We just cut down 3 huge evergreen-type trees in front of our house. They’d been there for the past 35 years and they were part of our landscaping. When the fire inspector and deputy fire marshal told me that those 3 trees could cause my house to catch fire, I knew I had to remove them. Check out this video that shows how easily this tree could ignite my house. It took me a week of weighing the pros and cons of having my house catch fire and cutting 3 mature trees that produced oxygen when we just lost 3.2 million acres of trees since August. I’m continuing to remove all potential fire hazards within 5 feet of my house. This home hardening may actually save my house should a wildfire come into my neighborhood.
We just cut down 3 huge evergreen-type trees in front of our house. They’d been there for the past 35 years and they were part of our landscaping. When the fire inspector and deputy fire marshal told me that those 3 trees could cause my house to catch fire, I knew I had to remove them. Check out this video that shows how easily this tree could ignite my house. It took me a week of weighing the pros and cons of having my house catch fire and cutting 3 mature trees that produced oxygen when we just lost 3.2 million acres of trees since August. I’m continuing to remove all potential fire hazards within 5 feet of my house. This home hardening may actually save my house should a wildfire come into my neighborhood.
Just picked 2 quarts of raspberries and blackberries. There’s just something special about picking berries off the vines and sharing them with my daughter Nicole. They’re the only fruit that we grow that birds don’t devour before we get to them. I’ve been fertilizing them with coffee grounds and wonder if that’s why we’re having a bumper crop this year.
So excited to have 4 new chicks! Not sure what kind of chickens they are but they’re baby hens and they’ll each produce one egg per day! We have 2 full grown Americauna chickens that produce pastel-colored eggs – fun because they’re pretty. With all the devastation caused by wildfires, it’s soothing to have little chicks that will enjoy our chicken coop and produce fresh eggs each day!
Are you confused about what to do if a wildfire heads your way? You hear about people who refuse to leave their homes during evacuations — and die. Then you hear about people who do leave their homes but could have saved them by staying home and putting out embers that get caught in their eaves. As 2019 California Mother of the Year, I’ve been blogging about fire prevention for 2 seasons and thought I understood everything there was to know about fires. I was wrong.
I just met with Tony Akin, fire inspector, and Marco Mack, deputy fire marshal, last week to make sure my house and acreage were safe from wildfires. We had just completed our weed whacking and limbing of trees to clear 100 feet from our home. Because we’re located on a steep hillside in a gulch, the way a fire would approach our house is different than how it might approach our neighbor’s house on the other side of the hill. They recommended that I remove 3 trees that were next to the house and the trumpet vines that I had meticulously groomed up the wrought iron railing to my front door.
Apparently, these 3 trees and the trumpet vines would light up and create a direct line of fire to my front door! Who knew? I’m chain sawing the trees and removing the vines next week! Then I learned that if I replaced my ¼” attic screens with 1/8” screens, they could prevent embers from flying into my attic and starting a house fire. New 1/8” screens are going in next week too! They told me that those little embers could lodge themselves in the tiny spaces around our fascia boards. By just caulking around fascia boards, I could prevent an ember from destroying my house. Phew, I can do that!
To manage the risk of a fire approaching my home when it’s not safe to drive away, the Fire District recommends that I work with my neighbors to establish Safety Zones. This is an area that will provide a safe location for the type of fire intensity that is approaching my location. It would be protected from radiant heat, have no combustible vegetation, have hardened structures to prevent ignition, and be in the area that doesn’t support high-intensity fires. This safety zone will need to be updated each year to ensure that the location continues to be hardened and safe.
They recommended that I go across the road to the Locatelli Ranch because it is a proposed Safety Zone. There’s enough clearing there for many neighbors to be safe from high intensity wildfire. A Safety Zone is a good alternative when your evacuation route may not be safe including a drive down our one- and two-lane road, where your car is stopped at a bottleneck disaster like what happened in Paradise in 2018. Please work with your Fire Department to validate possible Safety Zone locations.
Residents in rural areas, like me, who might become trapped outside during evacuation or plan to escape to an outside Safety Zone, should prepare a go-bag with safety clothing that will resist burning embers and protect your hair and skin, and safety goggles to protect your eyes.
Every home has different problems and will encounter fire behavior in different ways. This is just my situation and what I can do to mitigate wildfires. You can contact your local fire inspector to give you free advice on how to protect your home and what to do if a wildfire approaches your home. If you live in Soquel/Capitola, call 831.316.3803 or email RSG@centralFPD.com; Aptos, call 831.316.3804 or email RSG@aptosfire.com. This was the most important meeting I’ve had about how to protect my family and home. You can also take a class at your community college on fire prevention or hire a certified contractor who can advise you and do the work needed. Take action now to protect your homes from wildfires!
I love Halloween and have put on major productions and parties for decades. But this year, celebrating Halloween during a pandemic will take some creativity. Kids like to dress up, get tons of free candy, play games, and eat sweet treats – right? So you can make Halloween even MORE fun during a pandemic. Here’s how:
1. Rice Krispy Treat Witches
Everyone loves Rice Krispy treats! The ooey gooey marshmallow concoctions are irresistible. Make 4-5 batches with your kids and sculpt a witch’s head. The kids can roll witch’s fingers and cut out fruit roll-up nails. Make this the weekend before Halloween for decorations and tempting sweets all week.
2. Costume Planning
Brainstorming and designing costumes are just about as exciting as actually wearing them. Look online to get ideas about costumes the kids can make. Start 2-4 weeks ahead of time so you can buy accessories and have everything you need by Halloween. You can also save shipping boxes and have the kids design costumes out of things you have around the house.
3. Trick-or-Treat Treasure Hunt
Instead of going door to door demanding sweet treats on Halloween, hide miniature candies – the same kind of candies they would get going to neighbors’ homes – all over the house. Place them in pockets, under cushions, on top of books, inside shoes, in the yard, and in flower beds. Count the candies before you hide them so the kids know how many candies they need to find. This can take hours and it’s sure to be a lot of fun. Think: Easter Egg Hunt! My kids used to love this so much they would play it several times, and then hide the candies for us!
4. Costume Parade
On Halloween night, your kids can stand in front of your house on a make-shift stage wearing their costumes. As people drive by, they can wave and say “Trick or Treat!” You can encourage neighbors and friends to participate by posting a sign on your lawn – “Drive by to see our Halloween costumes at 7:00 pm on Halloween!”
Talk to your kids about how they want to celebrate a pandemic Halloween this year. Mark your calendars to give them plenty of time to design costumes, make Rice Krispy Treat witches, create a platform and signage for the costume parade, and layout rules for the treasure hunt. You may start a new family tradition this year, and you’ll certainly create memories!
Glad to hear the inmate crew members who have fought wildfires under the supervision of Cal Fire and firefighters will be able to apply to become firefighters when they get out of prison. California Governor Newsom just signed the bill that will reduce the red tape that has prevented inmate crews from becoming full-fledged firefighters upon their release.
These inmate crew members go through rigorous training and do lots of the heavy lifting while fighting fires. They’re paid barely $3 per day and they often work for longer than 24-hour shifts. Working to stave off wildfires to protect lives and property gives them a strong sense of pride and teamwork. Isn’t this what rehabilitation is all about?
These inmate crew members aren’t sex offenders or violent criminals, and they aren’t at risk of escaping. When they’re released from prison, their records may be expunged for completing their sentences, which will allow them to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). Then, they can apply to become firefighters with their EMT certifications.
With wildfires destroying millions of acres on the west coast, we need more inmate crews to support Cal Fire and our firefighters.
First it was PPE. Then it was toilet paper. Now it’s paper towels? I get there being a run on PPE – after all, it is the personal protective equipment that medical and front-line responders need to stay safe while doing their jobs. I never understood why toilet paper became scarce, and now paper towels?
I have a solution: DON’T USE PAPER TOWELS AT ALL!
Paper towels are the most wasteful product invented by companies like Proctor and Gamble. Before their relatively recent invention, we used cloth towels. They’re much more absorbent and stronger than any paper towel – even the “Quicker Picker Upper.” They can be washed and dried with your towels, and then reused hundreds of times. See my blog about Cloth vs Paper Towels: No Contest!
I even carry a cloth towel in my purse and in my car so I have one everywhere I go. If public restrooms don’t have an air dryer, I just pull out my cloth towel and wipe my hands. After touching the faucet (ooh, cooties!), I safely dry my hands.
Check out my YouTube video on simple ways to reduce paper waste. So if people start hoarding paper towels, just cut up old cloth towels and you’ll be all set for 10 years!
If you’re interested in transferring from a California community college to a UC campus, this is the time to set up your Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG). Six UC campuses offer a TAG to college students who meet specific requirements.
One of the benefits of having a TAG is that you will receive early review of your academic records, early admission notification and specific guidance about major preparation and general education coursework.
TAG applications are due Sept. 30, but you can only apply for a TAG at one campus. To keep your options open, apply to other UC campuses during the regular application cycle (Nov. 1-30).
Here’s how it works:
1. Use the UC Transfer Admission Planner to complete the TAG application, and review it with your community college counselor and/or UC campus TAG adviser. You’ll need to submit it Sept. 1–30.
2. You’ll find out if your TAG is approved in November. If it is, fulfill all remaining coursework and GPA requirements in your TAG agreement.
3. You still need to fill out the application for admission to UC and submit it Nov. 1–30.
Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG)
Six UC campuses offer an admission guarantee for junior transfer applicants. These campuses include UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz.
By participating in the program, students can ensure their admission to a specific UC campus and major. Over 80% of students admitted through the TAG program choose to enroll in a UC campus. TAG students come to UC prepared, with 61% graduating in two years. UC’s TAG Matrix provides information about the GPA, major preparation, and other criteria required by each campus.
Colleges are supposed to report all campus crimes so parents and students can understand the safety of the campuses they consider when applying to colleges. But UC Berkeley improperly reported over 1000 crimes that involved weapons, drugs and liquor, and sexual offenses, which just landed them a $2.35 million fine.
In the 2019 “Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, UC Berkeley disclosed that there were 19 rapes on campus and another 26 rapes off campus between 2016-2018. There were also 53 incidents of aggravated assault.
Concerned about the colleges your child is applying to this year? Thanks to the Clery Act, colleges and universities are required to disclose all crimes from drinking violations to sexual assault every year. Ask the admissions office for a copy of their crimes report. The more parents request these reports, the sooner colleges will crack down on crimes against students on their campuses.
The California State University (CSU) system has announced that their all of their campuses will continue to have remote learning for spring semester 2021. I’m glad to hear that they have made this decision and have communicated their plans with their students, faculty, and staff so everyone can make plans accordingly. It’s the respectful and responsible thing to do. I wish all campuses would do the same. The sooner we stop the spread of the coronavirus, the sooner we can get back to school and work! It’s really that simple.