Too close to home!

Yesterday, August 29th around 3:30pm I was talking on the phone with my daughter Joni about the fires in Southern California. We were talking about how dry everything is and how scary this fire season is going to be. Then my call waiting clicked on and it was my cousin calling to ask me what was burning by our house. I walked out in to the front yard and there it was! A fire starting on top of the hills across the road from us in the Alpine Forest area. The smoke was billowing and we could see the flames. We know the area up there pretty well because we used to ride our horses up to that ridge. Pretty scary, but in a matter of minutes the helicopter was dipping in the lake and making drops. They got a handle on it quickly and luckily there were no homes lost. Still don't know what caused the fire. Here are pictures taken from our front yard.

It was a bit breezy, but not too bad so the fire stayed pretty low and burned mostly underbrush.

The helicopter was racing back and forth - good thing the lake is close.

The Kern County fire department was able to contain it to 12 acres. It sure looked bigger than that from our view.

Just a reminder to all my loved ones who live in possible fire areas, be prepared!

Lot's of Poppies!

This has been the best year yet for poppies around our place. Guess all the snow we had this year helped. I love looking out both the front and back windows and seeing the beautiful bright orange. I did not plant any of these seeds. There were a few when we first moved in and I just keep letting them pop and spread. Here are some shots of the state flower, the California Poppy.

Can you believe it, there is a white poppy mixed in with them. I have never seen a white poppy.

View from the front windows.

Last year we put all the dead plants in the fire pit. Guess the seeds popped when we burned them down they popped and left us with a blanket of orange!

Airstreams in the news......

The company I work for has had a lot of press lately. We were on CNN, Fox News, and BBC. The coolest spot was on the BBC network. Check out the link below for the coverage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7960093.stm

It's been a while.....

Well, it's been a long while since I've posted so I thought I better get a little something on here. We went to North Carolina to celebrate Charlotte's first birthday at the end of January. We had a great time just hanging out with the east coast Coleman family. Here are some pictures.

Scott taking Charlotte for a walk in her cool car.

Charlotte like me alot after I put this shirt on and she could play with the beads.

Charlotte digs in to her Elmo cake.

Isn't the Elmo cake cool!

Winter Wonderland....

I am going to let these pictures speak for themselves. They were taken on Thursday, December 18th. We are supposed to get more snow this week. I sure hope it holds out for when Dominic gets here the weekend after Christmas.

First Snow of the Season....

Wow, I looked at the date of my last blog....it's been way too long! Working full time again is tough....I don't get to play as much as I'd like to. Sooooo, here are a few photos of our beautiful snowfall that we woke up to this morning. We had a dusting on Saturday, but it was all gone by Sunday mid morning. The weather folks have been saying we were going to get it, and finally it came in over Sunday night. It's been snowing on and off all day and we are expecting more tonight and over the next couple of days. It's an early White Christmas, but we love it!

I didn't go outside - just opened the back door and flashed!

Looks like about 3 inches piled up on the rail and table.

This was last week at sunrise - when the storms were starting to move in. Yep...that's right, I said sunrise. Beautiful!

And this is what was waiting when I came home from work early to beat the second wave of snow. Guess there's nothing better to do.....so Hermie the hound and daddy took a nap.

End of Summer Harvest

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. Guess I've been busier than I thought I was this summer. And summer has really flown by fast this year. Our garden wasn't as fruitful this year as in years past. Our corn crop was pretty small, but we were able to share with family and friends and still have a few ears to freeze for those cold winter days ahead. Our tomatoes have finally gotten to the point where I can start freezing them. We have been enjoying lots of BLT's and now it's time to get them ready for winter sauces. I used to can them, but once I got my Seal-a-Meal, no more sweating over the canner for this gal! Here is a shot of today's harvest. The yellow tomatoes are called Jubilee and they are yummy! They make great salsa, very sweet! I better get busy!