Safe as houses

The builders arrived to start taking off the render from the front of the house today. Our worst fears were realised. Underneath the render, the cob wall turned out to be unsound. Previous owners, going back 30 years or so, had knocked chunks out to put in more and bigger windows but with no thought to how the overall structure might stay up. A large part of the front wall of the house is coming down. It needs to be pulled down and rebuilt. The expense is eye-watering and, because it is just wear and tear due to age, it's not covered by insurance. For the next three months or so, we will be living in our big tent in the garden.

It could be worse. We have a great builder who has moved everything else to be able to get this finished as quickly as possible. We'll still be able to use the bathrooms and kitchen. We have amazing neighbours willing to help out in any way they can - including one local farmer who doesn't know us but has offered his barn so we can store our furniture and belongings for free. It's the summer, so we can stay in the tent without great hardship. And the boy thinks it's a huge adventure.

We've had to cancel a few things to avoid unnecessary expenditure. I've cancelled my holiday to London where I was going to catch up with friends I haven't seen in a while. And we've cancelled our special lunch out for our tenth wedding anniversary. But even then, we shouldn't complain. My friends will still be there. Our wedding anniversary isn't about fancy lunches.

When all the work is done, the house will be better than ever. Lots of people don't have a house to begin with. This is what we need to keep telling ourselves.

It could be worse.