Just last week I was looking at a little section of our back yard that kind of came together by accident.  Some chives sprouted last year, so I tended them and they rewarded me by coming back very full this year.  We wanted to attract birds, so we added a bird feeder.  We inherited a bird bath, so there it went.  Some lambs ear was growing, so we mulched and added an old tree stump.  We received iconic religious type statues as gifts, so we put them there.  All in all, it turned into a nice little part of the yard that I had started to call Monk Alley - well, in my head anyway.

Two days ago I said to Katie, "I love this little part of the yard, it's really nice."

I may have mentioned in a previous post that I have 2 dogs.  We acquired them last year as 6 week old puppies at the end of August.  So, they are still considered puppies - only 9 months old or so.  But they have grown a LOT.  Nutmeg, the bigger one is at least 60 pounds now. 

It seems that these sweet little puppies like to hunt, chase and kill moles.  Last night, it seems, there was a mole that must have been hard to catch in Monk Alley.  Here is what I woke up to.

Monk Alley is no more.  It has been completely devastated.  As am I.  Katie says I need to just let it go.  That whatever will be will be.  And we should give up on the backyard at least until the dogs are a little older.  She reminded me that's why I put the new fence up around the garden - to keep the dogs out.

This is a test for me - for my patience and goodwill towards other living things.  :)  But I still really miss Monk Alley.