Saturday, November 21, 2015

Wildfire Recovery Update - Ode to Toad and Frog Finials at the Gate




The front gates to the property have been completed in their refurbishment !

From burned and charred... they were cleaned, primed and painted with a happy fresh green…


The gate posts were painted with a hammered gold paint… striking against the striped black and green landscape and yet very earthy looking.


Frog finials were ordered and handmade for the 6x6 posts 


which I then painted with coordinating colors.


The original brass numbers were also cleaned, painted and nailed back up.


Why this Ode to Toads, you ask ?

Because after 8 days of evacuation when watering the garden it was the very first critter that greeted me back home.


May the spirit of frog and toad cleanse & restore the land and all its occupants ! 


May they live long and prosper & be a symbol of hope for our neighborhood.


xo

Friday, October 30, 2015

Recovering from Wildfire - Clean Up Update



Recovering from Wildfire
Clean up Update



One of the first jobs that needed to be done was to reinstall the main gate as the wooden posts had burned down. Bruce got the holes dug out and I called upon a former ranch resident to help set the posts into concrete and get the old gates rehung + fencing reconnected.


The metal gates got fire scorched- one worse than the other. Water with white vinegar helped to clean them up, then two coats of primer paint and a further two coats of a lovely fresh tone of green. Friend Marcella & canine Boo helped with this task on a sunny weekend in September.


I've ordered two of these fab frog finials for the gate posts which will be painted with a golden color. My plan is to paint the finials with the same color and the frogs to match the gate. Not sure when all this will get completed but… I'm looking forward to its completion.


Bruce and I completely redid the retaining walls at the main gate entrance. We used existing materials + a few new t-posts to get them done then cleaned up the drainage area with broken cinder blocks and pottery. 


Friend Jo delivered a truck load of volcanic drainage rock in October… some of which was deposited at the front gate and the rest here at the library for the new retaining wall project.


Above & behind the library, Bruce cleared the brush for me. It took three loads to the Green Waste recycle center but it was well worth all the effort. The area will regrow but management will help keep a fire free area.


Below it is the new retaining wall. Also constructed with reclaimed timbers and newly acquired t-posts. although this is not a full sized wall, the volcanic rock should help to contain moisture from regular rainfall. Excess water should follow the trench below the wall and away from the storage unit.


One of the largest tasks was cleaning the caked fire retardant off the dome and its entry. Bruce who has a knack for heights is seen here cleaning the upper levels. 


His idea of renting a one level scaffold to heighten the extension ladder so that a paint roller on an extension pole could reach the crown of the dome looked like this on the day. Bruce whose middle name is Wayne certainly was a superhero the day he painted crown and level 5 on three separate occasions. yikes.


Three coats of elastomeric paint were applied to all surfaces with special attention to several areas that had small sized holes & the window surrounds which had melted to a slight crisp by the heat of the fire. 


The nearby compost heap with tarp cover burned up several feet away from the dome. I scraped and bagged up the ash and had the neighborhood clean up crew take that away for me. The firefighters sure did cut it very close with the dome area but they arrived in the nick of time saving the structures & minimizing damage repairs to them. Today, the dome looks to be the icing on the pre-verbial cake. 


To date, i have done ten loads to the Green Waste Recycle center. Here's a clean up shot of the south end of the apple orchard- here the fire claimed the lives of 4 huge lavenders and a couple of the apple trees. 


This is the shot where it all began in the distance. In the foreground, two plastic sheds and three raised garden beds were burned and cleaned up. The soil was hacked & bagged up - I managed to take three loads to the dump until County rules made it impossible to take burned stuff there. Glad i got this done early on.


The entrance to the Spiral Garden hasnt been cleaned up all the way yet. One side has and new sprouts of the vine has re-birthed.


Almost none of the large rooted bushes revived from the intense scorching the spiral garden sustained.  I've dug out some of them but there is plenty left to do. In the meantime, i'm happy to show that the white sage is slowly coming back to life.


The biggest survival rate in the garden were ground covers and bulbs with many roses coming back as well.



A few shrubs in the north side which burned cooler are looking re-established. Sadly the crab grass is also responding to the copious amount of water that its taken to revive the plants.


I'm fatenning up the bulbs at the heart of the garden with lots of well water. Even the lilac is coming back.


The legendary gigantic rosemary which was a huge 8' diameter plant almost as tall as the plum tree that grew next to it- is all gone with the exception of one wee branch which rooted and hanging on for dear life. How nice that all the concrete critters also survived.


Another miracle is the wisteria at the center of the garden which has completely regrown. All the green that you see here is new growth.



One of the garden roses blossoming once again.


Most of the butterfly bushes on the outside western rim of the spiral garden have also come back. All of them still need to have burned branches pruned off. My plan is to cut them back mid winter.



Merlin's lantana and Italian Cypress tree have pulled through but the rest of the Italian cypresses, well over a dozen of them are in the process of being cut down. Two of the pawlonia trees will also need to be cut down. but for now, Merlin's angel which evacuated with us is back to sleeping in his rightful place. 


And last but not least a new internet dish was installed allowing me to bring these tidings to you.

The journey of recovering / cleaning up from Rocky Fire is well over half way done. Many more loads to Green Waste await, as well as the completion of the front gate, and the rebuilding of the retaining walls at the well house but for this next upcoming week - I will take a break to visit with my parents in MI.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Monday, August 17, 2015

After Rocky Fire… The Map




Due to the heat (106F) and smoldering hot spots, its been real smoky these last 2 days... 95,000 acres has burned so far... Rocky Fire was 69,500 acres and Jerusalem which is still burning is at 25,100 acres this morning. This 'second' fire began because an ex-firefighter, now pot grower, decided to do an illegal 'back burn' around his precious plants in order to protect them from Rocky Fire. I hope his place burned down. Not sure yet what started Rocky Fire but it was by humans in the Lower Lake area, many miles away from Twilight. 

Rocky Fire should never have jumped Hwy 20 but their firefighting focus was on the southern and eastern ends until Saturday, the day we were evacuated and our area became its clear next destination. I honestly believe that compromises and concessions were made... evidenced by their fore-knowledge that the fire would burn through the ranch 3-4 days before it actually did so. Cal-Fire were unwilling to disclose the fact that Rocky Fire had jumped Hwy 20 & burned through my property Monday until Tuesday evening whilst The Press Democrat published its statement early Monday morning. Cal-Fire was also unwilling to tell us the condition of our properties- the only thing that gave us hope was a live helicopter footage taken on Wednesday afternoon by Channel 3 News which a friend happen to see on YouTube.


Regardless of those administrative decisions and lack of air tankers in our area, I am immensely grateful to the one that dropped fire retardant all over my buildings / property; and to the fire fighting crews whom helped insure that my structures did not burn on Monday. Thank you and to those idiot fire starters: you suck beyond words.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

After Rocky Fire… Mountain and Upper Orchards











The upper water tanks
were spared from fire
damage and so was the
northern strip of the property.

Olives, Figs, Mulberry trees 
were not damaged
one cherry was scorched
50% of the new French lavenders
are unlikely to recover

Dingo's Tree as well
as Gurdy's Daisy Shrub
are doing fine though.

Some of the oaks, pines, 
manzanitas on the 
mountain side
may recover

After Rocky Fire… Pawlonia and Apple Orchards











Here are the post fire 
views of the Pawlonia
and Winter Spiral
Apple Orchards

About half the Pawlonias
got hit with fire…
and the southwest end 
of the apple orchard
got scorched as well.
Its unclear to me
how many of the trees 
will survive…

The huge 14 yr old
lavenders were vaporized
and some of the
younger ones did
not survive the heat
and lack of water.

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