BS: Open Mike has lost her home & contents 2008

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Feb 09 - 07:01 AM

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 & 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 & 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: 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 - 05:41 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.