Yep! Still waiting for Caribbean Union Bank to come up with a decision on my prospective buyers’ mortgage application. In the age of technology and instant decisions it’s taken them since 12th December. Last week the loans officer decided the bank needed to see the Sale Agreement. She couldn’t have said that two months ago? Anyway my very capable solicitor pulled one together almost immediately. I agreed it. She then sent it to the buyers who had a query and by the time they tried to get back to her it was after 5pm on Friday and she’d gone home for the weekend. And I don’t blame her! She’d emailed us at 2.30am on Friday morning so she doesn’t exactly shirk during the week.
So that’s another week lost and the whole saga rolls over into this week. I suppose having a Sale Agreement is a step forward; I’ve never got that far with any of the previous prospectives, their banks didn’t want to see it until the mortgage had been agreed so I’m taking that as a positive step.
I’m trying hard not to sit around feeling sorry for myself and comfort eat. It’s hard, though. Especially in the cold weather – and boy hasn’t it been freezing? Or taters as we used to say in Dagenham. I’ve been out and about. Last week I had a great catch up with my friend D who asked me to go to Juliius Caesar with her at the Bridge Theatre as her sister had to drop out. The theatre’s a fabulous place and we got there early for our matinee performance and had a very tasty lunch while we chatted and then saw the play.
I must admit, I like my Shakespeare unadulterated. But this production with women playing several of the men’s roles (no problem with that!) and the stalls being cleared of seats to become the stage and the public being part of ‘the mob’ worked really well. A rock band opened the play and Caesar came in to roars and cheers. It was all a bit Corbyn at Glastonbury. The genius of Shakespeare never fails to amaze me and the play really resonates with the present day. I bloody loved it.
This Saturday saw me at the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch supporting my friend T who was in the Shenfield Operatic Society’s production of Betty Blue eyes. I’d never seen the show before – I know it ran in the West End about seven or eight years ago with Sarah Lancashire in it so I didn’t really know what to expect. But, another pleasant surprise. On the whole for an amateur company it was a really good standard. Of course, there’s the odd chorus member who comes onto stage doing your dad at a family wedding bobs in time to the music (or not) but I very much enjoyed it.
The only downer was the journey. There’s a rail replacement bus from Ingatestone, or rather TWO replacement buses. One from Ingatestone to Shenfield and another from there to Harold Wood where I then picked up the 256 to the theatre. Going was quite straightforward but coming back less so. At Shenfield I was sent to two bus stops by staff which were the wrong ones and then was shown where the bus stop for the Ingatestone bus was just as it was pulling out! Beyond inefficient! I mean, they’d been attending to people all day and they didn’t know which stop of the three the Ingatestone bus left from! Anyway another one came along after about fifteen minutes wait in the icy rain and I got to Ingatestone with about seven minutes to spare before the one-an-hour train left. At least the train was warm!
Friday was spent in a writing meeting with V. We’re now working on our next project which is very, very exciting and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Meanwhile, the finishing touches of the final edit on Only the Lonely are taking place. That’s super exciting, too!
And I’m halfway through Chapter One (of eight) of Singles Sunset.
Hi there. Just checking – has Avocado Cottage been sold? Saw it on a listing and hubby and I are interested in buying it. Thanks. Ramona.
Hi, Ramona.
Well, I am still waiting for my buyers to sign the Sales Agreement and pay their deposit so no, it’s not sold yet! *sighs