pinecones

My office smells like a forest, because I am extracting dye from ponderosa pinecones, which means boiling broken up pinecones for several hours. I am going to dye wool with the dyestuff, and then knit up tea cozies for women I know who lost their homes in the fire. IT seems like the right dye to use, because the pinecones are what regenerate the forest. And they can only do so AFTER they have been burst by fire. Ponderosa forests, as I understand it, don't regenerate without fire. And so, I want these tea cozies to be a symbol of the new start these women and their families are making.

But I did want to say that all is well. The weather is distinctly fall like -- cool, with some showers (YAY!) and higher humidity. All of this has been good for the fire, which is now said to be 80% contained. Apparently 4 of the 16 wood trestles I spoke of earlier survived the fire, and the two steel trestles are still standing, though the decking is burnt off them both. And the fire is now said to be OUT of the Myra canyon, so no further damage is expected. And people - gov'ts at all levels, and local groups and individuals -- are rallying to rebuild the trestles, so the history and tourism draw will not be entirely lost.

ETA: I forgot to mention that one of the women who stayed here the night of the big evacuations (she brought her parents, husband, and 3 dogs, and her horse was already here :D) gave us the most WONDERFUL candle holders as a thankyou gift. They are made of old electric insulators and cast iron collected from the Kettle Valley Railway, which is what the trestles were part of. They are lovely, and such a VERY thoughtful gift!

Also, check out Nasa's Sept 2 image of the fire and fire damaged areas. It is STUNNING how big an area has been affected.

For lawgeekgurl --> All the animals are good. Though Shaughnessy, my Arab, is cranky about the cooler, damp weather. She is a summer girl. Juno, the mom-to-be horse has a number of nicks and scratches because she and the fence seem to be having issues, but nothing too major. And I am still sad about the sheep situation, but I am coping. It will all work out, I have to trust. The puppers are good, though Tammy keeps jumping up to steal the cat's food, which tastes MUCH better than her own.

And on Tuesday morning, we helped Pat and Frank move all of their horses home. They could still be affected by the fire, but the weather has been positive, and they really wanted to get home when the evacuation order is lifted. They know to call us day or night if they need to move again.

Moving the horses home was a bit traumatic, but all went ok in the end. We had 4 trailers to do the move of the 13 MOrgan horses. We took a mare - Vicky, her foal -Bullwinkle, her yearling filly, Lizzy and another Orphan foal, Roscoe (his Mom colicked in late July)who is basically adopted by Vicky and Bullwinkle. We just opened our trailer up and used it like a stock trailer. They all travelled really well and were happy to get home!

Spider, one of the two studs, went in Isabel's three horse trailer with Misfit and Diva, a yearling filly and a (I THINK)2-year old filly. They loaded ok (really well for such youngsters), but since they were loaded first, they had to wait the longest. So Isabel suggested opening the trailer windows so they could look out. Great idea. Until MisFit tried to jump out THROUGH the window! Two legs actually came through the window before the halter tie stopped her. It was VERY scary. Pat was just going to get the other stud, so didn't see the drama, but quickly came back to help Misfit get her legs OUT of the manger. She managed to extract herself, and was not badly hurt -- just a few nicks. But we have all learned why big windows aren't necessarily good. At the other end, poor Diva didn't want to step out of the trailer- it is an angle haul, and she needed to back out. But it is also a step up trailer, and being a young horse, she didn't understand that she wasn't stepping out into nothing. But patience and a temp plywood ramp convinced her that it was ok to back out.

S & G, who had hosted Pat & Frank, took Ginny and her foal Serendipity, and Monty, a 4 year old gelding, in their trailer. Dipity slipped and sprawled spread eagle when she was being pushed into the trailer, but she was ok. Actually - Dipity is an AMAZING story. Pat & Frnak had tried to breed Ginny for 2 or 3 years, without success. So they had the vet do a thorough check, and he said it was unlikely she would get pregnant. Nonetheless, they bred Ginny to Spider, hoping for the best, but not expecting much. However, Ginny never showed ANY signs of pregnancy. Last fall, Pat took her down to Vancouver ISland, road her on Long Beach etc, assuming she wasn't pregnant. Come spring, they watched her as her anticipated due date approached, but still no signs of pregnancy. So they assumed she hadn't taken. Then, a month later, Pat was out checking on Vicky (who was due to foal anyday) late one night, and there stood Ginny, proud as punch of her little filly. Pat went tearing into the house: "FRANK! I need help with Ginny and her foal!" "You mean VICKY, you daft woman" was Frank's sleepy response. :D. "Nope, it's Ginny". And thus was born Serendipity, Ginny's great surprise! And is Dipity ever a sweetie. She has a very firm sense of self, and is convinced the universe revolves around her. SHe wants attention ALWAYS. :D

Back to the hauling tale: Pat and Frank took Nighthawk, the other stud, Ryan, a two year old colt, and Cinder, a three year old filly, in their truck mounted custom rig.

Everyone got home safe and sound despite the aptly named Misfit's mishap. And Pat and Frank are relieved to be home.

And, while I am telling horse stories, I have been meaning to tell you for a couple of weeks the oddest story from OUR evacuation. As you know, our horses were staying at a friend's place. The horses were in a paddock usually used by the owners 4 miniature horses and 2 alpacas, so the minis were all stuck in the adjoining small paddock. All was fairly peaceful over the fence. Until one day, about 3 days into the stay, Joey, one of our Walker Mares (see the user icon)decided to PICK UP one of the mini horse fillies (she was just weaned a few weaks ago!) in her mouth!!! Thankfully, one of the residents saw this happen, and yelled at Joey, who dropped the filly unharmed. BUT YIKES! I am SOOO curious what Joey was thinking. We are hoping we won't have a problem when Juno has her foal. . .

On another note, thanks electricland for the positive thoughts. My idiot employer has been quelled for now. And he even seems HAPPY with the solution. *phew*

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now -- I should get to work. This diss won't write itself. Soon, I will post an email I wrote telling other horse tales from the fire -- I just need to generalize the names in it. I have to say, it has been VERY cool to have this journal to record this whole experience in.

Anyway, all is well here! Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers.