The End of July

[Colliemom]

Morning all. Another month about to be part of the past. Summer going too fast. But with all the heat, humidity, fires etc., a lot of us won’t miss it. I’m sitting in the living room with windows and door open, enjoying a nice cool but bit humid breeze. Temp is 70°. We are in a heat ave here too, heading to about 85 today, some areas warmer. I have my portable AC hooked up and ready to go, but won’t use it till I have to. We had quite the rains on Monday evening and night. 2 1/4 inches in my rain gauge. Was good, cause it will help grass and plants in this hot sun.

Nothing much doing here this week. Shutter painting in hold due to weather, no other projects either till it cools back down. So will putter with getting my paperwork finished for my someday executors, so they will know what’s where, who to contact and so forth and work in my Diamond painting.

Barbie, hope you get the shower taken care of so you can dispense with the hose. Irmi, sorry to hear the pipe organ doesn’t work, but one doesn’t get to play a grand piano every day. Nice honor for you. Can’t believe you will be heading to MD pretty soon. Seems like you just mentioned that trip earlier this year and it’s almost time already. Karen, I know what you mean about energy levels when you aren’t keeping busy. Same issue here when we have hot weather and I can’t monkey outside.

Hope they get that fire near you under control Barbie, before it gets into more heavily populated areas. That Park fire is unbelievable.
Shelia, you asked about the Jasper fire, no it is not out or under control. It is out of the town area but still burning around it. They say it maybe months before it’s out. Found out yesterday, that the cabins we stayed at on way to AK are still standing, but 5 were destroyed and others have superficial damage. https://www.jasper-alberta.ca/p/wildfireupdate. And then there the fires in OR. So far we have had zero smoke here where I am.


Guess I should get my act together and accomplish something before the morning is gone. Have a nice day.

[Cudedog]

Hope they get that fire near you under control Barbie, before it gets into more heavily populated areas. That Park fire is unbelievable.

Sue, the Park Fire was yesterday declared to be the 5th largest fire in California's history. As of this morning, it has burned 389,791 acres (609 square miles). I am about 40 miles south-east of the Park Fire; I can sometimes see the smoke columns from my house. Have only had smoke now and again from this fire, mostly the winds are keeping the smoke away from where I live.

Just now the fire is burning in some really inaccessible areas - very steep canyons that have no road access, so no dozers or hand crews. Unfortunately there are a few large logging company tree plantations on the ridges and plateaus in that area. The trees there are about 15 - 20 years old, are very expensive for the logging companies to plant and to maintain, and the trees are not large enough to harvest until they are about 25 years old.

So the companies are looking at a multi-million-dollar loss on an investment they have been waiting 20 years to see a return on. If the fire moves as predicted, all they will have is blackened scorched earth.

There are live fire cameras throughout California (and much of the western pacific states as well). One can dial these cameras up online and watch fires burn in real time. The video clips seen on the nightly news is often video footage from these cams.

These cams also allow one to begin to understand how very rugged the mountainous country is in California's wildlands.

Here is a selection of live fire cams (the cameras rotate, so as to present a 360* view) in the general area of the Park Fire:

https://cameras.alertcalifornia.org/?pos=39.9408_-121.6599_10

Fires generally tend to "lie down" at night, as I am writing this it is about 8:00 a.m., so the fire is not as active at the moment as it probably will be later in the day. Of course, the cams show this.

The Park Fire is likely to continue burning for a long while.

Anne

[Acadianmom]

Barbie, I like your work around for your bathroom problem. Romeow looks like the plumbing inspector.

It's already 96 and going up. I'm thinking about going to town. The only thing I really need from the store is 1/2 & 1/2 for my coffee. The nearest Dollar Store might have some but if I get on the road I might as well go to town. I need to check on how much gas the truck has. If the truck needs gas I'll bring some cans to get gas for the mower.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

Woke up early to be up when the plumber got here. He was here before 8am. It is a good thing I didn't try to tackle that job myself. It turns out the handle part is fine but was a part inside behind it that was broken. He had to drive to HD to get that part and put it in. So I have the original handle back on. I can take the new one back now and get a refund. No more hose thru the window! Yay!

The Nixon Fire has burned almost 5000 acres, destroyed at least one house, and is only 5% contained.
There is a little hazy smoke in the air today here but not much. I can't smell any smoke. There are monsoon storms coming tomorrow. If we don't get the rain here, we will at least get the humidity The rest of my outdoor projects will be put on hold for a bit, but none of it is urgent before closing. Just some cleanup here and there.

I meet with the Escrow lady tomorrow morning to sign some papers and will find out if we are still going to close on Friday. I haven't heard otherwise yet. If we do close Friday, there is a Jeep in San Diego I might drive down to check out on Saturday.

Need to get cleaned up and go for my physical shortly.

***DON"T FORGET TO SAY RABBITS!***

[Redetotry]

Sue I know it's what we are used to but 85 sounds wonderful!! We are in an excessive heat warning here as it's in the mid-nineties with humidity making it feel like 110. Over night lows are mid-80's. I even cancelled my much needed much loved massage I had scheduled for today. Martha I don't know how you get out and do so much in the heat you are having as it sounds worse than ours. And Barbie I could never be able to stand your high temps. Good to hear the plumber fixed your water problem. I got too hot many years ago and have to be very careful in this type of weather as I don't perspire.

[Othersharon]

Afternoon all! Rained most of last night so humidity is high and 86 or so right now. Been a busy several days for me. He Buddy at vet last week and again Monday. I was afraid he might have an obstruction with the vomiting and squirts he was having. They tested about everything they could and they all came back good plus X-ray didn’t show any obstructions. So did rice and chicken and he seems to be more normal today. Tina was here overnight in my driveway last week. Buddy was so happy to see another dog but Lark wasn’t having anything to do with Buddy’s exuberance. Not to mention how much he outweighed her! Jut had/having some excitement right around the corner from my house about half hour ago. The coal train was heading through town to the coal yard and 3 locomotives and 4 empty coal cars derailed. Talked to my neighbor and she said traffic was backed up clear back through town. She managed to be on the town side and was able to go down some side streets to get home. So basically the town is divided right now. I had just gotten home just before it happened. I needed to go to the store but glad I changed my mind about that and went to the other side of town to CVS for some things I needed and didn’t waste any time there and luckily got home just before it all happened! Otherwise I would have been stuck too. Fire police are closing roads and rerouting traffic so looks like they’ve got traffic moving at least. Luckily that track is mostly used by the coal train, never seen anything else in all the years I’ve lived here. Guess Buddy and I will need to find a different walk pattern later! Stick to this side of the tracks!! Otherwise it’s just been puttering around the house. To hot to mow and after last night to wet! I just got my electric bill and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as high as I thought it would be. This bill reflected the 90 days we had so maybe there is something to be said for newer appliances and energy savings! May need to think about replacing the unit I use in my bedroom window since I know it’s been around a long time! Time to feed Buddy and need to gather garbage round the house to get put out for pickup tomorrow. Been watching the fires and hoping no more buildings are affected and no loss of life. Barbie, glad you were able to get your water situation taken care of and hope you get to close Friday. I know there’s lots more going on but need to quit rambling!! Stay cool and stay safe.

[OregonLuvr]

Good afternoon ladies. Well our luck has run out big time.......it is so smoky and smelly outside today and just keeps getting worse. I was going to run a few errands this morning but changed my mind. Checked my AC furnace filter and it is still good but if theis keeps up it wont be. I have plenty of extras tho. Going to be 98 today but if the smoke cover remains I dont think it will get that hot. I know in Talent when it was so smoky it never got as hot as they predicted. I dont have to do anything outside so will just stay planted in the house. I do have to go get my mail and put my lot rent check in the box but that is just at the end of my street so will only take a minute.

Took some salmon out for dinner. I try to eat salmon at least 2 times a week since they say Omega-3 fatty acids are one of the things that make salmon one of the healthiest foods you can put on your plate. (heart healthy protect against heart disease and stroke) I dont ever buy Atlantic salmon as it is almost always farm raised. Wild caught North Pacific Salmon is good. Sockeye is usually wild caught in Alaska (full of Vitamin D, fatty acids, B12, Potassium and is a complete protein source) Alaska prohibits fin fish farming so it is alway wild caught. Most Coho and Chinook salmon also comes from Alaska. I also buy Wild Alaskan Cod. Fish is so good for you so I try to eat it often. Many of the other fish are also farm raised. I am not a big red meat eater obviously. I have nothing against it I just dont eat it too often and when I do it is usually hamburger or a small roast. I prefer seafood, chicken, pasta, salads an occasional pork chop. I love making casseroles due to the ease of freezing and then just pulling out for a reheat. I also like soups. Since my penance for my eyes wont be up until tomorrow (then I can bend over and lift more than 20lbs) I spent the morning perusing recipes ha ha I am just a basic cook, nothing fancy and I prefer only a few ingredients ha ha

So time now for my afternoon iced mocha

[BarbaraRose]

I am not a happy camper right now.

Just found out that closing won't be until August 8th now. I had a feeling about that. I am sure it is because of delaying paying for the HOA docs. My agent kept telling me to wait on paying for it. Now we have to wait another week! I will also have to wait another week to find and buy a car.

Then, I had talked to the escrow lady yesterday to set up the day and time for meeting with her to sign papers. I told her I couldn't do it today because of a couple of appointments I already had scheduled. She asked about Thursday and said she is available to meet at 9am, so I agreed to that. Now I just checked my emails and she said I missed our 9am meeting this morning and need to reschedule! Seems everyone is screwed up on this whole deal!

If I was a drinker, I would be drinking tonight!!

[Bethers]

Barbie, as long as the sale goes through, a week shouldn't be anything to worry about. But i understand frustrations.

We had some rain this afternoon so after before the sun came back out, I got out for a walk with TY. Wow. It was down to 71 outside. I opened everything up and don't think I'll need ac again until tomorrow.

Now to remember rabbits tomorrow!

Oh. In case anyone wondered, my phone has decided that whenever I type TY it's going to capitalize both letters lol. I leave it alone. On the other hand except at the start of a sentence if I type the letter i it doesn't capitalize it and I have to fix it. Gotta love technology.

[Acadianmom]

I mixed up 2 gallons of weed killer and went to town in the truck. Went to Maurice to spray the drive way so I can see where it is and not go in the ditch. Some company is putting in cable and has dug a big hole by the ditch and messed up some of the driveway with the big equipment. There was a lot of equipment on the next property but no one was around to talk to. When I started the truck to come home the service engine light came on again. I am so sick of that damn truck.

It got up to 101 this afternoon. BJ, I'm sure I do things in the heat that I shouldn't be doing. I was so hot I had to stop and get a drink. I stopped at the grocery store for the 1/2 & 1/2 and spent $40. Can't get just one thing. When I got home a big limb had fallen out of the oak tree across the driveway. I'm sure glad it didn't hit someone's vehicle or me. It was all I could do to move it to the side and it's too big for my saw. I guess I'll have to tie a rope to it and drag it to the barnyard and try to burn it.

Karen, the next time I go to Sam's I'll have to see if they have wild caught salmon. I have yet to eat any salmon I liked. I don't know what kind I tried. I would rather eat seafood too.

Sharon, sorry Buddy is sick. I have been lucky with Luna so far. She gets into the cat food pretty often because I forget to pick it up but she usually throws it up. Having a train derailed in town sounds like a lot of fun trying to get around. The train quit coming to Abbeville because the rice mill was the only one that used it and the railroad wanted the mill to fix the track. The mill just eventually closed.

I have to go to Lafayette tomorrow with my son's medical papers. He says one of the hospital is threatening to send him to collections over some bill. They are sending him information in his portal. We have told these place 100 time if they want to get paid, send a bill. His mail comes here because he would never be able to find it where he lives.

Martha

[snowball]

Martha that is so irritating... when mom got the bill for her last hospital stay I read the words past due on it ... took a picture and sent it to the brother he said that it was just 18 dollars that was past due but the thing is she never got a bill and you know how you used to or maybe still do get the letter from the insurance saying this is NOT A BILL but you will probably owe your this amount? haven't receive any of those either for either of us... not everyone knows how to use portal or wants too... been trying to decide if it's cheaper to make 1/2 and 1/2 or buy it it's bad for me but we do like it on hot cereal oh heck to be honest cold cereal as well
that is too bad Barbie I think sometimes the right hand doesn't know what the left one is doing they should have know that it would affect things... but it will happen gives you a bit more time to finish the issues you are working on... and hopefully the car will still be there...
Last night it was cold enough that I closed the window over the kitchen sink just because I thought that it would make mom colder even closed her bedroom door and my window is usually open all the way closed it a lot... so now today I can't get her to leave her door open... she had quite closing it ... it does help in my room to have that door open the machine creates a bit of it's own heat... it was up to 80 hear suppose to get up to 84 tomorrow
been looking for goat figurines found some in Etsy so looked for pompom's found some and then I found a gavel Scored!!!! then tried ordering it that went ok for some reason I guess gmail still has my Madison SD address and it kept saying it didn't recognize my card... don't know why so when dd #3 called I told her I was just frustrated... and why and why I don't like ordering on line...so tonight she gave me her card number and information and I ordered the items in the cart and it worked I think I need to check with the bank and see what my billing address is I assumed that it was changed but who knows... but my goats gavel pompoms are going to Madison Wyoming... good thing when I got the receipts on line I read them yep Madison Wyo wonder if there is such a town... so because there was 4 items and 4 receipts I had to 4 times correct the addy so still frustrated but hopefully it's all fixed 2 replied 2 didn't so hoping it was just the timing...
rain how nice that was Beth...bet you enjoyed the cooler day
Karen that is too bad that you are getting the smoke now hopefully it will not be bad tomorrow here it is almost when you can do more and the air quality isn't good...
I hate hearing about those fires and the damage it is doing... yes there are trees that need that intense heat to germinate but it takes forever to over come it's been years since Yellowstone was burning up and you can still see the burnt trees... I feel for the logging companies but also for the poor animals that are losing their homes... not to mention the people losing theirs as well...
I've just now said RABBITS guess I won't be doing forty thieves need to get mom some ice water and go to my room...
I know that I missed out on some of you but it's late... and as someone said I've rambled on way too long
you all have a great day
sheila