Beautiful Dorset

(posted by Elizma)

As a last breakaway before we would need to pack a pram and a boot full of baby stuff, we decided to spend a few nights over Easter in Dorset - a county 2 hours or so away from us.

It was absolutely beautiful! We stayed in the shadow of Corfe Castle and its pretty surrounding village and explored the area.

It was a really relaxing weekend away.


Corfe Castle - with an interesting history.


Durdle Door - a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast





Lulworth Castle

Click here for some more photos.

Gene Kelly might have sung in the rain, but we're not!

(posted by Leon)

Another day, another storm, and some more water.

We got home from a night out with friends last night, to find our upstairs landing awash with water, with rivers running down our stairs. So, at the very sociable hour of 11pm, we were putting out buckets/pots/pans and draping towels over the stairs.

Then today the heavens opened once more. Fortunately our new stairs (to the loft) are now usable, and at 6.30am today I chased Elizma out of bed, and we trekked up to the (in-progress) loft only to be met by a Niagara Falls (or so it seems) of leaks.

THIRTY EIGHT buckets/pots/pans/bins/etc later, and we had some sort of control over the onslaught. Luckily the builders agreed to come out and redo the plastic tarp covering the loft. However, they had hardly left that the high winds dislogded it and I had to call them back. Their 2nd attempt is still holding... for now.

Here are some pics to mark the joyous occasion:

And off to bed we worry...

(posted by Elizma)

To say we're nervous tonight as we prepare for bed is an understatement. We have no roof and only a thin sheet of plastic covering our house and Britain is preparing for the worst storm in 20 years. The South of England (where we are) is expected to bare the brunt of it.

It's Murphy's Law of course as the builders planned to start putting our roof up tomorrow. But if it's too windy (anticipated winds of up to 80mph), it will probably be too dangerous and wet for them to work on the scaffolding. We're also worried about water damage in the rest of our house as a downpour of only 10 minutes last night already leaked through in all the upstairs rooms.

If only the storm could have waited a couple of days...

The perils of converting your loft

(posted by Elizma)

Our builders had a slight 'accident' today.

They dropped a steal beam on our neighbours' daughters' car! It smashed a big hole in the roof.

Luckily they went over to the neighbours immediately to apologise and they have good insurance. We also went over first thing when we got home to apologise and they seem fine. Bill (the neighbour) actually found it quite funny. One of the directors of the loft company has also just been round to find out if we're OK and is on his way next door to apologise again and reassure them that it will be covered by their insurance.

We just wish we could have seen their faces when it happened!

Baby face

(posted by Elizma)

We went for a scan again today and the consultant was kind enough to give us another 3D scan - which is amaizing! When you see it on the screen it's actually 4D as you can see the movement as well.

We just love this little face so much already...

Mother's Day

(posted by Elizma)

It was Mother's Day today in the UK and courtesy of Tania (Leon's sister) we had an exceptional meal at her hotel in Reading.

The food was really good and we had a lovely afternoon.

The Loft Diary - Part 3

(posted by Elizma)

The past week has been quite frightening. It was extremely windy and I spent a few nights lying awake, listening as the wind blew the tiles from our roof.

With the plastic covering as well, it sounds much worse than it actually is. But we could hear the beams creaking - one actually broke in half!

We can't wait for the roof to go up - especially since we're worried about the rain as well.

But they're really progressing and hope to have the bathroom in by the end of the week. That will be really exciting! In the meantime, the new hot water system has been installed and it's good to be able to have a shower again - having only been able to take a bath in the meantime.

A surprising thing for me is that we don't have a roof and have scaffolding up all the walls of our house and we never feel unsafe...