Aha! There you are! So we went on our 330 mile round trip to Oxford yesterday and lived to tell the tale. I'm so glad we went to have a look at the property options avaliable to us rather than just shrugging and saying "whatever" as our views were very clear-cut.
The cottage in Wheatley will, I think, be completely wrong. It's a converted barn, very nicely done with exposed brickwork and high beamed ceilings. Nice house, but the wrong location. First of all, it's a long way from the college, a 10 minute drive or an hour or so to walk, and with Paul and I really keen to involve ourselves in the community there'd be no popping to 10pm compline on a whim or staying up in the common room until the small hours. Worse than that is the roads. It's set on an apex of two busy roads - the main road into Wheatley at the front, the A40 dual carriageway at the back right off the garden. If we took the cats there they would come to a sticky end for sure.
The flat in the college was a complete contrast. We thought that being on the second floor would make it difficult for us to take the cats, but there's no door at the bottom of the stairwell, it just opens up into the gardens. The flat next door have a cat, and he seemed very happy and friendly, he even came into the one we were looking at to help us have a look around. It's unfurnished and plenty spacious enough for our furniture, and the view out the back is breathtaking. I couldn't imagine anywhere more perfect.
But... there's a but. We don't get to choose. David takes our views into account and goes away to piece together the very complicated jigsaw he is managing. He told us quietly that he's 75% sure we'll be able to have the flat. He should be able to let us know next week.
Meanwhile... things are coming together on what Paul is to do while I am training. Technically, the church expect him to work and contribute his earnings to my grant. However, we've asked for dispensation for him to study too. He'll be taking an ICT level 3 in Oxford or Abingdon, the plan being that by the time we return to Devon he'll be able to either set up his own business or get an IT support job somewhere. To me, it makes much more sense than him getting another driving or warehousing job which is going nowhere. We'll see what the Diocese say.
In other news, I spoke to the Solicitor on Friday. She thinks our buyers aren't moving particularly quickly. They're getting the mortgage sorted but have not paid conveyancing fees to their Solicitors as yet.
Looks like we could be in Devon a little while longer.
Sunday 26 June 2011
Wednesday 22 June 2011
A Place in the Country
I'm as up-and-down as a teenager at the moment. Of the three things I told you I was anxious about in my last Blog posting, two are now going much better. I still haven't found that magic money tree, but two out of three ain't bad.
So, last Thursday David the Bursar, who is a lovely chap, got in touch about accommodation at the college. He asked me for my opinion on two potential homes.
Potential Home (A): A two-bedroom unfurnished flat on the second floor of the Runcie building, on campus.
Pros - Living on-site makes getting up for 7.30am morning prayer less painful; 2-bedroom means space for guests to stay; I've seen these flats and they're very spacious; beautiful view out into the valley behind the college.
Cons - Living on the second floor with cats, really?; Cuddesdon has no shops to buy that sneaky bar of Galaxy; a number of people have said I really ought to think about whether I want to be that close to college.
Potential Home (B): A one-bedroom furnished cottage on a private drive off a main road opposite Asda, Wheatley, approx 3 miles from college.
Pros - Ted and Dougal can frolic in the surrounding farmers' fields to their little catty hearts' content; maintains sufficient distance between college life and home life; another college couple live next door so won't be completely cut-off; proximity to large low-cost supermarket.
Cons - I will be one of the furthest students from college so may feel left-out,;I'll have to drive to college as it's a busy road; do I really want to go to the effort of selling/storing my furniture?
When faced with these dilemmas (and it really is a dilemma, I don't even know which one I prefer the sound of and neither does Paul!) the best thing is to go and see, and we're doing just that on Saturday. We won't be able to make the absolute decision on which one we have, but if we love one and hate the other they'll take that into account.
It's lovely to finally have some movement on that side of things. But our existing house has continued to be a worry as there hasn't been any contact from either estate agent or solicitor until tonight when the estate agent called to ask if we'd mind a mortgage surveyor coming round on Monday. This sounds like a little thing but it is very good news! When your whole future depends on the buyers not dropping out, the possibility that this might happen plays on your mind. The fact that a mortgage surveyor is coming round suggests that they've been approved for a mortgage (mortgage company wouldn't send a surveyor and then turn the applicants down, that's my thinking!) and they're still up for buying, yippeeee!
So, phew, things are getting there slowly. I'll tell you all about my trip to Oxfordshire next time, and movements on what Paul is going to do are afoot. All in next week's edition!
So, last Thursday David the Bursar, who is a lovely chap, got in touch about accommodation at the college. He asked me for my opinion on two potential homes.
Potential Home (A): A two-bedroom unfurnished flat on the second floor of the Runcie building, on campus.
Pros - Living on-site makes getting up for 7.30am morning prayer less painful; 2-bedroom means space for guests to stay; I've seen these flats and they're very spacious; beautiful view out into the valley behind the college.
Cons - Living on the second floor with cats, really?; Cuddesdon has no shops to buy that sneaky bar of Galaxy; a number of people have said I really ought to think about whether I want to be that close to college.
Potential Home (B): A one-bedroom furnished cottage on a private drive off a main road opposite Asda, Wheatley, approx 3 miles from college.
Pros - Ted and Dougal can frolic in the surrounding farmers' fields to their little catty hearts' content; maintains sufficient distance between college life and home life; another college couple live next door so won't be completely cut-off; proximity to large low-cost supermarket.
Cons - I will be one of the furthest students from college so may feel left-out,;I'll have to drive to college as it's a busy road; do I really want to go to the effort of selling/storing my furniture?
When faced with these dilemmas (and it really is a dilemma, I don't even know which one I prefer the sound of and neither does Paul!) the best thing is to go and see, and we're doing just that on Saturday. We won't be able to make the absolute decision on which one we have, but if we love one and hate the other they'll take that into account.
It's lovely to finally have some movement on that side of things. But our existing house has continued to be a worry as there hasn't been any contact from either estate agent or solicitor until tonight when the estate agent called to ask if we'd mind a mortgage surveyor coming round on Monday. This sounds like a little thing but it is very good news! When your whole future depends on the buyers not dropping out, the possibility that this might happen plays on your mind. The fact that a mortgage surveyor is coming round suggests that they've been approved for a mortgage (mortgage company wouldn't send a surveyor and then turn the applicants down, that's my thinking!) and they're still up for buying, yippeeee!
So, phew, things are getting there slowly. I'll tell you all about my trip to Oxfordshire next time, and movements on what Paul is going to do are afoot. All in next week's edition!
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Vans and Vestments
Well I haven't written for 10 days and there's a good reason for this, very little has actually happened!
I'm feeling anxious at the moment, which is playing out as on-and-off nausea. I think I can pin my anxiety down to 3 things.
1) The house sale is going slowly. It's been 2 weeks since we accepted the offer. At this point when we were buyers we had already measured for furniture and got a surveyor sorted. Maybe we were just over-enthusiastic?
2) We haven't yet learnt where we will be living at college. I'm quite an organised person and I like to have things planned out in my head, and to not know where we'll be living in just a few weeks is a bit frightening! The last cohort of candidates went through their BAPs at the end of May and will be finding out their results about now. Sensibly, the college wait to allocate accommodation until they know exactly which students they have got so there's nothing I can do to make this happen quicker.
3) MONEY. It's a big one this. For the last year or so Paul and I have been living a few hundred off our overdraft and credit card limits. We've no big financial vices (apart from possibly going out for coffee and cake.) We just made a slight mistake in going for a fixed rate mortgage meaning we're paying above the odds. A few big expenses in the last few days (which I will come onto later) have meant we're living on just a couple of hundred for the rest of the month with an overdraft extension pending.
Happy days! So that's where my mind is at the mo and the work-home-tea-TV-bed routine seems to only elevate the stress.
Still, yesterday was interesting. Paul and I decided to both book the day off, our last full day of annual leave before we finish our jobs so we knew we had to make good use of it.
First thing we popped into J Wippell, clerical outfitters, in search of a cassock and surplice which I will need for college. We thought we'd get this sorted early as weren't sure how long these things take to make. I haven't been to J Wippell before and imagined it to be an establishment like you might find in Diagon Alley, dark and dusty with cassocks hung all over the place and possibly a few wands. But it was a very professional affair, the man didn't seem at all surprised at me rocking up in my Converse and skinny jeans announcing I was going to Theological college and found what I needed in a jiffy. I'm having mine tailored for me so it will take a couple of weeks. Here's what (I think) I've ordered. Ignore the models!:
http://www.wippell.co.uk/p-291-style-w120x-polyester-viscose-cassock.aspx
http://www.wippell.co.uk/p-109-style-no-w4b-surplice.aspx
Maybe I will debate the pros and cons of priestly garb on this blog at a later date. Suffice to say it felt very odd trying them on. The cassock was very smart but the surplice made me feel a little like a cake. I also feel significantly poorer now having put this holy wear onto the credit card. Needs must!
Anyway, after Wippell we went to Marsh Barton, Exeter's solution to all your motor-vehicle-related needs, and hired a Ford Transit. We spent all morning carting junk to the dump. Doors, radiators, bits of wood, tiles, an old sink, rolls and rolls of carpet; all the stuff we'd shoved in the sheds over the course of our home improvements. Finally we loaded up some furniture we don't think we'll need in the flat - a bed, a bookcase, a chest of drawers - and took it down to my parents' who are kindly storing it for us.
We had a lovely afternoon with Mum and Dad, did some shopping in Taunton where Mum and I started buying me my birthday present (she always takes me clothes shopping, which believe me is very useful!) But the afternoon was slightly dampened by us knocking the wing mirror off the van on the way back to Exeter. These things happen. We had a bit of a difficult evening worrying about how much it was going to cost. We even phoned the bank and accepted their recent offer of an overdraft extension.
The van hire company phoned this morning. It's only going to come to £50 which is quite a relief. But we're going to have to go careful for the rest of the month. No more cake. No more cassocks. Pasta and baked beans all round...!
I'm feeling anxious at the moment, which is playing out as on-and-off nausea. I think I can pin my anxiety down to 3 things.
1) The house sale is going slowly. It's been 2 weeks since we accepted the offer. At this point when we were buyers we had already measured for furniture and got a surveyor sorted. Maybe we were just over-enthusiastic?
2) We haven't yet learnt where we will be living at college. I'm quite an organised person and I like to have things planned out in my head, and to not know where we'll be living in just a few weeks is a bit frightening! The last cohort of candidates went through their BAPs at the end of May and will be finding out their results about now. Sensibly, the college wait to allocate accommodation until they know exactly which students they have got so there's nothing I can do to make this happen quicker.
3) MONEY. It's a big one this. For the last year or so Paul and I have been living a few hundred off our overdraft and credit card limits. We've no big financial vices (apart from possibly going out for coffee and cake.) We just made a slight mistake in going for a fixed rate mortgage meaning we're paying above the odds. A few big expenses in the last few days (which I will come onto later) have meant we're living on just a couple of hundred for the rest of the month with an overdraft extension pending.
Happy days! So that's where my mind is at the mo and the work-home-tea-TV-bed routine seems to only elevate the stress.
Still, yesterday was interesting. Paul and I decided to both book the day off, our last full day of annual leave before we finish our jobs so we knew we had to make good use of it.
First thing we popped into J Wippell, clerical outfitters, in search of a cassock and surplice which I will need for college. We thought we'd get this sorted early as weren't sure how long these things take to make. I haven't been to J Wippell before and imagined it to be an establishment like you might find in Diagon Alley, dark and dusty with cassocks hung all over the place and possibly a few wands. But it was a very professional affair, the man didn't seem at all surprised at me rocking up in my Converse and skinny jeans announcing I was going to Theological college and found what I needed in a jiffy. I'm having mine tailored for me so it will take a couple of weeks. Here's what (I think) I've ordered. Ignore the models!:
http://www.wippell.co.uk/p-291-style-w120x-polyester-viscose-cassock.aspx
http://www.wippell.co.uk/p-109-style-no-w4b-surplice.aspx
Maybe I will debate the pros and cons of priestly garb on this blog at a later date. Suffice to say it felt very odd trying them on. The cassock was very smart but the surplice made me feel a little like a cake. I also feel significantly poorer now having put this holy wear onto the credit card. Needs must!
Anyway, after Wippell we went to Marsh Barton, Exeter's solution to all your motor-vehicle-related needs, and hired a Ford Transit. We spent all morning carting junk to the dump. Doors, radiators, bits of wood, tiles, an old sink, rolls and rolls of carpet; all the stuff we'd shoved in the sheds over the course of our home improvements. Finally we loaded up some furniture we don't think we'll need in the flat - a bed, a bookcase, a chest of drawers - and took it down to my parents' who are kindly storing it for us.
We had a lovely afternoon with Mum and Dad, did some shopping in Taunton where Mum and I started buying me my birthday present (she always takes me clothes shopping, which believe me is very useful!) But the afternoon was slightly dampened by us knocking the wing mirror off the van on the way back to Exeter. These things happen. We had a bit of a difficult evening worrying about how much it was going to cost. We even phoned the bank and accepted their recent offer of an overdraft extension.
The van hire company phoned this morning. It's only going to come to £50 which is quite a relief. But we're going to have to go careful for the rest of the month. No more cake. No more cassocks. Pasta and baked beans all round...!
Sunday 5 June 2011
Sale Agreed
The title of this post takes its name from the massive letters now slapped across the picture of our property in Whitton and Laing's window.
In the end I feel quite content with the £164k we have settled at. As I have said before, we had come to terms with the fact that we were never going to get to our break even point, and in the grand scheme of things a £1.5k loss isn't the end of the world. The couple we have agreed the sale with first saw the house back in April. They are in rented and are keen to move, and they have made 4 offers now over the course of 8 weeks, which suggests they're not going to change their minds any time soon!
Timing is a funny thing. Our house was on the market for exactly 10 weeks and, somehow, I feel this offer has come at just the right time. If we had got a decent offer pre-BAP results I'm not sure we would have been brave enough to accept it. Any later than now we'd have driven ourselves mad with worry about whether we were ever going to sell the thing. If it takes 6-8 weeks to go through we'll be moving some time between the middle and the end of July, giving us just the right amount of time to settle into Oxford before term begins. Perfect.
The house news spurred a 'difficult' conversation with my boss. Now, my boss is absolutely lovely, but she was very eager that I shouldn't leave work until the 12th of August to give me a 2 week handover with a colleauge who is returning to work from maternity on 1st August. Unless the house sale takes a ridiculously long time (which I don't think it will as the buyer's financial position is good) this isn't going to happen. My boss took it well, and I handed in an undated notice on Friday, which means she is now able to start re-recruiting my post (if the powers-that-be will let her!)
So, you see, I am well into the 'practicalities' stage of the move (and I haven't even mentioned my adventure into the world of short-wheel-base transit hiring!) I love all that stuff, it makes it seem suddenly very real - the future I have been thinking about for so long is almost here! But talking of the future, I got an email a couple of days ago from an old friend. I say friend, he's the ex-Minister of the Baptist church in which I was brought up, and also incidentally an Anglican Priest and quite significantly older than me, but I think on him as a friend. His wife is severely unwell with cancer. His email made me realise the different perspectives we have on the future at different stages in our lives. No matter how much I try to value every day, to me every day feels like a preparation for that new life which will be starting for Paul and I in September. So many thoughts and conversations focussed on it. But for my friend it's the present, not the future, which is so precious.
He made reference to an old hymn (which I haven't actually heard of - yes, I know I'll have to get better at pretending my knowledge of churchy things is wider than it is!) But anyway, I looked it up, and here's a little bit.
I do not know what lies ahead
the way I cannot see
yet one stands near to be my guide
He`ll show the way to me
I know who holds the future
and He`ll guide me with His hand
With God things don`t just happen
everything by Him is planned
So as I face tomorrow
with its problems large and small
I`ll trust the God of miracles
give to Him my all.
In the end I feel quite content with the £164k we have settled at. As I have said before, we had come to terms with the fact that we were never going to get to our break even point, and in the grand scheme of things a £1.5k loss isn't the end of the world. The couple we have agreed the sale with first saw the house back in April. They are in rented and are keen to move, and they have made 4 offers now over the course of 8 weeks, which suggests they're not going to change their minds any time soon!
Timing is a funny thing. Our house was on the market for exactly 10 weeks and, somehow, I feel this offer has come at just the right time. If we had got a decent offer pre-BAP results I'm not sure we would have been brave enough to accept it. Any later than now we'd have driven ourselves mad with worry about whether we were ever going to sell the thing. If it takes 6-8 weeks to go through we'll be moving some time between the middle and the end of July, giving us just the right amount of time to settle into Oxford before term begins. Perfect.
The house news spurred a 'difficult' conversation with my boss. Now, my boss is absolutely lovely, but she was very eager that I shouldn't leave work until the 12th of August to give me a 2 week handover with a colleauge who is returning to work from maternity on 1st August. Unless the house sale takes a ridiculously long time (which I don't think it will as the buyer's financial position is good) this isn't going to happen. My boss took it well, and I handed in an undated notice on Friday, which means she is now able to start re-recruiting my post (if the powers-that-be will let her!)
So, you see, I am well into the 'practicalities' stage of the move (and I haven't even mentioned my adventure into the world of short-wheel-base transit hiring!) I love all that stuff, it makes it seem suddenly very real - the future I have been thinking about for so long is almost here! But talking of the future, I got an email a couple of days ago from an old friend. I say friend, he's the ex-Minister of the Baptist church in which I was brought up, and also incidentally an Anglican Priest and quite significantly older than me, but I think on him as a friend. His wife is severely unwell with cancer. His email made me realise the different perspectives we have on the future at different stages in our lives. No matter how much I try to value every day, to me every day feels like a preparation for that new life which will be starting for Paul and I in September. So many thoughts and conversations focussed on it. But for my friend it's the present, not the future, which is so precious.
He made reference to an old hymn (which I haven't actually heard of - yes, I know I'll have to get better at pretending my knowledge of churchy things is wider than it is!) But anyway, I looked it up, and here's a little bit.
I do not know what lies ahead
the way I cannot see
yet one stands near to be my guide
He`ll show the way to me
I know who holds the future
and He`ll guide me with His hand
With God things don`t just happen
everything by Him is planned
So as I face tomorrow
with its problems large and small
I`ll trust the God of miracles
give to Him my all.
Wednesday 1 June 2011
Life is a Rollercoaster
The speed with which things are ticking along is quite amazing, although it's never really fast enough. A quick update on events since I last spoke with you on Saturday.
I guess the house is still at the forefront of my mind. I was pinning everything on the nice young couple we met on Saturday, then got a surprise call on Tuesday morning from the estate agent to say that a couple who viewed it 8 weeks ago (and put in a rather cheeky offer back then) had phoned to let us know they are still interested, and have revised their offer to £162,000. It's still low, as this will mean around a £3,500 loss once all is balanced, but they're in a secure financial position and happy to get things moving asap so it's worth taking seriously.
For now we're sitting on this offer awaiting the decision of the nice young couple who came again yesterday and have gone away to think about it. I spoke with the estate agent this morning and we agreed we wouldn't be pushy with them but if they're still dithering on Friday we'll turn our attentions to coaxing the £162k couple up a little bit. It all feels entirely sensible, but I still don't like the waiting!
The 'which course will I do?' issue continues to be confuddling. While the college seemed happy for me to start on the MPhil without having cleared it with the funding panel, Becky was concerned that starting a course without funding may not be a wise idea. She has checked with the Ministry division who have requested I start on the MTh and negotiate with the college about applying to next May's funding panel and perhaps switching to the MPhil or something similar after a year. So it still looks like I can train for three years but what I will end up with I do not know! I'm not too disappointed. As I've said before the academic element of this comes third for me after the spiritual (doing God's work) and the practical (helping people), and at least doing the MTh, which is taught, not research, will mean learning alongside fellow students rather than being all on my lonesome.
Talking of the practical elements, I've been filling in the form about what sort of placements I'm going to do in my first term. I get to do two - a Sunday placement (which unsurprisingly is with a church) and a midweek placement (in a secular setting).
I'm very clear on what sort of Sunday placement I want. The first placement is purely observational - no sermons, no leading groups - just watching, reflecting and talking to people. I think this is a good opportunity to go to a church that is out of my comfort zone. I flirted for a little while with conservative-evangelical free churches during 6th form and University, but this model of church never really sat right with me, nor me with it. But I'm keen to be placed at a free church in order to really understand what attracts people to them. Do people tend to come over from the more traditional forms of church, disenchanted with the worship and teaching? Or do they come to it fresh, attracted by the cultural familiarity of guitars and drums and the clarity of the simple gospel message? I'd also like to know how these churches manage without the formal leadership and accountability structure you encounter in established churches. Fascinating.
Myaking my mind up about my midweek placement was a bit more difficult. I have four options - community project, youth work, schools work, hospital chaplaincy. My immediate thought was to go for the first one as I've loved my time at St David's soup evening and feel that reaching out to the poor and marginalised is a vital message of the gospel. However, I realised that the soup evening has given me a pretty strong grounding in this sort of work and maybe I should pick the placement option that I felt least comfortable with. With one hand in front of my eyes I reached for my pen with the other and shakingly ticked 'youth work'.
I am now off to post the placement form and prepare myself for a summer of waking up in a cold sweat having dreamt of myself floundering before a sports-hall full of moody teenagers, them wondering where their normal trendy youth workers have gone, amazed that I don't own an i-phone and don't know who or what N-Dubz is...
I guess the house is still at the forefront of my mind. I was pinning everything on the nice young couple we met on Saturday, then got a surprise call on Tuesday morning from the estate agent to say that a couple who viewed it 8 weeks ago (and put in a rather cheeky offer back then) had phoned to let us know they are still interested, and have revised their offer to £162,000. It's still low, as this will mean around a £3,500 loss once all is balanced, but they're in a secure financial position and happy to get things moving asap so it's worth taking seriously.
For now we're sitting on this offer awaiting the decision of the nice young couple who came again yesterday and have gone away to think about it. I spoke with the estate agent this morning and we agreed we wouldn't be pushy with them but if they're still dithering on Friday we'll turn our attentions to coaxing the £162k couple up a little bit. It all feels entirely sensible, but I still don't like the waiting!
The 'which course will I do?' issue continues to be confuddling. While the college seemed happy for me to start on the MPhil without having cleared it with the funding panel, Becky was concerned that starting a course without funding may not be a wise idea. She has checked with the Ministry division who have requested I start on the MTh and negotiate with the college about applying to next May's funding panel and perhaps switching to the MPhil or something similar after a year. So it still looks like I can train for three years but what I will end up with I do not know! I'm not too disappointed. As I've said before the academic element of this comes third for me after the spiritual (doing God's work) and the practical (helping people), and at least doing the MTh, which is taught, not research, will mean learning alongside fellow students rather than being all on my lonesome.
Talking of the practical elements, I've been filling in the form about what sort of placements I'm going to do in my first term. I get to do two - a Sunday placement (which unsurprisingly is with a church) and a midweek placement (in a secular setting).
I'm very clear on what sort of Sunday placement I want. The first placement is purely observational - no sermons, no leading groups - just watching, reflecting and talking to people. I think this is a good opportunity to go to a church that is out of my comfort zone. I flirted for a little while with conservative-evangelical free churches during 6th form and University, but this model of church never really sat right with me, nor me with it. But I'm keen to be placed at a free church in order to really understand what attracts people to them. Do people tend to come over from the more traditional forms of church, disenchanted with the worship and teaching? Or do they come to it fresh, attracted by the cultural familiarity of guitars and drums and the clarity of the simple gospel message? I'd also like to know how these churches manage without the formal leadership and accountability structure you encounter in established churches. Fascinating.
Myaking my mind up about my midweek placement was a bit more difficult. I have four options - community project, youth work, schools work, hospital chaplaincy. My immediate thought was to go for the first one as I've loved my time at St David's soup evening and feel that reaching out to the poor and marginalised is a vital message of the gospel. However, I realised that the soup evening has given me a pretty strong grounding in this sort of work and maybe I should pick the placement option that I felt least comfortable with. With one hand in front of my eyes I reached for my pen with the other and shakingly ticked 'youth work'.
I am now off to post the placement form and prepare myself for a summer of waking up in a cold sweat having dreamt of myself floundering before a sports-hall full of moody teenagers, them wondering where their normal trendy youth workers have gone, amazed that I don't own an i-phone and don't know who or what N-Dubz is...
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