Week One: Best Laid Plans

I thought we were clever. We had it all planned. Move our kitchen appliances into the front room and do our cooking and living in there. Simple. It would be like an adventure. Except we hadn't planned on one of the power points being on the same circuit as those at the other end of the house. Thus we came home and found our 'fridge wasn't on and we were going to have to get creative to do some cooking. Considering that Christchurch had experienced another devastating after shock that day our problems paled into insignificance. Even when we somehow tripped out the power supply when using the microwave oven I worked hard at not getting upset. Yes we were cold (because just as I predicted, as soon as the walls came off the temperatures plummeted), and yes pumpkin pasta isn't particularly appetising unheated, and yes we had just sat outside in the night air watching Son#5 play hockey and a nice hot meal was just what we all desired, but in the grand scale of things we were still pretty well off. However, I was extremely thankful when DH was able to get things working again and we could sit down to a hot meal, especially since we had The Most Adorable Granddaughters in the World#1 & #2 staying with us.

I had warned friends that I might be off-line for a few hours, but when the change-over with phone and internet went quite smoothly, I felt smug.

Until Day 2 when we arrived home and discovered no landline, no internet. With a grandbaby due any day this was not ideal but we sent messages to our sons' cellphones and just hoped that we would hear in time. Today (Day 6) we finally have phone and internet restored and I can breath a huge sigh of relief. Baby can come whenever he or she pleases now.

As with all things of this nature, there have been a few surprises along the way. I must admit that I didn't expect them to happen this early in the piece, but I guess that's the fun with old houses. When walls are removed, weatherboards or doors are found hidden underneath. And not just the usual objects associated with buildings as this pic prove:


Yes, that's a huge bird's nest that was hidden in the kitchen walls. We also found a deceased rodent and numerous weeds growing up from huge cracks in the kitchen lining - or where the lining should have been. No wonder it was always such a cold and draughty room.

In just one week we have gone from this:




to this:




I wonder what Week Two will bring?


(Picture of sunrise from our hallway. Previously we could only see jackets hanging on our laundry wall from this position - now we can see daylight, moonlight, stars, and everything else in between. BTW, all photos are clickable.)