Barney!

This week for me has rather been taken over by Christmas at my Shop, Tea & Roses. On Tuesday customers and staff kept telling me we were in for a storm. Having not watched the weather forecast being caught up in my little world, I failed to take much notice!

By the end on Tuesday the gusts of wind were getting rather interesting down Bridgnorth High Street.  Needing food supplies to feed a hungry family and leaving work late after painting a rather large gingerbread house, I popped into Sainsburys with the children. I could hear the wind in the store and my thoughts turned to my house.

We quickly loaded the car and were buffeted by the wind and avoided branches on the road on the way home. We pulled up outside the house to see the black plastic on the front of the house billowing in the wind madly. This black plastic flapped to reveal the missing wall in the front of the house exposed to the elements. With the removal of the wall, all that supports the roof was the props... Each gust of wind into the house just made me wonder if the roof would be lifted off!

I pretended not to be alarmed and hustled the children into the other end of the house. The noise from flapping scaffold board and farming buckets etc. being blown around outside made the children quite interested! Thank goodness for ready cooked chicken as no sooner had we unloaded shopping than the electricity went out. Candles were found from the exposed end of the house and dad arrived home making the children feel happier because of his presence! I think must have thought he could hold the roof up if the wind was too strong! I slept in the safest room I could find!

Morning revealed a beautiful view through the front of the house, literally! The black plastic was gone showing the bare bones of the house but, we were in one piece. I think the builders were releaved that we were in one piece too.

The rest of the week we have had to think about where we will position new windows at the front of the house and what type of insulation to lay in the roof. Not too exciting to me but it makes a difference with what height the internal ceilings will be inside. We have chosen to go with a thin insulation roll option, though more expensive, there is less waste and it will allow our ceilings to stay high. This will be important as we have many potentially low ceiling height.

The front wall is being being bricked up quite quickly so we are secure by Christmas. The window maker is going to make us a mock up to look at, this week we have to decide the position.

Now the shop is ready for Christmas, my attention has turned to the fact we are 'moving out' the house in a few weeks.......better start planning that too....not sure how I will have time, but I expect in my normal fashion, I will just go and make a few cushions instead!

View of our stair case after the storm!

Roof still standing after the storm!