Last night while I was out working in the garden before sunset, two or three departments a few miles west of us were dispatched to a grassfire that was caused by fireworks. I didn't hear the call when they dispatched it...I might have been over at the chicken coop locking it up for the night....but I could tell from the stress in their voices that they were racing to get to the fire before it could reach the house. They did it. They did make a special point of telling the dispatcher to write down on the call log that the fire was started by fireworks. I notice they've been doing that all week. I think they want "the powers that be" to understand just how many fires are being started by fireworks even though we do have a burn ban. Yesterday our county commissioners extended our burn ban for another 30 days. Hallelujah! And, in a move I'm not sure they've ever made before, they denied a local charitable/research foundation (one that is greatly admired and respected worldwide) a permit to conduct a prescribed burn. Under Oklahoma law, county commissioners can grant such prescribed burn permits even during burn bans, provided certain conditions are met, and that includes paying firefighers (via a donation to their department) to be on the property during the burn and also they have to agree that if the fire escapes the property and additional firefighters are called to fight it, those departments will be reimbursed for their expenses at FEMA hourly rates. Usually our county commissioners approve the prescribed burn permits for this foundation because it always follows all the rules and rarely if ever has a fire escape from their control. The fact that our commissioners said 'no' to them is a humongous big deal and caught the attention of all the fire departments. I just take it as a sign that our commissioners are as concerned as the rest of us about how dry it is here, and we are not nearly as dry as pretty much everyone else west of I-35. I've linked the upated burn ban page. Yesterday afternoon, when I checked it, there were quite a few more counties that either have enacted a burn ban this week or who have extended an existing ban. I think that currently 46 of our 77 counties have burn bans. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Burn Ban Page from OFS Website

Hmmmm, bmorepanic, I found this interesting from your link: "Regrettably, the aforesaid (and much-respected) Cook's Illustrated Guide to Essential Cookware (which we cited earlier on this page), has now been hidden behind a fee-pay requirement of the Cook's site (well, one can hardly blame them--though you could sign up for the "14-day free trial"). In it, they chose cookware makers item by item, rather than by "set" or "line". Excepting a few items that All-Clad does not make (such as cast iron and enamelware), their picks were uniformly from All-Clad. (We should also note that for a stockpot, they recommend the cheapest thing not actually trash that you can find, inasmuch as all they recommend using it for is boiling large amounts of water, as for pasta; for true stock-making, they much prefer a Dutch oven.)" Ok, I went from thinking I liked the Dutch oven shape the best for soups and spaghetti sauces because I didn't really know what I SHOULD be using or wasn't doing it right, to thinking I am not a complete idiot after all. My own personal experience and just what works for me counts, too, and I need to keep that in mind. I am going to do some more reading over there, I find it interesting. It seems like All-Clad or similar brand like Cuisinox will be best in a dutch oven type shape, with or without a copper bottom. I still haven't clarified that one. I think the copper will win out but may get eliminated due to price and less available bargains in that line. Then I am going to have to examine some of these more interesting shapes and maybe add one or more onto my wish list. :) I also have a yearning to try at least one piece of Le Creuset just to see if I like it.

Ha! Well, three days of on and off rain stopped yesterday, and our YTD (they start counting now Oct 1) rain total in my town is over 4 inches, whereas "normal" YTD is less than a half inch more than that. So, we are currently on track for "normal" rainfall (30-35 inches per year), at least so far. They are predicting another storm starting tomorrow (Tues), and then another one coming in Wed/Thurs. This is truly our normal weather pattern for this time of year - I just hope it keeps up. As others have commented, the plants DO know the difference between irrigation with City water and RAIN. The entire garden (weeds included, of course) is busting out in new growth. Yay! Jackie

More likely, all us "little people" will contribute what we can and get the job done. I saw today that President Macron said it will be completely restored in five years. I've been in Paris three times and seen it each visit, but I never climbed the steps to the tower. The last time was for our 25th wedding anniversary, and we stayed just over on the Left Bank quite close to the cathedral. Maybe we should all read The Hunchback of Notre Dame again,