One of those stories we hear that is worth looking into.  If true it may save a life and property.

A house burnt down… nothing left but ashes. Owners have good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents.  That is the good news.

 However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked her sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the normal things…curling iron, blow dryer.  He kept saying to her, ‘No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures’. Then her sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-In, in the bathroom.

The investigator had one of those ‘Aha’ moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic they are made from is THIN. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there.

The sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk in to the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is a warning sign

The investigator said he personally wouldn’t have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places that have been burned down due to them.

This weekend I drove up to Coarsegold to the annual Tarantula Festival. I meet my friend Dennis Fairbanks and he drove me out to his cattle lease. He drove me around showing me the effects of the drought which has plagued California the last few years. On the lease are two gorgeous lakes. Unfortunately the drought has turned them into large mud ponds.

The good news is or hopefully will be, the National Weather Service predicting the possibility of a wet winter.  They report that a weather phenomenon or system called Madden-Julian Oscillation seems to be developing in the Indian Ocean. In the past, this system has generated wet storms for California.

In 1971 Roland Madden and Paul Julian (1) stumbled upon a 40-50 day oscillation when analyzing zonal wind anomalies in the tropical Pacific.The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is an equatorial traveling pattern of anomalous rainfall that is planetary in scale. The mechanism and cause of the MJO is as yet not well-understood and is a subject of ongoing study. The wet phase of enhanced convection and precipitation is followed by a dry phase where convection is suppressed. Each cycle lasts approximately 30-60 days.

The prediction is that there is a potential of storms developing in November, providing a wetter than average fall. We shall see and HOPE.

I read in the USA today a story by Stefanie Frith, Frith reports for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif. relating that in the past few months, a Moorpark California cattle rancher has been forced to sell two-thirds of his herd and spends twice as much on feed do to the drought conditions in California. According to the rancher if the drought problem continues into next year, he’ll have to close down his cattle operationsMs Frith related a California’s Department of Water Resources report that California’s Sierra snow pack, an annual source of water for ranchers and farmers, is at its lowest level in two decades and it’s the same story with rainfall.A friend of mine told me the same type of story. He leases 1000 acres in Coarsegold California near the town of Oakhurst, where he runs 50 to 70 head of cattle in a cow calf operation. He told me that do the rising cost of feed, (doubling in the past year) and the rising cost of fuel he will be closing down his operation at the end of this year.

Do you have an ant problem?  During this hot season ants are out looking for water.  Why do they come in your house, isn’t there more water outdoors?  Almost everyone has an ant problem now and then.  Short of calling an exterminator or selling your real estate there is a better answer.About a year ago I read that ants do not like the smell of peppermint.  Therefore an easy way to rid yourself of these pesky pests, sprinkle peppermint leaves near their favorite entrances (window sills, doorways, floorboards etc).  I tried this recently and it really worked.  Best of all, its cheap and nontoxic. A good alternative to commercial pesticides which meets the now popular Green Earth motto.

E-Waste Recycling

Nothing says “thank you” to mother earth like recycling unwanted items instead of throwing them into the landfills.  Many items that people throw away can cause dangerous chemicals to be released into the soil.  Many items that people throw away are not only dangerous, but illegal to put into landfills.  In Madera County, E-Waste Recycling is a top priority once again.

There will be two recycling days coming to the area to help you get rid of those unwanted, yet recyclable, items.  This Saturday, June 28th from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. you can drop off your unwanted electronics at the Coarsegold Historic Village.  Items they are collecting include televisions, computers and accessories, telephones, cell phones and microwaves.  The second collection day will be on July 12th from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce parking lot.

If you are unable to make either drop off day, you can call and make arrangements for a free pick up of your electronic items.  If you would like further information, contact the Coarsegold Village at (559) 683-3900 or the Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce at (559) 683-7766.

You too can help keep America beautiful!

Carpenter ants may seem small and look harmless, but they can do serious damage to anything wooden in your home, including not only furniture but also the very framing and walls that hold up the house. If you are seeing a lot of ants or small piles of sawdust-like material in random spots in or around your home, you are most likely suffering from a carpenter ant infestation.

Ants are very social beings and form large colonies before spreading out to find additional nest sites. They thrive by hollowing out wood, especially in moist or rotten spots, to build their nests and then use their new home in your walls and chairs as a base camp from which to forage for food and water in their nearby surroundings. Indeed, their very presence is a good indication of moisture or rot problems.

In the continental U.S. and in much of Canada, carpenter ants are the most common insect wood destroyer, surpassing even the mighty termite. But while many commercially available chemical pesticides will rid a structure of carpenter ants, homeowners are increasingly steering away from such toxins proven to impact the human nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems.

Perhaps the most economical and effective way to get rid of carpenter ants is by applying boric acid (also known as borax) to their nest sites and surroundings. This natural non-toxic element, mined from below the Mojave Desert in southern California, has a long history of use in exterminating brazen populations of cockroaches, palmetto bugs, waterbugs, silverfish, termites, and, you guessed it, carpenter ants. Beyond just being effective as an all-natural insecticide, boric acid is non-toxic to humans.

It seems like I have always loved to garden. I can remember working side by side with my parents planting groundcover when I was in the 3^rd grade. Maybe the joy was more in spending time with my parents, but the result became a love for being on my hands and knees and working in the dirt. Through the years it has become a place where I can relax, lower my blood pressure, pray and enjoy the sun. Imagine my excitement when we moved to the mountains and I now had 3 ½ acres of undeveloped dirt to plant!

I found out the hard way that gardening in the mountains is different! After planting 16 prized roses, watering, fertilizing, nurturing and awaiting those first gorgeous blooms only to see them stripped of all flowers, leaves, and thorns overnight…..I learned that roses are like candy to deer. They are better purchased from a florist and enjoyed in a vase in your home.

I’ve lived in the mountains of Oakhurst for 16 years and here’s what I’ve found in a nutshell: If it’s purple, there’s a pretty good chance the deer won’t like it. I know there are always exceptions, but here are some plants I’ve had luck with:

Purple Iris

Lilacs

Lily of the Nile

Society Garlic

Butterfly Bush

If you’re just starting a garden in the mountains, give these a try and I guarantee you’ll enjoy the blossoms and the deer won’t!

With the warm weather upon us those pestering mosquitoes are coming out. Here are a few tips that may help relieve some of the annoyance. 

If you haven’t already made plans to attend the Eastern Madera County Town Hall meeting tonight at 6pm at the Senior Center in Oakhurst, you really should consider making plans to do so. Eastern Madera is our home and we need everyone’s input and participation so that it continues to be a great place to live.

Director of Emergency Services Supervisor Tom Wheeler and Sheriff John Anderson will be imparting valuable information about how to keep your home safe from wildfire. They will answer questions about what it means to live in oak woodlands and remind you that there are so many things you can do to safeguard your family and your property. Our area’s unique plant life makes for spectacular views and at the same time we have to be aware that wildfires are also a part of living in Eastern Madera.

No need to worry about starving or getting dinner together: food service will start at 5:30 pm and hot dogs are $1. You can e-mail jstanovich@madera-county.com or call 559-675-7770 for more information.

In continuation to the post on Friday.

Plastic bags cost 1 to 2 cents per bag in the United States.  Paper bags cost 6 to 8 cents per bag.  Compostable plastic bags cost more than paper bags.  There are still no compostable plastic bags available commercially. 

Plastic grocery bags are 100 percent recyclable.  Many stores (especially grocery types) have receptacles to drop unwanted bags into.  Plastic bags can be made into other products such as decks and piers.  Reusing or recycling one ton of plastic bags will save the equivalent of 11 barrels or 462 gallons of oil.  Additionally, plastic bags consume less than 4 percent of the water that is needed to make paper bags.  It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than recycling a pound of paper.  Plastic grocery bags make up less than .5 percent of the United States Municipal Waste stream.

I always thought paper was better for the environment than plastic was.  Now after this research, my mind has changed.  The moral of the story is….plastic bags are a great option for Americans to use, especially if we all choose to recycle them   So in honor of Earth Day, let’s all commit to recycle those bags!  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  The three new “R’s” that everyone should be following.