A Loving Farewell To Will

For those who knew Willy the Cat, you will be saddened to hear that he took his last purr today. To make a sad story short he got extremely sick a few days ago. Midsummer 2012 did in fact feel like the longest day of the year in this house as we watched him decline all too quickly. Though the vet tried and speculated, there was really nothing we could do but put him to rest right around 10am this morning. He was 12 years, 3 months and 8 days old. 

Willy was a hellian of a cat and he kept it no secret...unless he was luring you in to swipe at you. It was a game for more than one friend of ours to do everything they could to get him to like them enough to not draw blood. Whether he chose to roll in your flip flop, rub on your handbag or head butt your feet, if he liked you he showed it. We always feel most fortunate to win the affections of the difficult critters. High as he was on the difficult scale, for Tim and I and a fortunate few he was loving and a great big crack up. Twenty-one pounds in his heyday. Our big fattie.

We buried him in our new yard next to where I want to put my vegetable garden in the spring. He didn't get to go outside for the first 12 years but he spent the last 3 months in NM rolling in the dirt, chasing lizards and loving every minute of it. I think if he had stayed he would've liked to hang out with us in the garden. And there he is.

So, great cat of many nicknames, we send you off to the next adventure with a whole lot of love. You will be missed terribly. We hope that you get to come back as a dog next time.

Phase 3: Durango Relocation

The cottonwoods are blowing soft white flakes through the air like it were a snowy December afternoon. The juniper beetles are click-tick-clicking, the locusts buzzing away. Hummingbirds keep their racket up by the feeders and in the nearby trees and a Say's Phoebe has little baby birds in a nest on the porch of the big house. The sky is overcast and the wind is still - Wendy calls this California Weather. I can literally get tan lines after 10 minutes in the sun. It's getting hotter by the day but last night we enjoyed a cool and delicious breeze....when it wasn't too windy to open the windows. The late spring is in full swing in northern NM, and I'M READY TO LEAVE AND MOVE INTO MY NEW PLACE! WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!

Tim and I initially saw the rental listing at least a month ago and, for whatever reason, we didn't call. Maybe because we didn't expect to have neighbors on our property. Maybe because the photos of the place were unflattering. Maybe it was just divine timing. Either way, when Tim finally did talk to the landlord for the first time they spent quite a while on the phone together. That was a mere two weeks ago. This last Saturday evening, the two of us drove up to Durango to meet our new landlords and our new neighbors and sign a year lease on our beautiful new home. If Tim can get enough done on this big cabinetry job he's working on we will start moving carloads as soon as this weekend.

It's a two-story house on 2.5 acres of property surrounded by trees about 3 minutes drive to Home Depot and maybe 8 minutes to Main Street, Durango. We are in the downstairs unit which is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath place of about 1300 sq feet. The master bedroom has it's own attached bath and a big walk-in closet. The 2nd bathroom has a washer and dryer in it. One of the bedrooms will be used as the new Moonstar Charms official headquarters - the one on the east side so I get lots of light in there through the morning and afternoon. Tim is renting half the garage as a work space which is going to require insulation and a space heater in the next few months. The fridge is new. I'll have a functioning dishwasher for the first time in my life. The concrete covered deck is gigantic and overlooks wild lawn, then trees, then hills, then mountains. There is a ranch on the side of the far hill offering distant views of lush green pastures. There is already a small fenced area that has been used as a vegetable garden but (of course) I've already figured out where I want to plot my own - right next to an area that would be perfect for a picnic table. When I asked the landlord about putting a garden in, he said, "As a general rule you guys can do whatever you want as long as you leave the place nicer than it is now." I said that was pretty much our life motto. I'm gonna get a hammock and I'm gonna plant lavender and other smelly flowers near it and I'm gonna get patio furniture and..and...and....and I can't wait!

The upstairs unit is a two bedroom and the couple who live there just moved in this last weekend - they were moving stuff when we were introduced. They are also new to Durango from Colorado Springs and they both seem incredibly sweet, friendly and a little shy. Their master bedroom is sectioned off and that is where our landlords stay when they come to visit...which means there will only be life above our bedroom a few times a year. Tim and I had a lovely dinner with the landlords Saturday night.

Even though I really liked this place from the first time I saw it, I only wanted it to work out if it was right for us. I didn't want to will it to happen out of sheer impatience. So, in my regular chats with The Powers That Be, I asked to please make it obvious if it was right and I promised to wait patiently if it wasn't. When we walked down Main Street on a perfect Sunday morning to meet up for coffee and to sign our lease I was walking on air. It looked like a scene in a Nora Roberts romance novel: quaint shops, restaurants bustling with people, locals on bicycles, tourists with cameras around their neck looking everywhere except where they're walking....this is my town. On our way back to NM we stopped by the house to take some pictures....this is my home. It is all seeming so very right and words like excitement and gratitude are not even big enough for what I'm feeling.

Oh, I've also hosted a ladies tea for my 36th birthday, played some spades, knitted some stuff, made a whole lotta jewelry, stayed at Tim's parents' cabin in Chama, saw an eclipse, spent some time in Santa Fe with Adam and Dionne and in Albuquerque with Marisa and David, and joined a wine club. Not in that order.

Love you, miss you.

A small portion of our deck and view. The door is behind me and to my right. New morning coffee spot! And cocktail hour spot...and grilling spot....and afternoon nap spot.....

If you're standing on the deck looking out, this area is to the left. It's gonna be so preeetyyyyy.

Standing at the front door looking in. The owners want to replace the linoleum with tile (even though the linoleum is in good shape) and Tim is going to put new cabinet doors in the kitchen. They left that table for now since we don't have one yet.

Standing in the kitchen looking at the living room. The front door is to the right. That's a pellet stove - it is electric, works as a central heater and runs on pellets - each bedroom has it's own thermostat (so you can turn yours all the way up, Mom).

My soon to be office.

Enjoying a glass of wine in the shade with David and Marisa at the Wine & Balloon Fiesta.

The tents on the right were where the wineries were giving tastings. That balloon was up all of 5 minutes. Who plans a balloon fiesta during high wind season in NM? Lame.

My pretty table for my pretty tea. It was Wendy, Joanie, "Aunt" Linda, Dionne, Marisa and myself. I made 4 different types of tea sandwiches, a crab salad and a pureed vegetable soup. Marisa made a FANTASTIC cheesecake and thanks to Dionne we also had about 30 different teas to choose from.

Just after my tea, the Hassemers migrated to the gazebo to watch what I dubbed as the Solar Eclipse of the Heart. Yes, we did listen to the song while the eclipse took place.

Back-lit gazebo

What you can't see unless you have several pairs of sunglasses on.

Post-eclipse sunset.

My birthday - Tim taking photos of copulating insects in the rose garden of a local winery. (Yes, really.)

Chatterbox hummingbird