Goodbye to all that...

Goodbye to all  that...

Friday 4 January 2008

Friday 4 January 2008

Happy New Year!

Guess what - we're back in the rental house despite the crippling cost. We managed one night at home and I put my foot down. It's just not possible to create any sort of normal family life in a house where you can only use two rooms, already crammed full of all your possessions, where there is no electricity and no heating and an inch of plaster dust over every surface. Not in January anyway! The kids have been very cheerful throughout but the thought of a month living like that was too much for me. How do you feed children properly if you can't cook or wash up ( except in the bathroom basin!) A couple of nights, maybe, but weeks on end? In the summer it'd be fine, we'd have picnics in the park and stay out all day. But not in January. As it is they were delighted - they dined on M and S sandwiches, satsumas and Pringles before brushing their teeth in the dark and going to bed with socks and fleeces over their pyjamas.

Tonight there was still no electricity except via an extension lead from downstairs but the heating was on at last. It felt loads better just being warm ( I slept in two jumpers over my pyjamas last night too!) but still not viable for more than a night. My husband was keen to tough it out but then he'll be escaping to a nice clean warm office on Monday so his vote doesn't count!

On the up side there's been some progress - the heating's in, plastering's quite advanced, glass in most places where glass should be and a flushing toilet for the first time since October. The to do list is still massive - plenty more plastering, second fix on the electrics, redecorating the whole of the inside of the house, painting the whole of the outside, relaying the garden paving, cladding the extension, building the decking, getting the sliding folding doors installed, installing the kitchen, laying all the wood floors...still, the end might be in sight!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Georgie, i have been keeping up to date with your blog (in a non stalker kind of way!) and felt your pain the other day! With a 3yr old and a 4yr old myself i know there is no way i could survive it either - good on you for putting your foot down. The bathroom looks like it will be lovely and you may not believe it but when its all done you will (eventually) forget the pain! Becky x

Anonymous said...

Hi Georgie, i have been keeping up to date with your blog (in a non stalker kind of way!) and felt your pain the other day! With a 3yr old and a 4yr old myself i know there is no way i could survive it either - good on you for putting your foot down. The bathroom looks like it will be lovely and you may not believe it but when its all done you will (eventually) forget the pain! Becky x

Georgie said...

Thanks for reading Becky - it's really nice to have the moral support! Hopefully there'll be some 'after' photos before too long...! Gx