Meal In A Cake

Well, That's what I tell myself.

I mean that there is lots of:

salmon, veggies, eggs, yogurt, whole wheat biscuits, 

and etc. good healthy stuff

in the cakes.

The cakes are easy to make,

fun to shape

and 

good to eat.

So, what's not to like?

I put two of the cakes in the freezer 

as an experiment.

I want to find out if they are yummy good to eat, 

after thawing.

If they are, then I predict

a freezer with freezer bags full of dated 

salmon cakes. 

This photo is a peek at the other end of 

my "cluttered" happy counter.

Ahhh, life should be more fun.

Really don't want naked counters.

There's only so much organizing I can stand.

I suppose that if I had more room

to actually put stuff away

the counter would not be so busy.

You know...

a place for everything and

everything in its place.

Well, that won't happen here

unless I have way less stuff and it would

still be a problem to find 

homes for stuff.

There is just not much room.

So, my idea is to enjoy the stuff I use

and have it where

I can "play" with it...

use it.

The fire is being mopped up!!!

Smiles

~:>

Wow! Surprise In The Mail

This package was sent from Australia

over 6 months ago

and

just showed up at the PO today!

Gee, could it be the missing package?

The box was stamped:

Wonder where that was?
I can make up all kinds of scenarios.

Inside was:

It's a wok! Yay!

Along with candy!!!

Pretty Neat!

The Trail Fire containment date is still
July 9th, 2016
And that is way better than pretty neat!!!

Smiles

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Smoke And Socks

Ok

I know this photo is pathetic.

But I have spent a lot of time yesterday and today

trying to figure out

how to knit a German short row sock heel.

I have never knit a sock before.

YouTube has provided lots of videos on the subject.

But, I have yet to find a video that 

gives me all the answers.

I am finding out a lot of facts.

Like... the toe and the heel are knit the same.

Some of the videos are contradictory. 

I stopped knitting on the sock 

and decided to concentrate on learning

the heel and toe stitches.

I'll keep looking.

Everything in the photo is ok.

Now I just need to find out the next steps.

If short rows are easier to knit,

then wraps and turns must be really difficult.

Maybe I should just design my own sock!

Patterns!

I don't like reading and trying to follow patterns.

Sigh...

I think I will ask my neighbor if she knits...

Fire News:

It is smokey outside now.

So all the windows are closed.

The most active part of the fire is located 

down in the canyon  

on the opposite side of the river.

The SouthWest part of the fire.

But the firefighters are holding their own

and containing the fire.

They think the fire will reach the river there

tonight or mid tomorrow?

The containment date has moved up

to July 9th!

Hooray for the FireFighters!!!

Yay!!!

!:>

Happy 4th Of July 2016

This was the view today from the grocery store parking lot

toward the American River

down in the canyon.

Yep, that is a news van parked on the left.

Lots of smoke.

I haven't heard any planes flying today.

Just a few helicopters.

The parade and the celebration at the park

were pretty much cancelled.

There was a tiny parade

and a few people

brought food to the park 

and cooked. etc.

Usually. the park is full of music,

people, booths, games, etc.

Not today.

We did get hot dogs and chicken.

You can see the parking lot in the background.

Not many cars.

But a few people did get together.

We both got water to ease the smoke cough.

More cars at the grocery store than at the park.

Took this on the way home today.

Wish everyone a very

Happy 4th of July



4th of July bling.
Fun to wear once a year.

Smiles

~:>

Smoke And Socks

The smoke didn't lift out of the canyons today

which meant that the fire fighters couldn't use their planes to fight the fire.

At night the canyons fill with smoke as the wind moves down

while in the morning the wind usually moves up 

and clears enough smoke

so the planes can see to fly and drop retardant, 

water or whatever they need.

So, the fire grew and is now over 5,000 acres

and thankfully has not burned toward us and come up 

to the top of that ridge.

Our town is where Kristine is standing

while she took this photo.

(the grocery store parking lot)

The fire fighters are doing a fantastic job of

keeping the fire down in the canyon

but it is moving East

up toward another town.

This is all very scary since it is so close

and so much depends on the weather.

The fire fighters are amazing!!!

I can't say enough.

Tomorrow, our town is going to have its

4th of July Annual Parade

and after the parade

there will be 

the Annual Independence Day Celebration 

at the Memorial Park

with all kinds of booths, games, music, food, etc.

Even if it is smokey

I don't think anything will be cancelled.

Hope not.

I want to go and take some photos.

So, what have I been doing?

Not much.

I slept in again to catch up on lost hours.

Then I decided to learn to knit socks.

Akin to fiddling?

Anyway, I have got as far as the toe.

Pretty funny.

I think it would make a neat dolls hat.

Kinda...

Hope the smoke lifts tomorrow.

And the planes can fly.

Ahh...

I hear a helicopter flying over the house.

It might be one of the helicopters

that have IR that lets them see through the smoke.

A spotter helicopter.

They have found and then put out several fires

in the area.

Happy the day before the 4th.

~:>

Fire... How Close?

Right now the wind is calm to none.

Hardly any smoke around the house today.

I asked Kristine for a smoke update since 

I slept through the morning.

Staying up until 5:30am will do that...

Kristine went out today and stopped to take some photos.

Trail fire is over 3,000 acres now.

I liked this photo best.The fire is down on the American River and in the steep terrain.

Google maps distance 

says that it is about 1+ to 3 miles away from us

as the crow flies. 

Depending on where you connect us

up to the American River.

I always think of "distance" as driving distance

but if you draw a straight line to the fire it is close.

And even closer in some areas.

But the good news is that mandatory evacuation

orders have been lifted for some areas.

They are still advisory though.

Anyway, I freaked myself out a bit...

didn't realize how close the fire is...

Morgan is huffing and puffing with the heat.

So, I made her some ice for her water bowl.

She likes the little pieces and I don't have to worry

about her cracking her teeth.

Happy 4th Weekend!

Smiles

~:>

Getting ready for the 4th

Kristine hung the flag

while I walked Morgan around the property.

We forgot to put out the flag last year

because there was so much going on around here.

The fire is uppermost in our thoughts but 

Kathleen showed us

a beautiful flag decorated cake.

That reminded me to go get the flag out and ask

Kristine to put it up.

Happy Getting Ready For The 4th

There was a lot of smoke today.

I didn't realize how close we are to the fire.

We are right above it.

Very glad the main direction the fire is traveling 

is not  toward us. 

The fire fighters are doing a terrific job

holding the line,

also the planes dropping the retardant

and the dozers making fire breaks are amazing.

We are so fortunate!

Hope the wind stays calm.

I stayed up all night to keep the windows and doors open

so as to capture the cool night air.
(And make sure no critters came in the house.)

I'm really sleepy.

Hope things will be better tonight and tomorrow.

Night zzzzzz

Smiles

!:>

Smoke And Masks and Fire

Today the estimated containment date is July 4th

I'm waiting for a full update on the fire.

The fire has grown in some areas
but is being held back pretty much in areas
where there are structures.
The fire covers about 1,500 acres.

The smoke was very bad today nearer the fire
and caused the planes to be grounded for some time.

Not much smoke here today.

It is 9pm now and no smoke here yet..

And it has cooled down to 74 with not much wind.

Very thankful the wind is fairly calm.

I need to get out there and rake some more leaves.

Not looking forward to the heat tomorrow.

It is supposed to be in the 90's and 80's all week.

Yesterday, a drone shut down the fire fighting planes again.

I wish they could shoot the drones down!

Or shoot the drone with something so they could track it back to the operator.

Smoke ...

Now is not the time to go shopping

because the stores are probably out of masks

and we need to stay off the roads...

but I really do need to invest in some face masks and  

store them away for use when it is smoky outside.

I have a mask that works pretty well to wear when I have to take 

Morgan out for a very short walk.

But a really good mask would be great to wear in the Winter

when there is lots of chimney wood smoke

in the air... or when there

is smoke around from people burning brush, etc.

Hopefully, we won't have more forest fires.

I stay in the house when it is smoky outside

but sometimes I need to go out and I hate breathing smoke.

I went on a search for smoke quality masks

and found out a lot.

I guess I will look around for  a N95 mask

or even better would be a hepa mask.

I'll have to check them out at the store and see what they are like.

Smiles

:>

Poor Frightened Hens

This morning Kristine told me the chickens got a fright when a 

DC-10 

fire fighting plane flew over the house

on its way to or from the fire.

The link above is to a page of photos of DC-10's

that fought the Santa Barbara fire.

This plane didn't drop any retardant here.

We tried to get a photo of the plane

but were too slow.

But the chickens took one glance at the plane

and freaked out

and flew from the end of the run

all the way to the coop

I guess they thought the plane was a giant hawk?

Poor old hens.

We got some smoke today when the wind kept 

switching directions.

Not much smoke.

Just enough to make you sneeze and cough a bit.

The fire is about 5/6 miles away.

Light hazy smoke.

There are almost 2,000 fire fighters

working on our fire.

Today they estimate that they will have

the fire contained 

July 1, 2016

They are amazing!

Right now it is about 12% contained.

There are a lot of planes

fighting this fire.

So far no structures lost.

Hope everyone stays safe

and things just get better and better.

Thank you fire fighters!

Smiles

~:>

Fire In The Woods

The planes fighting the fire have been grounded

because an idiot is flying a drone

over the fire.

Taking photos most likely.

No photos here

of the planes

or fire

because all we can see is some smoke.

Smoke behind the trees.

The only good thing going on is

No Wind

Flag not moving... Yay!

Kristine just came in to say that

they are going to start flying the planes again

and drop more fire retardant. 

They want to get as much of the fire contained

as they can before dark.

I hope they caught the drone person!

The thought of sparks from the fire

landing here is scary.

Dead dry leaves, propane tank, dead trees.

We are surrounded by dry dead leaves.

Acres of them.

So, no wind is a very good thing.

The planes will have to stop flying

as soon as it gets dark.

It is too dangerous to fly at night since the canyons

make it hard to maneuver safely.

There have been some evacuations

Hope all goes well tonight.

Our thought are with the 

fire fighters. 

Be safe!

~:>

Yarn Under Control

I'm so glad!

Yarn, needles, projects half finished.

If you look close or enlarge the photo

you will see a small blue ball

next to the large grey ball of yarn.

The yarn ball is blue because it has a stretchy blue sock

pulled over it to keep the yarn ball 

from coming apart.

The last time I was at the yarn store

I saw a package of yarn ball "girdles"

and thought,

"I have some socks that might work."

And they did.

Not so pretty as the store bought yarn ball corsets

but the socks do keep the yarn

ball from unraveling.

Takes me a long time to unknot

a big yarn mess.

The socks are doing a good job.

This is my 3rd collection of yarn.

It is made up of partially completed hat and scarf projects.

I had started them before Christmas

and then had to quit because of my eyesight

and because I ran out of yarn. 

No excuses now for not finishing these projects.

Smiles

~:>

Mouse Trouble Solved

Hello!

What's This?

Turned the mouse over last night and saw the break.

Wondered why my computer would suddenly 

go to sleep now and then.

Didn't know the mouse had a kink in its tail.

Love duct tape.

My handy dandy roll of duct tape

came to the rescue.

Amazing, but the mouse works/ed 

with that break.

Aside from the occasional glitch.

And the button doesn't control the pointer 

scrolling up very well.

I put a thick bunch of duct tape  on the cord

to stop it bending.

I have a battery mouse.

But I hate how many batteries it uses up.

I think I need a new mouse.

It's hot today.

In the 90's and Morgan was suffering.

Morgan waiting for ice.

She likes ice in her water on hot days.

I put ice in a plastic baggie

and smashed the ice with a wooden mallet 

then added the broken ice

to her water bowl. 

After she crunched up the ice

 she went down the hall to take a nap.

We got her a cool bed last year

but she wouldn't use it.

Now she just like to sleep on the wood floor.

That's cool enough I guess.

Stay cool!

Smiles

~:>

What! Leave My Eggs Alone!

This morning I got 4 eggs out of the carton

of pasture raised eggs.

If I can't get eggs at the farmer's market

I get the best eggs I can at the store.

Pasture raised eggs.

Each carton has a little news paper about the chickens.

I stab a hole in the round end of each egg

to keep them from exploding

as they steam.

These eggs have a very tough shell.

See the bent pin stuck in the paper under to top picture.

Yesterday, I tried to get away without sticking a hole in the eggs.

Didn't work so well.

About half way through steaming I heard a 

POP!

Messy clean up job getting egg out of the steamer basket holes.

So, from now on I will stab my eggs.

Sigh...

I have a hard time not stabbing myself.

I think there is a egg stabber on the market.

I really need to find one of those.

Then when I went to put the carton away

I saw a sticker someone had stuck on the carton.

Good Grief!

I didn't see the sticker until I was putting the carton in the fridge.

I really wish people wouldn't do stuff like this.

I don't think they know what they

are talking about.

Yes, there are a lot of bad things going on

but putting a sticker on my eggs is 

not going to change anything.

Except make me more adverse

to these tactics and message.

Supporting farmers raising pasture raised chickens

by buying their products 

and /or buying eggs at the farmer's market

would be a start in the right direction.

Down with stickers on my eggs!

Smiles

~:>

Spot The Egg

Kristine went to steam the last two eggs in the carton

and called me over to view

the speckled egg.

Kinda cute.

A decorated egg.

Hadn't seen one like this before.

Neat.

And here is my 2nd basket of yarn.

There are used yarn balls 

that are just hanging out until I find a project for them.

Mary gifted me with some of that yarn 

to make amigurumi.

Haven't watched all of this video yet.
But I'm going to start with this mouse when I do start.

It has cooled off enough outside

that I'm going to go out

and rake on my paths.

There are leaves, sticks, and stuff that fall out of the trees 

littering up the paths.

And I also need to fill in the holes

the squirrels dig.

I think a mole or snake or some other critter

is also making holes.

Wish they would confine their activities off the paths.

I don't want to trip and fall again.

Bad squirrels!

Smiles

~:>