Arrrrrr, matey!

Hi Kevin!

Here's my Halloween costume, I'm a pirate! I'm going to hand out candy later on when it gets dark. I'll sit out on the porch with Grandpa Rock and Bre and we'll wait for the kids to come around. Do you think my costume will scare the kids?

Do you know why pirates wear a patch over one eye? It's so they can see better in the dark! What they do is put the patch over their eye before they board another ship. That way, one eye gets used to the dark (behind the patch your eye doesn't get exposed to the daylight).

Then, once they board a ship looking for gold, they have to go down inside the ship into the cargo hold. It's dark in there. The eye that isn't covered can't see going inside from the bright daylight to the dark. So that's when they take the patch off. The eye that was under the patch is accustomed to the dark so they can see immediately in the dark cabins beneath the ship's deck.

You can try this yourself in the house, or, if you have a garage that doesn't have a lot of windows. Even a closet will work! Get something to make a patch, even a scarf or a hat you can pull down over one eye will work. Wear the scarf or hat over one eye for 30 minutes, make sure it is very bright where you are, outside or during the daytime near a window. (Make sure Mom doesn't need to go anywhere while you're experimenting.) When the 30 minutes are up, open the closet or the garage door and step inside, close the door behind you. Can you see anything with the eye that didn't have the patch? Probably not. Now, take the patch off and you should be able to see the shapes of things in the closet.

In case you were wondering, there's an official 'Talk like a pirate' day. It's September 19th, every year. Maybe you can remember that for next year. Arrrr.

Here are some pirate jokes:

What do pirates drive when they get on land?
A carrrrrr.

Why don't pirates go to the moon?
It's too farrrrrr.

What do you get when you cross a pirate with a zucchini?
A squashbuckler.

What's a pirate's favorite cereal?
Cap'n Crunch.

Some folks think that Blackbeard the pirate buried his treasure on the Isle of Shoals (off the coast of Maine & New Hampshire). If he did, it's still there today.

When your Grandpa Rock was in the Navy, he learned how to 'repel boarders' which is a fancy way of saying he learned how to keep pirates off the Navy ships. All of the sailors had to learn how to do this to keep the ships safe.

Happy Halloween!

YF,

Flat Stanley

Halloween is almost here!

Hi Kevin!














Today your Grandpa made Mr Pumpkinman. He sits on the porch to greet Trick or Treaters. Here I am sitting on his lap. Bre is watching.

We have a busy day today so this is all I can tell you now.

YF,

Flat Stanley

Out on a lobster boat!

Hi Kevin!

We're going out on a lobster boat! We're going with Capt Tom, he's a friend of your Grammie and Grandpa Rock. (Your Grammie made me a sweater and a hat because it's cold out on the water.) Lobster is a big food product in the state of Maine. It can be a dangerous job because you never know when a big wave or a bad storm will come up and swamp your boat.

To be a lobsterman (or lobsterwoman) in Maine, you need to have a lobster fishing license. These licenses are not easy to get as there are not many of them available. If your family has been lobster fishing for a long time, that's the best way to get a license. Many lobstering families have been fishing for lobster for many generations.

If you just want to take a few lobsters for your family, you can get a non-commercial license but you cannot have more than 5 traps at any time and you cannot sell the lobsters you catch. And you have to be a resident of Maine. So, your Grammie & Grandpa could get a license, but not your Mom or Dad.

Lobsters 'molt' or shed their shells 3-4 times/year as they grow. (Kind of like a hermit crab does.) When their shells are 'soft' the lobsters tend to hide under rocks and not crawl around a lot so it is not as easy to catch them when their shells are soft. They have less claw meat at this time as well, so they are smaller, but tastier. Their shells are usually soft early in the season, around June and July. Then they harden up but get soft again after they molt later on.

Lobsters come from eggs. The female lobster carries the eggs on the underside of her body, behind the 'swimmerets' under her tail. If you catch a lobster with eggs attached, you have to throw it back so the eggs can hatch and grow into adult lobsters. A lobster may have thousands of eggs but usually only 2 eggs live to grow up into adults.

Lobsters eat live fish like crabs and sea urchins. When lobster traps are baited, the fisherman usually uses bait fish (Which is pretty smelly. P-U!)

Lobsters come in a variety of colors, but they are only red once they are cooked.

Here is Capt Tom pulling in his lobster trap. We didn't catch any lobsters this time, just crabs. He threw them all back into the water!

This is a new kind of lobster trap. The older kind were made of wood. Sometimes you see those made into tables. These traps are plastic-coated metal. They are made so the smaller lobsters can get out. You can't keep a lobster that is too small, they have to be let go. You have to measure the lobster's carapace (the shell from the back of the head to the start of the tail) and it has to be longer than 3 1/4" to be a keeper. Most lobsters you get at a restaurant weigh around 1-2 lbs.

Lobsters used to grow REALLY big (30-40 lbs) before they became a popular food item. Lobsters are really giant bugs. So, if you've ever eaten a lobster, you've eaten a bug!

When you are out on a lobster boat you see lots of colorful buoys like this one in the water. (This one Grammie found on the beach, probably it got loose in a storm.)

What the lobsterman or woman does is attach this buoy to a line that holds around 10 traps. They'll drive the lobster boat along and throw the buoy out first and then each trap. At the end of the traps is another buoy that is the same color pattern as the first one. Each lobsterman or woman has his or her own pattern of colors so they know which traps belong to them.

If you go to Maine on vacation, you can go out on a lobster boat, too.

YF,

Flat Stanley

Blueberry pancakes for breakfast!

Hi Kevin!

Today we made blueberry pancakes for breakfast! Yummy! But first I have to show you the neat apron and chef's hat your Grammie made for me to wear...I look like a real chef.

I stood really still while your Grammie measured me for my apron. When I go back to Skaneateles, I will bring my chef's uniform with me.

The first thing we do to make the pancakes is gather all the ingredients together. You can see in the other picture the big bowl with the pancake mix in it. Your Grandpa scoops out enough mix for however many pancakes he's going to make and then mixes it with water.

Oops, I forgot...the FIRST thing we have to do before we start mixing anything is wash our hands. You have to have clean hands when you're cooking for guests. You should have clean hands when you cook for yourself, too, but it's really important when you cook for other people.

No shortcuts here, either, I have to use water AND soap, and I have to make sure I wash a long time. You know what your Grammie told me is a good way to know you've washed long enough? You sing the 'Happy Birthday' song to yourself! ('Twinkle, twinkle little star' is another good song to sing.) Then I dry off with a paper towel and throw the paper towel away.

Now I'm ready to cook!

When I'm done showing you the pictures, I'm going to make a special section called 'Recipes' and tell you how to make the things I've made here at the inn. I'll put that over on the side under my picture so it's easy to find if you want to make any of the same things.

Today we had guests from OH and the lady was a teacher. She knew all about me and thought it was fun that I was here in Maine helping make her breakfast.


Here I am at the griddle with the pancakes. We've just added the blueberries. You don't put them in the batter first because that makes your pancakes purple! Maybe YOU want purple pancakes, but the guests don't! You put the blueberries in just before you flip the pancakes over. Your Grandpa uses frozen blueberries and you can hear them sizzle on the griddle when he flips them over. Boy, do these smell good! I didn't get a picture of them when they were done because I'm still a little slow with the camera and your Grammie wanted to get them to the table while they were still hot.

Can you think of other things to put in the pancakes? Some people like chocolate chips. And your Great Grandma Pat makes world famous apple pancakes (you have to ask your Mom how good they are!)

It is raining here so we're not going out on any adventures today. I'm going to ask your Grammie to take a picture of me carrying a suitcase for a guest. I'm getting really good at it.

YF,

Flat Stanley

I've got a sniffle.

Hi Kevin!

I've got a sniffle. (achoo!) There's lots of work to do but your Grammie said I could go to bed and read some books. She's going to greet all the guests today. She made cookies and hot chocolate for me. I'm being very careful not to spill it in my bed.

Tomorrow we are having blueberry pancakes so I will try to take some pictures and show you the best way to make them. Your Grandpa Rock makes world famous pancakes!

This is the breakfast board at the inn. Everyday your Grandpa Rock writes the menu. Your Grammie puts the weather and things to do on the board. She puts the temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius because they have guests from all over the world.

I'm kind of tired now so I'm going to go back and read some more books and do some puzzles. What's your favorite book? It doesn't have to be one about me! I like to know about all kinds of books! How about your friends in your class, what books do they like?

YF,
Flat Stanley (achoo!)

French Toast for breakfast!

Hi Kevin!

Today, Rock, aka Grandpa, (he's the cook at the bed and breakfast) made French Toast for breakfast. I know you're not supposed to play with your food but this is what I did with my French Toast.

In case you want to make FT like this at your house, Rock uses Italian bread. (Very funny...Italian bread for French Toast, I don't know why he doesn't use French Bread!) He mixes up an egg and cream (or milk) batter with a little bit of cinnamon. Whisk it up and dredge the bread through it and then turn the bread over and do the other side.

You need a really hot griddle or frying pan with butter melted in it. The bread and egg mixture should sizzle when you put it on the griddle. Cook one side until it is nice and brown and then turn it over with a spatula and cook the other side.

You can use blueberries, strawberries and raspberries to make this face. What other fruits would make a good face?

By the way, the way you say 'French Toast' in French is 'pain perdu' (pan per dyo). It means 'lost bread' because it is usually made with bread that is old, not fresh. But Rock uses fresh bread, in case you were wondering.

Your friend,

Flat Stanley

(Note from Rock...I don't use French bread for FT because it is too small. We like our FT BIG around here, so we use Italian bread, which is usually larger in diameter than French bread.)

I have arrived!

Hi Kevin!

I have arrived here in Maine after the short trip from New York. It is 447 miles to Freeport, Maine from your school. The experience of being in the envelope was interesting! I thank you very much for sending instructions to these nice people so they knew what to do with me.

The mail goes to Albany and then it goes to Springfield, MA before it goes to Maine. It was pretty cold when I arrived here so thank you for putting long sleeves on my shirt! I was not folded up and stuffed into the mailbox. Whew! The mailman left the box open so I could breathe.


I have figured out how to use the camera, so here are some pictures of where I am. I am living in a bed and breakfast. This is like a small hotel. People come from all over the world to stay here. I have met people from England, Germany and Italy. Next week a guest is coming from Dominica (Dominique Island), which is a small island in the Caribbean.

We made these cookies today. They are peanut butter and are yummy. Let me know if you would like the recipe. It's easy and kids can make this one with a little help.

I have to get to work now. We have to check in the guests and carry their bags to their rooms.

I will write more tomorrow.

Your friend,

Flat Stanley