Is it windy there yet Jeri?

Fairly still here so far.

No. Not yet. It's relatively still -- but we SHOULD be having a good West Wind, and we've lost that. Not a good sign.

The forecast High Wind Warnings for tomorrow now go all the way to the coast down here. And they are predicting a high temp of 92 deg. for Oxnard, tomorrow -- right on the water's edge. A degree or so hotter for Saturday.

If it's 92 in Oxnard, it'll be 95 or worse, here.

If we hear the wind during the night, we'll get up and shut up the house. If not, we'll shut up and pull the blinds, first thing in the morning. Water all the pots again. It's only supposed to last a couple of days.

Jeri

Weather channel has us with 76 and 10mph winds tomorrow, 78 on Friday and 65 with drizzle on Sunday....go figure.

Benny's so handsome. I hope the weather will spare most of them. I watered everything but I know I'll have to go out and do it again tomorrow. Just before sunset, I saw the discolored sky from the fire to the East. I hate the hot wind but I feel so sad for anyone in the path of the fire.

No wind here so far

Hope they got that fire in your neck of the woods fast.

This morning, the wind is screaming, and the temperature is rising. Blew right by 70 -- and has hit 80 in the front yard, by 9 a.m.

There's a brushfire by the 101 freeway, at Camarillo Springs. (Across the valley from us.) The smoke's awesome. Picked a few more roses, before they could crisp.

Jeri

Warm winds up here too. There was a fire on the ridge behind our house Tuesday night and that was frightening. Could see the helicopters carrying the water buckets.

My Benny Lopez is still happy.

{{gwi:257551}}

Diane

There's a broiling hot wind here and I'm glad I went out in the early morning to hose down the plants.

Benny Lopez is a rose that I would love to see for sale in nurseries. The color alone would attract many people (I'd be at the head of the line) and it seems to be a healthy and happy rose. Lovely pictures!

Ingrid

It is always sad when you are driving home and traffic on the other side of the freeway includes firetrucks, dozers, water trucks etc.

The off shore "fog" is smoke

But thankfully it is still "cool and calm" here in comparison to Jeri's area ( 73 and just a breeze)

The hot wind has shriveled up so many roses here. All my Jasmina roses are just petals on the ground like light purple snowfall. The bamboo windbreak has so far protected Scepter'd Isle and Gruss an Aachen. Pink Gruss farther out in the wind and midday sun is completely scorched. I'm glad the fire is far away from you Jeri. Fogrose, I'm glad your ok too. I remember driving near a large brush fire once and it was very scary. My aunt used to worry all the time about her dogs home alone when she lived in Topanga canyon.

Ingrid, I fear you might find that "Benny Lopez" was troubled by your relatively high temps and low-humidity. You have some problems to overcome that I never think of.

Today, we have had your sort of heat and low humidity. This morning, I picked blooms of "Benny Lopez" and "Old Town Novato," because I knew they would be crepe paper. Having them inside, instead, along with 'Prospero' and 'Lady Ann Kidwell' has been comforting.

Jeri

They're beautiful! I hope the winds aren't too bad for all of you. I hate hearing that there are wild fires for you guys. Be safe!

Bad fire across the valley from us.

They've fought it all day, with too few resources, because of other fires. Still 0% uncontained. An ag storage area, full of chemicals -- pesticides, fumigants, fertilizers, and the toxic smoke is a huge concern.

After weeks of gray, chill fog, it was 98 deg. here today, with East winds gusting 55 mph.

Jeri

Jeri, are you still at home? Has the fire gotten close to you? I'm seeing video on the news that is horrifying. I'll be praying for you and Ventura County. Stay safe.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

It IS pretty horrifying. The fire leaped the hills, and is now burning down the canyons, and along the coast toward Malibu. Parts of it did burn to the sea.

The wind has turned, and is pushing the fire and the smoke back in an unpredictable fashion, and now, we can smell smoke. It is only 10% contained, with no estimate for control, and has burned in excess of 10,000 acres.

The leading edge of the fire seems to be directly to our South, with a WSW wind pushing the smoke our way.

Jeri

Stay safe Jeri; the toxic smoke is especially worrying. We've also had a fire about 3 miles from us but they threw everything they had at it since there were houses there. It's 94 degrees and I don't think I have a single rose outside that isn't scorched. That's immaterial compared to your situation. Please keep us posted.

Ingrid

This photo was shared from last night

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:272463}}

I am REALLY happy to say that the fire is either laying down, or is being corralled. It looks better.

Jeri

I spent the morning putting up umbrellas and picking off fried up blooms. The peach tree has helped to shade some of the HPs. It was a dilemma for me if I should plant it or not because I would have to be careful to control its size. So far, it seems to be working out. I have to be diligent about the pruning. Another tree thinned out to be lacy might have been better but sister wanted organic peaches.

I am happy that the weather has changed and hope the fire will be out soon.

I've been 'close' to only 2 fires that I can recall. First was when the San Bernardino mountains were on fire - acres and acres of them - Thanksgiving week of 1970. I was 15 years old, moving from Tucson to Los Angeles, and in the passenger seat of a moving truck. We passed the fire at night, and it was miles and miles of red. Awesome and beautiful and not close enough to be frightening.

Second was a big RV burning off on the side of southbound 405 from the Valley into WLA. They reduced traffic down to the center shoulder and trickled us by, and across 6? lanes of road, we could feel that heat from the RV in our car. It was down to the metal skeleton and rims by the time we went by, and the upper frame bits were melting!

Jeri, I hope you're still safe and sound! Fire is beautiful and wonderful from a distance and safe in your fireplace, and all too frightening when it gets close to taking out your house!

My grandmother was in a N.Y. tenement fire when she was a very small child -- maybe 1904 or 1905. They threw her out a 3rd. floor window, into a net. She was afraid of fire all her life -- and I do believe that was the ONLY thing she really feared.

Maybe I caught it from her, because I'm afraid of fire myself.

Years ago, tho, I got "up close and personal" with one of these brush fires. At a friend's home, I stood at his back fence, and watched the flames come racing up the hill. It's beautiful, and fascinating, and terrible -- and the thing they never mention is that the SOUND of it is terrifying.

So, if anyone suggests that I might ought evacuate -- I'm outta here. We have a motorhome, and a plan, and our neighbor has a motorhome, and a plan. And the in-between neighbors have a plan to follow us down the hill. Gypsy Lane United. :-)

Today, it is cold and dank and dark in Camarillo. I can still smell the smoke (I had a bad athsma attack, last night) but the wind is down, and I think they'll get this thing contained today. Thank God.

Thank the Firefighters.

Jeri in Camarillo, CA

Jeri,
I think most all of us know where you live and were concerned for you over the past couple of days. I hope you are getting sprinkles this afternoon as we are way down here in south OC.
Mary

No sprinkles (and I didn't expect any) but the humidity is so high that (Ironically) they can't set backfires. They're estimating full containment by some time Monday (which is good). With the heavy air, we aren't smelling smoke now, but our hills present an odd sight -- a column of smoke, rising medium-gray, to merge with the dark gray clouds.

We're snapping dried blooms off bushes as fast as we can.

Jeri