Calm being restored

Our state has been through a lot, but its starting to recover. Its a slow process mostly because with every forward step we have a few back steps.

Take the burn areas Waldo Canyon and in the Cascade section of HWY 24. Our state is so dry and in need of rain, but sadly we need it to be in small amount over long periods. However nature is not so incline to do that. We have been getting rain for the last 4 days, but in huge amounts and over very long periods. This has cause HUGE mudslides and flooding issues in the burn scar areas.

Thankfully people are being careful. The city has been working hard to clean up the mudslides and hoping to find new ways to keep it from being such a huge problem.

State of Fire

This last weekend has lead to a rather unsettling development for me and so many others in and around my area. A fire started in Waldo Canyon around noon Saturday the 23rd. This fire has grown considerably since then and was stated at 5,100 acres early this morning. They won't have another updated number until tomorrow morning. The only time they can take readings is at night with inferred scanning overhead.

It has been anywhere from 87 to 102 degree here, which only adds to the risk of this fire spreading faster. Colorado generally has little to no humidity, which again just aids the fire and not us. The higher the temperture and the lower the humidity the faster a fire can burn and the higher it can get. Doesn't help that in the area where I live its always windy. Its NEVER not windy and in most cases its blowing towards us because the pass acts as a tunnel.

Waldo Canyon is located just south east of the pass, but has an entrance from HWY 24 (which is the main access to my area from Colorado Springs and is the "Ute Pass" HWY) so its very close to several communities. So far no houses have burned and it hasn't been allowed to jump the HWY and create a tunnel effect. If that were to happen the fire would spread insanely fast and so many homes would be destroyed. It would also cause my town, Woodland Park, to be evaculated. As it stands right now we are in pre-evacuation notice. Meaning if it shifts our way, which it has regularly, we should be ready to leave at a moments notice. I have a suitcase and documents in my trunk ready for the notice to leave. We have a cooler in the garage with sode and water just waiting.

There are close to 7 fires burning in our state alone. Thankfully we have almost half the airborne fire suppression force in the country in Colorado right now. The High Park Fire in Ft. Collins is the biggest right now at close to 90,000 acres. They said about 250 homes have been lost and one life in that fire. Its been SO dry here and the winds we get are just making things so much harder.
The incredibly horrible part is that our fire, Waldo Canyon, may have been cause by arson. Teller county, where I live, had over 20 seperate arson fires before the 23rd. Each was located and put out fairly quickly, but its horrible to think some one would be so stupid, no criminially insane, to even think it!

The most stressing part is knowing my friends and co-workers have been forced from their homes. Saturday was a very stressful time at work. We were getting word but it was so scattered and confusing. Then we started getting notices that areas were being told to evacuate. Shortly after 9am Sunday morning the closed down access to HWY 24 completely. Mom had left for work, so she was forced to drive to Canon City and then out past Lake George before finally heading in the right direction. It was an extra 2 and a half hour drive. Luckily the hospital allowed her to leave early so she wouldn't have to make that drive in the dark.

(These are from my work parking lot. I know it doesn't seem close, but believe me its closer than it looks. Much closer.)
I still have to go to work, because we are not in a manditory evacuation area. The smoke can at times just be horrible. The A/C system at work pumps it in and creates just a horrible work environment in the back storage rooms. Unfortunally turning it off would only make it so much worse. Its kind of terrifying to see the smoke colloums over the ridge and know that all you can do is hope and pray it doesn't come over the ridge and you get forced to leave.

These are views as I'm driving towards work. This is the light before my job. The smoke later turned more northwest and covered the whole ridge line seen in the left side of these pictures. At night it just sits over the town and makes it so hard to breath. Its just too hot to keep windows closed, but sometimes it just gets so bad you have to close everything up.

 

Its hard to see but if you look beside and under the last street lamp you will see a darker section. That dark cloud is a new spread of fire and its burning new fuels (like trees) and so it gets very dark.

These were taken this morning leave my subdivision. It the morning the smoke doesn't spread out, but billows up. Today it did both. 

I'm hoping that this will be out soon and that we can all go back to our lives. Then again... just found out there was a new fire reported in Boulder. My poor state is on fire.

Nature Unbounded

One of the great things about living in Colorado's mountains in the sheer expance of nature all around you. The view from our deck along is amazing.

Nature is not afraid to just show up and make you smile at random moments and I love that.

However my mother is not so thrilled, as they are eating her flowers. Even the ones that they are suppost to not like! Poor mom... but can't say I don't like coming home and see them just resting in the yard or munching away at her flowers. 

Rock Ledge Ranch '11

The historical Rock Ledge Ranch site at the Garden of the Gods hosts a craft fair every year in September. They also have an silent auction on handmade quilts.

Mom and I have been going for the last 3 years now and we started taking my father with us last year. He seems to really enjoy it now.
This year the weather was not amazing, but it turned out to be a relative decent day midway through the day.

I love seeing all the quilts they have for auction. They also give away two quilts for charity. This years were very pretty and detailed.

You pay a dollar for a ticket and they draw for it on the last day. The nice part is that they inform the winner by phone, so if you aren't there you still get it. This year as a nice gesture to my Mom I put in two additional entries on each for her. Dad also put in an entry for Mom on both quilts, so in all she got 4 entries on each. I Think it would be great if she got the tree one, that is my favorite of the two.

The auction quilts were all very lovely. They had quite a few this year, so that was nice to see.

This year there were not as many vendors as normal. The weather has been rainy and foggy, so not many people came to sell this year. Still had a decent amount and the regulars were there with new stuff, so that cool with me!

I will have a list of some of the vendors I liked websites listed for you at the bottom.

The views of the park (Garden of the Gods) are visable from just about every angle in the fair grounds, which adds a nice atmosphere.

My mother and father waiting for me to get a picture of the blacksmith shop. It was closed for the first half of the fair due to the wetness.

There were individual tents for those who have them and then three large tents for the vendors that did not have their own.

Dad and I thought these were cool. Wooden belts made with fishing wire to allow for bending. They were amazingly strong. The guy showed us how flexable they were and expandable.

Mom and I like to get the very many Christmas ordanments we send to my cousins and second cousins. There are always TONS of great ones here.

Mom also gets all excited because her favorite craft lady comes with her santas. I can't recall her name, but she makes the most AMAZING santas. She also makes other dolls, but the themed santas are by far our favorites. There is this wilderness santa that rides a black bear that I love. It was being sold when I got there, so I couldn't get a picture of it for you.

I thought these were SO cute! There were also mugs. There were ones that were ravens too. That would be seriously cool for a Halloween decoration or center piece, but they were a little pricey.  

This lady had the greatest vintage tins and cards. (Of which I got a few... see the pictures at the end)

The jewerly shown here is from Bella Tesori.

There was literally too much stuff I wanted. The workmenship on some of the items was just amazing. The jewerly in the picture above is some of the most detailed I have ever seen.

(I have cards from several of these places and I WILL be posting the websites [if they have one] as soon as I get a second to edit this)

Mom found a booth that was selling diachronic glass. If you have never heard of it, or seen it, you really should check it out.

Here is a little lesson for the day on Diachronic glass:

Diachronic glass is glass containing multiple micro-layers of metals or oxides which give the glass diachronic optical properties. The main characteristic of diachronic glass is that it has a particular transmitted color and a completely different reflected color, as certain wavelengths of light either pass through or are reflected. This causes an array of color to be displayed. The colors shift depending on the angle of view and the light.  (brought to you by Wikipedia)

This would be why my mom is holding it out in the sunlight. It shows the hidden colors and highlights them significantly. Mom is a BIG fan. Every year for Christmas (for the last 7 at least) she has gotten Diachronic glass jewerly from the Glass Blowers of Manitue here in Colorado.

Here are some examples of what it looks like so you know in the future.

I happily found a few items that I just couldn't walk away from, along with some favorites that I always purchase something.

Check out Lotion Bar Cafe for more items.

These lovely items are from Lotion Car Cafe. The celtic heart in the tin is a lotion bar. You rub your hands on it to get the lotion worked into your hands. Much cleaner than lotion in a bottle that can leak all over. The capstick is natural, so I like it much more than other kinds.

Check out Lotion Bar Cafe for more items.

See more items at Warm Personality's etsy site or you can email her about more.

Warm personality made this lovely bird. They make several types and I got this to tortue my babies. They enjoyed it too.

The classic tins and post card, along with the vintage flour sacks, are from one tent that was filled to the brim with vintage items. I was going nuts because I wanted SO many things and I just couldn't afford them all. *sigh* There is always next year!

Puzzle Place is a favorite stop of mine. They hand paint blocks and then cut them up into puzzles. They have about 300 different ones in all sizes. I mailed several off last year to my cousins that were the size of a shoe box. This one is the size of a lighter, but I'm partial to the smaller ones.

The day was full of family fun. We always have a good time going to the craft fair. We were missed while we were gone. I had a welcome commitee when I got back.

This is when I showed my babies the bird I got. I was trying to figure out how high or low would be safe for them to NOT reach it, but to drive them nuts at the same time. {Don't get me wrong I LOVE my kitties, but I like to give them, and me, some fun.}

Stue was of course overly curious and clamped onto the tail right away. Ah how I love my kitties!

It was a fun day and I got some real treasures to display once I get my own place. For now they will get wrapped up and stored downstairs in the storage room. Well not the lotion or capstick or the birdie, as the kitties have been hunting for it. They saw me put it down and now they must find it. It must die!

If you ever get a chance to come out to Colorado I would say the 16th through the 18th is a good time to visit and enjoy a little local color.

Vendor websites:

Art Wear email
Creations by Cami
Lotion Bar Cafe
Warm Personality
Bella Tesori Gallery
Victorian Elegance Jewerly