Soooo much work has been done, though in some ways the house doesn't look or feel any different. All 3 roofs as been renewed, we have a huge layer of loft insulation and a nice layer of insulation inside the new kitchen roof as well. The upstairs windows are all new, lockable, open and shutable, very well built and draft proof. They even have cool vent strips we can open when we need to. The front of the house looks immensly better with the new dash and the rest is being painted. We also have a new boiler which we've not yet become happy with. it's a combi boiler, can heat water and house together or separatly (before we could only get hot water by turning the heating on) but the water pressure is poor and we keep getting very loud noises in the pipes. We finally got the grant work done, though there a a few issues left to deal with, so that I got a night to relax with the joy of no builders or hassle. So, as you might expect, new builders arrived the next morning and took down the kitchen wall connected to the living room. Actually it was just the plaster they removed, as it was all bad largely due to a leaking drain directly above the roof.

Ruth says, "That having the kitchen in a tip does not feel very good, and I don't think that the house is not as pretty as it used to be, and having the whole house in a tip doesn't feel good. I liked the house when it was different. I don't like that the bathroom windows are different because now I can't see through them. I only like the point that my room is tidy and it stays tidy most of the time. I like mommy's room because the bed is nice and bouncy and I bounce on it all the time. I loved it when it was nice and warm in the summer, but now it has changed and it doesn't feel good because in the rain it is cold, wet damp and the mud is squelchy and it definately doesn't feel good because when it's not raining we get horrible winds. And I am expecting a storm."

Hmmmm... and I really tried to get her to say something positive. Oh well, at least you have all gotten an update. There's more info on the picture comments

Going places

Hello everyone, how's it going?
Many of you have commented about why I'm not blogging not before. There's quite a few reasons for that. one of the consequences is that I'm making this blog private so you are going to need to send me your email.

,started this months ago. trying to get back into it, but very ill and just threw up so God Bless!

This week

It's been a long hard week, following a long but very productive month. I've made a lot of progress with the house. We've got 2 insurance claims being fixed, the bust drains under the house are definately covered, a pleasant surprise. The second claim was made for storm damage with a large "ingress" of water flowing down the former exterior wall inside the kitchen where the kitchen extension is attached to the original structure of the house. Damn, that's wordy. Long story short the "ingress" was caused by a leaking overflow pipe from the header tank for the central heating system. We are not covered for the leak but should be for the damage caused by the leak. No story shorter, we fixed the leak together, at no cost as Geoff's dad had a spare ball valve, and there are now 2 industrial dehumidifiers drying out the kitchen and living room, having first checked the ceiling did not contain white Abstestos, which was appartently used in Artex (the funny plaster shaped/used to decorate ceilings)until 2000. The drains are on a 4-6 week planning permission delay and the walls will take at least that long to dry out before any repairs can be made.
Otherwise the grant work/restorations to sort out the roof amongst other essential jobs should be starting on Monday, the scaffolding has been up for a week now.
However the drain from organizing all of this; cooking most meals, cleaning, taking over most of the laundry, and arranging entertainment for the kids, birthday parties and more, all of this has wiped me out. I've dropped club and lost most of my garden time to keep up with it all. Also, my volunteer helper has only come once in the last month and losing that 2 hours of help/chat/advise each week has hurt. I have been trying to take breaks ever 30 min, with mixed success, but it does make a positive difference. I am very much looking forward to seeing the consultant who leads the CFS/ME clinic in a few weeks.
I'm tired now, so God Bless you all
Chris

Tardy party

This year things were so hectic that DD,5's Birthday Party was about 3 weeks late. Clare brought paints and together we did nearly everyones face. It was a first for me and I really enjoyed it. DD,5 loved the party and had a great time.

Muncaster rounds and Owl Center

Geoff's parent's challenged him to have a picnic on the next nice day. He was very anxious about this, but after some thought he decided to face his fears. I was proud of him when he invited me to picnic at Muncaster. He did most of the planning and packing, and we reserved the motoriaed scooter so that I could do the walks with the kids. It was a great day that I want to blog more about, but it will have to wait as I'm falling asleep.

God Bless!



ps. WE would appreciate prayers for our Uncle Ron and Aunt Pat. Thanks

Christening

Irma's Christening. I was very lucky because I got to cuddle her for ages and then I went around and "introduced" her to everyone. Pretty much everyone knew her, bu not me, but she gave me the courage to go up and talk to strangers.

Blackpool Pictures

Enjoy them