it's a little erie!!

We've got a massive fire
burning close to home. It's burned over 26,000 acres last I heard and it doesn't look like it's getting any closer to being stopped yet. The sky is hazy and smoky. This is what we came home to from vacation the other day and it hasn't let up at all. We've all got sore throats and headaches. Luckily no one has been hurt and no property damage has been reported but I know that several structures have been threatened and there has been talk of evacuation if they don't get the fire to change it's direction. In all this mess it has been an interesting environment around here. Here's a photo I took of the sun setting last night. We've also had an abundance of hummingbirds at the feeders, even fighting over the sugar water. I hadn't even changed the food in a couple weeks and they were still eating it up. So I filled all four feeders with fresh water yesterday and we enjoyed the show all day long. Various friends around town are experiencing the same thing so I'm assuming that the fire is driving the little hummers out of the mountains and into town. It's usually too hot for them down here this time of year. Another unexpected visitor yesterday was this Monarch Butterfly I found hanging out on the cone flowers. I have never seen one here EVER! In fact I had to look it up on the internet just to positively identify it. Sure enough. You know these amazing creatures live for 9 months, and in that time they fly south to winter in a Forest in Central Mexico and then return each spring to the north laying new eggs all along the way. I had no idea they come this far north. Once again, probably a mountain visitor hiding out in town here to stay alive.

Scrappin' Done - More Vacation Shots
I got two layouts done in the last two days. The first one is of me at the beach playing in the sand. Did I Rest and Relax? Well... not really, but it was a nice thought anyway. We were too darn busy for such a thing. Actually this sunny day on the coast was a breath of fresh air, the perfect temperature and very enjoyable! I used the Awesomely Talented Trish Jones' stuff for this one.

View Complete Credits Here

and this one I did for fun when I saw that Misty Mareda was having a contest on her blog. The inspiration was to use song lyrics with a "Summer" theme. I picked this great oldie (80's are old now, right?) from Y-n-T called "Summertime Girls". I heard it on vacation on the radio and it brought back so many preteen memories! Jeff had never heard it before which was shocking to me since I knew every single word and sang right along. I figure my brother Randy must have had the LP or Tape (what do you think Randy, do you remember this one?) I had to download it last night so I could hear it while I was creating! I also made these little "Emotion Stones" to use with this layout, and used some of my previous blog freebies to finish it off.