Hope our CP members in Oklahoma are ok!

Sassy · April 10, 2009, 05:22:38 PM

Looks like there's fires all over... my prayers are with ya'll...
http://www.kfor.com/news/

Terry · April 10, 2009, 08:41:47 PM

And, I heard there were tornados that hit parts of Oklahoma last night. My prayers are also with you guys!

April 11, 2009, 09:22:16 AM

No fires around here. We had lots of rain in the past 24 hours too. I feel for those who are dealing with the fires.

Sassy · April 11, 2009, 12:50:37 PM

That's good to hear, Scott. Haven't heard from Homegrown for awhile... hope they are ok. Then there's the tornadoes in Arkansas & Tenn. We got 3 days for rain this past week - we always need it around here.

Homegrown Tomatoes · April 11, 2009, 11:17:29 PM

Still smells like smoke, but we're all OK. We were in Missouri from Thursday until a few hours ago, and Thursday night as we're about to eat dinner, my dad calls and leaves a message on my cell phone before I could dig it out to answer it. All he says is, "Hey, I was just wondering how close that fire is to your house? We're watching the one down here and I think it's going to miss us." Immediately I call him back to ask, "What fire???" It sounded like it was going to come right through where we live, but what could we do from that distance? So, I told him, "Aw, I'm not worried about it... if the house burns down, at least we've got the tent."

It came within a mile or so, but thankfully steered just to the east of our place. However, it really still smells like smoke everywhere outside. Dad said the wind was blowing 70 miles an hour part of the time. Tonight it is storming... spectacular lightening like I haven't seen in a long time, and I'm hoping the rain puts out the smoldering hotspots that are sure to be out there somewhere. I'm going to check out the past couple of days' worth of news to see just exactly where all the fire went (we could see how close to us it was on Route 66, but I am wondering how far we were from it in other directions.)

April 11, 2009, 11:31:04 PM

Well, it's about time!

Good to hear ya'll are ok too! Close call - kinda like we experienced last summer - only I was at work...

Homegrown Tomatoes · April 11, 2009, 11:45:13 PM

I am relieved, but it sure makes me even more anxious to clean up all that "kindling" all around our house in the woods here. We know for sure that in the last six years, none of the trees damaged by ice or wind have been cleaned up, and truth be told, it is probably even longer than that. This area was hit really hard by the ice storm two years ago, and it would go up in a big puff of smoke in a hurry if ever a fire were to start. I always worry that someone will toss a cigarrette out the window on 66 when the wind is out of the north and it'll have plenty of fuel if it gets going. We had a big tree fall a week or so ago in some of the 60+mph winds we've been having. There is another one between the house and barn that needs to come down ASAP and be cut into firewood before it falls on the house or the barn or the kids or the dogs. When we came back home today, you could smell smoke beginning just west of Tulsa the rest of the way home. I'll be glad to get that metal roof on, too. Have y'all seen the pics of the places that burned? Whew! Those aren't far down the road at all... and from what I gathered from watching the news in MO Thursday night, there were some places burned in the town just east of us, too. (We could see the burned and still-smoking spots there.)

glenn kangiser · April 12, 2009, 01:00:57 AM

After last years fire people around here are starting to clean up for this year. I have a brushing job with the Bobcat starting Monday and I have already been working on ours.

Glad you are OK ... so far. Summer is on the way.

southernsis · April 12, 2009, 07:39:33 AM

I am glad everyone is okay. We have an arsonist loose here. Last Sunday evening, there were 2 suspicious fires. 1 was on the business property we bought. We had 30 and 40 mph winds that night. If it hadn't been for the quick action of the mayor/police/fire man who lives across the street we would have lost the building. He heard the call and saw the flames, jumped on his backhoe and started pushing dirt and wood. By the time the fire engines got there he had it about out. The other fire that night burned 3 camp trailer and just about took out a persons home. The authorities are investigating and hope they find out who is setting the fires.

April 12, 2009, 05:05:40 PM

Ssis, so far they aren't exactly calling this one "arson" but are saying it was definitely set intentionally, which makes me wonder if some idiot was trying to burn trash or do a controlled burn in 60-70mph winds.

Lot of people lost houses, and it is all in fairly populated areas, so I really feel for folks. We are really blessed. Thankfully it rained all night and has rained all day today too, so at least it's killed the hot spots that were still smoldering. The smoke smell is fading around our house now. Totally off the subject, but Ssis, have you ever been to War Eagle Mill? I was there for lunch yesterday en route home and thought of you and wondered how far away from there you were.

southernsis · April 13, 2009, 07:06:54 AM

Haven't heard of War Eagle Mill. Where is it?

Homegrown Tomatoes · April 13, 2009, 07:53:15 AM

Near Rogers, AR. Very interesting place on the War Eagle river, and the top floor has a restaurant that serves (very reasonable prices, too) organic and locally milled foods. It was really good. I had the beans and cornbread with slaw, and DH ordered a sandwich on bread that was milled and made there... it came with a bowl of really tasty soup. The lower two floors, besides having the stone mill powered by a waterwheel on the river, have a store and gift shop, and there are a lot of old pictures and stories about the mill on the wall. It was originally built in the 1830s and it has burned down twice, washed away once, etc. They have a bunch of specialty flours and baking mixes in their store. I bought some blue cornmeal. The texture is very different from what I grind myself in my vitamix. Lots of cookbooks and cooking gadgets, some locally made pottery and art. If you ever get a chance, you'll have to check it out. Really pretty drive back in to it, too. And like I said, a good lunch is in the neighborhood of $5. (The one down side was than when the kids needed to go to the bathroom, it was three flights of stairs down and across the parking lot to the outhouses, and by the time we got back to the restaurant my beans were starting to get cold.) I think I just hijacked this thread!

by the way, I saw in the headlines on the news this morning that some of the fires actually came back overnight last night. For one, I can't imagine that they even have much left to burn, but for two, it is surprising because it was a steady rain all night and all day yesterday.