Mortgages, Multi-Tasking, and Keeping the Foxes Away from the Chickens

BREAKING NEWS EDIT: The Plot Thickens (And the Letting Agents Choose Subtext)

Just when we thought we were floating peacefully on our raft of moving boxes, a massive curveball landed in my inbox this afternoon. We’ve officially been contacted by a third-party company called LetAlliance. Apparently, we are now being investigated for a "breach of tenancy" so they can "gather information from our circumstances".

Translation? It looks like my polite, reasonable email explaining that we are in the middle of buying a place and just need a simple one-month extension is being tossed straight into the bin by the letting agents. Instead of having the basic decency to reply to us directly, they’ve gone straight to an outside corporate machine to signal that they’re already considering legal options.

I’m incredibly disappointed that they couldn't just pick up the phone and communicate with us like human beings after all this time, but hey ho. If it's a battle they want, a battle it is! ⚔️ Let the house-buying shenanigans truly commence.

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Hello friends, and welcome back to the studio! Or, as it currently looks, The Central Processing Depot for Bubble Wrap and Anxiety.

It’s been a delightfully chaotic couple of weeks over here, so grab a cuppa and let’s dive into the updates on the house, the clay, and the furry management.

The Great House Hunt: The Grand Gamble Pays Off!

I have some absolutely massive, stop-the-presses news. The mortgage has been officially offered!

Cue the confetti, the sighs of relief, and possibly a few tears.

To say this was a nail-biter is an understatement. We took a massive gamble with this one. Normally, the golden rule of house buying is that you wait for the official mortgage offer before shelling out hard-earned cash for things like searches and a Level 2 survey. But because we simply do not have the luxury of time, I went rogue in April and prepaid a cool £1,000 for them. It was a total roll of the dice fueled by sheer determination, a dream of a garden studio, and a hope that it wouldn’t all be for nothing.

The universe aligned, even if our mortgage advisor tried to test my patience by going on "annual leave" (or, as the rest of us call it, a holiday) right at the critical moment! Thankfully, the second he returned, the paperwork flew through and we have officially been passed over to a conveyancer.

Right now, the conveyancer is combing through all those searches. Once he’s happy that all the questions have been answered, it’s contract-writing time. Because we fast-tracked everything, I am cross my fingers and toes that we aren’t too far away and can get the keys before July! That would be an absolute dream. 

That being said, it seems that buying a home has a latent few weeks right in the middle where time slows down to absolute zero temperatures and progress hits the doldrums of the legal seas. Right now, we are floating on a raft of moving boxes and hope.

Uncharted Waters & Domestic Dreams

We are now officially past the 60-day Section 21 notice timeline on our current place. We are in unknown territory, which would be stressful enough on its own... if our letting agents weren't trying to actively manifest our departure.

In a move that feels less "professional property management" and more "illegal harassment," they have been closing down our utility accounts right over our heads! Just this past Friday, they managed to close our council tax account without anybody asking us first! I am currently spending my days frantically calling energy companies and the council, playing a repetitive game of, "Hello! No, we haven't left yet! No, we didn't authorize this, please turn the lights back on!"

I’ve messaged the landlady directly to let her know we aren't leaving just yet and that we need another month. It’s been radio silence from her end so far, but the boundary has been set.

Amidst the utility warfare, I took Hank to see the new house last Sunday. Let’s just say he wasn’t quite as instantly smitten as I am. Hank is not a fan of newer homes, and he was a bit shocked by how small the kitchen and garden are. But I am absolutely determined that we will win him round once we get our stamp on the place! We also met the seller, who kept affectionately referring to the house as "she." I don’t know about you, but I have never heard anyone call a house "she" before! I suppose "she" is going to be our new home, so we had better stay on her good side.

But the biggest perk of this move? I might finally get a proper washing machine.

Up until now, the space where a washing machine would normally live has been occupied by my kiln. Priorities, right? But now that the kiln will have its own proper home out in the garden log cabin, we can actually join the 21st century. I can finally stop using our old twin-tub as my main source of aerobic exercise for the week!

In the Studio: The Food Chain, but Make it Ceramic

Despite the impending move and the utility company warfare, the clay simply must flow. Lately, I’ve been hand-building two very specific animals: chickens and foxes.

Yes, I see the irony. Putting a freshly sculpted fox on the same drying shelf as a flock of clay chickens feels like a major health and safety hazard, even if they are made of Cromartie white earthenware. I'm keeping a very close eye on them to make sure no midnight standoffs occur before they hit the kiln.

Going Rogue on YouTube (Without the Kiln!)

Speaking of clay, if you caught my latest video on YouTube, you’ll know I did something a bit wild for a ceramicist: I dabbled in air-dry clay.

Look, sometimes you just want to make something without waiting weeks for a firing cycle, okay? It was an absolute blast to film, but it definitely threw the "management" for a loop. ChoccyBoy and Little Miss spent the entire time supervising from the sidelines, looking deeply offended that I was using clay that didn't require a terrifyingly hot oven to finish.

The Quality Control Team

Speaking of the cats, they have taken their roles as Moving Supervisors incredibly seriously.

• Little Miss has decided that any box currently being packed is actually a bespoke luxury cat bed designed specifically for her.

• ChoccyBoy prefers to sit directly on the bubble wrap, testing it for maximum pop-ability with his paws while I'm trying to wrap up finished sculptures.

Between the cats, the mortgage victory, the rogue letting agents, and the ceramic wildlife, there’s never a dull moment. Thank you all so much for cheering me on through this crazy transition—your support keeps me going (and keeps me laughing!).

Until next time, keep creating!

— Kath

Back to House Buying Part 2 - Squirrel Money and the Summerhouse