列／漕ぐ／騒動s with her husband, lost 所有／入手s and finding she wasn't insured - when Flic's house burnt 負かす／撃墜する, it was just the start of her problems

By Flic Everett for MailOnline
Updated: 08:28 BST, 8 January 2010

The past two months have been the strangest of my life. In the 早期に hours of November 15, our house caught 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

After a dinner party we were throwing had ended, a candle tipped over. We didn't notice it, went to bed and were 警報d only when the cats woke my husband Simon with their frantic miaowing at 3am.

The 前線 door was locked from the inside and the 重要なs were upstairs in Simon's trouser pocket. The staircase 速く filled with smoke, and we were 救助（する）d by the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 旅団 from the roof.

Then: Flic Everett's kitchen was すす and smoke 損失d by the 解雇する／砲火／射撃...

Now: After a clean up and decorating, it is starting to feel like home again

In the 影響 of oxygen masks, 医療の checks and cups of tea, we were just 感謝する to be alive. The house was a blackened 難破させる, so we couldn't かもしれない live there.

We went to stay at my parents' house, a mile away, with our son, Wolfie. It was his 17th birthday the に引き続いて day and, にもかかわらず the fact his 現在のs - 調書をとる／予約するs, games and DVDs - were covered in すす, he was happy no one was dead.?

We went to TGI Friday's to celebrate, and laughed and ate cake. I barely noticed I was wearing my mum's three-sizes-too-big jumper dress because all my 着せる／賦与するs were encrusted in すす or that Simon's coat smelt of singed wool.

For the first few days in Mum's warm, 安全な kitchen, I felt like Holly Golightly at Tiffany's - as if nothing bad could happen there.

It was only after three days, when we had to return to our house to 調査する the 損失 and begin the tortuous 過程 of making it into a home again, that things became more difficult.

This is my diary of how we started to piece our family life 支援する together ...

WEEK ONE

The day after the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, Simon and my Dad go 支援する to the house to check that the cats have 生き残るd. They have, but they're like little grey フクロウs: all their soft white fur is covered in すす.

We take all four to the vet for a check-up - they're 罰金, except one has an abscess on a tooth, 関係のない to the shocks of the night before.

So, £150 later, they're still sooty, but he doesn't have toothache. Simon 報告（する）／憶測s that the house is still standing and the only 構造上の 損失 is to the kitchen.

The firemen told us that the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 burnt out in the kitchen, having ripped across the 天井 and 負かす／撃墜する the 塀で囲むs.

Lucky to be alive: Flic and her husband Simon escaped through the bedroom window

It had 燃やすd for only around 20 minutes, but the 有毒な smoke had seeped through the entire three-storey house, covering everything in dense 黒人／ボイコット すす, even insinuating itself through の近くにd doors to coat every all of our 所有／入手s in a filthy 黒人／ボイコット dust.

The firemen had used 靴下／だますs to put out the 炎上s, but by then, the smoke 損失 was done.

When I return to check out the 損失, everywhere is 黒人／ボイコット with すす. I try to be 上昇傾向, but I'm shocked. Everything has become warped and 悪意のある.

The hall and stairs are encrusted, and the burnt, すす-covered kitchen is like the Marie Celeste - the dinner party 破片 from the night of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 is still there.

The worst thing, though, is the smell. It's a nauseating, bitter stench that permeates the whole house - all our 着せる／賦与するs, 調書をとる／予約するs and furniture. We leave after just ten minutes.

支援する at Mum's, I burst into 涙／ほころびs. The prospect of getting it 支援する to normal is 圧倒的な. We need a new 前線 door - the old one is patched with chipboard after the firemen had to kick it in. I'm worried about break-ins, but as Simon points out, who'd want to steal any of our すす-covered 所持品?

Worse still, the house is 氷点の. And it goes dark at 3.30pm as the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 fused the lights.

Once the electrician has been, we can at l east spend evenings there trying to sort things out.

We 投資する in masks, boiler 控訴s, rubber gloves and enough きれいにする 器具／備品 to run our own franchise. We start with the kitchen - throwing out the burnt-out 宙返り／暴落する dryer, （疑いを）晴らすing the ash and 破片, and washing マリファナs, glasses and pans.

We feel much as Sleeping Beauty's palace cleaners must have done after she woke up, （疑いを）晴らすing 100 years' 価値（がある） of dust. After a couple of hours, we're exhausted.

When we blow our noses, the tissues are 黒人／ボイコット. Until now, I've barely thought about our lost 所有／入手s.

But seeing our carefully chosen pictures piled high, covered in dirt, I feel 猛烈に sad.

Amazingly, most of our family photos have 生き残るd. They were in a box in my office and though the 最高の，を越す 層 is covered in a greasy dust, the most precious ones - the children's 早期に years - are 損なわれていない.

Upsettingly, Wolfie's 最近の school picture, which was on a shelf in the kitchen, is 廃虚d - his 直面する is barely 明白な through the 層s of すす. Though it makes me feel heartless and terrible, I have to throw it away.

His GCSE 証明書 on the pinboard is 廃虚d. I can remember how happy we were when his results arrived last August - but that, too, goes in the 貯蔵所.

いっそう少なく personal, but almost as painful, is the 卸売 破壊 of my collection of recipe 調書をとる／予約するs.

Each has been a carefully chosen 現在の from my husband or family, and they have 奮起させるd happy, memorable meals. Now, they stand in a heap by the 支援する door, waiting to be chucked out - every page is 厚い with すす.

I know I'll buy 交替／補充s, but it feels like the end of an 時代 of happy times, dinner parties and fun.?

WEEK TWO

The skip arrives, and takes up half of our 狭くする street. Finally, we can start throwing out things.

I 投機・賭ける into our bedroom. It's unbearable - every time I look at the second-床に打ち倒す window through which we climbed to make our escape, I feel a 発射 of panic.

But we have to get on with it, so I throw 廃虚d 着せる／賦与するs and shoes into the skip, and try to be 感謝する I've still got some things left. This is a 残虐な, but 効果的な way of de-cluttering.

Anything I'm not crazy about that's going to cost £20 to 乾燥した，日照りの-clean has to go. All my suede and fabric shoes are spoilt by the すす. Everything in my wardrobe stinks like a furnace.

I 結局最後にはーなる with two 貯蔵所 捕らえる、獲得するs of things to keep - and 16 bulging 解雇（する）s in the skip. 'It's only stuff,' I tell myself. But it's painful. Shoes I loved, coats I saved up for - they've all gone.

Life at my parents' house is cramped. With four people trying to work from home 加える a 十代の少年少女 and たびたび（訪れる） 訪問者s, it's no longer a lovely, 平和的な 港／避難所 - it's more like purgatory.

So it comes as a joyful surprise when の近くに friends 申し込む／申し出 us their flat to stay in. They're not living there, so we have it to ourselves. I hadn't realised how desperate we are for some space.

We move in the next day - it's ideal, even though our 所有／入手s are 減ずるd to three crates and I've been wearing the same outfit for a week.?

WEEK THREE

Simon is struggling. During the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, there was a moment when he couldn't breathe and he thought he might not make it out.

He's had a stressful year at work, trying to steer his 商売／仕事 through the 後退，不況, and he's now feeling anxious, depressed and having flashbacks.

The doctor has 定める／命ずるd beta blockers to slow his heart 率. I'm taking on more work than usual to 支払う／賃金 for everything.

I'm not sleeping - most nights I lay awake until 3am, my brain racing, re-living the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and worrying about the 未来.

I'd stupidly 除去するd the smoke alarm 殴打／砲列 the night before the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 - it had been making an irritating beeping noise because it was running 負かす／撃墜する -and we'd accidentally 行方不明になるd an 保険 支払い（額）, so it seems we may not be insured.

This is almost worse than the house 燃やすing 負かす／撃墜する. It's terrible news, and the 強調する／ストレス of our circumstances is really starting to 圧倒する us.

While I work in my mum's 支援する room, Simon has been at our house every day, （疑いを）晴らすing the mess, phoning joiners, きれいにする companies and the bank, and he's feeling beleaguered and 孤立するd.

On Saturday, I go to help and am stricken by how appalling it still looks.

'Why has nothing been done?' I shout, 不公平に. All the 苦痛 and 強調する／ストレス of the past couple of weeks 注ぐs 前へ／外へ - from both of us.

We have an almighty 叫び声をあげるing match, which 最高潮に達するs in me 嵐／襲撃するing out. That night, I go out with my best friend and decide not to return to the flat.

Wolfie is staying at his grandmother's house, and Simon and I 明確に need a break from each other. So I stay at our house and sleep on the sofa.

I have the worst night's sleep of my life: all I can smell is 燃やすing and whenever I open my 注目する，もくろむs I imagine I can see smoke. In the end, I leave on all the lights and for 安心 let my favourite cat sleep on my 長，率いる.

WEEK FOUR

復古／返還: Flic and her husband, with the help of friends and family, have been working hard to 修理 their home

Things are finally beginning to 改善する. A きれいにする company comes in for three days.

They use 化学製品s and 泡，激怒すること to （土地などの）細長い一片 the すす from the 塀で囲むs. After they have gone through the house, swirly light grey is left on the 塀で囲むs in place of 黒人／ボイコット.

I had foolishly hoped that every trace would be 除去するd, but realise that would take a 奇蹟, rather than a scrubbing 小衝突.

I try to help by きれいにする the bathroom 天井, but it's demoralising - all I'm doing is 転換ing すす around, so in the end I decide to leave it to the professionals.

Once they've left, we can start decorating. The entire house needs re-絵 and there are still hundreds of 貯蔵所 捕らえる、獲得するs filled with sooty 着せる／賦与するs, 調書をとる／予約するs, 記録，記録的な／記録するs and papers that need sorting.

Our families give us an 早期に Christmas 現在の in the form of B&Q and Homebase 保証人／証拠物件s.

This time last year, I'd have been disappointed. Now, it's like manna from heaven.

We spend three hours in B&Q and buy paint and paper for four rooms. Luckily, にもかかわらず our differences, Simon and I have perfectly matched tastes in 内部の decor, so there are no arguments - we just can't wait to get on with it.

Simon starts with the bedroom. We've always hated our bed (which is just two mattresses on a 木造の 壇・綱領・公約,) so we decide to celebrate our continued 存在 by buying a 取引 vintage French bed on eBay.

We feel that moving 支援する in may soon be a 可能性 - though the flat is wonderful, I'm homesick.

I 行方不明になる everything: living with Wolfie, who's staying at his gran's; the cats, my best friend Rachel 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the corner; and having a bath without worrying about leaving hair in someone else's plug-穴を開ける.

WEEK FIVE

I paint the bathroom an Art Deco-style turquoise. It takes four hours to clean the すす from the tiles, but it's 価値（がある） it.

We have one room that looks better than before the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. The closer the house gets to 回復, the better Simon feels.

He's stopped taking the beta blockers. We've made the 前線 room our （警察，軍隊などの）本部, where we drink tea and keep the すす at bay by covering everything in dust sheets.

Simon has decorated the bedroom - he has discovered a talent for wallpapering - and we've bought new curtains from 示すs & Spencer. It's feels like a 完全に different room.

It smells of fresh paint, not 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and even though it took three coats of paint to hide the すす stains on the 天井, it looks fantastic.

We celebrate by drinking Prosecco and decide we won't go 支援する to the flat that night.

We stay 夜通し on a mattress in the living room instead and feel thrilled to be 支援する under our own roof.

WEEK SIX

Christmas is coming and we're starting to panic again. We decided to 示す our return home with a drinks party for everyone who has helped us - we thought it would give us a useful 最終期限 to work に向かって.

But the kitchen is still a 難破させる. That's when a friend makes our Christmas by 申し込む／申し出ing to plaster the 塀で囲むs and 天井. The 親切 of friends and 隣人s has continually astonished us - everyone is wrong who says that people are selfish nowadays or won't help others in need.

After three days of plastering, the kitchen is ready to paint. My friend Rachel and I spend an entire afternoon scrubbing すす off the 床に打ち倒す, before we paint the 塀で囲むs a pale, French grey.

By teatime on the day of the party it looks perfect - as long as we draw the curtains so no one can see the 燃やすd, blackened French doors that can't be 取って代わるd until after Christmas.

Our friends fill the kitchen, chatting and laughing. For tonight only, the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 seems like a long-ago nightmare.

We never thought we'd be able to have Christmas in our house, but Simon has worked 非，不，無-stop to get the place up to a liveable 基準.

The hall is decorated, too - light and 有望な, as an antidote to the terrible train tunnel it was after the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 left it encrusted with すす. Wolfie has moved 支援する in, too, and makes a fair enough 職業 of 絵 his own room - 井戸／弁護士席, up to a point.

'It's my room and I don't care that the picture rail's blotchy,' he says. After a 簡潔な／要約する stand-off, I make him do it 適切に.

Rachel cooks Christmas lunch for friends in our kitchen, while we go to my mum's. It's one of the happiest Christmas Days I can remember, おもに because we're all so relieved to be home, 安全な and alive.

WEEKS SEVEN & EIGHT

We have a week off from all the DIY after Christmas. Simon has come 負かす／撃墜する with flu, and we're all feeling exhausted.

There are still 広大な 量s to be done - the kitchen doors have warped and are letting in 氷点の 空気／公表する; the 前線 room needs repainting; the 天井 is still sooty if you look carefully; my office is piled high with detritus from the 残り／休憩（する） of the house and I'm working in a two-foot square space, surrounded by 棚上げにするs and boxes.

And as for the attic room - 井戸／弁護士席, we shut the door on that because it's still 十分な of すす.

The 解雇する／砲火／射撃 has cost us a fortune - a cheque I was 予定 in October didn't arrive, so I 行方不明になるd an 保険 支払い（額） and the 政策 had been cancelled.

In the maelstrom of wo rk and other 法案s, this 状況／情勢 had been overlooked - and the 保険 company now says that when the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 broke out, we weren't covered.

The 強調する／ストレス has been 緩和するd only by the generosity of people we love, but it has still brought us to breaking point.

Just two months on, we can いつかs almost forget what's happened. But then I'll suddenly think 'Oh, I can cook that recipe for dinner . . .' and remember I no longer have it.

Or I'll 想像する an outfit with a 確かな pair of shoes, and then realise they're languishing in the 底（に届く） of the skip.

There are so many 調書をとる／予約するs 行方不明の from my 棚上げにするs and there are still no pictures on the 塀で囲むs - the すす even got behind the glass and 廃虚d a Rousseau print I loved, which belonged to my grandparents.

It's hard not to feel sad - and once again we 非難する ourselves for the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, the 欠如（する） of 保険, the lost 所有／入手s, and the danger we put ourselves in.

But all the same, we are 支援する home.Even if it takes months to put everything 権利, I'm sure we'll get there.

The other day I was in a 地元の charity shop looking for 着せる／賦与するs to 補足（する） my vastly 減ずるd wardrobe.

The volunteer at the desk recognised me from the story in the 地元の paper about the 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

'How are you?' he asked, kindly. 'And your family? And the cats?' I told him what was nearly the truth. 'We're all 罰金,' I said. And we will be, in time.