Hazy.

The sun has been trying to come out but for most of the time the haze ruled with a cooler feel.

The builder finally turned up at 12.00 to roll back the tarpaulin and lift off some of the boards so that the joists could dry out. I climbed up the ladder to see what he'd done and then suggested strongly that he also take off the board in the corner of the roof which was above where a lot of the water had got through. I showed the builder the marks on the kitchen ceiling and wall after which he climbed up and shifted that board too. Then he told me the lads might be coming in the afternoon which is builder speak for -not coming- so I made it clear we expect him to come back before the end of the day to replace the tarpaulin. I also made him aware that he's been very fortunate that I'd been up and heard the water coming through. If the water had run all night and ruined the laminate flooring the kitchen would have had to come out so the floor could be replaced and as it's a new kitchen that would be by the fitter not the builder. Right now we're still waiting for the builder to come back. He means well but you have to be patient as well as very clear in what we want. (He's just phoned to say he's on his way.)

On the other hand the electrician turned up first thing to check the electrics which are fine. We just need new bulbs for the kitchen light, hopefully. While he was here I got him to secure a couple of the wall sockets in the sitting room which hadn't been tightened up properly. I also asked him to raise up the pendant light in the utility. The rooms in the original house have very high ceilings but the rooms which were added later have standard lower ceilings. With the boys being over 6ft the light shades in those rooms will be in danger of being knocked if I don't put them up high. The giant paper lantern in the dining room will be an obstacle that they'll have to learn to avoid.

I was up bright an early today, the washing was out on the line by 8.00 and I was ready for gardening after breakfast. I sawed down the last few tree stumps including one in the middle of the steps that was a trip hazard which I'd scraped my toe on the other day. Then drilled holes into the tops of the stumps and applied stump killer. After that came more weeding, lots of it. I was able to pull out a few very long bramble roots but then I resorted to chemical warfare, strong weedkiller squirted on to each bramble leaf. I'm not keen on using chemicals in the garden but sometimes it's necessary. It was a long gardening session and I was glad to sink into a chair on the terrace later and watch the world go by. We've now entered the 'No Dogs' season on the beach so there are far more people walking their dogs on the cliff top.

Yesterday evening we had our fish and chips sitting outside on the terrace in the warm sun. It's a bit of a squeeze with all the builder's materials still there but that didn't detract from the joy of eating outside. It was also a reminder of the times we came up to work on the house when it was still at its very worst and we were happy enough then to think that this would be our new home. We're getting there.