The sky is falling in....

Well ok, not the sky, but the kitchen ceiling....

On the day I said a final goodbye to my friend at the hospice, Friday November the 18th, I drove home to find my kitchen ceiling had collapsed.

Now this isnt actually as melodramatic as it sounds. Dave had called me on the way home, something he NEVER does, so I knew something wasn't quite right. Dave was in the kitchen and he said he heard what he described as ripping paper, then a creak and a big chunk of plasterboard swung down narrowly missing his head!

There were huge chunks of ceiling resting on my newly made pickled onions in their Kilner jars and the Kenwood blender. At this point I would just like to advocate the quality of the afore mentioned items as they all survived...as did Dave!

So, I walked in to the left over parts of the ceiling propped up by a broom and the cooker covered with a towel (one of my new cream towels...horrors...) so it didn't get wrecked either. All I could do was laugh very hard. I may have been a tad hysterical at this point, as it was the end of what was to be one of the saddest weeks of my life to date. Dave was covered in dust, there was bits of rubble everywhere and the light was swinging precariously. The ceiling had consisted of layers of plaster and plasterboard, and under that was another one, equally knackered but with patches of black mould...you know, that really bad mould. I couldn't help but wonder if my dear departed friend was sending one final message to get on with this renovation. He loved what we were doing with the house and enjoyed my daft tales about what we had found or done next. He would have belly laughed at this timely calamity!

Dave and I decided to leave the ceiling as it was for the night. the children were safely tucked up at their Dad's and the cats kept out of the way, so no more harm could be done. We talked about the day, warmed the house up (as far as we can at the moment - refer to previous post) and drank wine until we giggled, which was a welcome relief.

My darling friend died later that evening. The following day Dave found a crowbar and ripped the rest of ceiling one down. Ceiling two is bulging badly but still up for the moment. It's only a matter of time though. I suspect 2017 will be the year we have to build a kitchen!