Burn, baby burn.

Picture the scene...Darling boy has had his bath, milk and stories and is snugly tucked up in bed.  Handsome husband and I are downstairs relaxing in front of the fire with Sister in law who has come to visit.  Dinner is just finishing cooking in the oven.  Handsome husband has just cracked open a beer.  All is calm and cozy.  When I notice sparks coming down from inside the large stone fireplace.  That's unusual I think, sparks normally go up, not down. I point this out to Handsome husband, he gets up to investigate and it doesn't take Miss Marple, or even Fireman Sam to realise the chimney is on fire.

FIRE,    FIRE,   FIRE!

Handsome husband calmly says to his sister that she should get me and Darling boy out of the house.  Now...and to take the labour bags in case I have the baby tonight.

I rush upstairs, pack a bag for Darling boy and I for overnight- well, I grab a sensible amount of clothes for Darling boy and a weird armful of stuff for me. I get up Darling boy, who seems very jolly at the fun and commotion and we head downstairs where we are greeted by waves of smoke and Handsome husband and our next door neighbour rushing about with buckets (and inexplicably, cups) of water.

We jump in the car, with promises from Handsome husband not to do anything silly, like trying to put out the fire himself and as we bump up the road in dark, we are greeted by Tiverton's finest fire engine coming the other way.  Darling boy is now super excited and chats the whole way to the in-laws (who live just over the hill about 15 minutes away) about the 'fire engine and flashing lights'

Sister in law and I arrive at the in-laws, let ourselves in and put Darling boy to bed.  We eat two whole large bars of Green and Blacks. Sister in law is watching me carefully for signs of labour, convinced that the excitement and stress will inspire junior to make an appearance. 

We wait for news.

Time passes and the news is that a second fire engine has been called.  The house has been filled with firemen and Handsome husband has been banned from the inside and relegated to the garden.  He will call later with news when he has it.

Time passes and Handsome husband calls again to say the fire is out, the firemen have left and Handsome husband is going to tidy up a bit and head over.  Inside things are apparently smokey and wet, but thankfully not flamey any more. 

Time passes, Sister in law and I manage to eat even more chocolate and eventually a smokey, heroic Handsome husband turns up.  He says the damage really isn't that bad...I picture black walls, soaking carpet, everything covered in soot and the whole house stinking of smoke and smoke damage.

I had to wait till the next morning to see for myself what I had been imaging as the worst.  Turns out I have a very over-active imagination.  You can hardly tell there has been a fire- it was luckily confined to the cavity in the chimney and nowhere else.  Thank goodness for Tiverton's finest firemen (and in particular the one who doubles as a builder and had been to our house a few years ago and it was only this that meant they knew where they were going) 

We spend the next day (which happens to be our 10 year anniversary- oh the romance) cleaning the house as although it isn't as awful as I had expected, i.e practically burnt down, it did need cleaning up.

Handsome husband was a complete hero and cleaned up and dealt with what needed to be dealt with.   Perhaps I should rename him 'Handsome Hero'.  

Having a chimney fire certainly wasnt on the list of 'things to do before the baby arrives' (though neither was running out of oil and having to wait a week for heating to be restored, or getting a flat tyre and having to wait in the dark and rain at the local garage for the mechanics to come repair the tyre for me- both things which have happened in the last week) But hopefully this will be enough excitment for the time being. I'm hoping life will get much more boring, till the main excitement, due in just 2 days...