Before and After

A bird's paradise just this summer.

Some days are okay but others are stressful.

Yesterday was a stressful day.

Decisions, decisions, lots of decisions to make.

I shall probably post a few more photos as time goes by

but it is sad and overwhelming to see the miles of

beautiful forest land and homes that have been burned out.

If a home was touched by fire it burned to the ground.

The blaze was swift moving and pushed by 40 MPH winds

and the fuel was plentiful because of a drought the worst

Texas has seen since the mid-1900s.

Lots of green grass, ivy and trees.

The bird feeders are still standing.

When we got home last Thursday morning we were surprised to

see lots of birds in our backyard even after the fire.

They were still coming to the feeders and

the hummingbirds were visiting their feeders.

Saturday evening when we went back to feed

Miss Kitty we could see the wild rabbit that was a regular visitor.

To the right and behind the trees you can see the 

tool shed of our neighbor.

In front of and to the left of it is the remains of their home.

It is burned to the ground as are over 1700 homes in the area.

It is unbelievable that our house stands.

Across the street five homes burned.

On the same side of our street six more burned.

We still have the Hackberry tree just to the left of the house.

Luckily we have insurance that will cover some of the loss of the trees.

Hopefully we can buy a few large trees to put in spots

around the south and west sides of the house.
The trees to the north and in front of the house are doing well.

Our attic has a lot of smokey smell to it and

will need to be cleaned, insulation removed & replaced,

and duct work cleaned.

The inside of the house will need to be cleaned also.

The people responsible for this service say the house will

smell very fresh once they finish.

I don't know if the refrigerator can be saved after being

without electricity for 12 days.

Just up from the Hackberry tree and the south-side of our property.

The little piles are the remains of our out-building

that housed the riding lawn mower and other tools.

All the trees are burned 15 to 20 feet up the trunks.

We need to get a tree service to cut and remove all the trees.

The Texas Forestry Service is looking into getting seedlings

for people to replant on their property.

Of course the G-man and I will never see them grow

into big beautiful trees.

Most of these trees are 30 to 50 years old and

many more are older than that.

At least the 150 year old tree in our front yard is still alive.

We desperately need rain to help keep the ones that survived alive.