We had planned a “work party” for the weekend, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Winter is settling in, making it more challenging to get up to the property to find any more treasures that might be hiding under the rubble. Daytime high temperatures steadily dropped during the week and finally brought some much-needed snow. We decided to postpone the task.

The weather is unpredictable this time of year. We watched the reports for days as the storm was anticipated to arrive Sunday, then Saturday night, then Sunday again. It fooled us all and arrived early Saturday morning. So much for digging through debris. Instead, we spent the time watching the snow pile up, and the dogs romp around the yard, then drag mud into the house.

While it’s nice to have lazy days, we have a ton of work to do if we expect to move back up the mountain. The fire burned for months before cooler temperatures finally arrived to tamp it down. Colder temperatures and lack of facilities on the property mean we can’t stay outdoors for long, so our cleanup is going slow. Once we dig around the ashes and find anything valuable, we’ll be ready for the heavy equipment to come in and haul away what’s left.

We’ll keep an eye on the weather and drive up later in the week. The tools and buckets are still in the car, so we are ready to go on the next decent day.