27/05/2026
6 years ago we moved from our beautiful family home into a “doer-upper”. We were going to turn this old rundown house into a gorgeous home for our babies.
The diggers arrived, the foundations went down, and our dreams finally felt within reach… but then Covid hit, the cost of living crisis took hold, and our plans were shattered.
As two self-employed, full-time parents, we clung on as best we could — not just to the house, but to everything. The renovations came to a halt, and for the last 5 years we’ve been living amongst breeze blocks and rubble.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to have a roof over our heads, but sometimes it’s hard not to feel sad when we saved so hard, worked so hard, had our dreams right in front of us… and then watched them slowly fizzle out, whilst big corporations like Tesco have unfairly profited off of the COL crisis, we are talking profits up by billions, the CEO on a salary of excess £10million!!
Our youngest son has never known a proper garden to play in. He was born here — on the bathroom floor — and has lived his whole life on a building site.
But we’re still here. Still working hard. Still chasing the dream.
For now, we’ve made room for a trampoline, and it turns out block and beam makes a pretty great mini basketball court.
The house might not look like the dream yet, but the resilience built inside these walls is something money could never buy.
Rich in life because of what we do have , not what we don’t… yet. 💪🏻
