I was just sitting down to do school this morning, when I got a phone message from a lady who runs a shop I sell my soap in.  It is a little stained glass and craft shop in a small Scottish town, where we all have really nice booths which we pay a monthly fee for.  On Sunday morning, at 4:30 AM, a fire erupted in the bakery next door, and it is totally gutted!  It burned inot the store where my soap is also, there is a lot of soot and smoke damage, not to mention water damage.  Thankfully, my friend and her daughter and the rest of the tenants in the apartments upstairs were safe, but my friend lost part of her apartment ( mostly her bathroom, I think).  The fire started in the basement of the bakery.  It was really fortunate that no one was hurt. 

I picked my dh up from work so he could help me get my stuff out.  What a mess!  And the smell, the smell of smoke after a house fire or a bulding fire is really an unforgettable smell.  Most of my products are ruined from smoke damage.  No one wants to buy smoke scented soaps, but the odd thing is, I have a fragrance for my soap called "woodsmoke"!  My sister and I were looking at it the other day, and figuring out what we could mix it with, as it smells pretty odd for a soap! 

When I got home, all we could smell was smoke, and that was on me!  The building was still hot from the fire, and it was pretty smokey considering all the fans they had going.  My clothes just reek!  The store on the other side of the bakery houses a chocolate shop!!  They have to throw out all their chocolate, and get the smoke out or the building and have all the Easter goodies ready for Easter in a couple of weeks!  What a job!

I figure I have lost over $300.00, but I am more thankful that my friend wasn't hurt, or anyone else.