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Now MHO is that grass either grows or it doesn't - if you have to water it, then it doesn't belong there naturally. But only people who wash their horses instead of their cars would think like that.

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LOL! Yep!
This pic is from March, this is the most snow we got all year. And we didn't not get a drop of rain. No grass!


The fuzzy stuff is very dead weeds. This is the first time in 12 years we haven't had to mow the weeds.

rr, you may have tons of rain, but everything is soooo green! *Sigh.*

Thanks Sweetic SeaHorse, we'll let the compliments go this time(since you posted my 6month old photos!) But you know, rain water might be better to drink than tap, with all the insecticides,etc, poisoning the water tables...rr

But, it's funny, I love the desert for it's dry heat! We used to go down to Death Valley all the time. My best friend had relatives in a place called Troma(or something like that.) I really love the high step of the Owen's River Valley, between Nevada and California...Good Brown Trout Fishing and clean air!

The most recent news . Looks like the 200+ buildings destroyed was a little over estimate, but there are still 250-500 structures threatened and the fire is still only 5% contained. The link to the CalTrans camera is pretty interesting. You can see all the smoke and how dark it is.

Glad to hear your sis is okay in Incline, FHM. Great thing they are doing by opening vacant condos for those people displaced.

I took 15 horses off the hill, SH, while my DH took about 25 (bigger truck and trailer). I also took a few goats and chickens and one very large pig.

The annual precipitation here is ~7 inches. That's why we're so dependent on snowfall in the mountains for our water, much less the winter skiing tourists. That venue also suffered last winter, due to lack of snow. The winters of 2005 and 2006 were great and helped us get out of the drought from before, but that was only two years worth. Not enough to fill the reservoirs, but people still insist on planting large lawns and water-hogging trees. Hello! We are in the desert... There are watering restrictions (every third day) in town which help, but people need to be more realistic about how they landscape, too.

How about "Nice Wellies!" for the caption on rr's last pic, SH?

ETA: The smoke is too thick to send up the planes and helicopters, so the over 700 firefighters on scene are the only option right now. The winds are currently calm, so that's very good news. A big problem that will come out later is landscaping and lack of defensible space. Many homeowner associations in the area will NOT allow homeowners to create defensible space around their homes and even go so far as to require a ground cover of pine needles right up to the side of the home. Yikes! Bad planning....

rr, at least you didn't choose a big house to completely refinish!! LOL!!!! It looks lovely but boy did you take on a big project. What sort of hideous scars are you hiding with your head up the fire place?

Geez, I can't believe all the stuff going on here - been away from the forum (& any other news reports)for 3 days AND the world is falling apart

remmer, those fires are dreadful - bless you for coming to the aid of those horses & other animals, and ...
rr, send over some of that rain where it could be a lifesaver.

And rr, I love your little chateau - it looks so idyllic
But, I say we still don't have any proof that you the hard worker that you say you are - except for your head up the chimney, we don't see you with a hammer or saw in hand - how do we REALLY know that YOU did all that work

What a terrible thing Remmer - good on you for your helping and kind hands, we have bush fires here but fortunately not quite that devastating, some loss of property but mostly the bushland, everyone chips in as well and we have a very large volunteer fire fighting organisation that goes from State to State to help each other out, sadly most of us take that for granted!

Well, its raining still - since Saturday in fact - and its cold and I'm over it and want the summer back, my ponies are out in the cold and mud, I'd leave them in their stables if I thought they would appreciate it hahaha! The boy would dig a hole as big as Kansas if I left him inside, he'd rather be rolling around in the mud!

Hey RR nice hat! very deceiving picture because I looked and thought, mmm yeah right so WHERES THE CHIMNEY!!! well done matey, and nice wellies, funny I was thinking put a moustache on William and hey presto, a midget RR!

Nice puppy dog too, but I can see that "I'm gonna get me a bit of horse" look in his eyes!

Just had a mental blank your boy is called WILLIAM - right?

and all of the green grass. My mother was telling me about the floods in the UK - in Yorkshire of all places, have NEVER known it too flood up there, SNOW by the bucket load yes but flooding sheesh - global warming has a lot to answer for!

So I've just finnished my lunch, I'm cold, its dreary and dark looking outside, I'd like to go home and curl up in front of the TV with the heater toasting my feet, my puppy dog curled in behind my knees and a doona covering me, so I can close my eyes and drift off to a nice sleep!

Can you tell my puppies are keeping me up at night wanting to be fed, man, they are a hungry lot! I was going to call in sick today, it was sooooooo tempting, with the rain and all, good job I didnt my co worker stayed home, the bludger!

Ok better go, chat soon, take care all, especially you Rem, with those fires.

Ciou for now

Ange

DD, the worst "scars" are all psychological, invisible to the naked eye due to fatigue(8yr old boys,) and, while we're at it, buying this place was Dominique's idea! THE JOKE WILL BE WHEN WE HAVE TO HEAT THE DAMN PLACE!!!!

rr

Remmer, Your the greatest(and your husband.) Just wanted to say this again before I forgot...Country Mouse, you've caught me out. All the labor is hired out to invisible elves(moonlighting on Santa,) I'll go look for a photo(already in the computer, otherwise it would take me 6 months,) send it to SeaHorse, and maybe you'll see me tonight...Doing something!

And it's not a chateau or a Manoir(manner house,) it's a converted barn with windows. The purists around here would laugh at what we've done! When I master the photo(and I used to be a photographer...when there were darkrooms, and the computer(the hardest part,) I'll take some snaps of some of the homes, chateaus, manner houses in the area. Then you'll see something...

Got to go to work....rr

My sis is going to the animal shelter after work each day this week to help out with the overload from the fire. I still can't fathom the destruction to such an awesome area. It's like an irreplaceable masterpiece has been defiled. It actually disturbs me more than hurricane and fire damage we've had in Florida. Stuff here grows back in a season or two. Those Ponderosas will take ages to repopulate, if ever. I know the terrain there is also incredibly difficult.

rr- I don't recall being openly disparaging toward the French. They just wouldn't let me into the country. Some might call that "good taste" on their part. ~FH

Yes, I agree with you but then there are those who say that forest fires are part of Nature, etc. It's funny that we havn't found better ways at putting them out. You're former military. Why don't we just 'blow up' a 2-300yd perimeter encircling the fire when it appears, combining all the worst conditions, that it's going to get out of hand? Isn't that a little(never have done it) what firefighters try to do, digging and even burning to stop the fire's progress...

Slow, steady moving C130's could drop a string of 'compression bombs'(don't have any idea of the real term, but those without shrapnal.) They could criss cross, eventually creating a square or pentagon...Now I am thinking, in mountainous terrain this would be difficult....

And about the French; it is RARE that I can ever correct you FHM, but maybe you didn't "openly disparage" on our Latin Cousins but you did admit to OPENLY DISCHARGING an inflight toilet from some military aircraft while flying over Paris
some years back...

Did they refuse your entry before or after???

rr

FH - this is just great that your sister can help out with fire victims after work as well as be safe during this period. And you are totally right - a fire of this magnitude will change many things in the years to come - some for the worse especially in terms of erosion and flooding (if it rains) now that the hillsides have lost vegetation.

OK - I'm going into risky territory here and someone will disagree - I realize people like to live and build homes in the beautiful places of the world but some of them just weren't meant for that. And then homeowners cry foul and expect insurance and the government to pick up the pieces. I'm thinking of places perhaps like this Tahoe area but also of home on cliffs that eventually topple into the sea or slide down the mountains and of homes built right on the beaches and barrier islands so that hundred year storms wipe them out. Same with home is valleys where the rivers overflow. Not to mention New Orleans below sea level. Yes I feel sorry for the people who lose everything but there has to be some common sense somewhere. Or I could be having another pipe dream.

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But, I say we still don't have any proof that you the hard worker that you say you are - except for your head up the chimney, we don't see you with a hammer or saw in hand - how do we REALLY know that YOU did all that work

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When it comes right down to it CM, how do we ever know anything? 'I think, therefore I am'.??? But whatever - rr is either real or a very off the wall figment of someone's imagination. (or a real character - probably that!! ) Here is a picture of someone working in a place that resembles the previous rr pictures - it could be an actor hired for the part as far as we know. Believe as you wish - fantasy has its advantages!!

Just dropped in to say hello to everyone.

SH... I have to agree with you. When I was growing up in California it seemed like we were always hearing about either fires or mudslides in the hills. And those homes they build on stilts (sp?)! I've always wondered, like you, what makes people build in flood areas near rivers, etc. New Orleans totally baffled me. Truthfully, I only feel badly for the wildlife and the innocent domestic animals that folks take to live in these places.

rr... who cares what the "purists" think! In my mind that could just be another word for snob. I think your place is lovely. My husband turns on a lot of those home remodeling, etc., shows. Seems it's a thing over here to convert old barns into homes. One guy we saw even hauled old barns in to make additions to his home. Personally, going to the expense of moving an old barn seems a little extreme to me, but converting a standing one.... well... some of the finished products I've seen are very cool....