Crazy fan switch...

In the laundry/second bath we have a Panasonic Whisperwarm, which has a fan, a heater, a light, and a night light...

I think I got this right, but after my thermostat debacle, I am going to wait for an official electrician to check the work before I flip the breaker ; )

Finished the bathroom side cabinets...

Applied Birch veneer tape to the edges, trimmed, sanded and sealed them...

Then I installed my first thermostat, only to incinerate it - so I repainted the scorched section of the wall around the former thermostat, and figured out what I did wrong.

A new thermostat is on its way...

The fire...

I continue to keep up on the fire information as the fire is just South of here now a couple of miles, and we have increased our temps and lowered our humidity once again.

One of the best sites I have found for fire information is here...

http://carltoncomplex.blogspot.com/

I pulled this great photo from their blog...

An inexpensive experiment...

Thought I would try the $6 industrial solution to a ceiling cap for my pendants - I think I like it...

Contrast it to the included ceiling cap further down the blog.

P.S. I just received the "withholding comment until all is in place" from the Boss.  But, I have another, cleaner idea just in case ; )

Nice to have a pal...

Mr. Grumpy has been with me here for three Summers thus far, and hopefully many years to come.  Thanks to Denise, I am now trained to have water at all times for him.  Here he is on his first visit of the day...

Feeling a bit homesick...

Found this photo from a year ago, and it made me smile...

This is getting ridiculous...

Not helping with containing the fires...

Not so exciting for Blog watchers...

After the power came back on, I waited until the next morning to electrify the house and check my electrical work.  I had a few dead outlets and 3-way switch issues, but had them sorted and fixed over the day - all is good now.

Finished pushing the outlets and switches back into their wall brackets, and then applying their covers.  I wouldn't say they could be classified as subtle, more on the statement side...

Here is the other not so exciting to watch project I have been working on - attaching the waste lines/drains to all the sinks.  It was fun to do though.   Supply lines next week...

Still quite a bit of smoke and random fires in the area - not so thrilled about the 100+ degree temps we are having again...

Fans, faucets and a few light fixtures...

This is a temporary ceiling cap for the pendant until after the inspection when I have time to fabricate a cap that will have 3 pendants running from it...

Mr. Grumpy...

Is all good - he came back a couple of days ago, and I have been giving him a garbage can lid of water to drink from - he's there several times a day, drinking.  Denise said I'll have to keep doing this - Mr. Grumpy has me trained ; )

Saved!!!

A sequence of photos of the DC-10 flying behind the house 7/18/14, laying retardant that saved our house and many others.

Our house is center right in the frame.

Still photos thanks to Peter Morgan, owner of The Methow Inn in Twisp...

More pics...

From up the road, looking back at our place - center, right...

A half-mile up at Bonner Lake...

Looking out our driveway up the hill.  And the awesome clean-up crew checking for hot spots!!!

You can see a stripe of retardant against the lower hill...

Internet...

Still on generator, but safe!

The house made it!  Thanks to a DC-10 pilot and crew - I will have a great set of photos later to show you of the save.

Here are some random photos, as I don'y have the time right now...

The house from the early evening before...

The house from the town of Twisp as the fire was a couple hundred yards from the property...

A little closer...

The uphill neighbors place, the next morning...

Hot and quick...

Will post more as I get time.

I did get some work done...

Installed the towel heater...

Hope to use it someday ; )

Not what I wanted to see...

Fire just blew up upwind of us...

Just flew out of the fire...

Must have dumped on the south end of the rapidly moving Cougar Flat fire...

Fugg...

Watching Upper balky Hill residents evacuate their horses, etc., as dozens of different types of aircraft fly feverishly about the valley - spotting planes, fireretardant airplanes, water planes, water helicopters, as the area behind us seems to have exploded...

Can't seem to get to work on the house - too busy checking updates, taking pics, etc.

Ready to evacuate...

Got notified of level 2 status - to be ready to leave immediately.

Also, just got an email from a castmate that works for the electric coo-op and he says we will be losing power in the entire Valley in the next hour due to fire threatening the main lines coming over Loup Loup Pass...

Getting close...

Too close...

Just behind us at Balky Hill and Cap Wright Hill...

Was startled out of my sleep at 1am by the County Sheriff as they notified all of us here on Balky Hill of a potential evacuation.   I packed a small bag and then went and moved my hoses to the endangered side of the house - I then heard a loud rattling - at least that's what my primeval mind heard.  Returned with a flashlight to reveal that I was setting up the hoses mere feet from a large Rattlesnake - that would have sucked.  Went back to bed for a few hours and got up to take these pictures.  The sky is much clearer this morning, but it is because the winds have picked up dramatically with big gusts - not good.

New fire...

In addition to the over half dozen fires in the Valley - this one is just over Balky Hill, up near Cougar Lake...

Not but a minute after I took the photo, did a dozen fire support trucks race past me on their way there.

Installed lights into cans today...

Lots of fires...

A sky full of smoke, temps in the low 100's, wind from the South...

Hot water heater and electrical braces...

Just finished getting the H2O heater in - still needs water and propane hookups...

And we are using Legrand Adorne switches and outlets, which use a clip bracket for the plates...

Will post more of the switches, outlets and plates when I get to them next week.