Spoke Too Soon

As I made my last post, a fire started very close to us. I can hear sirens. It's closer to my friend's house than mine, and she is without power.
I found out on Twitter, and I'm following the developments here
We are ready to go, if need be.

Texas is on Fire

 As you may have heard, we are experiencing some serious wildfires here. The map above shows the situation as it was when I woke up at 7 this morning. (Real time fire map here) The fire in Bastrop County is 16 miles long and as wide as 6 miles in some places. If you are not familiar with Texas geography, East Texas is a pine forest. A huge, very dry, pine forest. It's a perfectly terrible situation for fire. There is no rain forecasted for the next ten days.
My husband and I figured out an evacuation meeting point, and a backup meeting point in case the first place we picked had to be evacuated as well. I packed a "go bag" and gathered all of our important documents so I could grab them in a hurry if need be. We're nervous. It's surreal to look out your window and everything appears fine but know that less than an hour's drive in any direction, there's fire.

Now, as I write this around one pm (the above map shows the current situation), things are feeling slightly less scary. The fires that were within 10 miles of our house are under control or out. The winds have died down. I've heard FEMA is supposed to be here today. 

But our resources are maxed out. All reports are that fire-fighting capabilities have been stretched to the breaking point. There is no guarantee that some idiot won't toss a lit cigarette, light a BBQ or drive a hot car over dead grass and start another massive fire. We are just trying to be safe and ready to go if need be, and to help out our Central Texas neighbors anyway we can.

You can help too, by making a donation to the American Red Cross of Central Texas . The last report I heard said 475 homes in the area have been completely destroyed and many more damaged. Every little bit helps these people in their time of need.

Meanwhile, I finished a quilt top this weekend. Crafting is always soothing.

A Record Breaker

Today we tie 1925 as having the most 100+ degree days in a calendar year. We are poised to blow that record out of the water.
The sky most days is a relentless, empty, terrifying shade of blue. What animals that have survived the drought thus far act strangely. Squirrels drape themselves along tree branches like miniature fur rugs, too beaten down by the heat to run from our barking terrier. Huge wolf spiders show up in our kitchen, at our entry way, in broad daylight, given up on their own safety and smacked to the hereafter with my shoe.

I hear there is in rain in heaven.

The tomato plants quit early this year. The temperatures stopped dropping down enough at night for them to continue to produce.


This drought and unyielding heat bring to the forefront of my mind how we are just animals too. Fortunate animals that have figured out air conditioning and water treatment facilities and indoor playgrounds, but tied to the rhythms and whims of nature nonetheless. I find myself thinking that everything would be ok, all of my problems would be solved if it would just rain.


The memory of water stains the dehydrated gutters as the heat, once an abstraction but now a living thing, shimmers off the pavement. I feel a little desperate in the afternoons. You can burn yourself getting into your car. Many people have died from heat exposure. Things are so much worse in Africa. I think about those people a lot these days.

I feel a little desperate when I see the weather forecast on the news at night. I keep thinking, "Surely, next week will bring relief." But it never does. How long can this go on?

There is an event tonight at the ballpark to have the largest rain dance in Guiness book history. I sense God laughing.

Owls

I was hold Ben and reading my blog roll the other day when we came across this tutorial on how to make a little stuffed owl. He shouted "Owl! Owl! Hoo hoo!". (Thank you Mr. Brown Can Moo) I thought, "awesome, something I can make for him he will actually like.
Then I got really ambitious. He's too young to sew or anything, but he loves stickers. So I used some felt and made him a mini felt board owl activity thing.
As you can see, Ben is an abstract expressionist. He also actually pronounces owl "owl-le", like it has a little Spanish flair to it. I was hoping this was another Super Mom moment, but his interest in the owl-le stickers was not nearly long enough for me to sew an owl. This cartoon sums up all of my attempts at toddler art in a hilarious nutshell.

My own owl-le came out over-exposed and lumpy, which is what happens when you try to sew or photograph while entertaining a toddler. One day I will learn...one day.

Crunchy Play Clay

Between a bout of stomach bug and extreme temperatures, we've been imprisoned in the house for what feels like years. I've been trying to fight the cabin fever with some creative play activities. The biggest success by far was an afternoon spent with homemade play dough and all the fixin's. It was inspired by this post over over at An Amazing Child.

*blurry with excitement*

The only modification I made to the dough recipe was to add about 20 drops of yellow food coloring at B's request. The color is not awesome, but he didn't seem to care.
We made the dough together, me scooping the ingredients and him dumping them in and stirring the dry mixture. The downside is that it needs some time on the stove and is too hot to play with for a while. That's the tough part, managing an excited toddler and hot goop. But the entertainment-to-hassle ratio was high on the entertainment side for both of us.
This is a great multi-sensory, open-ended play activity that he was very happy to explore independently.
Best of all, it granted me 20 minutes to clean the kitchen unmolested by tiny hands trying to help. And that, dear friends, made me feel like I earned a badge for my SuperMom cape.

Wedding Season pt. 2

 My friend asked me to make her a set of keep and toss garters for her wedding this fall. I was a bit nervous making them, but after a little trial and error, I think they turned out nicely.

The ribbon is the same as on the ring bearer pillow and matches the bride's maids color scheme. The center bling-y bits are actually buttons.

I googled "wedding garter tutorial" and found lots of tutorials. I had already bought the materials, so I didn't follow any one specific guide but it was handy to get some ideas about techniques and measurements. I heat sealed the edges of the ribbons so they wouldn't fray.

And, of course, a little tiny something blue! Making these turned out to be a lot of fun! I originally was going to make my own garter for my wedding, but then we decided not to include a garter toss. I still have a tiny skein of white silk in my stash...not really enough to make one anyway, but I was a newbie knitter with big dreams. :)
Have a great weekend and stay cool out there!

Boots!

The boot fairy has heard my cries and bestowed upon me a fabulous pair of Frye Harness boots. It's amazing what happens when you whine incessantly for months ask nicely. The boot-to-lanesplitter shirt ratio is a bit off, so I think I'm going to hem it up to show more of my leg than just my old man knees. The boots make me bold. (which is also why I clearly couldn't be bothered to get my husband's sandals out of the shot) I wish I could get paid in boots.