I've got behind on the house pictures - I must try and update them tonight. The house is really coming together. It's hard to remember what it was like before. There's a wonderful open feeling to it now. If you pick a spot, and stand there, and look around you, you can see so much further in so many different directions. Instead of seeing walls everywhere, now you see glorious space. Now, instead of walking through itty bitty passages, you walk through large spaces.

They are almost finished painting inside, and we have just chosen a colour for the exterior and tiles for the kitchen floor. The wooden floor will come once all the builders are out and the kitchen floor is done, and the kitchen itself should be ready for installation in about three weeks. Yesterday I was also paid a visit by a kitchen chimney extractor rep. It will be especially nice to have a kitchen extractor since the house is so open-plan now.

I am feeling pretty cheerful today after a horribly black mood the first part of the week. Yesterday the amount of house which was builder-free was: our bathroom. This was because, as well as all the living areas being unavailable as usual, they were also busy plastering in our bedroom, in the girls room (soon to be just Lauren's room), and in Daniel's room. In our room we had french windows put in leading out to the pool and garden, in Lauren's room they were putting in a larger window (harvested from the dining room which also had new french windows), and in Daniel's room they were removing the old window sill in preparation for a new timber sill. Since his room was the only room left with an old window sill, we decided to give him a new timber sill as well, since they are so much nicer than the hard, black, 60s-style, head-bashing tiles that were there.

I am pretty much used to the shortage of living space - everyone cooking, eating, living and bathing in our room. The hard part is feeling a bit like a creature in a cage constantly on display. It will be a huge relief when it's over. Also I've been extremely preoccupied with the whole thing, not to mention often being busy with this floor rep or that kitchen rep, and the kids are missing my attention. And it's hard to relax and be myself and play ridiculous games with the kids with so many people swarming around. The kids are desperate for a game of Magic Chair or Trampoline Giant.