My sister-in-law was the one who got me started on...

My sister-in-law was the one who got me started on this. My daughter also keeps a blog, in fact, hers is a chronicle of her daily life.

This past month, we had a very small fire in our new house. I evidently, and in fact did, leave a pillar candle burning when I left the house on Jan 4, 2006. The candle burned down and somehow involved the propane lighter we were using to light candles over the holidays. I really think that would have been all, except for the lighter. The counter top burned, and the house go smoke everywhere the doors to the rooms were open.

Everything got smoked, inside as well as outside of cabinets, bottoms as well as tops, all our clothes, blankets, quilts, towels, … everything. After many hours of cleaning, the smell is almost gone and we should begin repainting soon.

But we really are blessed, because there was no reason for the fire to go out, or burn more than the counter top; but go out it did. Not even the contents of the drawer under the burned-through countertop caught fire, much less anything else. We only had to throw away a few things, some v-blinds, and some old lace curtains the previous owners had left behind. But everything else had to be cleaned, and re-cleaned. We used more than a gallon of Simple Green cleaning things, and we are not finished cleaning. Praise God for his infinite mercy and grace!