Carol Marine loses home!

I was just reading my email and found that a wonderful artist I follow, has lost her home in Austin. They had only a few minutes notice to try and retrieve what she could. Please remember everyone who has lost their homes in this fire.

Check out Carol Marine's link to the right in Blogs I Follow.

Help for our Good Friends


Karin Jurick posted this link on her site. It is a friend's account of what happened at the time of evacuation:

Hi everyone,
Carol and David and their 6 yr. old son Jacob lost their home in a terrifying fire yesterday out near Bastrop. Their entire subdivision was wiped out (up to 300 homes) and the fire is still spreading – it’s currently 16 miles long, 6 miles wide, has covered over 30,000 acres and is moving south towards another town. Today’s forecast of more high winds is bad news for surrounding areas. [UPDATE: A neighbor confirmed late Monday afternoon that nothing of their home survived. It's just dirt and ashes.]
They lived in a cute, little house in the middle of a beautiful pine forest, which is kind of an aberration in Texas. Rolling hills, tall towering trees, orange pine needles everywhere on the ground. All of which made for a lot of tinder, due to an extreme drought and the highest temperatures ever recorded in the state for August.
Here’s an older picture of their house right after they bought it, before they added on a woodshop and studio for Carol. Jacob is a bit bigger now:

My 16 yr. old daughter Maddie and I were visiting them, along with two of Carol’s friends, Karen and Randi. We were sitting around their big table, swimming in beading supplies, laughing, talking–when a neighbor came over and told us we had to leave right away.
At first, Karen and I went out to the backyard to see and were making jokes about how David had paid off a neighbor to say that, just to get all these crazy women out of his house. We couldn’t see anything over the tall trees. Then Randi went out front and we heard her saying, “Oh my god. Oh my god!”
When we stood in the front street, we could see huge clouds of billowing smoke. There wasn’t even enough time for them to take more than their computers. I backed my car through their front yard and up to Carol’s studio, but we didn’t take anything more than a few small paintings of Carol’s. They lost all her art that filled their house.
Carol took their small car and David hooked up their pick-up to their camper, so luckily they have that. They’re currently in a campground and will have to decide where to go from here….
When we finally left, the smoke had changed to black and was much bigger. It was incredibly frightening. Here’s a video that someone shot on YouTube:

They had good insurance, but it will take time for that to all kick in, so I’d like to help them in the meantime.
Please consider making a donation below to help them get back on their feet.

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It’s true, the most important thing is that they’re safe. They are my family and I love them all dearly. But my heart aches for everything they lost – all the mementos, all the memories, their sense of sanctuary.
Thanks for your help. And please say prayers for everyone that lost their house, dear pets, or is still in harm’s way.
With love,


~ Thank you all