Well, what a summer it was for me! It seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. Me and the hubby moved to a lovely old house almost three years ago now and slowly worked through it restoring it to how we felt it should be. At last it was finished. Great, I thought, but hubby had other ideas.

Since moving in I have used the smallest bedroom as my office but then he, who must always have a project on the go, decided that our huge attic space was just going to waste.

‘Let’s do a conversion,’ he said.

Somewhat reluctantly I agreed. After all the work couldn’t affect the rest of the house I reasoned – it’s right up there in the Gods out of the way.

Wrong! Dust sheets appeared covering the carpets from the front door to the landing and before I knew it the place was swarming with builder’s, electricians and plumbers to name but a few.

It was impossible to work with the sound of banging and drilling echoing through the place but I bravely battled on, writing in the evening to meet my deadlines when everyone had finally gone.

While all this was going on we also continued to care for our grandchildren three days a week while their mum was at work as well as look after our foster placement.

The dust started then – clouds of it that settled on the furniture as fast as I could dust it off. Completely frustrated by then I escaped into the garden whenever I could, thankful of the decent weather. The house had gone to pot but I had the tidiest garden in the village for a while!

Somewhere along the way I began to wish that we had never started it. There was a gaping hole in the landing ceiling and I couldn’t even get up there to see how it was coming along unless I risked life and limb clambering up a ladder, and I’ve never been very brave when it came to heights. But then, at last, a spiral staircase was installed and finally I could get up there and study my new domain. Suddenly it all felt like it would perhaps be worth all the upheaval after all. And so, finally, it was done and now I am sitting in my smart new office writing this.

That’s it, I thought smugly. There’s nothing left to do now. We have done so much work on this house that surely he’ll be happy with it now?

But no, this morning at breakfast I caught him looking around the kitchen thoughtfully and my stomach sank. I know that look!

‘How would you like the kitchen extended?” he suggested.

I have to admit that my answer contained some rather naughty words! And so for now at least I hope he’ll be content to just sit back. Meantime, I am busily working on my next novel and trying not to fret about what idea he, who must be busy, might come up with next!

Rosie Goodwin's two new titles, The Soldier's Daughter and The Mill Girl are available on Amazon now.

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