Broken Hearted, but Hoping For The Best....

As you have probably heard, a fire is raging around our beautiful Bryce Woodland area destroying approximately 4500 acres of natural forests so far.  At this point, it is only 5% contained.  I am at a loss for words of how I feel.... so, I'll let the pictures explain...

Planes and helicopters are bringing in and dumping fire retardant...  

The fire is to the north-east of our cabin and so far the wind has been blowing it north and west.  So although we see the smoke over the ridge of Lion's Head mountain we can't smell it and it's not moving closer to our cabin.  But a shift in wind direction could bring it to us within hours.

We were given an involuntary two hour evacuation time on Monday, and we were told on Thursday and Friday, residents could be escorted by the sheriff to their properties for those days to remove any further valuables...  Although this is just a cautionary evacuation,  Jim and I are 3 1/2 hours away and working and we were not able to make it..

Our little furry friends have no escape... I guess as the fires move closer, they just keep moving to avoid the fires.

The skies are really smoky, but the helicopters and planes keep flying in with the fire retardant... they were unable to bring in the helicopters on Saturday and Sunday because of the high winds.. But, they started up in force on Monday.

In watching the pictures of the fire, I decided that I don't want to burn in hell ... I guess I should up my game...

The following blurb is from the US Forestry Service.  This is the latest update...

"The #LeftForkFire remains at 5% containment and current mapped acreage of 4,631. Today's weather with decreased temperatures, higher relative humidity, and cloud coverage helped firefighters make progress around the perimeter. Minimal fire behavior was observed around most of the fire.

Due to the complexity of the incident, a Type 2 Incident Management Team has been ordered and will take over command of the fire on Friday, June 24."

This is how the information comes to us....

But, the good news of it this week, is our hot tub was delivered on Friday.  We didn't get to fill it and don't know when we will be back, but it's at least delivered and hooked up to the power...

The installers left Provo at 7 in the morning, and got to our property at about 10:30 - so, they definitely were not checking out the speed limit... especially hauling a jacuzzi behind them on a trailer...

As you can see, the plastic was totally ripped to shreds in the travel.. giggle.. But, it made it in one piece, so I was thrilled...

It took a couple of hours for them to install it..

But, they made good progress.

The installers were three really good guys... Very nice, and very polite.

And, finally, it was completed.. We can't use it yet, but it's in place!  I just hope we get to use it and it doesn't burn up... hoping and praying..

Before they left, they asked to go into the cabin and use the restroom... When they got inside, they were all impressed by.... the stained glass acorn in the stairwell...  Of all the things to notice, it had to be the acorn... Kind of made me laugh...

On Friday night, Jim and I went to dinner in Orderville... We had left the French doors in the loft open to cool the place down... When we got back, Jim went upstairs to close the doors, and this is when he noticed that one of the towel cabinets was totally blown down the stairs and was smashed to pieces....

I had bought this piece for the loft bathroom... the only thing that was not absolutely demolished was.. the two glass doors on the front of the cabinet.  And, they were laying peacefully on the steps.  I don't know how this happened, but it did...  Jim says he thinks he can rebuild it...

I read on Monday that there was up to 50 mile an hour winds.. I knew it was windy out, and cold, but didn't realize the winds were that strong.  I was going to work outside moving block on Saturday, but it was so cold and so windy, it was impossible.

The winds blew the rugs up, and the sheets and blankets off the bed upstairs also...But, the worst of it was to the cabinet.

And, the moose on the mantle kind of had a little accident.  I think, when the cabinet flew down the stairs, part of it hit the moose on the mantle, and he went flying.  

So, we have a one antlered moose right now...  I haven't taken the time to fix him yet, but I collected all the little pieces, and brought him back to Provo with me... Being that we will not be going to the cabin any time soon, I should have time to play veterinarian and fix him this weekend...

And, the work continued on the back deck... Howard was filling in the holes where the footings are placed...  Until the hydraulic system filter on the backhoe got clogged, and that ended the backhoe work for the day.  Jim figured the filter is about 30+ years old and had to order a new part from the Case dealer in Springville and we're kinda waiting on delivery.  Here's the before picture...

And, here's the after!  Part way filled up and compacted by the backhoe.

We were attempting to put the propane gas lines in, so that we could hook up the propane to the house and have the water heater turned on.. BUT, as we were about to install those lines, we found that Home Depot threaded the ends of the pipes incorrectly, so the fittings would not thread on...  huge disappointment... of the four ends that were threaded, only 1 was correct.  We called Home Depot in Cedar City to see if their machine was up and running (we called ahead of time) and the associate there said it was working perfectly.. the only problem was, they did not have the 1" die for the machine, so it was totally useless to us...  I guess he does not understand the concept of "working perfectly".  We had to bring the pipes back to Provo and have the Home Depot here in Provo recut them deeper...And, this time, we tested them out in the store BEFORE we left.  In the meantime, back in the cabin on Sunday, Jim was working on finishing the electrical wiring in the loft...  One step closer to the four way inspection being completed..

As this week was Father's Day, I was thinking how much I would have liked to show my dad the cabin.  My dad built two of our family's homes, and I think he would have got a kick out of seeing everything that we are doing... Maybe he would look at some of our decisions and just smile and shake his head back and forth, but I would have liked to just watch his face...  I would have liked to watch him run his hands across the top of the island, or push on the doors to make sure they are flush... or walk up the stairs to the loft and comment that the stair treads are a nice spacing for climbing... and then stand in the loft and look at the view and comment that it looks like Northern Ontario...  Or, maybe look at my stained glass windows.. in a bathroom... and comment that I am crazy...  I would love that... I miss him.

With the fire invading our beautiful mountain, I pray that the fires will stay away from our area and we will have our cabin spared any damage.  It is a daunting thought to have something that we have worked so hard and so long on, to be wiped out.  Hopefully, the rain predicted for this coming Sunday and Monday, will protect us. I keep telling myself that the things that are the most important to me, will still be here...  My husband, my children, and my family are most important.  If the cabin is destroyed, we will have our home in Provo, and loving family to support us.... Having that beautiful cabin would be a plus for retirement, but either way, we will survive...  broken hearted, but survive.

... as always, the adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri