Sunday 31.1.10

I haven't had internet access hence the delay in updating my blog and I am only on dial up now, so bloomin slow and I won't update daily as a result.

We secured the rental we wanted in Penygroes and Dunk spent a hectic week and numerous phone calls between Rental agency and Insurance to secure the move asap. That moved occured on Thursday 28.1.10 and we have spent a very busy 4 days unpacking a miriad of boxes so much that Mum & Dad came over today to help take a whole load back to store in the garage at our 'proper' house as the rental is lovely but a lot smaller than we are used to.

Both Duncan's and my health have suffered and we have both had doctors appointments during the last week. Duncan is on medication, I am making do with wine although I was a complete cow to my sister on Wednesday 27.1 which is totally did not deserve and I am sorry.

Ryan has had several bad days and I have had a meeting with his SENCo at school who agrees this upset has had an impact on Ryan, but they have managed him so well and have been able to deal with him very effectively so that his meltdowns have not been too disruptive to him or the rest of the class. As a result Dunk is due to meet with a Lawyer next week to discuss our options. Owen bless him has been the most together in all of this and I credit him greatly for that.

Jo M has done an amazing job looking after Misty for us and she is now 'home' and our thanks also go to Mum & Dad for boarding Hunter for us; they bought him back to us today and I think they are a little sad to see him leave them but we are so grateful to have him back.

Jo D has been a superstar doing all our washing for us and even cooked casserole for our first night in the rental which was a huge help and she has looked after the boys on several occasions so Dunk and I can run errands. BFF.

Both Fujitsu and Halfway have been so supportive of us and have been very flexible in allowing us time to get organised and settled and I had a gorgeous bunch of flowers from Emma and Andrea which is a lovely house warming present and has already brightened up the living room. So hopefully we can now get back to some sort of normality.

We have also received the report from the Building Engineer outlining all the work that is required to make our house a home once more. It is really good and detailed and has now gone out to tender to the insurance approved list of builders so we need to wait and see which firm takes it on and at this stage have no idea when work is likely to start.

I will update again when I have this vital piece of information.

Day 8

Wednesday 20.1.10

A better day today. Both boys are feeling much better and had good days at school. Ryan was even pupil of the day.

Removal firm have made an excellent start on clearing the house. Leekes came and measured the bathroom for a quote and our house viewings went well. Actually to be truthful the 1^st one didn’t it was awful but I won’t go into that other than you had to put your shoes ON to enter. We have however secured our first choice rental in Penygroes and move in next Thursday (28^th Jan).

http://www.thehomerentalcompany.co.uk/propertyDetails.php?pid=177601

After school we visited Misty and she is still happy to see us, but oh how I miss my cat and dog, and 3 of the fish that we moved to Jo M’s have died which is bloomin’ unfair, poor things.

We went to the pool when we got back to the hotel from school which was just what the doctor ordered, but Ryan really failed to cope again with the dinning room at the hotel this evening, there are 120 guest in situ at the mo so the dinning area was packed again and although he didn’t sit under the table today he was quite rude to the waitress due to the wait for food. Tomorrow Dunk will go down earlier and order food then I will stay in the room with Ryan and Dunk will then ring me to let me know waiting time for food so that we can go down in time. Well we’ll try it and see.

8 more sleeps.........

Day 7

Tuesday 19.1.10

I went back to work today. There is little else we can do now in the house we are waiting for the removal firm to come and empty to storage until we have a rental sorted. We have 2 viewings tomorrow so hopefully one of them will be suitable and we can get the ball rolling on that. I really enjoyed going back the kids were great and really made me smile and we had a good banter in the staff room at lunch too, so just what the doctor ordered. Laughter being the best medicine and all that.

One of the guests at the hotel have complained though about the noise from Owen and Ryan when they were playing in their room. Dunk dealt with him. It was 9pm so he had some argument I suppose, but we are in an adjoining room and I honestly did not think they were particularly loud. They just can't relax and let off steam bless em.

!!!CABIN FEVER!!!

Day 6

Monday 18.1.10

We packed more of the house today and sorted out the post redirection, then went and had a look at carpets, sofas and bathrooms. I collected the boys from school and had a very quick visit to Misty then another crappy meal in McDonalds on route to Swansea for Owen's footie practice. Now bear in mind our house is J49; footie practice is J46 of the M4 and the hotel is J45. So for the 1st time ever we have a nice easy route and when footie has finished we just 'jump' back on the motorway for a 'ikle' bit and back to hotel. OOOOHHHHH NO. Dunk is driving, head is in the shed and he gets on the motorway the way and is heading back to J49.

I comment in a non threatening manner "What the **** you doing you numpty". No matter come off at J47 and turn round easy. OOOOHHHHH NO. He comes off at J47 and guess what gets straight back on the motorway STILL heading in the wrong direction. WTF!!!!!

I comment in a non threatening manner "*********************************************". We get to J48 I advise him in a non sarcastic manner of the correct and appropriate route to take so that we eventually get back to the hotel.

Day 5

Sunday 17.1.10

Day off today, sort of. Only went to the house to collect Hunter (our cat) as he is going to live at my parents place until we move back home, so about 6 months. Got to mum and dads in time for morning coffee, the cat had a good explore, sniffed every nook and cranny and finally settled on the double bed in the back bedroom and declared that 'his patch'.

Had a stunning roast beef dinner thank you very much Mum; and Dad supplied the red wine, more thanks. He had also been 'kind' enough to record Duncan and I on the news so I was made to suffer watching that while the boys fell about laughing. Thanks NOT!!!

It was lovely to have a change of scenery and not have to do any thing to the bloomin house today. Although it will be all systems go tomorrow packing.

Duncan has taken Owen to the pool; Ryan playing xbox box; an hour till dinner; now where did I put that vodka.........

Day 4

Saturday 16.1.10

Woke up crying today but quickly choked it back so as not to wake the boys. No point in crying anyway, its only a house I know it will repair. I can't lay here though staring at a dark celing. I don't even know what time it is.

I have showered and found it is ten past eight. Dunk and the boys are sleeping soundly so I grab my book and wander down for breakfast. I am the only guest in the dining room so a bit a peace for a while.

First thing we do when the boys finally decide to rise is to move rooms to the suite. It is so much nicer and a room with single beds for the boys and a separate bedroom for us, so we can at least get some space from each other.

We drop boys off at Jo D's and head to the house picking up post from the sorting office, where it is being held for us, on the way. Today's task is to start packing up boxes; so where best to start but the living room. 6 boxes later we are almost done only the large book case left which Dunk will tackle on Monday.

I empty the fish tank and we take the fish up to Jo M's where there will live from now on and we get to see Misty too. Jo has bought her a new bed and she is loving it. I do hope she doesn't get too comfy LOL. I hope she doesn't stop loving us.

Back to Jo D's to pick up the boys and the washing that she has done for us and off 'home' to Swansea.

Day 3

Friday 15.1.10

I feel somewhat better today. Still very stressed but feeling more able to deal with the situation. Removal firm dropped off boxes and bubble wrap so that we can begin packing valuable and personal items. Main removal team arrive Monday to begin emptying house. They will also arrange disposal of the damaged items and rubble, then everything else into storage. Entire property needs to be cleared.

Structural Engineer arrived spent over 2 hours assessing property and making comprehensive list of work required. Internal wall not as badly damaged as first feared, repairs are “relatively easy” (his words), but agreed 4-6 months was a fair estimate of time. Entire ground floor will be completely redecorated including new ceilings. Happy Days.

Rental not moved forward as hoped, so from tomorrow (Saturday) we are moving to a suite in the hotel (still Ramada, Swansea) and now have half board so breakfast and evening meals now taken care of. More Happy days.

Day 2

Thursday 14.1.10.

Our home has been deemed dangerous and uninhabitable under section 78 of the building act blah blah blah. A local building firm were instructed yesterday to make the property safe and secure which has been done. So we are now allowed to enter the lower floor to allow who ever in and out as needed. The insurance co. have been out today to assess damage and make list of contents to be replaced. Building Project Manager due tomorrow to make his assessment and begin instructing team to begin work although that wont be till next week at the earliest. For some reason they are quite busy at the moment........

The removal firm are also coming tomorrow to look at what is required to empty the house and dispose of damaged furniture and put into storage everything salvagable.

We have been placed in a hotel in Swansea for at least a week until rental accommodation can be found. A very good company are on the case and we hope to have a property sorted by end of next week. Swansea is not ideal as Ryan goes to school in Llandeilo so that is a trip of around 30 miles each way but hey.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8456453.stm

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/southwalesnews/Dad-tells-miracle-escape-bus-crash/article-1708535-detail/article.html

Day 1

Wednesday 13.1.2010 was not a usual Wednesday morning but it was similar to recent days. Snow had been laying for over 3 weeks and we had another 5-8cm fall on Tuesday night so Blaenau Primary school was shut yet again due to dangerous roads & pavements and broken heating. My work was open however, so Dunk decided to work from home to look after boys and we decided there was little point dragging Owen up and out to trek Ryan across to Llandeilo as the conditions were not safe so we let them sleep in.

I had a leisurely breakfast and left for work early as the roads were very slushy and icy. I got to work on time but very few children had yet made it to school so I put my bag and coat by and sat down to sort out the readers I was going to listen to that day; it was 9:05am and my phone rang. “oooppps, sorry Mrs H-P I forgot to put my phone on silent”.

The actual phone conversation is somewhat hazy at this point by it went something like:

Dunk – “COME HOME! VAN HIT HOUSE”

Me – “OMG, ARE THE KIDS OK?”

Dunk – “YES”.

Phone goes dead. I burst into tears........

Basically: A BMW came to junction on side road just up from our house, brakes did **** all due to icy, un-gritted road, BMW went through junction and hit minibus side on travelling down Waterloo Road towards our house. Minibus span, lost control and came to rest in my front hall. House deemed unsafe and we had to evacuate and spent next 7 hours at a friends while insurance decided what to do. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!