When my sister Irene and me were kids, we had these little wooden snow scoops with our names painted on them that were made special just for us by our uncle, Octave Pease. They were just like our Dad’s, only a third the size, and we used to help him shovel the driveway. Which means we just got in the way, and made more of a mess for him to clean up! Octave: now there was a character. He come from a big family, I don’t know how many brothers and sisters. Octave never set foot in a school room, but he was smart as a whip. The kind of fella that could do anything …

January is almost done, thank goodness. My decluttering is kind of stalled, though, because I’ve done all the easy stuff, and all that’s left are big things like tacking my craft room or the catch all closet. But, it’s hard to get motivated. Frankly, I’m kind of overwhelmed just thinking about it. Caitlin, my niece and guru for all things new age-y, says to me the other day, “Aunt Ida, some animals hyphenate for the winter. Maybe we should take our cue from them, and slow down a little. You know, enjoy it.” We were having lunch down to the Busy Bee, and I was tucking into the special of the day: baked macaroni and …

Santa brought Charlie some new underwear, and we’re having some technical issues. I’ll let Charlie tell you about it. Newfangled Shorts 4-Pack of shorts, That’s what I got, ‘Cause all of my old ones Are totally shot Elastic is gone They’re worn to the core But at least I can locate What I’m looking for You see, I got me A problem of sorts What is the deal with These newfangled shorts? Yeah, they fit, But when I gotta pee I cannot get to my gadget! They’ve re-engineered The flap, I’m guessin’ It used to work fine Why are they messin’? Don’t matter if I’m In the woods or in town There I am, anxiously …

Charlie and me are pretty much over our Happy New Year colds. Well, me mostly. Charlie still has that pesky cough. It’s the kind of thing that really revs up at night, just when you’re trying to sleep. But we’re both happy to be on the other side of it, starting to have our usual energy back. Remember when a cold lasted about three days, five max? I do. And then you’d snap out of it? Now we’re talking ten days to two weeks. What happened? Have the bugs gotten nastier or is it because we’re old? On top of recovering from this bug, I had myself what I can only call an “old snap” …

Both Charlie and me are recovering from colds right now. I’m a few days ahead of him ’cause I got it first. I was trying to push myself into doing my blog, then I thought, Hey, wait a minute! Is this the way I want to start off the new year? Pushing myself to do something that I just don’t feel like doing right now? Not listening to that little voice in my head that’s telling me to kick back and relax, to take care of myself so I can get better quicker? No siree Bob! We started 2024 with Covid and it turned out pretty good. And this cold has not dimmed my hope …

Phew! Only one more holiday to go! But New Years is kid’s stuff compared to the Big Enchilada: Christmas. What a production! I feel like a Mack truck hit me, but, you know, in a good sort of way. I wish I could be more relaxed about these things; having the house clean and not getting so caught up in making everything just right. But at this point, it’s kind of hard to change. My sister Irene’s the same way. Tidiness was passed down to us from our mother, who got it from her mother. It’s worth all the hard work, though, seeing the family gathered ‘round, talking and eating and laughing, and eating some …

Down to the A&P, thing are hopping, as you’d expect. Busy, busy, busy! We’re selling poinsettias and wreaths up the yin-yang. There was one small spot of gloominess on Friday. My co-worker Courtney was all shook up because she’d started getting Christmas cards from some of the customers. She’s in her early twenties, and still in the process of figuring out what she wants to do with her life. “What’s wrong with getting cards from customers?” I ask her. “Don’t take this personal, Ida,” Courtney replies, all mopey-faced, “but I think it means I’ve been working here too long.” “No offense taken, Courtney. But you know, there might be another way of looking at it. …

Now, I don’t know if you know, but the Women Who Run With the Moose, (Celeste, Rita, Betty, Dot, Shirley and me) are big into crafts. We just love to get together and cut, paste and hot-glue. Then we put sequins on everything to cover up the boo boos! We usually spend half the year trying out different ideas, see if anything flies. When we find one with potential, we focus on that for the last half of the year, in preparation for the Christmas Bazaar down to St. Hyacinth’s. I come up with our item last year and it was pure inspiration, if I do say so myself. It happened one night when Charlie …

The holiday spirit is upon us! Mahoosuc Mills is getting ready for the Down Home Holiday Festival next weekend, and they just put up the tree down to Town Hall, the one with stars on it. On each star is a request for a present from a kid in town. You know, a kid whose family needs a little help. Some of them will just break your heart: a Barbie doll, Play Dough, a new winter hat and mittens. I mean, these kids have nothing. Anyone can go down there, take a star, buy the present, wrap it and drop it back to the Town Hall. If there are any stars left over, the Knights …

Me and the Women Who Run With the Moose not only survived Black Friday, we had a heck of a good time to boot. Nothing new there. Though, to be honest, my right arm is still feeling a little wonky. Must’ve strained it carrying all those shopping bags. And my purse, of course, which my sister Irene calls “the overnight bag.” Even though I try to remember to switch off, I always tend to carry the heaviest stuff with my right arm. Gotta say, smart phones and texting have made things so much easier. For a casual shopping trip, me and the girls tend to stick together. But all bets are off on Black Friday …