Chaos.

Who would have thought that a dripping shower in the bathroom could cause such chaos in the kitchen?

There was no dramatic flood or really obvious damage to the ceiling; only a small bulge that I might have ignored except for a sugar basin that had mysteriously filled with water.  And it all went wrong from there.

What seemed like a small repair job snowballed into a major operation when the artexed kitchen ceiling was found to contain asbestos.  ASBESTOS? Wasn’t that something to do with factories and industry and chest problems? Certainly not with my nice little house in a pleasant cul-de-sac

Nevertheless a few days later a convoy of white vans arrived; men in space suits and helmets sealed off every kitchen door and cupboard with what looked like black lino;  two ceiling-high tents blocked the way into the hall.

In the middle of the operation the apprentice fell off the back of the van and for a few minutes it seemed as though an ambulance would be added to the chaos, however a bag of frozen peas and a pain killer worked wonders and the operation continued. A notice pinned to the front door ordered “All Waste Materials This Way."                         

and the back door had weird pipes leading outside.  However, the whole operation was completed before lunch-time and I was left with rafters and wires and a promise that a new ceiling would be put up next day.

But somebody forgot to arrange that and I had to wait till the end of the week.

As for the shower – it is half mended and no longer drips but six weeks on, I'm hoping the job will be finished soon!!