My dear friends, I have some bad news
Usually at this time of year I post pictures of my birthday and anniversary celebrations, but this year is different
Last week we had a fire in our house. It started due to some electrical fault in the garage that is attached to the house. Everything had been checked and we had done lots of electrical upgrades and safety checks when we bought the house in October last year, before moving in at Christmas time, so this is just really bad luck and nothing that could have been prevented
We had only just finished making the house a home; in the last few weeks we had been setting up the guest room, the picture wall in the utility room, the new furniture in the kitchen patio area—the whole house was such a large project to get to this point, and it took so much heart, soul and energy to set up our “forever home” that we’re still a bit dazed and definitely overwhelmed
We try to remind ourselves that we’re all safe and the fire was caught quickly so the actual fire damage was relatively contained to the garage and one small section of a kitchen wall. But there was secondary smoke/soot damage throughout the house and we’ve had to move out for 6 months
The journey to restoration and cleanup, navigating all the different insurance processes, and all the different tradespeople and specialist cleaners that will be needed feels like it will take over our lives for the next year, on top of already almost unmanageably busy lives with our workloads and a 5-year old. I look ahead and I feel overwhelmed and fearful, I see no way to navigate it and avoid burnout and at the same time I keep feeling all the emotions—how will I cope; was I not grateful enough, did I jinx myself with the happiness of a summer in a lovely new home with family and friends visiting; am I being a weak and non-resilient person now by not being able to see the path ahead; am I doing enough to provide stability and comfort to my daughter through this upheaval etc etc
We’re now trying to find a rental home for the next 6 months, instead of hotels, so we can get some stability
The expectation is that most/all of my pretty things can be saved—just need to throw away makeup etc (of which I have tonnes and tonnes!) but I don’t mind that, it’s easily replaced. So it’s just a process of navigating the clean ups/restorations and making it through the next 6 months with as much grace and courage as I can muster
Please send good vibes / prayers our way. Hopefully I’ll be able to update in a few months about all the home projects we’ve done and appliances we have upgraded due to being forced to be out of the house, and we’ll look back on it at a time that was horribly difficult but which passed quickly. That’s the hope xx
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I’ve been keeping it as a photo diary for my frivolous purchases for many years and have some lovely friends on TPF, so I do enjoy coming back to it!
