Phoenix

I have spent the last week on self-proclaimed vacation trying to reclaim my house from its fire-damaged ashes. Sometimes I think I called the fire-brigade too early. While I can't rebuild it myself, I feel the need to try and take some control. I mean for fanny's sake - its been almost six months!

We spent the weekend clearing the garden and the shed, so I have spent this week decluttering the house. I must admit to being a bit of a hoarder. I have these piles of books, newspapers and magazines throughout the house that I erroneously believe that I will get around to reading. Why is that little piles of books strategically placed around the house only look good in English Country Style magazines. Perhaps it's the strategic placement I am having trouble with. But with my papers and all the power leads going everywhere I am risking another fire. Oh. Now there's an idea!

I am also attempting to create some order in my home office. But since the fire my home office has become the dining room, my desk the dining table, so it is nigh on impossible to make it look the least bit tidy or unobtrusive. Even the kids rooms are not safe from my cleaning frenzy. Poor SD Rose's bedroom was badly damaged in the fire so she has been sleeping on a sofa-bed in the 'kids' lounge room. This is probably the best room in the house so she's loving it, but [in the context of cleaning] her bed has been packed up and put away. I am eeeeeville as she would say.

I may have mentioned it already, but the Insurance Company-appointed builder has quit the job so we are having to start again from scratch. This time we are getting the quotes ourselves and hopefully they will just give us the money and let us manage the re-building. Since our stay in the posh beach house DH is keen on adding a second storey to contain a big bedroom for ourselves with a posh ensuite and lounge area. I have been spending far too much time this past week trying to come up with a design for this insane notion. I can't see how we could afford this and somehow I don't think the insurance company will believe we forgot to mention our second floor when we filed the claim.

For a short time before Christmas we considered knocking the whole house down and just building one of those cheap, mass-produced, homogeneous houses. Our house is definitely not a pretty house, but it has character I guess and so much light - that is what I would miss the most. But at the moment I just want a whole house. With full power. With no temporary fencing around it.