The casts are off and Hop-A-Long is off and running!

It is what is left of the 'cast shoes' B1 has worn for the last six weeks. I have been stapling and sticky taping them together each day in the hope they would just get him through; which they did, fortunately.

The stinky casts are gone and have been turned into slightly less stinky night splints. B1 will have to wear the night splints for approximately twelve months. We have an appointment to see a specialist who will measure him up for permanent ones so we only need to suffer the stinkiness for another few weeks.

I have been considering Febreezing his feet but I think will will hold off on that idea..........for now :)

When Elephants Attack!

Take one bookcase in the shape of a doll's house. Add three children who woke up cranky and in very silly moods. Make it 8.10am, five minutes before we leave for the school run.

Take one large Schleich elephant. Propel said elephant, at speed, down the slope of the doll house bookcase. Place youngest child's head directly under the speeding elephant. Add screaming and lots of it. Add blood, even more of it, covering both B3's hands, her shirt and her jumper. Fortunately she couldn't see the back of her head or there would have been alot more screaming.

Why do head wounds bleed so much? I know it is to do with blood flow and blood pressure but honestly. By the time I had put pressure on the wound and calmed B3 down (and myself, as no-one like to see their child bleeding, even a little, and this was not a little) the cut had stopped bleeding so I had a chance to inspect the damage. I was imagining a gaping wound but in actual fact it was less than one centimeter long and did not require any stitches.

Imagine telling the hospital that this is what happens when ELEPHANTS ATTACK!

B3 is fine. We cleaned her up and all she was worrying about was going to school to tell her friends all about it. She marched into class holding a tissue with a few spots of blood on it to show everyone. I think I'll go and have a nice cup of chamomile tea now.

Storage how we adore you.

Please excuse the mess, we are currently using the top of the cooker and a small sheet of plywood for a bench until the granite ones arrive in three weeks. You can see in this photo that we have blocked up the hatch. Alot of homes in the UK and Guernsey have hatches from the kitchen to the lounge/dining room. Our kitchen has had two extensions in its life so now it is lovely, large and light, but this wasn't always the case. Once upon a time the previous owners would have had their dining table in the lounge area and passed the meals through the hatch to save carrying them through the house. As we have a kitchen large enough to accommodate a table the only use the hatch gets is when I open it to tell the kids to stop fighting or to turn the TV down.

Mr Bee is so excited about having a pantry! We have had all our groceries stored in various cupboards in the kitchen, but now we have a double door pantry that is large enough I am going to have trouble filling it.

The tiler starts on the kitchen floor on Tuesday and the walls will be tiled once the bench tops have been done. We have been quite lucky really as it has only been four weeks of disruption so far and it will probably be another four weeks until we have a cooker and a sink that work. All I keep focusing on is that all the work will be finished in time for Christmas. Everything has to look nice for Santa after all :)

The Late Night Fairy Ring

The fairies have been and paid B3 a little visit.

There were no mushrooms available so animals had to suffice :)

The boxes have arrived!

 The kitchen arrived on Wednesday morning at 11.15am; only five days late. There was one unit and a door damaged so they will need to be replaced. It takes two weeks to get a new unit delivered. One of the problems of living on an island; everything takes a little more time.

The kitchen fitter was so quick. He had the large larder units in place by that afternoon. He now has three and a half days to do five days work (he is going to work Saturday). I'll keep you posted :)

Smooth floors, rough walls and no fish tank.

This is our tiler starting to pour the self leveller on the kitchen floor. He blocked off the hallway so it didn't ooze its way up the hall. The hall and foyer will be self levelled a little later on.

So now we have a lovely smooth kitchen floor just crying out to the tiled.

This is the corner the fridge and dishwasher used to be in. The dishwasher is being moved over closer to the sink. This corner will soon house a larder/pantry unit, a large cupboard and an incorporated larder fridge. I miss large Australian fridges. In the UK and Guernsey they tend to opt for small fridges that are similar to Australian bar fridges. This type of fridge does not hold more than a few days food for a family of five. We decided on a larder fridge rather than a fridge freezer as we already have a small under bench freezer in the utility room.

The kitchen fitter boarded in the fish tank - hooray! The previous owners had built a fish tank into the wall and for four years we have been talking about getting rid of it and now at last it is done. Once the kitchen is installed we will get a plasterer in to finish it off, ready for painting.

The sink is going back in the same place, under the window, so I can look out at the garden. The kitchen designer suggested we move the sink but I really don't want to stare at a tiled wall each time I do the dishes.

This is where the kitchen is supposed to be delivered and stored. Can you see any boxed up kitchen units there? No, I can't either! First they were going to be delivered on Friday, and then they were going to be delivered on Monday and then they were going to be delivered this morning. Well it is 1.30pm and they are not here yet. The electrician is ready to start. The plumber is ready to start. The kitchen fitter is ready to start. Pity the delivery men don't seem to be.

Hop-A-Long Cassidy has come to stay

B1 had to have an operation on both of his legs a few weeks ago. I went with him to Southampton General Hospital. The children's ward staff we so kind and helpful to me in what was perhaps on of the most stressful times of my life. If it had been me having the operation I would have been a little nervous but as it was my child I was freaking out although I had to only freak out on the inside so I didn't scare B1. Here he is the day after his operation in the plain white plaster casts.

He chose one green and on red cast. The staff in the plaster room asked is this was so he could tell his left from his right foot or was it for stop and go. 'No' said B1, with a condescending eye roll, 'It is red for Mario and green for Luigi of course.' We who do not worship the cult of Nintendo DS should know this, naturally.

Sorry about the photo. I have 'turned it' three times but it doesn't seem to want to stay. Here he is at the airport waiting to fly home to Guernsey. He was very excited as he had to be lifted up to the back door of the aircraft in a special truck. I think it was the same one they use to bring the trolleys on and off the planes.

This is after a hard day at school. He took a permanent marker to school so all his friends could sign his casts. I'm not allowed to sign them until the day they are being removed; just in case I write something embarrassing like how much I love him :)

 He was only in a wheelchair for a few days and then he was walking with a zimmer frame. We were told that he would need crutches to help him walk after this however when we went to see the physio for a lesson on safely walking with crutches she said he was less of a danger to both himself and everyone else if he just walked without them.

Which is precisely what he did. He is recovering amazingly well and will have the casts removed in two weeks.