Fire grows to 6K acres, but finally, some breathable air. And a HUGE to-do list. Shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

No, that's from Saturday. Sherm did get the plasterwork in the downstairs bath finished today (by himself, I might add, and it included the north and west walls), but I'm too beat to do battle with my laptop and camera to download the images. That hook-up there? That's for the water heater, at such point as we ever manage to get one. Much of the upper mouldings are done upstairs, too, but again, that pesky download thing, so no pix tonight.

It's mid-nineties here and dry as hell, but at least the smoke is tamped down. We got a small stray shower last night — okay, calling it a shower's a big overstatement; call it a sprinkle — and we were finally able to see the smoke plumes from the Bonita Canyon fire at their source on the horizon. Yes, plumes, plural; sometime over the weekend, it apparently jumped the fireline, probably about the same time that they had to halt all water and retardant drops because some asshole thought it would be funny (or profitable) to send a drone up there. That grounds all emergency aircraft immediately. The fire also ballooned to 5,400 acres as of yesterday morning sometime. As of this morning? 6,000. But beyond some light smoke haze this morning, it's been much clearer, no need for a mask and no asthma issues. 

I've got a long, LONG to-do list yet tonight, though, and I need to get on it. I owe messages and replies to a bunch of people, I have to order some materials, and I have to try to figure out a way to squeeze more blood from a stone with regard to all the next steps, and the next, and the next, and the next. The stress is wearing on us both, and I'm trying to pick up as much of that slack as I can, because I don't want Wings's blood pressure skyrocketing again. It would help if I could clone about three of myself and send them each out to do 100 or so different things. Failing that, I'll just be up really, really late, and tomorrow's list will grow by that much more.

First, many, many thanks to the folks who kicked in last overnight. Second, here are the links, because we are going to need shares every single day just to put a dent in it all:

• First, to donate, the PayPal link is here. 

• Second, for sales (which we really need to make, and I'll be highlighting some of his high-end stuff on the site this week), the link to Wings's site (preferably with a testimonial, if you have some of his work), because sales are gonna keep this thing rolling. 

• And finally, the link to our wishlist (which badly needs updating), with an emphasis on the Lowe's gift cards, because those are what will help us pay for all the stuff that will make this place liveable, like a water heater and flooring and so forth. [Shout-out also to the generous person (tm, maybe?) who bought the molasses, which is how we medicate the horses, and to the three folks who sent Lowe's gift cards.] A note here: To tile the downstairs, we'll need to go to Home Depot, which doesn't sell gift cards through Amazon; they can be purchased through the company's Web site here.

Many thanks and much love to everyone. Back to the salt mines . . . .

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.