I Can What?

I was driving back from town last night, close to midnight. I had been to see a play. There was little traffic but I saw many lights.
What? I could see for miles to the foothills, south toward Sacramento. Then it hit me! The air had cleared. I took a deep breath and smelled no smoke.
What a joyous feeling.
So we've had a little breeze come up across the Delta to cool and clean us. We needed that. Forecast for this weekend are the same conditions that started the fires to begin with. Let's hope the whole cycle will not be repeated.

Wild Fires

Fire crews in Northern California are still trying to put out over seven hundred (700!) wild fires. The air looks foggy, overcast for sure. I don't even see a red sun today. Although we are coming up on the middle of the day the temperature outside is 67'.
Outside workers have begun to wear masks to keep the smoke particles out of their lungs. There aren't even any fires burning in our County, just the neighbors to the north.
Weather forecasters tell us that it will be a few days longer before the smoke dissipates.

Air Show

I tried for three days to take a picture of these two planes in the same frame, without success.
The fighter goes through its routine, leaves and returns with his WW1 buddy.
Between the sunlight on my camera, the distance guess, it was not a good result.
There's always next year.

Azi's Down, Again

Last evening I let Azi come outside with me while I watered some potted plants. He did the "Water Dance" for a bit, I finished watering. He sat in the sun. All this took little time, probably less than ten minutes. I went in, rinsed my hands, Azi came in, sat at my feet. He backed up to the cabinet, had an odd look on his face, and has not walked since. I carried him to the cushion in the front room. It was very scary.
I took him to the vet today and the regular vet was back from a little vacation. Azi is on an aggressive regimen of medication that we hope will pull him through. We discussed all options, there is a good chance for recovery.
I am hoping for the best.

The New House

This is the little house that Suz bought for her youngster. She thought she'd read that it would take two people about two hours to assemble.
The box stated: two experienced people six to eight hours! Michelle and I worked four hours one hot day. I finished it the next day in another two hours. We must fit in the"experienced" category of assemblers.
It is cute as can be. A bit tight for an adult, but I can stand up inside. I made the left bench a bit higher, to make it easier to get up.
There you have it, the one room miracle!

PG&E

PG&E periodically sends a tree crew down our street, and all other streets, to check on tree growth. If branches have grown to within ten feet of the power lines the trees are tagged and a few weeks later the work crew comes along to chop them back. It's a good idea to watch their work for they are not the most observant guys. They chop away to get the job done. If the tree looks misshapen when they get through, so be it. Here they are working on my neighbors' young oaks. Tagging guy had said they would take my Italian Cypress down about ten feet, but the trimmers only took a negligible amount. About five years ago I talked them into totally removing a Eucalyptus tree by my driveway that required frequent maintenance.
There is no direct cost to the electricity consumer. We do, however, pay high prices per electric kilowatt and natural gas therms. So we do pay for it, a little bit, all the time.

Azi Update

Thanks for the phone calls inquiring about Azi's health. He's really perky today and walking normal. I feel positive about his full recovery. After a couple more weeks of limited activities and his medication for three weeks I'm sure he will be fine. Dachsie's backs are truly much more fragile than those of "normal" dogs.
I opened the kitchen door this morning and invited the big girls in for a bit. (I felt bad for not having spent any time with them the last couple of days). Sholeh made a quick check of the premises and left. Alani is laying next to Azi's pen, back-to-back. Kind of cute, she's the doggy sitter. In a little while I will move the enclosure, and Azi, outside and we can all hang out together.

Gerbera Daisies

Azi's Big Ooops

Azi had an accident and is very sick. One of the big dogs rolled him on Wednesday, and he can not walk very well now.
Dr. Vet checked him out today and gave him meds. It appears one of the disks in his back is not where it needs to be. He is on three weeks of kennel rest and meds.
Then next week his back will be x-rayed to see if it warrants surgery. We hope not.
He seems happy in his portable doggy playpen.
To go to the bathroom, I'm to carry him and keep him on a leash.
Poor little guy. Lets hope for the best.

Neighbors

I knew it would not last. The house across the street had been empty for seven months. Before that a quiet woman had lived there, regularly visited by her son. That son now has found renters and he already rues the day he let them move in. They are a nasty bunch. Loud. Their friends are loud, and there are many, many visitors. Extended horn honking during the night. The woman has a very nasty mouth, and clearly not too bright. Countless children run in the yard, climb the trees, pull down branches, make a huge mud puddle and play in it. Yuck.
No, I don't spend my day watching out the window.
I have a copy of the rental agreement, which the son sent to me after he had to be awakened late one night when there was a huge ruckus.
The dogs are having a hard time settling down at night what with the 2 am car door slamming and good byes.
Jeez, people knock it off!

A Gift

I was told that this was written by Omar Khayyam:
A loaf of bread,
A jug of wine,
and thou beneath a tree
I rather doubt it, but it came to mind last night as Shel and I dug into our dinner.
Ray had sent a lovely assortment of cheeses from Seattle. Goat cheddar, cow cheddar from England, A goat cheese from the south of France (Basque), an Italian fontina. We added a baguette, and a great bottle of wine.
All are wonderful. We could not find our most favorite, all were so delicious.
Thank you for this wonderful gift!