Smoke!

Category: Daily Happenings | Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:24 pm

The wildfire people are doing a lot of controlled burns now. We had a lot of rain in the summer and things grew and grew. Now, there's too much vegetation and it has dried and is prime for wildfires. So before they can get started by campers or lightning the fireservice people do controlled burns. But with the clouds hanging around and the breezes kicking up in the evenings the air is full of smoke. On Monday and Tuesday we could smell it in the library and when we came out it looked like heavy fog but was very smoky. It makes your eyes burn and a lot of people are having trouble breathing. But, they say it has to be done so it won't burn out of control and destroy homes and towns. It was supposed to be sunny the last couple of days but it's been very overcast both days. I think it must be a lot of the smoke in the air.
We've been busy at the library. Monday's are always busy. Tuesday was Halloween and there was absolutely nobody in the library. I had all the books shelved by 7:30 and went and straightened shelves for the rest of the evening. They made up for it yesterday though. There were so many books coming in that I didn't get started on shelving until my shift was half over. So, I didn't get it all finished. I did get all the nonfiction shelved because no one likes doing the little numbers. There was an explosion in the cookbook aisle. I think someone pulled out a heavy volume and there was a paperback volume next to it and it started sliding and slid all the books off onto the floor. Someone being helpful picked them up and piled them mumbo jumbo back onto the shelf. It didn't take me long to fix it but it must have been funny when it started a landslide. The poor patron probably didn't know what to do. I am glad they were thoughtful enough to put them back on the shelf because someone probably would have just walked over them or on them.
I called our friends in Goodyear to see if they wanted to come for Thanksgiving this year. Last year their car quit coming up the hill from the valley and they had to be towed up to Prescott and then come back on Saturday to get their car. They had a large bill to get it fixed. That was the last time they were here as she has been sick and had to have some surgery. Anyway, she still isn't feeling well but they really want to come up for Thanksgiving. It is about an hour and a half to their place from here. Al is 76 and Ree is 70. She was just 17 when they got married so they have been together for a long time. He plays accordion and still plays daily and sometime two or three times a day for nursing homes and assisted living homes. He's booked as much as two years ahead. But, he doesn't do holidays. Their family is in California so they go there for Christmas. They have come here for Thanksgiving the last three years. Al is deaf but he wears hearing aids. He just got a new digital pair that cost several thousand dollars. But, when the settings change it beeps at him and he says it gets irritating so he shuts them off. So he can't hear when the phone rings or she talks to him. She gets so mad. Yesterday when I called she was shouting, trying to get him to turn them on so he could hear me. They have the phone on a speaker/amplifier system so he can hear it. But, he has to have his hearing aids turned on. But, yes, they want to come up for Thanksgiving. Their car is still working fine.
I went outside with Chance the other morning. She wanted to chase cats in the lower yard. Only the cats had all left before she got out there. I got some pint jars and began to collect seeds. I collected cosmon, coreopsis, four o'clock, morning glory and nastursium. We haven't had a frost yest so some haven't dried enough to collect yet. I was looking this morning and we have blooming now, coreopsis, calendula, petunias, nastursium, morning glory, cosmos, geranium, baby's breath, flea bane and the pots of impatients and dianthus. There is a big bush outside the back door that has purple berries on it. I shall get DR to take a picture of it. I forgot the name of it. I'll have to look it up. It starts with Japo well, I will look it up and post it with a picture. The pyracantha has red berries on it. We only have a little sticking over from the neighbors yard. There is a large thick hedge of it up the street and it's beautiful right now.
Yesterday we went up the hill a little early and had supper at the Chinese Buffet. I had only eaten a scone for breakfast so I was really hungry by the time we ate. That's not good. So this morning I only had a scone so now I have got to go find something to eat. Maybe an apple. DR bought some fine large Jonagold apples last night. No cheese though. Maybe I'll have another scone and a cup of tea. I made oatmeal currant scones with whole meal flour yesterday. Enough to freeze some. But we have to eat them because there's no room in the freezer. I made have to organize it a bit better. Or stop baking stuff or bake more stuff. I have a lot off zucchini that I shredded and put in for bread during the winter. I also have loaves of bread already made. Oh, well! Better go see what to do with the day before the day is gone. Dooley

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glendann wrote on Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:01 pm:

It may be a Joponica (sp) bush .Dooley .Sounds like you are busy again.I bet that smoke would really be bad on me as I have asthma.
I bet your yard it so pretty.We haven't had a frost yet here yet but just a matter of time I think.
Next year I think I'll try to make Zucchini bread you make it sound so good.

pondlady wrote on Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:10 pm:

I could drive to AZ for currant scones. My grandmother used to make them. To die for.

Desert Rat wrote on Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:31 pm:

When I married this red-haired Scottish lady, I did not know what a scone was. I do now and they are great. Don't mind a bit, driving many extra miles to find currants.
dr

cajunbelle wrote on Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:38 am:

The scones sound great Dooley, all of your baking does. I would love to see your yard. I am hoping to fix mine up better this coming spring and have more flowers.