we've officially been blessed

last night while we were painting, we kept smelling a strong, natural burning smell throughout the lobby, elevator, and condo. we kept giggling at the possibilities of what was billowing throughout our new place. then we heard women's voices followed by our doorknob rattling. we answered the door to find two elderly native american women outside of our door, one with a large brass bowl of ashes and the other woman with a braided strand of burning herbs. they said that they were "smudging" the building and that they were sorry to have disturbed us. they said that people have been frightened by the spirits in the placer and they had been called in to do a cleansing/purification ritual and had the wrong door. as they started to walk off i urgently called out, "wait, what about our condo!" they returned smiling, and chanted quickly some type of blessing in our doorway while wafting the smoke into our home! hopefully that, and the brightly painted walls, will keep out the negative energy!