Can't restore folders from iCloud

My iCloud account kept nagging me that it was nearly full, so finally I agreed to "manage" the account by unchecking one of the items, Safari. After I clicked to save, suddenly everything on my desktop disappeared. The query appeared, "save deleted files to your mac?" which seemed odd, since i wasn't aware of deleting anything. I clicked yes, of course, but nothing happened. Then i noticed that my Documents file was empty. I rebooted, but nothing was fixed. I noticed then that Finder showed empty Documents and Desktop folders under Favorites, instead of under iCloud. Calmer now the next morning, I have checked my iCloud account through the web and see the missing Documents and Desktop folders, with all their contents. That's great, except that I am not allowed to download them. The only option I am given is to delete! How might I recover these folders intact?