From the Bad News Desk: Wendy's dishwasher is kaput. Manual labor time.

Just in from Janie in the Southwest: It was 115 degrees yesterday with no relief in sight. The killer heat has taken two hikers and others who got lost may not have made it either. Take care my friends in the Southwest.

There has been a great deal going on in our music sphere. Some snippets I captured...

Keoni was a guest violinist with the Dali Quartet summer camp concert.




Keoni, Seth, and Peter put together a small concert at the church. Seth is the assistant to our music director and plays piano and organ at our church. He helps put together several summer concerts which benefit young musicians.




The three of them each played a solo and combined as a trio on several more pieces. As an encore, they did Pie Jesu.




My video recordings are far from ideal, but you can get the idea.

There were several other music events during the last several days as well. The house sounds like a conservatory since both grandsons are home right now though each will be off and running to out of state music camp/institutes.

Aidan's repertoire now includes Brahms. The piano part is on the iPhone attached to the amplifier. Here is a snippet I captured a couple days ago.

He was playing this piece in its entirety the next night when I was settling in my bedroom for the night. I put on my robe to come sit on the stairs to listen.

The sound of the chicks is gone from the living room. Saturday was the big moving day to the barn.

Toby's wire crate served as the moving cage for all 13 of them making about four trips to the space cleared out in the barn since Toby likes chasing chickens. In a mad moment of total cat play he thinks it's great sport to chase the old hens who manage to stay just out of reach. So far, his marauding instincts haven't done them in. The young poults might not be so lucky. I hope they are big enough to free them on Fourth of July - Independence Day!

Now they're part of barn life.

The spontaneous music moments are a tug that I will miss as I relocate my living quarters to Marge's where I was in the winter. She has graciously invited me to house-share with her and gradually I am taking her up on it. It is not far away so I will be back at the farm often, enjoying the life there as well. Aidan promises to play his music for me, and I know Keoni will do that, too, whenever he is back home.

A clump of Wendy's flowers...