The barn quilt that *was*

Well, hopefully you all got a good look at my barn quilt, because today here is what it look like:

My son took some trash out behind the barn to burn it (where we usually do) and some burning leaves must have floated up & landed on the wood-shingled roof of the barn. Rewind a bit, and here's the story. I get done mowing the lawn, and send the kids out to do their chores (that's when the he took out the trash). I started making dinner, and when it was ready I took mine to the porch off of the kitchen to eat. As I'm sipping my coffe & relaxing with my coconut cream pie, the doorbell rings & the lady says "your barn's on fire!" Just then the phone rings & my DH,who is a mile away can see the flames above the grove. The neighbor lady says she already called 911, and she took the kids away from the house. The whole top of the barn is engulfed in flames, when first saw it it was just up to the barn quilt. I sent the kids with her, and backed the vehicles out of the garage, in case the house started on fire. It was getting hot & the wind was blowing directly towards the house. After I got the vehicles away, I came back & my next thought was "QUILTS!!!!!!" I have about 20 customer quilts here either finished, or waiting to be quilted. I shut the windows on the studio, and grabbed as many quilts as I could carry & got them away from the house. It got too hot for another trip back in the house. Thankfully the firetrucks arrived, and stared hosing down the house. The quilt studio is the closest thing on the house to the barn.

We are SO thankful for all the firement & neighbors who helped out today. If the neighbor who drove by & saw it on fire had not been there, I shudder to think what would have happened. I'm sure the house could have been majorly damaged, if not destroyed. I think 5-10 minutes longer, and the studio would have been in flames. There is some minimal damage to the house. Some shingles got hit with cinders, some trim is warped. Nothing big. The barn is a total loss. Not that it was very valuable, but we did have some things inside that got destroyed. And an auger that was parked behind the barn was ruined.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt, and we can all sleep in our own beds tonight. We are so grateful for that. My son felt so awful that he had started the fire, but we kept telling him that we can replace buildings, but not people. Here you can see how close the fire & heat got. The grass is torched almost up to the studio. You can see the cinders on the cement in front of the garage.

I think the barn quilt actually saved our house from burning. The neighbor lady said she hadn't noticed the quilt until today, and took a second look at it. That's when she noticed the fire & stopped to see what was going on. I really don't want to sound like some sappy Guideposts story, but I think it was God's timing that we put up the quilt when we did. I'm sad to see it go, but I think it had a purpose. I am counting my blessings tonight, as I tuck the kids into safely into bed. We will all have a healthy respect for fires after today.