New Years Eve in Moose Cove

Stella here.
Yeah, th' cat's OK. Lost a little hair from her be-hind, and she ain't too inclined t' go out t'day (see Harvey's yesterday postin'), but other'n that, she's fine - in case y' was worried.

It's snowin'. Th' Pier Road's covered over an' there's plenty more comin' from what I hear tell. I'm some glad Harvey's days o' plowin' snow are over. If y' want t' hear about 'em, y' gotta go listen t' Pat G sometime when she's tellin' stories somewhere.

T'night's a blue moon, too. Just made it under th' wire. We won't be seein' it, though, f'r th' snow.

Me an' Harvey hope y' have a happy, safe New Years Eve an' a wicked fine new year. We'll be long asleep when some folks is whoopin' an' hollerin' an' watchin' that ball drop in Times Square. Used t' be, we'd go out in th' door yard an' bang on a kettle with a couple o' wooden spoons, but now we're con-tent t' let other folks do th' rabble-rousin'.
Enjoy th' ev'nin', whatever y' do.
Love,
Stella,
An' we'll see y' NEXT YEAR.
H.

The cat sat on the mat.

This here's Harvey talkin'.
Cuss-ed wind's howlin' like a banshee!
Went t' call th' cat in from outside an' she jus' sat there lookin' annoyed.
Took me a minute t' figure out her butt was froze t' th' stoop.
Hadda pour warm water t' get 'er unstuck.
(She's OK, though.)
H.

Day after Christmas

Stella here.

Whew! I sure am glad t' have a quiet mornin' now that all th' Christmas ex-citement's done.

We had a fine day yest'day but now it's good t' just have time t' set an' re-flect on ev'rything.

I guess that's one o' th' good things about gettin' t' be older... y' have some time t' set.

I gotta ad-mit, I don't envy th' younger folks - all runnin' from one thing t' th' next with no time t' stop an' think about what's just been.

As y' c'n see, th' roads're pretty clear, so th' kids didn't have no trouble gettin' here or gettin' home again last night. And o' course, Molly's just up th' road so she was OK, just walked over.

Harvey got th' grandkids a couple slabs o' "Authentic Canadian Cougar Booger Soap" last time we was over t' Reny's. I'da spoken to him about his choice o' gifts if I'da seen him buy th' stuff - but those kids thought it was a hoot. (They're just at that age, 'y' know.)

We been mighty careful about our spendin' this year, even more'n usual. Ev'rybody agreed t' only spend a certain amount, an' we all stuck to it pretty good.

Harvey liked his nose warmer an' mittens, 'cept that th' cat run off with th' nose warmer - thinkin', I guess, it was a mouse or somethin'. Time we got it away from her it was all chewed an' kinda tore up an' one o' th' strings was halfway down her gullet, but Harvey says he'll wear it anyway - once it dries out. (Time will tell.)

Just about ev'rybody gave me yarn so's I can work on knittin' projects. Harvey give me a nice bottle o' Avon Skin s' Soft which I can never have too much of.

All in all, 'twas a good day.

Molly'd had a call from th' fella she's been emailin' to. Says he still wants t' come f'r a visit.

Jeannie had t' work t'day, so she left sooner'n th' rest so as t' get back t' Portland at a decent hour. But Deb an' her husband an' th' kids stayed till way late (9:00). Me an' Harvey was tuckered out, an' truth be told, I think they was, too, so they headed out, droppin' Molly at her place on their way so's she wouldn't have t' walk home in th' dark.

When they was gone we gathered up th' wrappin' papers an' ribbons an' shut down th' tree an' was in bed within minutes. Harvey let out a wicked yell when he slid inta bed... That darn cat had found th' nose warmer again an' stashed it under th' covers on Harvey's side. I couldn't help grinnin'. Guess 't was th' first "re-giftin' " o' th' day!

Hope y'r celebrations were as happy as ours.

Love,

Stella

Happy Christmas

Stella here.
Happy Christmas to ya!
Th' gang'll be here soon but me an Harvey wanted t' say season's greetin's t' all o' you folks who've been readin' this blog!
It's a mighty pretty Christmas mornin' here in Moose Cove, Maine. If I had more time I'd en-close a picture 'r two but the bless-ed things take s' long t' load in that it ain't worth th' stress o' waitin'... not when we got th' kids comin' an' th' grandkids, an' Molly E from up th' road.
Hope y' have a fine day!
Love,
Stella
Oh... PS - I called Pat G t' wish her a merry Christmas an' she musta been out cuz she's got th' foolishest message on her answerin' machine y' ever heard! Some kinda "Christmas frog".

Snow, and a beau

Stella here.

I ain't bakin' NO MORE Christmas cookies! That's it! I am DONE!

We had us some snow. This time o' year I c'n still appreciate it (see th' pictures) but later on me an' Harvey'll start referin' to it as "th' S-word". Pretty f'r now, though.

Molly E. come over yest'day an' we set a spell an' had us some Christmas tea an' some gingerbread (not cookies) I made. Molly confided in me that she's got herself a beau.

It's been some time since Frank passed an' I'd about figured Molly t' be con-tent with livin' alone. Frank, he was a good man an' all, an' we still miss him, but I guess Molly's been lonesomer'n we realized.

But dang, if she didn't meet up with some fella she went t' school with on that Facebook whatchamacallit that Pat G an' th' girls keep tellin' me about, an' I guess they got t' writin' an' now he wants t' come t' Moose Cove f'r a visit!

Molly's some nervous - since they ain't laid eyes on one another f'r somethin' like 50 years. Said writin's one thing, seein's another. I guess he want's ' come after Christmas. Said he can stay up t' th' Moose Cove Motel f'r a couple o' days, an' him'n Molly c'n just see what develops.

Speakin' o' Christmas, th' girls're both comin', Deb with her husband an' th' kids, an' Jeannie's drivin' from Portland. So we'll have a full house an' then some. Molly'll come over, too, later f'r suppah. Hard t' b'lieve it's just th' day after t'morra! Good news, though, is th' roads'll all be plowed. I got Harvey's nose-warner all done, fin'lly, 'long with some matchin' mittens. That man looses more mittens than Carter has Little Liver Pills, so I try awful hard t' keep ahead of him!

Well, that's it f'r now. Gonna do a wash an' then I expect I'm about done. One it's hung t' dry I'm gonna set back an' survey our "do-main". All th' decorations're up, so there's nothin' left t' do till tomorra.

Talk to ya later.

Love,

Stella

Harvey here

This here's Harvey talkin'.
Stell's off shoppin'.
She didn't much like th' Mexican frog coin purse I got at th' yankee swap t'other night. Real frog. Bet it's a antique.
Fella that ended up with th' petrified seagull warn't none too pleased neither.
H.

Yankee Swap

Stella here.
Brrr, it's a mite nippy t'night. I'm some glad we got all that wood in an' stacked.
Harvey's over t' th' men's group at th' grange t'night playin' Santa f'r their Yankee Swap. He's been their Santa f'r several years now.
Charlie Haskell an' Virg Brown pick him up, 'long with th' tuna casserole I send f'r their pot luck, an' deliver him home again when it's done.
Those fellas are a sketch, let me tell ya! Ev'ry year they try t' out-do each other f'r who's got th' most outlandish (ugly... unwantable) present.

This year Harvey, he wrapped up a petrified seagull he found back last August. 'Twas all dried up an' it hardly even smelled when he brought it home. I made him keep it out back in his shed, though. Lord knows, th' cat woulda had a field day with it.
Goodness knows whatever happened to that gull. Just up an' died, I guess. Harvey said 'twas just a-lyin' atop th' tin roof o' th' bait house down t' th' dock. Sun musta cooked it just like one o' them de-hydrators th' girls wanted t' give me one year.
Anyways, t'day he wrapped that gull up nice in a box with fancy paper an' a bow an' all. Wonder who'll end up gettin' it?

If y' never done a Yankee Swap, here's how.
Ev'rybody brings a wrapped present an' they pile 'em up on a table. They each draw a number outta Santa's hat an' whoever's got #1 picks out a present an' opens it.
#2 can either takes another present offa the pile, OR he can take #1's present away from #1.
#3 can take a new present, OR one o' th' ones already opened. An' it goes on like that till ev'rything's gone.
Then last, #1 gets t' pick whatever thing he wants from what ev'rybody else has.
Santa's there t' keep things from gettin' too rowdy.

Now I write it down, I guess it sounds kinda foolish, but let me tell you, it's mighty fun!
'Course this is all just fellas, an' from what Harvey tells me, some o' them gifts gets a little "risque" now an' then. (He won't tell me more'n that, though.)

While he's gone, I'm finishin' up th' cap an' nose-warmer I been makin' f'r him. Got th' Christmas carols playin' an' a cup o' tea.
Well, Mister H'll be along b'fore too long, so I'm gonna sign off. Gonna hide m'knittin' where he won't look... in amongst th' laundry soap an' all.
Love,
Stella

Coffee

Never shoulda had that cup o' coffee with dinner. Be awake till ??? Y'd think I'd know better.
'Twas awful good, though.
H.

Snow pictures

Stella here.

Here's a couple pictures BEFORE it started t' rain. Now we got a whole lotta piles o' slush an' ice instead o' what y'see in the "before" pictures.

I been list'n'n' t' Christmas carols most o' th' day. Harvey says he's about "caroled out" already, but I been en-joyin' 'em. He ain't cookied-out, though. Seems as fast as I crank 'em out, he eats 'em up. Maybe I'll make up a batch with some garlic in 'em an' see if THAT discourages him. :-)

Took a break from th' carols this afternoon, though, t' listen t' Stuart McLean on Th' Vinyl Cafe on public radio. I do love them Dave an' Morley stories he tells! I some ad-mire that man's writin'!! I tol' Harvey th' next time he's (Stuart McLean) in Portland I wanta go down an' see him do a show... even if I have t' stay over an' sleep on Jeannie's couch. Next one's in 2011, I think. Maybe she'll get a new couch b'fore then.

Pat G went t' see him last Feb. an' she said it's how come she started writin' down stories about me an' Harvey, she liked it so much. She just got wicked in-spired!

Well, I ain't got much t' report t'day so I'll sign off. Th' rain's still drippin' so I s'pect we'll head off t' bed an' hope it's done by mornin'. Long's it don't turn t' ice overnight, I'll be happy.

Hope y' like th' pictures. There'll be more t' come, I'm sure.

Love,

Stella

Cookies and birds

Stella here.
We got some weather comin'! Guess this is th' real start o' Winter.
Harvey went out an' shored up my birdfeeder cuz it's s'posed t' be windy t'morra. One time last year th' feeder I had sailed off an' we never DID find it.

Well, th' wood's in an' th' pantry's stocked so all we got t' do's set back an' listen t' th' wind blow.
Sun's out now but that could change any time.
I got bread risin' an' some pans o' cookies in th' oven right now. That's how come I got a minute t' set an' write.
Harvey's always been a fan o' havin' lots o' cookies on hand. Started when th' girls was little an' we set out cookies an' milk f'r Santa. Seemed there was never enough with just one batch o' cookies so I got t' makin' more an' more each year.
Now the girls is all grown an' I'm still crankin' out more cookies than anybody'd believe. Come th' Sunday after Christmas an' we always take any that's left over to th' church f'r th' big cookie blow-out. Coffee an' milk f'r th' kids an' ev'rybody's last Christmas goodies all on one big table.
I doubt anybody eats any more that day when they get home. But, as it's just once a year we all en-joy th' feast an' nobody worries much about calories. Molly Eldredge always says that once them cookies is ex-posed to th' air th' calories all evaporate out anyhow, so it's OK.

One year I did ex-periment with a new recipe f'r shortbread that turned out so heavy an' hard nobody'd eat it - even dunked in milk. So Harvey broke it up with a hammer an' I put th' crumbs out f'r th' birds. After a time, seagulls come in an' et up ev'ry bit... although Harvey said they'd had some trouble gettin' off th' ground after they'd finished.

OK, I gotta go. Th' cookies're done an' I gotta punch down th' bread dough.
Love,
Stella

After Thanksgiving... howdy t' fans

Stella here.
Ain't this just been th' ODDEST kinda weather?!
Felt more like late Fall or early Spring th' last couple days!
Harvey said he's gonna shed his longjohns if it keeps up.

Me an' Molly Eldredge went off on a "toot" yest'day once th' rain cleared out. Drove down t' see Jeannie an' her husband an' took 'em some o' th' last o' th' turkey soup I made. 'Twas good t' fin'lly see th' last o' that bird! I was beginnin' t' think we'd be eatin' turkey f'r New Years!!
'Course, wouldn't y' know... I sent Harvey off t' th' IGA t' get some butter an' he come back with... I couldn't b'lieve my eyes... another turkey! Said 'twas so cheap (it bein' after Thanksgivin' an' they was practic'lly GIVIN' 'em away) he said he thought I'd like t' have one f'r Christmas.
I will never send that man t' th' store alone again, I swear!

So now I got it stashed in Molly's freezer. Bless-ed thing's big enough t' dress up in a Santa suit an' set up in a chair at th' table!
Sometimes I purely long f'r th' days when all we had was whatever catch Harvey brought in off th' Betsy Ann!
Shouldn't grumble, though. Plenty o' folks ain't got enough t' eat as 'tis. We're mighty lucky.

*** Now HERE's somethin'! We had a note on th' blog from an "Anonymous" fan a couple days ago. Weren't Harvey some tickled! 'Twas addressed t' him an' said he'd (she'd?) liked what Harvey wrote about Thanksgivin'.
Funny... mister man (H.) was gripin' - in a low-key kinda way - about me runnin' him outta th' kitchen while I was tryin' t' get supper t'gether. He don't write often an' he don't write much.
Guess y' never know what's gonna catch somebody's fancy!
Anyways, here's a howdy t' that fan, an' also t' th' fella/gal named Sylver who wrote us back a couple weeks ago about Pete Seeger.
Truth be told, me an' Harvey's both tickled t' hear from folks! When we started this blog - kinda on a dare from th' girls after Jeannie gave me this laptop - I never ex-pected anybody'd actually read it... 'cept maybe Pat G an' Jeannie an' Deb, but they don't count cuz they know us already.

So now it's Friday an' I'm startin' t' think about Christmas. Moose Cove had its big holiday parade a week ago, an' th' stores're stayin' open late on th' weekends. No "big box" stores here, thank goodness, just th' downtown merchants tryin' t' keep their heads above water durin' tough times.
Next time I write I'll try t' remember t' tell ya about Christmas in Moose Cove.
That's it f'r now.
Love,
Stella