Flora Pioneer School Day

Oh, I can hardly wait to share with you.

This past weekend, we attended 

Flora Pioneer School Day.

Flora School

It is a fund-raising day to help maintain and restore the old Flora school.

Flora is a ghost town in the upper north-west corner of Oregon.

You can read more about the history here.
(They are having trouble with the site, but it has other resources and the history and other tabs are all still in good order.)
The first order of business in restoring it was to get a new roof on it
which they did.

Back of the school.

You already know I'm trying not to spend money.

This weekend, we did spend a little money; however,

I told Mr. LB, "It makes you feel good to spend the money."

It's a wonderful feeling of giving and supporting something good.
Keeping bits of the past alive and well preserved is important.

I'll just start showing the pictures,

because there are quite a few.

Mr. LB found the blacksmith directly.
Rip already knows it will be a lengthy conversation so decided to nap.
By the end of the day, he made this steak turner.

If you are interested in the blacksmith, he can be found on Facebook at
Rusty Hammer Forge

There were wagon tours of the town.
The person who actually did the speaking for the tour 
was the last student of the school.

The old church was just across from the school.
It's unfortunate there wasn't an effort to preserve it as well.

The cemetery was 1/4-1/2 mile up the road.

Back inside the school~
In one room there was a country store.

There were 4 or 5 looms for sale (amongst other smaller items.)
I did get the contact information for these.
If anybody is interested, just leave a comment, and I can respond via email.
This room was also the gym even though it was the size of a regular classroom.
The baskets were about 3 ft. from the ceiling.
You can see in the pictures, there is fencing over the windows for protection.

There was music.
They did a great job and played all day!
(with a bit of a break for lunch.)
This room was set up for pie and ice cream.
Oh yea, lunch!
Here, let me show you.

There was dutch oven chicken (1/4 of a chicken!)
That huge pot on the tripod is full of some of the best beans I've ever eaten.
There was also slaw, cornbread made with the corn and wheat that was ground about 20 ft. away by whoever wanted to give it a go, and fresh butter churned at the table right next to it.
It was such a beautiful day,
after lunch the musicians moved outside.

There was roping.
You can just barely see a red t-shirt behind the two gals.
The gal in the hat leaned over right as I took the picture.
Buuuut, it was so sweet.
There was a young fella 9-10 years old holding the rope by the hondo
trying to figure it out.
The fella who had been manning that station was over visiting with the farrier.
I held the dog and told Mr. LB he should go help him out.
He showed him how to hold the rope, then swing and throw.
That young fella practiced for about and hour - hour and a half.
He was "getting it" and was roping the dummy steer.
It was so good to see.
He really wanted to learn and stuck with it.
Speaking of that.
There were quite a few kids there, and I was sooo impressed. 
They were all polite, well behaved and just pleasant.
There were no "brats." 
Sorry, it's usually the parents who teach them, but some are pretty bratty.
Except here - it was such a refreshing realization later in the day.

Then of course after I loaded the pictures on the computer,
I figured out all the things I didn't get a picture of.
There was candle dipping, wheat grinding, butter churning,
wooden block stamping, beading, quilting, a cobbler, a couple of heritage piglets for the kids to see/pet, a quilt raffle, the farrier, and
I'm probably forgetting something, but you get the idea.
I also neglected to take a picture of the auditorium or entry.
In the library, they are working on a library for the community.
It was all so nostalgic.
We took Mrs. Calabash and camped at Troy.
If Flora is at the edge of the earth, Troy fell off and is dangling by a river.
Just out of Flora we saw these beauties.

Sometime back I showed you this barn quilt.

Well, we were in the same corner of the state,
 and this time found a couple more.

I reeeeally like this one.
It was a quick weekend, but completely enjoyable and beautiful.

                                              

Homestead Evacuation Plan

This post has two messages:

First, after such a dry winter,
just as many predicted, fires are raging.
There are a couple in particular that are posing
threats to many homes and ranches of north-eastern Oregon.
The Canyon Creek Complex Fire near Canyon City has burned
26 homes and 100 structures (confirmed.)
Though the community is rallying together to help
those who have lost their homes, there's more.
You can see yesterday's news report here.

source

We were just over this road about 2 weeks ago.
This is a rural ranching community so not only homes,
but also animal barns and hay barns are ablaze.
My niece is on the Cornet-Windy Ridge Fire south of Baker City.
She sent a text and said one of the saddest things she's seen is
a rancher's nearly full hay barn burning and the rancher
out in the pasture baling hay as fast as he could hoping the fire
wouldn't burn the bales as fast as it would run up the windrows.
She grew up on a ranch and understands that it's more than 
just a pile of hay.
If the cattle make it through the fire, what will they eat through winter?
In addition to fire-fighters and emergency crews 
trying to save structures and contain the fire,
they have also been saving animals if they can catch them.
Again this is not just poodles and puddy-tats.
They get horses, cattle and other livestock.
The only humane society in north-eastern Oregon
is based in Pendleton.
They have sent dog and cat food, but also a trailer of hay, grain, and
other feeds to the area.
They are trying to get animals matched up with owners,
but in emergency situations, this takes time.
Animals, even tame, will panic and run from a fire.
That said, if you are so inclined
here's their site link if you would like to help out.

The second part of this post is asking you a very serious question.
Do you have an evacuation plan for you and your critters?
With the above fires encroaching on towns,
there are level 2 and 3 evacuation notices. 
In other words, be ready.

So what's your plan?
Here are a few things to think about.

* Obviously, you and your family as well as important papers, etc.

* Access roads available to you.

* Animals: 
If you have children, are they big enough to
get the bunnies or chickens in travel cages while
you load up the larger livestock?
Put the cats in the cab of the pick up and dogs in the back.
What do you load first?
Do you have a trailer large enough for all your stock?
Don't count on your neighbor's trailer.  They be using it in this situation.
If not, which animals are broke to lead?
You can (in emergency situations) have small animal cages
strapped to the top of a trailer and halter trained animals
tied - horses, milk cows, etc. then would have to drive
extremely slowly heading out.
Note, where are the bungees and extra rope or para-cord? 
Also a good idea if time permits, is to throw in some feed
for the various animals (buckets or coffee cans available?)

* Where would you go?  Is there a friend or family member
within a reasonable distance with room for your entire ensemble?

* If you have children, do they know how to drive?
Licensed or not, this might mean you can get another rig 
(be it car or tractor) out of danger- either loaded or not.

* Worse case scenario, if no notice - get out fast,
at least open gates and cages.
Animals will bolt and at least have a chance.
If cooped, caged, or corraled, they will be doomed to the impending danger.

These are just a few things to think about
that I don't see mentioned very often.
If you have a plan, chances are you won't need it.
If you need it, you'll be thankful you have a plan.
It's a lot easier to make decisions when you aren't in panic mode.

Wishing you all safe and happy homesteading.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

18 Aug. 2015 PM - update
Found out that one of the homes lost was that of a classmate of mine.
Another was that of a couple who happened to be our neighbors when I was in high school.  He actually took my Sr. pictures.  They had just enough time to each grab an armload of things.  They each hopped in a rig to leave.  He didn't have time to hitch up the trailer but was able to throw the gate open.  The barn
was already burning.  They allowed him back in yesterday morning (or the
evening prior) to see if there was anything left.  The house, barn, corrals, etc.
were all gone, but his two horses were standing there nickering at him
from where the corrals once were.  They had some smoke inhalation but are
expected to be just fine.
Support accounts have been established for the victims of the fire:
for further information, the contact is

Grant County Federal Credit Union at (541)575-0264.

Prayers always accepted of course.

* Hell's Canyon Oregon*

Hell's Canyon Oregon

Neither Hubby nor I had ever been to

the Hell's Canyon Damn so we decided to go.

If you appreciate rugged beauty or

if you like outdoor adventure,

this is a must. 

This is above the damn.

I think we were actually on the Idaho side for this one.

From below the damn 

looking back up at it.

Now back on the Oregon side.

In the summer, there are rafting tours

from about here all the way down to the

mouth of the Snake River.

We have been farther down river,

but had not been this far up.

This is right next to the damn - 

a visitors center.

I don't remember how deep it is,

but it is more impressive in real life

as the size of the rocks and the volume of water

are truly grand.

The picture doesn't give you a great perspective

of the scale.

The other thing I enjoyed

was the variety of rocks.

As we were driving, areas of the cliff sides

were green with copper,

or plum colored.

If you know what causes a plum color,

please let me know.

It was beautiful.

There was also metamorphic rock

that was all speckley.

(Another me word.)

It was a fabulous mini vacation -

the only vacation we've had in some time.

That evening, we went to a Gothard Sisters concert.

You might look them up on youtube if you like Celtic music.

It was all within a few hours of home.

Hope you enjoyed the mini-tour.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches