Yesterday we woke to the Santa Ana winds blowing, rattling our windows and sweeping our patio clean. Going over the hill to see Jenn, I moved from bright blue sky to murky, smoke-filled sky - smoke from the San Bernadino fire, I'm assuming, which is still going strong today.

But today a fire closer to home has affected us. Eldest son's soccer game in Moorpark was cancelled due to ashes in the air. We came home. The temperature soared to above 100 deg. F. - no fun, ever, but esp in October.

And at around 3:30pm, the smoke came funnelling our way. We still can't see flames thank goodness, but the sky is dark, the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees, and the sun is a burning orange ball of madness in the sky, seeming to set all around it on fire.

It's been hard to concentrate, for some reason. And the high winds have made our internet connection tenuous - gone, here, and gone again.

Hubby is finishing off sanding the other half of the underside of the patio roof. Two weeks we should be ready to paint.

And the smoke billows upward, upward.

I went onto the roof to see it clearly. Black, heavy smoke with flame at it's heart, though all I could see was the red. Every now and then a burst of white, where retardant or water had done it's job. But the fire and those who fight against it are over the ridge, out of our sight.

It won't reach us. I hope it won't take any homes. But the hillsides are being scoured this day.