This is going to be a really short blog today, really, really short as it looked like the rebirth of Noah's floods just about all day long. The rain beating on the roof of the conservatory was so loud that I even had to turn up the sound on the television so that I could hear the weather man say that it was raining and would go on raining. And do you know what he was right! Simon and Sam were the only two workers today - either they drew the short straw or the others were more forward looking - and they worked through the downpours and the thunder to put more slates on the roof. Poor Simon came to see me around 5.00pm, looking like a drowned rat to say that he had tried to put one of the ridge tiles on 4 times and each time the rain came down and washed the cement out so he was going home. Did I tell you that Simon is a new dad? His baby girl - the first with his partner who has two small girls of her own - was born earlier in the week and her name is Polly. She does keep him awake at nights but it sounds as if he is pretty proud of her. He also has a little dog, I saw him in the cab of his van today but I have yet to find out his name, he is a little bit like a Jack Russell and seems quite friendly when you pet him through the open window of the cab.

The one and only photo today shows how far up the slates have got and how Simon and Sam manage to climb up to the ridge tiles. These guys have got guts and it obviously keeps them fit climbing up and down those ladders and planks all day long. See that plank right at the top of the window, well that's how Simon gets to the ridge - see what I mean about guts? I don't even want to think about the implications if he slipped on a wet tile and fell off. I think that he will be pretty pleased when the roof is finished and he can start bricking around that round window.

Hilary was out all day at Liz's where they finished putting up the wallpaper and got a start on cleaning the carpets, apparently the house is looking really good and they have an estate agent coming to view it next week. Wish them luck.

So that's it for this week and I plan to start again on Monday when I hope that the weather will have shown an improvement and that the roof will finally become fully watertight.