8/24 Anderson

We are definitely heading into the fall season!!   The temperatures are dropping at night and during the day.  The temp now is 74 with a slight breeze from the South - perfect!!  We have the back doors open and the breeze is really keeping us cool for the day.  It did get up to 91 yesterday but don't think it will make that today.  The hills and mountains have lots of clouds and lots of smoke.  We have two or three fires burning in the area - just 3 for the 50 or so that are burning in the Western states.  This high fire period was certainly predicted - no rain, lots of fuel from years without any fires and now mother nature is taking charge once again.  Seems like we hear about 2-5 fires in the area each day and I suspect that will continue for some time to come - at least until the rains start in October.

Fire near Yosemite - Picture taken in downtown Groveland on Aug 22nd.
 

Lassen Peak hidden in a shroud of smoke

 

Kathy had a very hard week last week and sure is enjoying the week end to unwind a little.  They are in the middle of budgets - close out 13 and bring in 14.   Being a government lab - they are dealing with the pesk
y sequestration issue once again.  They did have some luck with the voluntary terminations but they will probably offer up another one next year again to take the strain off the budget cuts that are forthcoming.  They continue to have problems with their overall staffing - when one of their researchers runs out of money or is finished with their project they are put into a pool and carried until funding or projects becomes available.  That system has worked in the past but now with all the project and budget cuts they can't afford to carry those folks.  Hard management decisions needed to tackle the issue head on!!?? 

Worked on the yard yesterday and a little today.  Everything is looking pretty good - we still don't have any cows or horses on the pasture.  The grass is getting pretty high and we have lots of folks poking around to see if the pasture is available.  I did sign a contract with a neighbor who has had cows on the pasture (moved them because they wanted to roam into the adjacent pasture) and does help with our irrigation.  I am committed to him for this year - just now sure what his plans are for the rest of the year?   I already mowed half of it which has grown back and will mow the rest of it in a month or so.  This is the 1st year we have not had animals on the pasture and I am amazed with the difference, that grass and some weeds sure get tall and thick.  The mowing will definitely be a challenge for me and my little mower?

Kathy and I are looking forward to the next couple of weeks.  She is taking some extra days off and we will have at least 3 weeks in which we will be here in Anderson for long week ends.  Next week end we have a special celebration - party time for our 25th wedding anniversary.  It is also 25 years for us to be in California.  That will be fun - hard to believe it has been 25 years, how time does pass so quickly.

Yesterday, Kathy and I took on a big project - we cleaned and polished the wooden floors.  The last time we did that was 2.5 years ago when we moved in.  This time we used some home remedy ( vinegar, lemon, olive oil and water)  and the floors look very good.  It as a lot of work but definitely worth the effort.  It looks so nice - makes everything seem new and fresh, suspect we will change to frequency to at least quarterly.  We used several different tools - steaming mop and lots of rags and elbow grease.  We both ended up with blisters on our knees - talked about using knee pads but nixed that idea, should be essential next time.  At any rate the job is done and we are very pleased with the results.

Not much else for news from these parts - - hope you all have a enjoyable week end and great week,

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)