Saturday

We tried to get some sleep downstairs, covered in what blankets we could find in the dark. It was still freezing and I couldn't sleep for more than a few minutes at a time because I was thinking of all the things that might be ruined.
Louis had been booked to work the Saturday so he had to leave at 8.30. I had a look around in the light - the hall, stairs and landing were completely soaked. The small spare room had had the worst of it - the bed was soaked through - through the mattress, divan base and into the drawers underneath - all the spare bed linen I kept there was literally dripping wet. By a miracle the boxes of special things from when Kumari was a baby that were kept on top of the wardrobe in there were dry - the water had missed the spot by 6". I suddenly realised my wedding dress was stored in one of the drawers under the bed - I was almost too scared to look. I couldn't believe it - I had stuffed a blanket in the drawer the week before as I had nowhere else to store it and it had absorbed all the water and the dress bag was dry!
There had been so much water coming from the loft that it had run through the floor on the landing and in the spare room and soaked the hallway and the dining room underneath - there was at least 2" water on the dining room floor.
Kumari and I had a very miserable day - no water, power or heating on one of the coldest days of the year. The gas hob in the kitchen was covered in mucky water - for some reason the water had run down the cooker hood. We mopped up as much as possible and managed to light one of the rings - luckily we had some soup in the larder so at least we could eat.
3pm - the electrician arrived. I was sitting in my car charging my mobile phone - I was reluctant to get out as it was a damn sight warmer than the house. He was stunned when he saw the damage - he was expecting a drip from the ceiling with a bucket underneath, not a disaster zone. He had to phone his office for advice. He said it was too dangerous to put the power back on to the whole house but after checking around he put power to a sockets in the lounge, playroom (Kumari's sitting room - always known as the playroom since she was little) and the drawing room as those rooms were not affected by water damage. As the boiler was out in the utility area he said we could turn the heating on when the plumber gave the go ahead. He arranged for an electrician to return on Monday to see if full power could be restored.
As he was leaving the plumber arrived - a jolly chap. However he stopped whistling when he saw the damage. He climbed into the loft and I heard him swear under his breath - I said 'what's wrong' and he said (very unconvincingly) 'Oh, nothing'.
He turned the water on to see where the leaks were and said 'it's like a bloody fountain' - there were 2 separate burst pipes apparently. In 20 minutes both were fixed and he bade a cheery goodbye. I put the heating on and got very excited to feel heat.
Kumari decided to sleep in the playroom as there was no power upstairs and the carpets were so wet. Louis and I decided to sleep in the bedroom but every sound made us jump - at one point we heard water dripping and panicked then realised that the small fridge upstairs was defrosting!