Pages

Friday 21 October 2011

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay ..........................................

This morning our solicitor phoned to say that we should be able to exchange TODAY and complete next Friday (28th), he would phone to let us know when it had all happened.

So we waited ............................. and waited .................................. and decided to do a bit of shopping - taking the mobile with us so that we could be contacted. 5 oclock came and went, we had resigned ourselves to a further delay.

Got home and there, on the answer machine, was a message from our solicitor - WE'VE EXCHANGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't believe he didn't even bother to talk to us (actually I can), as he had specifically asked for our mobile number.

Anyway enough of moaning about him, get on with the packing - we've got to be out by lunchtime next Friday.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

I shouldn't have got excited!!!

After agreeing, yesterday, on an exchange date of yesterday/today and a completion date of  Thursday 27th we got a phone call from our solicitor, this morning, asking if the completion date could be brought forward to the 26th. We agreed, as we still thought we were going to exchange today.

However ................................... this afternoon we learnt that our buyer's buyer can't exchange until Friday which means that our exchange would be delayed until Friday or even Monday!!!! But they still want to complete on the 26th.

Taking us back to the dilema of a very short period between exchange and completion........................ there's alot of stuff that shouldn't be done until after exchange - but we're doing it anyway. But there's also so much that really can't be done until after exchange - boring things that would cost us money if it all fell through.

Our solicitor is now trying to negotiate an earlier exchange/a later completion - we spoke to him at 3.00pm, of course we haven't heard from him since.

I'm quickly losing the will to live ...................................

Monday 17 October 2011

Don't know whether to get excited but .........................................

7.00 Monday evening and we've just had a phone call from our buyers. They said their solicitors were nightmares, not answering emails, not chasing up references, not keeping them informed - sounds very familiar. So they were contacting us directly - would we be willing to exchange and complete next Thursday (27th)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW, WOW, WOW ............................ but hang on, completing and exchanging on the same day? Not a good idea - it could still all collapse on the day. Brett said we weren't happy to do that; so she's going to talk to her solicitor and see if we can exchange tomorrow!!!

WE COULD BE EXCHANGING TOMORROW!!!!!! She said she'd ring us once she had spoken to her solicitor.

We've got SO much to do now. No more moaning that I'm bored!

How exciting.

Saturday 15 October 2011

Still waiting ................................................

Our poor estate agent must be getting sick and tired of hearing ................. "Hi Tracey, it's Sandra from Pentwyn Farm ............................"; I phone her weekly (bi-weekly?) to preserve my sanity.

So today (actually it was yesterday, Friday, when I wrote this post) she phoned both solicitors for me (of course my one wasn't in the office!!); however, our buyer's solicitor says they're waiting on their buyer's ............................... of their second house!!! Apparently the London flat was completed weeks ago (so our solicitor got that right!) BUT, unbeknown to us (or apparently our solicitor), they had another property they were selling and this is the one that has been holding up our sale. Their solicitor says she thinks we will be able to talk dates next week with a view to completing at the end of the month. The really worrying thing is that we know nothing about these buyers (didn't even know they existed!), do they have a property to sell? How long is this chain? This is SOoooo stressful!
Meantime we've been packing; our kitchen look horrid - the dresser and glazed cupboard are now in storage. And all my pretty possessions are packed up. It doesn't feel like home anymore!


It doesn't look like this anymore!!

Brett is forcing me to put all my glass in cardboard boxes and I'm petrified it's all going to be broken when I unpack it - I wanted it pack in wooden crates with wooden divisions holding it all stable, he says that would be too heavy and bubble wrap and cardboard will be fine ..................................... oh I do hope he's right!

Tuesday 11 October 2011

I don't believe it!!!

We thought the final hurdle was over last week when our buyers had their mortgage offer, once this happened, according to our solicitor, we could start talking dates.

.............................. after hearing nothing (as usual) I phoned our estate agent to see if she could find out if there was any news. Both lots of solicitors were unobtainable (really?) but she managed to talk to our buyers and they assure her everything was going along fine - in fact their buyers are signing their mortgage agreement tomorrow morning????? Excuse me?? Our solicitor's last email to us stated (and I quote) "..............I've now found out that their London property has already completed", so why are their buyer only just signing mortgage agreements?

Of course we haven't managed to talk to our solicitor. Fingers crossed our estate agent's optimism is well founded.

Sunday 2 October 2011

What fabulous weather!!

We had a fantastic time in Devon and Cornwall; we only had five days because Brett had to come back to watch the rugby on Saturday morning - I suggested we stayed down there and he went to a pub to watch it, but he said he didn't fancy sitting in a pub at 8.00 in the morning.

We found some lovely places to camp (we joined the Caravan Club so that we could book into CLs, cheapish very basic sites). We stayed on ..............................
a farm with hundreds of free range pigs

.................  a smallholding with chickens and ducks, a farm that was next door to a dual carriageway (very noisy) but only 1/4 mile from the beach - we had to cross the dual carriageway, walk through an industrial estate and cross over a railway line to get there!!

We ate fish and chips in Padstow from Rick Stein's fish and chip shop, they were very nice but quite expensive £15.50. We went to Port Issac and saw the house where Doc Martin is film - we could tell which house it was by all the people taking photos of it, we've never watched it.

Of course we also visited quite a few galleries ................................................

Jo Downs, Launston
Cornish Pilchards

She does some lovely work with copper foil inclusions. I was given a tour of her studio, she's got some massive kilns!!

Julia Mills, Mousehole
Barrel of Fish

Some lovely etching on this glass (she uses etching cream not an acid bath).

Art Space, St Ives; they had several pieces by Petrouschka Sura-Field, unfortunately I couldn't find a very good photo of her work.

She had created real depth and 3D to her panels by painting on several sheets of glass and then fusing them together, couldn't tell whether the colour was from enamels or frit.

Driftwood Gallery, Padstow; Brett and I both were impressed with paintings by Anthony Amos in Bitumen and Oils.
Ploughing




When we got back on Friday afternoon I phoned the estate agent ............................................ she says our buyers have received the structural survey and they said there were no suprises - which is great. She also said that the mortgage company said that they should be getting their offer on Monday!!!!!! Don't want to get excited yet, watch this space ........................