What a week

On Tuesday night our burglar alarm went off - it does this when the power goes as we hadn't replaced the battery in it. Power was on in the house so it meant that the socket circuit that it was on had gone and that had tripped the fuse box. Last time it happened it was because of the toaster but at it was after 10.30 at night it wasn't that this time. We didn't know what it was. By 11pm we'd given up trying to isolate the socket and as every time we reset the fuse box it reset the alarm's 20 minute cut off we figured the neighbours would rather we didn't fart around and so we left it till morning. In the morning the culprit was pretty obvious as there was water pouring down the kitchen wall where the boiler was leaking. It had leaked into the electrics that had been placed handily below it that had tripped the electrics. Whilst we got the power back on by mid morning the parts for the boiler were going to take a few days so with no hot water that meant no showers or baths - a disaster in this house!

So I've been doing a lot of boiling water... for the first day or so it wasn't too bad but I was so relieved when the boiler got fixed on Friday and the alarm is sorted too so won't go off and annoy the neighbours the next time the power goes.

You know those blogs that show children helping prepare meals and it all looks so cosy and lovely? Well the reality is that when time is short, tempers are frayed and you just want to get some food on the table toddler assisted cooking is the last thing on my mind. Especially when it results in most of the food ending up on or in the dog.

A cheerful moment in the week was the arrival of our book from the lovely Amy Schimler. It's a big hit!

There's been a bit of time for some mama reading too in amongst the chaos. And yes both children were on the table when the photo was taken but it meant I could see them both whilst reading....