Charlie and me went to a dance down to the VFW this weekend, a benefit for the Moose Megantic High School Band Boosters. The theme was  “Rockin’ to the Oldies.” I says to Charlie, “We’re oldies. Let’s go!” We had a fun time, too, once it got going. But that took awhile, because someone hired professional dancers to kick off the evening with dance lessons. Charlie and me didn’t have much interest in that. It’s not like we think we’re perfect dancers or something. Far from it. But like a lot of couples, we have our own style. We don’t give a hoot about doing it “the right way.” Anyways, after teaching us how to …

The other day, I was chatting with Charlie at supper, like you do. We’re catching up on our day, what happened at work, all that. I was telling him about running into Claudia Peavey down to the A&P. I’ve told you about Claudia and her husband Kurt before. Charlie and me refer to them as the “Yeah, but’s.” Meaning, don’t matter what you say to them, they’ll “yeah, but” you. For example, I say, “Hi, Claudia. Beautiful day out there, isn’t it?” And Claudia replies, “Yeah, but, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.” You know the drill. So Charlie says to me, “What’s up with Claudia’s eyebrows?” Charlie asks me questions like this all the time. …

Charlie and me have never really been great sleepers, and that certainly hasn’t improved with age. I usually wake up every couple of hours. I get up to pee and go right back to sleep, most of the time. Unless I start thinking, of course. A few nights ago, I slept for three straight hours. I got so excited about it, I had a hard time getting back to sleep. Luckily, I’m a good napper. Charlie’s the same. He doesn’t seem to pee all that much during the day, but he makes up for it at night. Here’s his latest. Hardly Slept At All Last Night Hardly slept at all last night Bedtime was a …

Charlie’s helping me out with my blog while I’m busy dealing with the stuff you have to do after someone dies. Dad did a good job of setting things up right, but there’s still a bunch of details to take care of. Thanks, Charlie! A Non-Issue  Our gas range, of course, comes with a timer When your stuff is cooked, it lets out a beep A beep that repeats ’til you hit the button A beep sure to wake me if I am asleep A dependable sound we’ve come to rely on When baking or cooking all manner of grub A beep, I’m afraid, that has kind of decayed Into something more like you would …

Have you ever had a chore that just gets shuffled from one to-do list to another? Something that needs to be fixed or put away or thrown away, but you never to get to it. “Maybe tomorrow,” you say. But tomorrow never comes. And by the by, you don’t even notice anymore when you jiggle the handle of the pesky toilet. Or automatically bump your hip against that drawer that sticks when you come to shut it Well, you’re not alone. Charlie got inspired. Not to do his chore, but to write a poem about not doing it.  I’ll Get To It One Of These Days There’s a nail head that catches my shovel, it …

A mild winter in Maine? I’m all in. I’m sure we’ll get some big storms eventually, but I’m content right now with rain and the occasional light snow. 20 degrees one day and 45 the next. When I think back to my winters as a kid, it seemed like we had big piles of snow for months. Maybe the snow banks just looked bigger because I was smaller. Found this picture from the olden days. See my expression. Even then I didn’t look all that excited about snow. Charlie seems to hanker more for a real winter than me. He misses ice fishing and snowmobiling. Hard to believe he misses plowing, snow blowing, roof raking …

Today is one of my most favorite days of the year. That’s right, baby: January 2nd. Sure, I love the holidays. Who doesn’t? But like with anything sweet, you can have too much of a good thing. You know it. I know it. And my fat jeans know it. Who am I kidding? Right about now my fat jeans are dangerously close to becoming my skinny jeans. Yowzah! It’s time to put on our leggings and settle in for a long winter’s nap. After all the food, fun and festivities, it’s nice to get back to a routine. I love a routine! Some might call it a rut, sure, but not me. A routine is …

Is it a guy thing, or is it just my husband? Charlie, who is usually pretty level headed, can get so “busy” doing stuff that common sense flies out the window. He’ll say to me, “Man, I’ve had a headache all day.” “Did you take anything for it?” “Nope.” “Why not?” “Too busy.” Yup. Stopping what he’s doing in the yard, coming inside, popping a couple of pills, then going back too work (which would take all of five minutes) is just too much multi-tasking for him. It’s ridiculous! Then there was the incident last winter, after one of the big snow storms, I noticed it seemed to take Charlie forever to snow blow the …

Last week was a busy one with my only in-person performance of 2022, and getting ready for the Down Home Holiday Festival here  in Mahoosuc Mills. So, I thought I’d share some videos from A Very Ida Christmas! that we shot a few years ago. Enjoy! Love, Ida    

It’s been five months since Cora came into our lives, and boy, has she blossomed! She’s such a sweet, smart girl! Cora had a fenced in yard where she lived before, and so with us she had to get used to doing her business on a leash, with Charlie or me watching. That was an adjustment. Because she was a Grand Champion, she’d only been on a leash when she was shown. So when we took her out for a walk, she did a great job of not pulling. But, she didn’t stop and sniff things, you know, like a dog. Instead, she was always looking up at us for direction, just wanting to please. …