Think and Do; A Fire Story in Brief

Yesterday Equity was at my house working on two issues of plumbing when the tech, Tristan, asked me if I was burning anything.  I said no.  We both then heard the smoke alarm going off down the street.  Yes, my hearing is usually really good and amazes everyone to the point they often think I'm hearing stuff.  I wished I had been hearing a figment of my imagination yesterday.

Tristan and I drop everything and dash out the front door. We both just reacted without really giving it thought.  Running down the street I saw my neighbor's house engulfed in smoke.  I stopped next door to the fire to pound on my friend's front door.  Her husband had left for training that morning and thought perhaps she had finally fallen asleep.  As I couldn't raise her to come to the door I decided to turn her hose on and offer it for firefighting if any one wanted to man it as I ran to the back of the house where there were shouts for help there.

A soldier, a new move-in that I don't yet know, said there are dogs trapped in the locked house.  He broke in and grabbed the dog crate that got passed to Tristan and I over the fence door. The fence doors along most of the neighboring lots including mine have been padlocked of late because of a rapist that was on the loose over the weekend.  We ran with the dog crate as best as we could down to my yard and I had to unlock my fence.

The smoke was so thick I had to shut all the windows in the house to prevent getting more sick.  The dogs, Oreo and Brownie, were now safe with me.  I made sure they were okay and had plenty of water. 

The owners came to check on them during the fire and picked them up later in the afternoon.  Unfortunately they forgot the dogs' crate of which isn't a problem for me and I'm sure they'll think about getting it later on when they are allowed to go back in their house to get some possessions this week.

I washed and dried the blankets in the crate so that none of the fire smell was still on them.  Wishing I could do more for the neighbors right now but they know since I offered if they need anything I'll try to help out.

The first few pictures were taken during the fire of the scene by the friend I was trying to wake up.  Turns out she was safe on another area of the post.  During the fire my friends came to visit me and the dogs to make sure they were okay.

Other than a mild case of smoke inhalation from running to a burning building I'm fine.  My asthma inhaler taken twice yesterday worked wonders.
The next photos are the ones I took yesterday after the scene was cleared of crew.

The back half of the house is burnt under the roof too all the way to the bedrooms.  They think it started in the utility room where the dryer was left going while both adults were at work.  Most of the interior, from my information, will be gutted for repairs as it is an almost total loss.  This is the seventh fire this year on our installation. 

I'm really proud of my Army Family coming together to help out a neighbor in need.  Hopefully I'll find out who that soldier was that got into the house to thank him for being so brave.

Sunshine But No Roses

I posted this item in my shop this morning.  It's one of my own design and more favorite of pieces.

Well I've got the sunshine this morning but there are no roses.  Not even in my cheeks.  I think that the only place the roses are might just be in my throat as it's red and the tonsils are swollen.

Last night I complained while eating dinner, ribs that were really tender that I made myself, that chewing hurt.  After dinner while flossing I noticed that I had swollen gums and cut marks where my wisdom teeth used to be.  The gums has swollen so much that they had cracked.  I kid you not.  Then I looked down my throat and oh Joy!  I'm blaming it on the poor air quality that we have right now.  There are some fires less than an hour away and our news has reported the bad air quality.  Maybe this is the reason why I had a fever yesterday when the nurse checked my temp?

J has a sore throat and a headache too.  I can only imagine how many other folks are having respiratory  issues from the forest fires that live closer to it than do I.

So today I'm taking my herbal knowledge to the pot.  I'm going to boil up rose hips, lavender, echinacea, hibiscus, and chamomile to make a nice tea for my throat.  I would add in licorice root but I don't want to bring on endometriosis pain or diarrhea.  I'd make some for J but he likes having the licorice root in his tea.  Besides he has some ready made packets.  Oh and I'm going to use blackberry honey as a sweetener.  My cousin provided me with a container of the organic variety.

The RE office did get back to me yesterday.  I have a follow up appointment scheduled for the 1st of October.  Can you believe that is the soonest they could get me in with the amount of pain I've been in?  Since my two favorite doctors have left the clinic the place has gone to hell.  At least I still have some pain killers on hand.

Yesterday I took an hour away from drudgery and decided to draw.  I drew a really cool dragon on shrink plastic.  I mean even J thought it looked amazing except that I made the dragon's eye green and not yellow or red.  Picky picky picky.  Damn Virgo.  I have never used shrink plastic before and thought it would be cool to add a few things to my shop.  If it hadn't been for one corner curling up and a few bubble in the darn thing I would have created a cool window piece.  I was hoping to give it to J as a gift.  Frustrated, since it was ruined I cut it with my industrial scissors and loved feeling it shatter.  Next attempt will be later today.  I haven't put my drawing skills to use in years and I'm rusty but I'm having fun.

For All The Heroes

So many people give their time daily to try to improve the lives of others around us.  These people are the unsung heroes.

Today I want to take the time to thank all of you out there.  The firefighters that have come to one of my homes when I had a chimney fire, the ambulance crew that picked me up off the floor at one of my work places when I stopped breathing, the rescue squad that used the jaws of life on my car when I rolled it four times,  my husband that signed his life away to the US Army in support of freedom, our ideals and a better life for both of us.  Maybe I'm not wording all this correctly but I think you get the gist of what I'm saying.

To all of you out there that I've yet to meet I want to say in advance thank you.  Yes I realize the video is an Army Tribute but the wording holds true for all of you heroes out there that give up your time with your loved ones to help out others.  Again Thank you.

So this video is for all of you out there.

Without you heroes out there I doubt I'd be where I am today.  I'm a proud Army wife.