 'r write letters.
Didn't even talk much.

Jeannie, our oldest, usta have a poster on her wall with a picture o' one o' them funny-lookin' Kliban fella's cats on it an' it said,
"Sometimes I sits an' thinks, an' sometimes I just sits."

Well, that was th' weekend.
Now we're gettin' back t' normal!

Deb (that's our younger one) says we had us a "sabbath". Jeannie said 'twas more like a "re-treat".
Well, not bein' much of a one t' know 'bout such things, I just figured we was havin' a quiet weekend. Harvey said th' same.
"Why go puttin' a label on what just was," he asked me.
Them girls, though, they've always been deeper thinkers 'n me and Harvey. So maybe 'twas a sabbath an' maybe 'twas a retreat.
Mighty peaceful, whatever 'twas.

Pat G. wanted us t' come down t' Bath t' hear Gordon Bok on Sat'day over t' th' Chocolate Church. She knows we enjoy his singin' an' playin', but 'twas a mite far t' go, s' we just put on one o' his tapes an' sat with our feet up an' listened t' both sides an' then went t' bed.
Th' girls keep after us t' get one o' them CD players so's we can hear his newer stuff, but Harvey says he ain't tired o' th' "old" songs yet. 'Sides, we got a number o' tapes o' other folks, too, like that Kendall Morse fella. We get a right charge outta him! Although Harvey, he loves the "Moose Turd Pie" story an' I think it's just a little "gross" (as th' kids'd say).
Well, y' can't agree on ev'rything! Not even after 53 - an' countin' - years.
Thank goodness!

C'n you imagine... 53 years! Jeez, who'da ever thought!
When Pat G asked us if she c'd tell some stories about Harvey'n me, we thought she was some foolish! Who'd wanta hear a bunch o' not-very-excitin' tales about not much o' anything atall?
But it seems some folks en-joy hearin' about th' "olden" days. Th' girls say it's nostalgia. Harvey says, "Whatever floats y'r boat."

Well, whatever 'tiz, I gotta go. Th' washer's makin' one gosh-awful racket an' tryin' t' waddle 'cross th' floor. Guess I put too many towels in th' last load!
See ya!
Love,
Stella

May Day & music

Stella here.
Well, it's May Day an' all th' trees is bustin' out with those Spring green buds! Sure is pretty!
Seems like this week just FLEW by! Where's th' time go?!! I been busier'n a one-armed paper hanger!
Seems like ev'ry time I go t' write somethin' somethin' comes up an' I get distracted! But t'day I'm home bakin' bread - my usual Friday project - s' while this batch is risin' I'll park myself here in th' kitchen an' set f'r a minute.

Harvey was tellin' me this mornin' how he remembers back when he was a kid that a lot o' th' kids his age'd go out lookin' f'r May flowers. They'd pick a bunch an' put 'em in little paper baskets they'd made an' go around hangin' 'em on th' doors o' folks they liked.
Far's we c'n tell, nobody does that anymore. Least we haven't heard about it. Kids is too busy runnin' off t' school an' sports events an' such, an' I don't think most of 'em'd know a May flower if it reached out an' BIT 'em!
Kinda too bad, I say.
Harvey says th' world's goin' t' hell in a handbasket. But he's been sayin' that f'r 's long's I've known him.

I was noticin' that May 3rd's Pete Seeger's birthday.
Now, I never heard o' his music while I was growin' up. We never had much music around th' house. My ma said 't was a waste o' time.
'Course I'd listen in on th' radio when I was over to a friend's house, but that was about it.
"Twas when I met up with th' hippies back in th' 60's that I started hearin' some of 'em sing that "folk music". An' I discovered that some of it 'twas pretty good.
Harvey weren't too en-thused about me hanging around with them hippies, but some o' those ladies... 'scuse me... women... taught me 'most all I know 'bout organic gardenin', an' while we'd be visitin' sometimes I'd hear them protest songs. An' y' know, somethin' about 'em just touched me.

Now, some folks I met just after Harvey'n me got hitched back in '55 played music at home. I mean THEY played music... none o' that re-corded stuff.
I 'member one time him'n me went over t' visit some French folks he knew, an' they hauled out an accordion an' a guit-tar, an' th' grandad, he played th' spoons!
You coulda knocked me over with a feather, I was so su'prised. I didn't know folks played music like that!
But, mister man, let me tell you - that place was JUMPIN'! 'Course, they was singin' in French but it didn't make no never-mind t' me. I just loved it!

So now I try t' listen t' all sorts o' music. Once 'r twice, when I couldn't sleep, I've gotten up an' come down an' turned on public radio an' listened t' some o' that "space music" they play late at night, an' I even liked some of that!
If that don't beat all!

Well, I gotta go punch down some bread 'fore it takes over th' kitchen.
Talk to y' later.
Love,
Stella