Brown Orbweaver

Apologies to the arachnophobes!

It wasn't quite midnight when I took this, but close enough to count it as today - especially since I don't have any other choices.  We kept Piper inside with us except for essential potty trips yesterday because of the smoke and ash.  When I opened the door to let her out one last time before bed, I spotted this spider sitting in her web which she had woven across the top of the door frame.  She posed nicely for me and didn't seem to mind the flash. :-)

Thankfully, the smoke isn't as bad as yesterday.  As the day goes on, though, it has been getting worse.  It's still raining ashes, but also not as bad.  This morning PD had to use the leaf blower to clear all the accumulated ashes off the deck.  I have never seen anything like this!  Sadly, the fire grew about 20K acres overnight, now totaling 59K acres, and many more evacuations are taking place.  It's hot (95) and windy today.  The news just said it's growing "exponentially".   I hope they get lots of snow up there!!

PD has been busy building a frame around his garden so we will be able to cover everything with tarps tonight.  He removed the hoses and drained them so the pipes won't freeze.  And, of course, he split firewood so we can have a fire.  That's about all we can do to prepare for the expected hard freeze and snow.  We're really hoping our trees will be okay because they still have all their leaves and the snow will probably be wet and heavy.  Stay tuned...

I really didn't want to go to the grocery store today but I'm grateful that I did.  Now the fridge and pantry are full and I'll be able to stay by the cozy fire for the next two days.  After that, it's supposed to warm back up into the 80s by the weekend.  :-)