Glasses

Stella here.
Well, you'll never guess... Harvey's got readin' glasses!
Let me tell ya, he was fit t' be tied when th' eye doc told him he needed 'em! I been th' last two days just tryin' t' get him t' simmer down about it.

He said he never needed no help seein' all those years he was out on th' water... said he c'd see now just as well as th' next fella.
Only I know f'r a fact he can't. An' th' eye doc confirmed it.
But he got off easy. Seems he c'n get by with just a cheap pair from off o' th' rack at th' drugstore. I'm mighty glad 'cause a fancy prescription woulda cost an arm an' a leg!
Now that he's got 'em maybe he won't complain about th' computer needin' adjustin' anymore.

I think he looks kinda dis-tinguished wearin' glasses. Th' girls ain't seen 'em yet but they say they'll be up just's soon as they can.
Well, that's all f'r now. It's been a mighty fine day here. Temps in th' sixties... perfect!
Love,
Stella

Didn't it rain!

Stella here.

Ain't that Harvey a card! Sendin' a picture o' frost t'other day, of all things.
Well, maybe it worked - it's cooled off a mite. 'Course, along with th' coolin' off we got a pile o' rain!

Me an' Molly was over t' th' IGA yest'day when th' sky just busted loose and we thought we was gonna be stuck there f'r th' afternoon! 'Tweren't no way we was gonna try makin' a run t' her car... no sir!
We just hunkered down along with a pile o' other folks an' waited it out.
Folks that got caught 'tween their cars an' th' storefront looked like a bunch 'o drowned rats!

I was afraid th' Pier Rd. was gonna be under water when we got back, but we made it OK. Th' rain'd let up an' 'twasn't as bad as it mighta been. Still, I was some glad t' get indoors an' not hafta go anywheres else!
I was sad t' see, comin' up th' steps that th' rain'd beat my sunflower right over till her stem broke. So once it stopped rainin' I snipped th' stem an' brought'er indoors. Now she's in a jar on th' winda sill.

Here's somethin' new... Harvey happened t' mention t' me that while he was "trollin' " around lookin' f'r pictures o' frost an' such he noticed he was havin' t' squint some at th' screen. Said maybe I oughta get Deb t' come have a look an' see it th' laptop needed adjustin' somehow.
After he said that, though, I recollected as how he's been squintin' at th' paper, too.
I don't think it's th' laptop.
So I called right up t' th' eye doc an' made him an appointment. They had an openin' f'r t'morra an' so he's goin' in t' get his eyes inspected.
He was some annoyed at me, I tell ya, but I didn't pay him no mind, just went ahead and signed him up.
I'll let y' know how it goes.

That's all I got f'r now.
Talk to y' later.
Love,
Stella

Frost, y' say?

This here's Harvey talkin'.

Just thought y' might like a picture t' remind y' that cooler weather's comin'.

This here frost one's from th' picture file I found while trollin' around on this thing while Stell's out shoppin'.

Th' good news is, we're missin' th' hurricane... Or it's missin' us.

H.

A sunflower an' thought's about waitressing

Stella here.

Well, it ain't gettin' any cooler, so I figured I'd set down an' send ya my sunflower.

Ain't she some fine?

Cheers me right up ev'ry time I go out an' see her!

Heard from Pat G. earlier. Said she'd been over t' Lewiston an' it was 96 degrees there!

That's too hot f'r me! Lucky we get a little breeze now'n then off th' water, so Moose Cove's a trifle cooler'n 96.

Ten degrees cooler in summer an' 10 degrees warmer in winter than if we was livin' inland. That's what we always say. An' that's OK in my book!

Pat G said she's gonna go tell another o' our stories t' some friends on Thursday. She was asked t' tell one a while back after dinner at one o' their birthdays. Well, I guess those folks liked the first one, cuz she's gonna go back an' tell another!

It's a pure mystery t' me why anybody'd want t' hear about our borin' lives - but there's lots o' things in this world I don't understand.

Molly an' me's gonna hold of goin' anywhere till Thursday. With any luck it'll cool down some by then.

We both agreed that th' mall - even if it's air conditioned - ain't our idea of a good time. Maybe we'll just run over t' Th' Bait Barrel an' see if they got a new waitress yet.

After Cheryl run off with th' yoga instructor they been pretty short-handed.

If my feet'd permit it, I'd apply f'r th' job m'self. It'd be a bit of a come-down, though, f'r th' guys who usta hang around drinkin' coffee an' watchin' Cheryl bend over in them tight jeans o' hers.

:-)

But I usta waitress, over t' th' old Chaw an' Chat restaurant, back when th' girls was kids. I loved it most o' th' time an' I'd do it some more if I could. Feet won't let me, though.

We usta have a couple o' ladies worked there when I did... both of 'em musta been pushin' 75 'r more, an' let me tell you, they was hell on wheels! I learned a lot from 'em back when I first started. Prob'ly wouldn't o' made it past m' first day if it hadn't been f'r Helene.

I'll tell ya about her sometime, but right now I'm runnin' outta steam.

I'm gonna go see what Harvey's up to.

Love,

Stella

Too hot!

Stella here.
Well, ain't it just hotter'n blazes!
I emailed our cousins from Texas yest'day an' told 'em I felt like we was right there with 'em, what with all o' this heat! Felt like we was in a sauna... or at least what I think a sauna'd feel like. Harvey'd pitch a fit if I ever said I was actually gonna go t' one!

Molly Eldridge come over yest'day an' we sat out back drinkin' ice tea an' hopin' f'r a breeze. Still, 'twas cooler, I guess, than some places inland. We was talkin' about where we might go on one o' our toots (sightseein') but th' only place we could think of was th' mall cuz o' th' air conditionin'... an' what fun'd that be?
I guess we'll hold off until it cools down some.

I took a picture o' my sunflower by th' side door but I'm gonna wait to load it in cuz it's already too hot t' do more'n say hello an' I hope wherever y're sittin' t'day's cooler'n here.
Stay cool.
Love,
Stella

A rainbow, and lots of news!

This here's Harvey. Stell's gonna get on in a minute an' talk y'r ear off. Just wanted y' t' see th' rainbow we saw t'other day.

Wicked clever, those digital cameras.

H.

Stella here.

Harvey's right. I got more news than Carter's got Little Liver Pills, s' hold onta y'r hat - here's goes!

First off, we been busier'n a one-armed paper hanger around here! Comp'ny from away... some cousins o' mine we ain't seen in ages! They was up here all th' way from Texas, if you c'n believe that. 'Twas a mighty fine time, seein' 'em again after all these years!

It's too long a story t' tell y' how they got t' livin' down there. I'll save that f'r some other time. I'll just say that they looked mighty good an' we was happy t' have 'em visit.

...But I ain't gonna post no pictures of 'em. They'd be wicked embarassed!

So - like Paul Harvey usta say - here's th' rest o' th' story:

Ol' Miz Gooch up an' died not too long after they hauled off her ol' piano (see th' pictures in one o' th' Ju-ly postin's) to add t' th' fire dept. trainin' "burn". 'Twasn't like she'd been ailin' or nothin' - just didn't wake up one mornin'.

But I think she was OK with that. We'd had some conversations while Molly Eldredge an' me was cleanin' her house while Miz G. mended from that busted ankle, an' she seemed like she'd made peace with about ever'thing she needed to.

As one o' her grandkids said, "I bet when Nana woke up an' found she was in heaven an' not Moose Cove, she musta been some surprised!"

Her church put on a fine funeral service for her, an' that son o' hers actually come up from New York f'r it, but he spent th' whole service checkin' his Blackberry 'r palm pilot - 'r whatever them things is called - an' lit out soon's it was over. 'Course, her grandkids was there, decked out some fine. Harvey'n me went, an' that church was packed tighter'n a sar-dine can!

I dunno what'll happen t' her house now. Molly'n me's been stoppin' by t' water her flowers, an' they're doin' fine.

Then Cheryl... you may remember, she's Rah Rah's granddaughter up here from Connecticut who was waitressin' over t' The Bait Barrell f'r th' summer... Well, she up an' disappeared - didn't show up f'r her shift one mornin' - an' only turned up three days later, married t' th' Pilate (pi-lattie) an' yoga instructor down t' that fancy spa they got down Rt. 1 a-ways.

She ain't workin' at the "Barrell" no more. Now she's teachin' exersizes an' how t' stretch an' keep fit along side o' her new husband.

Rah Rah 'bout had a coronary over it! She's simmered down some now, an' she's actin' like she's pleased about it... had their picture put in th' paper an' all, but I ain't seen her (Rah Rah) visitin' th' spa like she usta.

Oh, yeah, that's how Cheryl met Philip - droppin' by t' give Rah Rah a lift home one day when her Town Car hadda be towed after some BMW from Rhode Island smacked inta it in th' spa parkin' lot. Stove th' back end all t' heck an' gone! Folded up her vanity plate like a napkin!

Rah Rah came boilin' out in her yoga outfit an' she lit inta that RI woman somethin' fierce! Musta set her meditatin' back about six months.

So anyways, we've had a funeral, an' a disappearance an' a weddin' (sort of), an' visitin' relatives... T' tell th' truth, I'm startin' t' look forward t' Labor day.

Love,

Stella

Harvey's turn

This here's Harvey talkin'.
Stell didn't happen t' mention, talkin' about settin' down by th' water t'other night an' "bein' romantic", that we was about gettin' ate up by mosquitoes an' those cuss-ed green head flies. One took a piece outta my ear that about sent me through th' roof o' th' car! That was when I noticed th' smoke.
So much f'r ro-mance.
H.

Impressive pictures

Stella here.

First off, it's OK. Nobody hurt and this ain't nothin' t' panic about. I didn't want t' scare ya.

Me an' Harvey just wanted t' share these pictures we took last night with ya.

Well, f'r all th' times I've said we never get no ex-citement here in Moose Cove, these pictures'll prove to ya that sometimes we DO get some after all.

Me an' Harvey decided we was gonna drive out an' watch th' moon come up last night. It's just about full, y' know, an' we thought it'd be kinda ro-mantic... kinda like in our courtin' days t' go "parkin' " down by th' water.

'Course we've slowed down some since those days, but that don't mean we ain't able t' en-joy ourselves some now an' then!

Anyways, there we was, holdin' habds, moon a-comin' up like some kinda gauzey the-ater prop right on cue, when all the sudden Harvey says, "What 'n blazes is THAT?!" An' there's this big ol' plume o' smoke risin' up off t' one side.

We was mighty concerned, cuz we was afraid it might be one o' th' summer people's houses down a-ways. So we listened but we couldn't hear no sirens and that seemed kinda strange.

'Twasn't th' dump. We was sure about that. Dump's off in another direction all t'gether. So after some de-batin' we drove over toward th' smoke t' see if we c'd find out what was goin' on.

Well, it turns out th' volunteer fire dept. fin'lly got permission t' burn down that ol'

derelict house on th' Cove Road. They was usin' it f'r practise an' "trainin' purposes".

Turns out we wasn't th' only ones there neither... half th' town turned out! If we'da been home we'da heard it on th' scanner.

This mornin' we found out somethin' else went inta th' blaze, too... Some o' th' guys hauled that ol' busted up piano from out o' Miz Gooch's front yard - you know, th' one she'd had her grandchildren put th' "FREE" sign on hopin' somebody'd be fool enough t' take it. Ain't nobody was ever gonna take that old thing, though. It was startin' t' disintegrate right where it stood.

So Eddie Barnes an' th' other volunteers went an' got it an' doused it good with kerosene, since it was so wet from all th' rain, an' it went up in flames along with th' old house.

"Trainin's " what they called it, but I think 'twas just a good ex-cuse f'r th' guys t' stand around an' hoot an' holler at each other!

Me an' Harvey watched f'r a while but we went home 'fore she was all done.

So. That's th' big ex-citement here. Oughta hold us till somethin' else comes along.

But I ain't holdin' my breath.

See ya.

Love,

Stella

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