WARNING:  This entry today may be very disturbing to you.  Read at your own risk.
There are some things in life that are just really hard to understand and today we had one of those things.  It started out really wonderful, breakfast with my friend Paula at the Bistro.  Driving  by myself somewhere since June 25. Having  the energy to wash the van, and then...... I came home.  I noticed Doyle was gone, (he had gone on an errand.)  The first thing I did was head to the laundry room to change the laundry and as always when I walk by the closet I looked in to say something to the kittens.  But what was this?  There was only one kitten in the closet and Pippen was wandering around the laundry room looking rather dazed.  The back door was cracked open as always (as Pippen is  an indoor/outdoor cat).  My first thought was that Pippen had moved the kittens outside.  I had noticed when I left this morning that the kittens were trying to get out of their little contained space in the closet this morning.  I planned on moving them or doing something with them when I got home from breakfast, but now it looked like Pippen had beat me to it.  Out the back door I went calling the kittens and keeping my ears open to hear their cries.  I noticed Sia acting strange over by the daisies and the garage door and as I looked what I saw  horrified me!  Out of her mouth hung a kitten and looking closer I realized the kitten was dead, actually sliced open and his little intestines hanging out.  Enraged, I yelled at Sia, who of course dropped the kitten (Sia was trying to bury the kitten), and crying and running around I tried to find evidence of the other kittens.  I was sure Sia had killed the other ones (even though I KNEW Sia loves babies of all kinds).  I found no kittens and when Doyle came home a few minutes later, he found no kittens either.  But as I was talking to Doyle and we were trying to piece together what might have happened, I recalled seeing a nasty, magpie on the deck and it clicked.  I told Doyle that I thought Pippen decided to move the babies, got them on the deck one by one and being noisy, whiny little kittens, they attracted the attention of the magpies.  (We have tons of magpies that live in our huge cottonwood tree in the back yard.) These kittens were  only 3 1/2 weeks old and there were six of them, so they were quite small (although very healthy and putting on weight quickly).  Doyle didn't believe magpies would do such a thing, but I told him I was going to "google it" and in I went.  Sure enough in about 5 seconds I had my answer.  Magpies will murder baby kittens!  And Sia, who HATES magpies as much as any of us was just trying to take the kitten and bury it, (she thank goodness was not the murderer!)  So, we have one baby left.   Poor baby has cried most of the day crawling around his little home looking for a sibling to lay on and Pippen has WAY too much milk for one little kitten.  Both of them are acting dazed and upset.  I can only hope that they will adjust qucikly.  Poor Jonathan was over today and wanted to know what happened to them.  We tried to explain they died, but of course did not go into the gory details.  When Beth came over she reminded me that "nature is cruel."  It can be indeed, and it always amazes me that people that don't live close to nature or animals think it is always so beautiful.  Nope.  Nature can be cruel.  There was nothing beautiful about what happened while we were gone on our back deck. 

Recovering from surgery takes time and energy and so  the last five weeks I've been busy resting, eating, walking a bit and sitting some more!  I'm ready to be done with this part of recovery to say the least.  However, in the past five weeks, we have had Erin and Nathan come visit (and help out), Nathan's parents, Al and Karen come through and my brothers Rob from Canada and Jeff from Seattle.  They spent a Saturday night one weekend and a Saturday night the next weekend with us.  They spent a week out on the "rez" celebrating Jeff's 60th birthday.  It was fun having them even for such a short time.  My first real outing was this past  Sunday night (the doctor at 2 weeks doesn't count!), when we went to the Stanley's for a barbecue.  Pete, Heather and boys and the Drechsel's joined us.  It was also a "going away" barbecue for Laura as she is heading overseas for awhile and we won't see her.  It was nice getting out and seeing some different scenery!

During the last five weeks I have also been very blessed by many friends bringing meals, helping me clean and do laundry, and coming by for a visit.  Having visitors for a short while helps relieve some of the boredom and tedium and I appreciated them.  Our cat, Pippen gave birth in the past five weeks to six (SIX!) baby kittens and she has turned out to be a wonderful momma.  They are just opening their eyes but don't move around much.  We have five boys and one girl.  We are taking orders, so get your order in soon! 

There is just something about noise and boys, and rockets and Dads.  The little boys and the big  "boys" and the girls too, had a lot of fun on Father's Day at our house setting off rockets and listening to the whistle and the scream and running for cover when the "rockets" decided to land near by spraying water all over.  What fun!  And what a gorgeous warm day for rockets and water!  Doyle was inspired to set off rockets when Jonathan our five year old grandson decided he was going to fly to the moon (after watching too much of a Wallace & Grommit video we have).  Well, he "flew to the moon" with his Dad and brother this past week and Doyle wanted to encourage  the boys with more moon ideas, hence the rockets.   Our friends Bil and Jody  told us how to do the rockets (they are both teachers and do them every year) and provided the supplies and expertise on Sunday.  Both Jonathan and Daniel totally loved the rockets and being able to pull the string to set off the rocket.  There were a few duds, but most of the rockets were launched and flown quite successfully (over the house, in the pond and in the back pasture; where Stoney, our horse, wasn't near as excited to see it come as we were!).

After a wonderful lunch, the big guys helped Doyle put the pergola back up.  It's so great having friends (16 came for dinner)  who will help with a pergola raising when asked to, but I guess there wasn't much they could do, seeing they had just eaten a delicious Italian meal! 

We enjoyed having Theoden and his wife Katie and little girl Eowyn join our group.  They are living with Pete and Heather for the summer while Theoden is an intern where Peter works.  We are all hoping it will end up in a permanent job next summer after Theoden graduates.

Some days are "just like that", I thought as I looked out the window this afternoon.  One of our most favorite places in our backyard just came tumbling down (with a little bit of accidental  help from our riding lawnmower, the driver of which shall remain anonymous!).  Why is it  that when there is so much work to be done, there can always be "more work?"   Anyway, tomorrow being Father's Day, we are having a party here (of course!) and what kind of party would it be without a project?  So the "FATHERS" with  help from Father  Doyle will rebuild the pergola,( that is if they want grapes later on in the summer!)  And I know that all the "MOTHERS" will be cheering on all those FATHERS  (because we love those grapes!).

In other news today, I started cleaning out the greenhouse, and it sort of all fell apart too, not the structure, but cleaning a little soon led to cleaning out the barrels that we've had for heat storage for over 20 years.  Doyle pulled some out a few months ago (or  has it been a year already?), and the rest of the steel barrels really MUST GO!!!  What a mess!  It's very obvious that we've lived here for over 30 years.  Even though (some people might not realize it), we have done repairs over the years and upkeep, it's truly never done.  That's what Heaven will be for, I guess.  REST! 

  You might wonder why there is a couch on our front lawn.  You might wonder what the Meyer family does when Erin comes to visit (and Nathan, but this entry mostly has to do with Erin), you might wonder what we do for fun in the summer.  Wonder no more....Erin and Nathan came to visit this week for a much needed rest after a crazy, hectic first year of teaching.  They were sick, but on the mend (so they hoped) and they wanted a little vacation before Erin started working at summer school on June 4.  I was looking forward to a nice lazy week of "mother-daughter" time, maybe sitting in the hot springs at Trimble, or wandering through lots of thrift stores with lunch here and there.  Maybe coffee at my favorite coffee spots.  Okay,  we did get a day of thrift storing in since I had to go to Durango for my weekly visit, and we did break away for Breakfast at the Bistro in Aztec.  But Thursday through Saturday we (Heather, Mary, Erin and me - to a small extent) worked on reupholstering Pete and Heather's couch that was pretty threadbare, but still had some "good bones."  I had the fabric in the attic for some long lost project in the past and so all we had to do was buy thread, batting and the odds and ends you need for re-upholstering.  Heather brought the little boys over on Thursday and Friday and the "big" boys (Theoden and Peter) joined us for suppper after work.  The house was a wreck, we went through 20 sewing machine needles (because we were sewing heavy fabric on light weight machines), and we went through about six spools of thread.  We inhaled cotton fuzz in the garage, sweated in the living room (it was a really hot week) and we ate helter skelter.  I did however find time to make the most awesome Strawberry/Rhubarb pie I've ever made (and everyone agreed on that one!), and we all survived the craziness, even little Edmond!  The result after about two and a half days of work (we didn't count the hours), was a beautiful "new" couch!  Thanks mostly to Erin and her brother, Peter for "throwing down the gauntlet" which started the whole thing anyway!  All I can say is it's great to have such talented adult kids!  (Yep, I can say that even after such an exhausting week!)  Towards the end of the project my neighbor,  Bonnie came over in the midst of the whole mess, stepped into our living room, took a look around and said, "You can tell Erin's home, WHAT A MESS!"

We spent the afternoon yesterday by the river at the Hot Springs, dunking ourselves in the hot water (108*) and then cooling off reading books.  Pure Bliss!  The hot water was a bit too hot for me, but I made a good try at it.  I preferred the temperature at another pool which was about 102*.  Anyway, such  a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  I can only imagine what the early Native Americans thought of after a hard days work chasing their "daily bread"!  Ummm...yes I can imagine..........they probably did the same thing we did..........well, maybe sort of....minus the books, the chaise lounges, and probably the swim suits! 

Jill and I went to a book signing with Ree Drummond promoting her new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Food from my Frontier; on April 30 in Albuquerque.  We had a lot of fun and ate way too much, at The Range Cafe (for Breakfast), The Flying Star (for a very late supper the night before) and a light lunch at Chick-Fil-A (my very first time, can you believe it?).  We had fun looking for bargains at Khol's and Trader Joe's and another Khol's and Goodwill and another Khol's and Dillard's.  Jill was looking for six certain plates, and after all those stops, she got what she wanted.  Obviously, other people had the same idea she had, she had about decided to order them on-line, but perseverance pays off, and she found what she wanted.  Ree Drummond was funny and very down to earth and we enjoyed listening to her alot, but when it came time to get our book signed, the wait was WAY to long.  Actually it wasn't TOO long, but when they moved about 75 people in front of us, we gave up!  Sorry Ree, we just couldn't  put off eating another hour!    Now all we have to do is start cooking and eating all those wonderful dishes, Ree has put together in her book!

Some days are "just like that", there is no other way of explaining things.  You get up, do a bit of tidying up because you have a friend coming over for lunch with her two little ones.  You wonder what to feed her?  What would the little three year old like?  And what do you have "on hand?"  Running to the store is not an option these days............so it was Egg Salad on homemade (you guessed it!) Sourdough  English Muffins!  They loved it, they ate it, and it was yummy.  After lunch I threw together another Pumpkin Cake because (you guessed it!), we have a plethora of pumpkin in the freezer, and it is so good!

Digging through the freezer in the shed ( we have two huge freezers besides the refrigerator freezer) I found two packages of fish, Mahi-mahi and Salmon.  So tonight we are having Mahi-Mahi with a recipe I found on  Food.com.  Here are the recipes.  They were delicous!  http://greek.food.com/recipe/zucchini-patties-with-feta-305156  and http://http://www.food.com/recipe/fish-and-sour-cream-bake-424933

I decided to make the zucchini patties because we still have bags of shredded zucchini in the freezer and there is just so much zucchini bread you can make and eat!  It's great to have some new recipes to have and both of these will be repeated!

Feeling the need to get something productive done today, I cleaned out the freezer in my refrigerator and the junk drawer!  If you want a small project and want to feel self-righteous, both of those jobs will fit the bill!

Tomorrow I really need to tackle the front flower beds.  Now they are a REAL MESS and I would feel so self-righteous if I got that job done!

I'm learning to make sourdough English muffins and hoping that "practice makes perfect".  We are enjoying them instead of sandwich bread for our sandwiches at lunch and for our toast at breakfast.  I bake them on the griddle on top of the stove and many times finish them off in the oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes.  YUM!!  They are especially good with butter and some of my homemade jam.

I am feeling quite proud of myself today as I tackled the file cabinets and sorted through them....all 15 plus years of old paper.  What a good feeling.  I also am plowing through the sewing room and after I get some plastic tubs at the thrift store tomorrow (if I don't forget), I will have the sewing room under control.  What a nice feeling!  I boxed up some of Erin's old things and it will go up in the attic.  (She has her own attic above her old room, which is now our bedroom).  Yes, I know, she needs to get her stuff out of our house (as do the guys), but I believe in hope springing eternal, and know it will get done some day.  Thank goodness we have the place to store their old things.  By the time they PLOW through their stuff, they will be taking a journey back to their childhood and will probably have many hours of fond memories.

And the tip of the day is this:  If you burn your finger, put some mustard (like from the refrigerator mustard) on it, it works like a charm!  No pain, no blister!  Gotta love that!  Thanks Jody for the tip!

  There is nothing quite like the satisfaction you get when a project is finished, didn't cost an "arm and a leg" and uses things you've been saving for years, because #1 you love it and #2 someday you'll have "just the right place for it".  And that's how I feel when I walk into our new bedroom/reading room..........it's a sweet room and makes you feel comfortable and happy and content............the best combinations in my world!  I love gently used items (especially items that have been very loved) and I love the history behind things....where did it come from?  Who was the first owner of a piece?  I feel connected to the past and I feel this is so important in an age of "stapled furniture" that falls apart after the first year or linens that unravel after the third washing.  I have always been a recycler, way before it was ever "green" and I hope the trend I see today; stays...........  The wallpaper in the new reading room is silk and it came never used from a local thrift store.  It's tag said made in Italy.  I wonder why it was never used, or maybe the person just ordered to much?  Whatever the reason, it is a plus for me!  The chairs in the new reading/sitting room, are very old, but updated with new fabric that my daughter re-upholstered for me.  The old dresser with the mirror was in our antique store, that I just fell in love with.  The glass case in our bedroom full of old collectibles that I cannot part with (there is this thing about history again!) also came from our antique store.  The painting of the Dutch girl on top of the glass case was my friend Mary's.  It is very old and I know it came from an antique store in Durango Co, because I was there when she bought it!  Mary had it in her living room for years and when she switched to "mid-century modern".........well, it just didn't fit in!  Again, a plus for me!  I could call my decorating......"Mary's been redecorating again", but that doesn't sound very nice, does it?  Mary was my interior decorator that helped me in this project, it's what she's great at, and she loves!  YEA for good friends that love to help, and are happy with a tuna sandwich for lunch!  (She spent two long days with me and earned every bit of that tuna sandwich!!)