A More Permanent Hell

or, this is what we get for being spontaneous.

strangevisitor7 was flying in to L.A. on business, and since it was only a 6 hour drive, we decided to head down after work on Friday. And ninjababe was just two days out from her birthday, so we decoded to go to Disneyland on Saturday. We were pooped, but still, we were having a grand time. And it had rained throughout the morning, and once it cleared up, it was cold - cold for SoCal. But that did a lovely job of clearing out some of the crowds. About 8pm, Nin started feeling unwell, by 9pm, the poor thing had lost the contents of her stomach. We will never look at A Small World the same way again. Our first thought was food poisoning, which would have been bad, since all three of us shared appetizers for dinner. But after getting Nin cleaned up, and waiting around till she felt she could travel (we were 45 minutes from our hotel), Casey and I were both still feeling fine. So we figured she had gastroenteritis aka 'stomach flu'. Of course, that brought up my next worry - it's highly contagious, and I'd drunk from her water bottle, soda, etc.. Not to mention we had to share a bed this trip. Anyway, we get ready to leave L.A. on Sunday, and I start getting texts from my assistant, telling me that the gorge was closed between Mesquite and St. George, that most of the streets in St. George were closed, and that there were people stranded in the gorge overnight due to the snowstorm we'd had on Saturday. I know if you live in an area that gets snow all the time, 6-11 inches isn't a big deal, but our cities don't even own snowplows! And we live in a rural area, which makes it worse. So we don't know if we can get home, and Nin's still not feeling great, so we decide to book a room in Vegas, and for Nin to go see a doctor Monday morning before we head home. Last night, we finally make it home. And guess what? Gastroenteritis really DOES have a 48 hour incubation period! I am so sick right now, I want to pull a rock over me. And it's been so cold -- makes it hard to remember that a few months ago it was 105 on a daily basis. It's been down to 5 at night. Our chickens are very unhappy, poor things. Though I must say, it's so pretty outside! I'm pretty sure this will be one Dland trip we won't forget.

Nin and I need to look into buying an old Jeep. Too many places around here we want to explore and need a high clearance of 4WD vehicle. We started down to here today, but it wasn't doable in a car. And it's not the first time we've been thwarted in our explorations! Our ultiame goal is to be able to do the Toroweap road which leads to this:


Somewhere along the way, Nin and I have become adventure girls. I blame Utah :D

but a White Boxing Day. It snowed through the day here, though it didn't stick. Nin and I had already planned on going up to Springdale to see the Hobbit in 3D Faux IMAX, so the snow was an added bonus!

Here's the main street:


( A few more below... )

Just cleaned out the chicken coop. And I managed to do it without my brother catching me till I was almost done. He gets all ruffled when I try and do the stuff outside he thinks of as his responsibility. But he has the whole acre to take care of, I figure the least I can do is clean out the chickens. Hot and sweaty now, but the girls are appreciative of their nice clean digs.

Earlier, we went to the nursery and got two trees: a Silk Mimosa tree and a Black Locust. Also one more Oleander. The Black Locust was a big one for 50% off, and the description sounded pretty. We're trying to slowly replace the non native invasive trees on the property, so these two trees will be the first replacements. Really looking forward to having a mature Silk tree!

And, my brother identified the insect bite on my leg. I've had it since Tuesday, and it still itches, plus, what was odd was the bruise above it. Apparently, it's a Carpenter Ant bite. He and his coworker were bitten during the course of their work a few weeks back, so he recognized it. The fire ant bite last year wasn't nearly as bad.

We've been in the low to mid 90s for the last ten days, and next week, it will be in the 80s. The days are getting shorter, and it's time to think about any trees or such I want planted before winter. I'm thinking a silk tree this year. Last year was another aspen. Looks like the only peppers to do well this year were the pablanos - looks to be a bumper crop! They still have 4-6 weeks of grow time, depending on how fast the temps drop this year. The pomegranates are almost ready to pick, though a lot of them split with all the rain we've had this summer. But the chickens love that, because they get the split ones - which they love.

Speaking of the girls, they're all laying now, and even though we have many nesting boxes, they all insist on using the same one. Opened the back of the coop a few weeks back to find two of them sitting practically on top of each other in the favoured box. I go down between 6:30-7 every morning to let them out, and then Nin gives them their morning treat before she goes to work. In the evening, before it's their bedtime, I bring them fruit or some sort of treat, which they expect - when they hear my screen door slide, I start hearing the clucks and as I walk down the path, they're craning their necks, watching me. I'll have to see if I can get some pictures one of these days.

Monsoon season has started. Yesterday, it was in the 100s, as it had been for weeks, and today, we've dropped under the 80 mark and it's pouring rain. Yes, the lightening yesterday evening started a ton of fires, and we're under flash flood warning till Sunday midnight, but it's raining!! We actually have the AC off and the windows open. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts!

They like me. No idea why. I seem to be the most favourite grownup on the block. I think it may be in part because I'm an exotic novelty: not LDS, not in their Ward, as most of the neighbours are. S, from across the street, and a friend, just about knocked me over on the way in the door, begging me for odd jobs to do so they could earn money. S comes over frequently, and I let her cut roses for her mom - well, I cut them, since I don't want her to cut herself with the shears. I've helped her little brother find rocks for his lemonade stand, and given them money for their Boy Scout troop. So they're currently cleaning the glass on the French doors outside, and S is going to fill my bird fountain and give the chickens scratch when I'm out of town next week. I was trying to think of chores that involved no sharp objects. They're delighted, and apparently, I overpay, judging from the glee when I made them an offer. I'll never get rid of them now LOL

They like me. No idea why. I seem to be the most favourite grownup on the block. I think it may be in part because I'm an exotic novelty: not LDS, not in their Ward, as most of the neighbours are. S, from across the street, and a friend, just about knocked me over on the way in the door, begging me for odd jobs to do so they could earn money. S comes over frequently, and I let her cut roses for her mom - well, I cut them, since I don't want her to cut herself with the shears. I've helped her little brother find rocks for his lemonade stand, and given them money for their Boy Scout troop. So they're currently cleaning the glass on the French doors outside, and S is going to fill my bird fountain and give the chickens scratch when I'm out of town next week. I was trying to think of chores that involved no sharp objects. They're delighted, and apparently, I overpay, judging from the glee when I made them an offer. I'll never get rid of them now LOL

The fire is 50% contained, and they lifted the evacuations. Two outbuildings, but no homes were destroyed. Cause was man made - there's a surprise - due to burning cheatgrass. Moron. The wind's died down a lot, so that's helping the get a handle on the fire.

Thanks for all the good thoughts! Here's hoping that's the closest fire to us we get this year, and that we get lots of monsoon rains.

The fire's grown to 1000+ acres, they're evacuating parts of the town. We're seeing/hearing tankers overhead.

Info, photos.

ETA: clarification - this is an update to my prior post. This is the town next to us. We're fine, Just too close for comfort, you know?