BS: Open Mike has lost her home & contents 2008

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home & contents 2008
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 05:41 PM

Oh... just one more thing...

At that time, another Mudcatter was in need and some of that 'Catter's friends were raising funds for that 'Catter, privately. That 'Catter told us all to send anything we had to Mike for OM. Brought tears to my eyes.

That 'Catter still could use help. But, that 'Catter is rich in compassion and friends. As is OM and many others.

Brings tears to my eyes seeing the compassion and dignity of the many friends I have made here. The Café is far more than a forum.

Thanks to Max and his "volunteers"... for lack of a better term.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home & contents 2008
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 05:32 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Rapaire - PM
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 10:45 PM

For those who need an address again:

Mike Doellman
PO Box 4905
Pocatello, ID 83205-4905
USA

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home & contents 2008
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 05:30 PM

I am glad that things have worked as best they could. Newcomers to this thread should know that I and a LOT of Mudcatters donated cash to OM in her time of need... problem is, it appears it wasn't enough. Now, I know everyone is hurting these days. Me too. But, even a few bucks would help. Especially if we ALL sent some. Seriously, a few bucks.

Rapaire... you still in the mix on this?

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home & contents 2008
From: open mike
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 04:44 PM

One year after the fire and I have had Barry here with a portable wood mill (www.woodmizer.com) to turn the burned trees into lumber for building a cabin. pix of my former home are on my facebook page...
http://www.facebook.com/LaurelWoodsorrel
this saw mill has a band not a blade, so has a smaller "kerf" and
gets more lumber (and less sawdust) out of each tree.

I also have a small nursery of pine, cedar, fir and sequoia trees
as well as Osage orange, or hedge apple, in containers ready to
plant when the land is recovered from the logging, and slash removal.

i am living in a motor home on the future building site, and also share a near-by cabin with one of my land partners, who also lost his
home. I use the cabin mostly for the bathroom, washing dishes, and storage. (as well as internet access..)

the fire i worked on last week was in an area that had a logging operation .. it is not known if the fire was started by the loggers,
but that is quite likely. the lightning fire i was called to last
month was fortunately accompanied by rain, so did not spread like
last year's dry lighting fires.

it is over 100 degrees here today...with possible highs over 110 in the valley...whew....i recall times when we have fought fires in the snow...i think i prefer that!!

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 11:07 AM

Here's part of what she did on her BIRTHDAY, July 14th:

I spent the day on the fire line driving the fire engine to a place where there were 4 or 5 fires spotted last night just before midnight by the lookout tower. I delivered water to the hose lay that was used to suppress one of the fires. Later i returned in my personal vehicle to deliver drinks and supplies to the crews.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 10:55 AM

Kelowna, BC has it rough.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 10:35 AM

Fire season has started in California - 23 started yesterday by lightening. Any news, Laurel?

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: open mike
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 02:28 PM

music definately has helped me thru all this.
i saved most of my instruments and have been
making music everywhere from fire-fighters'
base camp to fire survivors' benefits since
july.

as well as at horse arenas, wild horse sanctuary,
junior high auditorium, grange hall and stages
all over...

hooray for music!

and thanks to all my mudcat friends for all the
support and assistance! Laurel

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: michaelr
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 01:26 PM

Good to know things are looking up, Laurel, and that you manage a positive attitude. Let the music keep our spirits high!

Best wishes,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 07:04 AM

I know how I missed this in the summer-- we were away-- but I can't think how I missed it in October. And now life here is fast-tracking bigtime and I almost missed it AGAIN.

Laurel-- !!!!

I'll have to sit Hardi down later tonight to see what we can share.

For now--

!!!!!!!!!!

love,

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 07:01 AM

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: open mike
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 01:13 AM

hoo boy i had just crafted a great post and "poof" it disappeared with the twitch of my little finger...

but basically i am alive (if not so well--have a monster cold and cough) and find something to look forward to every day. tomorrow
a guy with a portable lumber mill will come to see about turning
these trees that have already lost their lives...into lumber so that
they can be used to replace the shelter lost in the fire. we have
nothing but dead timber here for miles around. i used to be anti-
logging to some extent, but it seems the only hope here now is for
salvage logging.

i am in my small motor home now..one which i had intended to use only for temporary weekend music fest and travel, but it is a roof over my head and better than being on the street.

many dumpsters full of debris and ash and metal have been cleared out of here. the fire leaves behind mountains of stuff to deal with..
i did take my kitty to the kennel so she would have a safe dry warm place to be with regular meals and not have to fend for her self against packs of wild dogs and predators. i visit occasionally.

some folks have taken what i call the easy way out and pulled in trailers, mobile homes and pre-fab manufactured modular homes and are getting on with living. i hope to put together a more unique home perhaps a straw bale, or maybe even a converted grain bin/silo
http://flickr.com/photos/48992494@N00/97169596/ well, now that would be a type of pre fab, now wouldn't it?!

some local folks have organized a project to help those hundreds who lost homes to rise up from the ashes...the Concow Phoenix Project.
I took a video of one of the sheds they built for a neighbor. it has
my beloved Wild Mountain in the background. i can see it from my r.v.
the movie was quick...shot one day, edited on my lap top in my r.v. to show the next day at a benefit dinner. it is here: on www.myspace.com/laurelwoodsorrel under videos. it has a sound track of Laurie Lewis singing Hills of My Home as i looks to the mountain beyond...

the hills are alive with the sound of chain saws...la la la....

i jsut got back from the national/international cowboy festival and heard some great music and poetry and got to make music too.

so life is good. Laurel

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Feb 09 - 09:19 PM

Laurel-

Thanks for the update and I do hope things return to a more manageable level.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Pistachio
Date: 07 Feb 09 - 04:52 PM

I guess your new grandchild is keeping you occupied - but is there time for an update on your accommodation situation. We're still thinking of you across the pond. Belated new year wishes, hope you have more opportunities to smile this year.
Hazel xx

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Oct 08 - 12:14 PM

Thanks for the update, om. I hope you can get back out there very soon. I don't think I'd be able to sleep knowing my cat was out there!:-) I am so glad to hear she survived.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Oct 08 - 04:49 AM

as you say life goes on - cats, new babies, marriages, leaves on trees ...

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: open mike
Date: 14 Oct 08 - 01:52 AM

thanks for all your kind help and special pressies...
the motor home i got to live in should be out of th e
shop in a day or two. i make frequent trips to the
land to gather metal, debris and "frubble" my word
for fire rubble.

i have a cat that has survived and is still there,
and i bring canned cat food to her. i am amazed she
manages to escape dogs, cougars, etc. she is a survivor.

sometimes i tink i should put her in a kennel until we
have a house or home, but i think that would be more
traumatic..with vehicle travbel, etc. than b3eing in
familiar surroundings.

meanwhile, my daughter and her partner are due to have
a baby in a month, and her sister and partner plan to
get married next year, so there are wonderful events
to look forward to in the coming days.

another hopeful sign is the sprouting green leaves
in the fire zone...the broadleaf trees are coming
back from the base. the lumber mills are not taking
any more trees. the fire scorched 60,000 acres and
the logging has been going like it is going out of style.
and well,k it is, as there is no more room for lumber.

also t6he scrap metal prices have plummeted, as there
is a surplus ... you see mountains of it at all the
scrap yards.

meanwhile there has been one rain and soon will be more.
this settles the ash, but also causes run off and other
problems.

that's the news....for now...

life goes on...


Laurel

Laurel

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 11:26 AM

Big Mick is handling Pay Pal. I'm doing cash and checks -- and if OM is reading this there'll be some more shortly.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 11:04 AM

Rapaire, what is the pay pal email address to make any emergency donations to OM?

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 10:37 AM

There are new fires in California. How are you doing, OM?

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 08 - 10:03 AM

There'll be another check and the Blue Bottle CD coming soon. In fact, you might find some other surprises as well....

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Aug 08 - 06:06 AM

one of my christmas trees is a cardboard pic of a decorated christmas tree! It's a a repro. of a Victorian/Edwardian ornament & I can hang small things, like christmas earrings & christmas wine glass identity thingies, on it.

Maybe by December one of your plants will be big enough to hang a few tiny things on it.

Somewhere around here I have a recipe booklet put out by a local choir, I'll put it aside for when you have a bit more space. And when I make my annual chrissy decoration, I'll make one for you, too.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: open mike
Date: 12 Aug 08 - 05:26 AM

well, i do want to sent giant hugs and thanks to all my mudcatter friends. i got a great check today from Rapaire and plan to use this
to replace a big thing.....my sound system, amp. for gigs,,,and mike stands...also there will be another gift coming from big Mick and that will help to replace my sound syst3em....c.d player, speakers, etc.
it seems only fitting that my music friends should provide musical
help!! as for the little things--the community here has been SO, SO
generous-there is a huge free store where donations have come pouring in.

i do happen to think occasionally of my cook books, and music books, and i had some funny drinking glasses that looked like cowboy boots and some shot glasses that looked like mini- frosty mugs....

the hardest to replace will be the 200 year old danish sour dough starter and the amish friendship bread/cake starter...although there may be some of each floating around somewhere..

perhaps when it comes to be secret santa time i will put out a plea for tree ornaments, but i willnot have room to put a tree in teh motor home anyway....alas, all life has changed, for now. I often end sentences with "for now" these days....i am bouncing between my 2
daughters' homes, most of the clothes i wear ar unfamiliar to me, and
even the cell phone i have is a recent acquisition, as i slammed mine in the car door because i was not used to the new law requiring hands free devidce and ear phones and i got out of the car and it dragged
along....strange bed, strange room, a stranger in a strange land...

one thing that remains constant is that i do my radio show each month and also will drive the bookmobile for the library...and that this mudcat family is here each time i log on! thanks for all support and
caring hearts!!

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 10:09 PM

Laurel,
What about the little things that are gone - a favorite tea caddy or a picture? What can we replace from our own larders that will fit in a motor home and make life more liveable? In need of a Billy the Bass or a dancing chicken or a favorite tea cup? Little, familiar things make your home cozy. Anything?

If I lost everything, I would want a woven cotten blanket to snuggle up to at night and strong coffee in the morning.

Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: jacqui.c
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 08:26 AM

Laurel - the beauty will be watching the way that Nature takes back her own from the fire over time.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 04:08 AM

Good to hear that things are starting to look up, Laurel, even if it's only the beginnings of it all. Love to you, out there..

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 01:57 AM

life continues, with music!

In Australia we have plants that need fire to germinate, dunno whether that's a common plant behaviour.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: open mike
Date: 11 Aug 08 - 01:34 AM

thanks to my mudcat frienda a family
i will now be able to replace my
music system--c.d. player, amps, etc.
will send details of what you helped
to get!!

Laurel

i found a unit which both plays and
makes copies of c.d.'s a "dual deck"
type affair...this should prove quite
helpful..i plan to reproduce my radio
shows -- i have hosted 2 since the fire.

July's show had lots of fire, smoke, ashes
in the songs,,,and also survival, hope and
remembering to be thanks ful for blessings
we have. Today's show had some songs about
natural disasters, floods, hurricanes, and
also homelessness, and loss. perhaps i will
offer some copies to the mudcat somehow....
we shall see. i do not really havre a home
base yet from which to do such projects...
am gewtting electricity restored on my land
soon and then after clean up can re-turn.

if i can stand it..it is pretty bleak there
with grey and black being the pre-dominant
color scheme, but green sprouts are appearing
at the base of some of the broadleaf trees,
and grapes, bracken fern and bulbs are coming
back again...

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: jacqui.c
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 07:01 AM

Great news.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Aug 08 - 06:30 AM

great, mate

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 03:02 PM

GOOD!

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: open mike
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 12:09 PM

i should've put captions to those pix
and rotated correctly..the one (sidewards) tree
used to be a beautiful redwood.

the melted aluminum is beautiful in a strange way.

the burned bridge has been repaired now

and i can get to the (former) house site without having to
4 wheel drive thru a creek

yesterday i got a motor home--so will have a roof of some sort
over my head after all..

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: gnu
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 06:23 PM

Thanks Mick.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Joybell
Date: 07 Aug 08 - 08:36 PM

My thoughts have been with you, Laurel. A donation may take a little longer -- but it will be there.
Had a passing problem of my own. Good luck and happy thoughts,
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Aug 08 - 12:13 AM

I didn't know (remember?) that there was a Mudcat Flickr group, and I've now added it to my Mudcat links.

Lots of good pics there, Phil, thanks for posting Laurel's pics.

sandra (getting older!)

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Big Mick
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 11:23 PM

Not sure why this thread was closed, but I am reopening it.

I want to thank all of you that are using Paypal. It is working fine, and I am about to send a check to Laurel. The addy is still available and I hope this is the first of several. Thanks for all your generosity.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 10:24 PM

Thanks, Phil.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 08:07 PM

Copies of the photos on Flickr Mudcat group at least temporarily.
- Phil
http://www.flickr.com/groups/mudcat/

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 07:01 PM

Just to keep you all updated, I mailed a check (the first of what I hope will be many) to Laurel yesterday.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: ragdall
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 06:00 PM

I'm not a myspace member, either, and couldn't see the photos.

Laurel, you can get a free account at Flickr for up to 200 images. http://www.flickr.com/ Nobody has to be a member to see photos there.

rags

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 07:02 AM

Yes, I had the same problem as everybody else but would love to see the photos.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 06:25 AM

laurel, as the pics are apparently only available to myspace members, maybe you could send some of them to [e-mail] so he can post them on the Mudcat photosite where everyone can see them

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sorcha
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 10:53 PM

Yup, must be an account thing, cause I don't have one. Not planning to get one either. Sorry, sis.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 09:00 PM

It told me I had to log in, but I don't have a myspace account, so I didn't see them, either.

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Marion
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 02:45 PM

I was able to see the photos, but I had to log into my myspace account first.   Also, FWIW, Laurel and I are myspace friends - I'm not sure exactly how the privacy settings at myspace work, but if you're logged in and can't see the photos, it may be that they're only available to Laurel's friends.

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Alice
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 02:06 PM

i could not see the photos

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: open mike
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 01:53 PM

there is an album of pix called fire july 2008 on myspace
i can see it...does anyone else have problems viewing it?

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 02:37 PM

SingOut! note....with links to Mudcat!

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 02:30 PM

Link to Laurels page I clicked on the My Pics...and didn't find any pics....???

Subject: RE: BS: Open Mike has lost her home and contents
From: GUEST,open mike
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 01:25 PM

i have posted some pix of the fire and its damage at
www dot myspace dot com / laurelwoodsorrel

and hopeto have pix of the re-generation fo new ligfe
there a.s.a.p.

Laurel

thanks all..
i did post a comment on the O.M. auction thread...too.