4th of July

[Colliemom]

Happy 4th of July everyone. Weekend started off with a bang last night as one neighbor did fireworks. Piper was a nervous wreck. One other neighbors dogs don’t like them either. But we won’t begrudge somebody their bit of enjoyment and it’s been really quiet
Around here till that point, which is pretty much normal.

I went to a Patriotic concert in town yesterday evening. Combination of Community Band and Choir. They were wonderful. Some of the music, especially America the Beautiful is very thought provoking. Was looking at the buildings of downtown Gaylord, thinking back to those who first settled the area, their visions and what it has become today.

Shelia, glad you don’t have pneumonia. Hope the new scoot helps. Sorry so many of you are in extreme heat. I read where sone areas will be come unliveable in future years due to climate change. Our average temp for the month of June was 65.5 degrees. Heading to low 80’s today with sun, but rain moving in tomorrow. We were 1.35 inches above normal rainfall last month as well. Anne, that Fire may be 25 miles away, but I would be prepared in case you have to move out anyway. Embers can fly with the wind miles ahead. But you know all that

Time for me to get a move on here. Want to sand and paint those spots on my porch railings that I put wood filler on the other day. And put another coat ofpaint on the porch step, before it all gets Into the sun. Bought a couple of blocks to finish off the landscaping area and then call it quits with that project. Association pathway needs some cleaning up and trimming a bit and flowers need watering. So will get on that too. Have a great 4th of July.

[Irmi]

Good morning Sue and all that check in!

Our temperatures will be in the low to mid 90s with a eat index of around 111. There is a chance of showers but somehow most of them go around us. I heard on the news this morning that lots of towns and counties in our area are having drone shows rather than fireworks tonight.

Steve will be cooking steaks on is Big Green Egg with corn on the cob and Ford ook limas for our dinner. I can't wait! Enjoy your Independence Day!

[Cudedog]

Happy 4th of July everyone. Weekend started off with a bang last night as one neighbor did fireworks. Piper was a nervous wreck. One other neighbors dogs don’t like them either. But we won’t begrudge somebody their bit of enjoyment and it’s been really quiet. Around here till that point, which is pretty much normal.

Happy 4th to you, Sue, Irmi, and all who follow.

Last year here in my town they passed an ordinance restricting fireworks to (I think!) after 8:00 p.m. to be finished by 11:00 p.m. on the actual 4th. In years past, house-shaking booms and bangs would start a week before, and go on until the week after, the 4th.

Even so, last year was really bad here for the entire 3 hours (and, of course, still a few on days before and after) - non-stop booms and bangs. My poor Joe really freaked out, to the point he was scrambling to get behind stuff piled against the back wall in my closet, trying to squirm under the couch (he's way to big to fit under the couch), dashing from room to room around my house in full panic mode, jumping in and out of the bathtub (why the bathtub? Who knows) finally finishing up by peeing on my bed in sheer terror.

I decided to get out of town for the 4th this year, so made reservations at my favorite mountain campground (where fireworks aren't allowed). I was to leave on Monday, July 2nd, and come home on Saturday, July 6.

I ended up cancelling at the last minute because of the weather.

It has been terribly hot here, and the fire danger is at a critical level. Predictions for Saturday's high temps (although predictions vary up and down slightly as the days go by) are 115* - 117* degrees.

Predictions for Redding, California, one of the cities north of me that I would be passing through, has a tentative prediction of 120*.

Yes, you are reading those temps right.

I just plain chickened out.

I pass through Redding on my way there, the place I like to go is fairly remote, my sweet boy Joe is a bit of an older dog now, and any kind of really minor mechanical issue (think, maybe, flat tire) that would cause me to have to stop at the side of the road for even a short period of time could prove. . . fatal for him in that kind of heat. I myself don't do well in the heat anymore, either.

So I just elected to stay home. I did pay a visit to my vet for some calming meds to help us through the day; there were a few booms last night (that he reacted to), but the meds definitely helped. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that score.

Anne, that Fire may be 25 miles away, but I would be prepared in case you have to move out anyway. Embers can fly with the wind miles ahead. But you know all that

Sue, thank you, I actually agree with you 100% on this.

In years past, I would have said "no way", but. . . let's just say "times have changed". Just now I am reading that the heat wave here of 110+/- temps might go on for the next two weeks. If it does - which seems likely - it will be a record - the longest heat wave, with the hottest temps, in the history of California.

All it really takes for a major conflagration is dry brush and high winds. There is a lot of dry brush between me and where the fire was burning - thankfully (at least thus far), winds are predicted to be fairly calm. But if we should get a rip-roaring wind storm with 30 - 40 mph gusts in these dry and hot conditions - all bets are off.

I don't have a "go bag". I have a "go van". My van even has a bed and a plug-in AC. I keep non-perishable essentials in my van, and I keep my van gassed up. In the event of an emergency, I just need to grab Joe, dog food, bottled water, purse and important papers and I am outta here.

Stay safe, everyone.

Anne

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning we are in the middle of a heat wave too. 107 109 103 104 102 then Wed we drop down to the mid 90's. UGH I lived in Redding for 10 years, got lured there by the lakes and camping as I had a boat and RV.........found out how hot it got after I moved there. One year we consistently hit 120-122 geez we were in the mountain area so I thought. But it is valley and the heat from Sacramento valley just came up and stopped at the mountains around Redding. It never cooled off at night. AC ran 24/7 Was glad to move back to Oregon for MANY reasons. I will never live in CA again not just because of the heat, just a personal choice. Ya know we all have them regarding where to land.
Neighbors are bugging me to come over for burgers tonight. They have lots of family coming and I dont like to interrupt family time. BUT she bugged me at Bunco yesterday. Said I could just come get a burger and come home......well I could never do that. So will go over for a bite and short visit then come home to my peace and quiet. She is nice enough to ask me so I dont want to be rude.
Some laundry and housekeeping chores today and will try to keep cool. I opened all my doors and windows this morning as it was 70 in the house and 57 outside so let the cool air in and now it is 69 so will start closing up everything soon.
Hope everyone has a good July 4th

[JudyJB]

Anne, I also read the stories and saw the videos of the Oroville fire and thought about you. One thing you could do with Joe if you ever have to evacuate in a hurry and are worried about the heat is to take a small towel with you and an extra gallon of water. Put the towel on Joe (somehow) and soak the towel. Friend told me she did that a couple of times with her dog to cool him down when AC was not available.

I am back in Ohio at a state park. I have decided I planned to spend too much time in Ohio this year. Do not have as many doctor appointments as I usually do, and my son's condo on Sandusky Bay is messing things up. They never know until the last minute when they are going or staying, so I end up trying to find a last minute weekend reservation or staying in my current state park. For example, I spent a couple of hours at their house yesterday to pick up mail and Amazon packages, but they left for condo at 6 pm, and i headed to check in at campground. They will be back Saturday morning and are flying out to visit DIL's brother on Sunday very early, then returning the following late Saturday, so I will have her 8 nights and plan on doing some leash training while they are gone. She has been leash trained, but they almost never use a leash on her except when jogging, which she does almost every day, so mostly she runs free in their unfenced yard. The only "'walking" she ever gets is on a jogging leash which may explain why she pulls so much.

Quiet here at campground. I pick a spot on top of a hill that is away from the rest of the campground. A lot of the campers up here go to the lake during the day, plus it has been damp here, so people not walking around on wet grass much--huddled in screen tents instead. Makes it quieter up here! Its also open so I can get satellite.

[Cudedog]

Anne, I also read the stories and saw the videos of the Oroville fire and thought about you. One thing you could do with Joe if you ever have to evacuate in a hurry and are worried about the heat is to take a small towel with you and an extra gallon of water. Put the towel on Joe (somehow) and soak the towel. Friend told me she did that a couple of times with her dog to cool him down when AC was not available.

Good suggestion, Judy, thanks.

I have found that what works the best is to just use a large spray bottle filled with water. Easy to spritz him down all over with water until he is literally dripping - particularly on his belly where there is less hair. It works well, and when he is hot he really likes it.

I'm not sure draping him with a wet towel would work quite so well - I think it might tend (even if the towel were wet) to hold in body heat more than letting it escape from the skin.

Thanks, Judy!

Anne

[Bethers]

Happy 4th!

Shirl tried to post the following this morning and the format she had didn't work, so I'm trying the link:

https://biggeekdad.com/2015/12/my-beautiful-america/

[Acadianmom]

We had a cooler day because it was cloudy and rained off and on all afternoon and I got an inch. It only got up to 86. There was a lot of thunder and lightening so Luna and I were very close for a while. At least we don't have fireworks near here. I had the 4th show on TV with all the fireworks but that doesn't bother her. She will only bark at the TV if there is a door bell or phone call on TV.

My neighbors usually have a big family party for holidays but nothing today. I had leftover BBQ from yesterday. I put a package of stew meat in the slow cooker with gravy mix. I don't know what I had bought the stew meat for because I don't really like stew. I can now eat it like roast with mashed potatoes. One more thing out of the freezer.

The hurricane will be back over water tomorrow. They are still saying it will hit near the Texas border.

Martha

[snowball]

I was actually able to watch it Beth... usually the sound won't cooperate on my computer but was able to hear this as well as view it... thanks Shirl for thinking of us... if I was successful posted it on FB but I will be surprised it if worked...
I actually did a couple of things today wore me out... I just couldn't put anything in the dirty dishwasher so cleaned it ran it through with a cleaning tablet and then rinsed it did that cause I used the Dawn power wash on some corners of it... and the utensil holder thought because of that I would also rinse it .. then after reading scriptures I listened to a pod cast while folding laundry and then took a nap oops slept way to late scrounged for something for supper found some soup in the fridge hamburger soup so heated it up one thing out of the freezer... I'd pulled out taco meat but it was late enough that I didn't want to put it all together ....
other than that not a lot went on in this house hold mom's butt has been hurting hoping her sore isn't back really think it is because she has nothing on her backside for padding... and she sits on her back all the time... I tell her if your butt hurts lay on her side she looks at me like what??? if she does it she ends up a few moments later on her back...
when they delivered my oxygen tanks yesterday she looked at my consentrator because of the noise... it was one of those come and go noises so she did their two year check on it which really surprised me that they don't check them at least on a yearly basis... at least I think it's been two years or close to it...since I was put on oxygen... the filter was really dirty well duh I had cleans the grate cause it was really dirty never though of a filter then she decided to check the oxygen flow.... it wasn't good she was really surprised that I was getting around ok.... again I am totally surprised that they don't check that out occasionally at least more often than every two years... I am amazed at how much I can feel the flow when I pull it down to check can't remember the last time it was the strong
glad you got something for Joe and hoping you won't have evacuate
sorry your heat has been so bad Karen
Kathy Kral posted on FB that she is going on a trip will be in Jackson for a couple of day hoping we will be able to get together...
Sue how is Molly doing?
It's good the hurricane is going a different route not happy for Texas but for we are happy
Irimi about those beans couldn't figure out what they were thought it was the H missing that that didn't makae sense
you all have a good day
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

Good late night.

Didn't do a dang thing today! Just watched YouTube videos and took a nap. Had a splitting headache most of the day but was pretty much gone after my nap.

I heard booms last night and realize they were fireworks from the casino across the street. I forgot that they do their fireworks a night early. I didn't got out to watch them tho. Tonight there have been quite a few fireworks going off around here. There are pretty good ones in the next community over, just over the wall between us. I could see them from my living room window while watching TV. I can still hear other ones in the other direction but can't see them from here. The cats aren't the least bit bothered by any of that, luckily.
Anne, sorry Joe has such a hard time with them. I think it is fairly common with dogs.

Tomorrow morning I go get my new hearing aid. The lady showed me two different kinds when I was there last time. One goes around behind the ear and one fits inside the ear. I didn't like the feeling of the one that fits inside, but the other one was much more comfortable so I went with that one. I really don't care if anyone can see it, altho my hair will cover it up anyways unless I pin it back.

Have a good night!

[SoCalGalcas]

Good Morning All, I loved the Charley Daniels video… thanks for passing it on. Annie, thanks for your personal update on your van ready to go!
I have been quite concerned about you with the fire in Oriville.
My Hazel doesn’t even hear the fire works, however, one of the residents said her dog shook all night with fear at the loud booms. I guess it depends on where one’s apartment is located.
I spent a very quiet day. Watched all the people in the swim pool. As there is a cooling breeze blowing through town, it doesn’t get really hot here.
Lyn