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!