Friday 5 March 2010

I can breathe again, and a big thank you to a lovely person

The last few days have been very stressful. My oldest son is buying his first property, a 2bedroom flat. He is in a short chain, being a first time buyer, and his vendor is buying an empty property. All sounds rather good, yes? Thats until the ridiculous English property buying laws kick in. You can make an offer, the offer gets accepted, you can spend thousands on solicitors' fees, search fees, mortgage offer fees etc, but it doesn't commit people to anything at all. On Wednesday late afternoon, my son's vendor was told that if she didn't exchange contracts with her vendor by today 4pm, they would pull out as they had a higher offer from a cash buyer. My son's vendor would have lost her new flat and we both would have lost a heck of a lot of money in fees, if that had happened. So our solicitors and my son's vendor's solicitors were madly trying to get everything sorted within a day and a half. I guess the other people, the vendor's vendor, were banking on the fact that it was a ridiculously short deadline, and that we couldn't do it. I don't swear often in public, but such rotten behaviour, sheer greed and total lack of any regard for other people makes me very very angry. They are scum in my eyes ( they are solicitors themselves, btw, ) and I so wish I knew who they were, I'd tell them to their face what I think of them. The lady my son is buying his flat from is such a dear thing, in her 60s with a 92 year old mum whom she looks after, and those moneygrabbing sods were going to do that to her. But, we did it, our solicitors managed to get hold of everything they needed with couriers etc involved, and contracts were finally exchanged at 3pm this afternoon. I CAN BREATHE AGAIN!!! Rant over, lol. I am just so relieved that it is all going ahead now. Completion ( handing over of the money/keys ) is on the 19th March, my birthday!!! Can't be bad, lol.

And now for something completely different. I have been very lucky lately to win two fabulous giveaways . One I have already shown you in a previous post. And the second one I am about to show you now. A couple of days ago, my very eagerly awaited package from the incredibly talented Diane Knott arrived. She designs the most fabulous fabrics, which are sold all over the world. But thats not all by a long shot, she is the one who inspired me the most to try my hand at making tags. Hers are absolutely gorgeous, just go and check them out on her blog here. I'll betcha, you will be reading her blog for hours.

And what did I find in the package? THREE of her tags, I was so thrilled. You should have seen the grin on my face. If only I could make tags like that, sigh. Have a look at my three little treasures, aren't they just fantastic?

I want them on display all the time, so I am going to use one of the wooden plaques, which I found at the church jumble sale not long ago, to hang them on. After I have prettified the plaque, of course.

She also send me a very special "Tag-Velopes" Kit, so that I could make my own. She included so many wonderful bits and pieces, and I am going to have so much fun with those -


Thank you so much, Diane, it was such a lovely surprise.

I haven't done any crafting the last couple days, Poppie's op, son's property buying, it all got in the way of being creative. But now that I can breathe again, I'll do better!

Toodles! xxx

19 comments:

Beki said...

So glad you got everything sorted, now breathe.
I go through phases of making tags and love doing them.
Can see me trying to arrange another swap ; )
Wouldn't it be lovely to do like they do overseas, tag swaps, round robins and I love the petite inspiration ones they do, much like your little package you received.
Those tags are lovely by the way.

Have a great weekend

Beki xxx

made with love said...

Yay, that is such good news Liz, I bet you are so relieved. It is a horrible feeling though isn't it.
Lovely gifts you have received.
Have fun,
Rachael XX

Kim from The Sheep's Nest said...

Oh Liz I am so glad that your son has finally settled in on a place and that the contracts are signed. I don't understand why such things have to be so complicated. I sitting here waiting for my teenage daughter to get home, she called me in tears. The drama of these teenage years is going to kill me! I guess it doesn't get any easier as they get older huh? hugs,Kim

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Good grief, I think I need a cuppa after reading about your son's troubles. All sounds very stupid if you ask me.

Never mind lets get to the good part, the presents!! Wow wee what a lucky lady you are at the moment. What a perfect prize for you right now. And what amazing tags! Gosh you will have a great time using those precious bits and pieces.

Glad to hear your baby is doing OK after her op. Poor little girl.

Anonymous said...

I sure am glad you can breathe now. You do have some lovely items there. True getting kids settled can be trying times for sure. Sounded like a lot of BS to me, if you know what I mean. Blessings this weekend.
QMM

Rustique Gal said...

Hello! Wow, I have a friend going through that first-time homebuying-she is getting runarounds too. Very stressful!

Diane's package is charming and fun. I was a lucky runner-up and received a smaller version-the Tag-Velope kit is adorable. I was inspired enough to go out and buy a box of tags, stain some of them in coffee, tea and blueberry sauce! Now, to really do it-get creative!
Sherry

Tumbleweed Trails said...

I am so glad everythings working out for your son. Love your tags and the Tag Velope Kit is amazing. You'll have so much fun with the kit.
Jody

Laura @ 52 FLEA said...

Happy you can breathe again and glad things were resolved....love your tags...beautiful really!
Have a great weekend! My son has a birthday on the 18th...so I'll be thinking of you...but in case, I miss it..Happy Birthday!
:)

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

I'm glad that everything worked out fine for your son in the end! How exciting for him to own his first property now!
Congratulations on those fabulous tags, Liz! These are really beautiful!
Have a wonderful and creative weekend!
Hugs,
Julia

Dorthe said...

What crasy rules, would surely make me loose my nights sleep, I`m happy for you and ypour son, that you won, and all went ok, for him.
----And your packet, I envy you, -not nice I know, but I just love Diane Knott`s work too,-congratulations to you sweet, I`m happy for you taht you won.And the play packet, wow- have fun, and a lovely week-end too.
Hugs Dorthe

Andi's English Attic said...

So glad you got things sorted. On your behalf I hope the vendors are really angry and upset that you've thwarted them by managing to sort things out so quickly and they've lost that higher offer money. Mwaahahaaaaa!

Oxana said...

Love your tags!!! GORGEOUS!!!
Oxana

Elizabethd said...

Buying is so much simpler in France, once the offer is made and signed for there is no going back after 7 days wait.
You have had such an emotional roller coaster over this one, what rotten people they are. So glad it got sorted out.

Croap Queen said...

Erm, I did wonder what the ranting noise I could hear from the Hastings direction was. And justified too I think. Glad it's sorted out now.

Lovely tags - I am NOT going to try another hobby. I can't keep up with the ones I have already.

Aw, and Poppie girl is better. Yay. Has she forgiven you yet though?
JJ xx

harmony and rosie said...

I remember when we bought our first property, that was a nightmare too and there was a money-grabbing you know what involved too. It certainly brings out the worst in people. So glad he got there in the end!

Lucky you with the giveaway, swoon swoon the tags are stunning! x

Kissed by an Angel said...

Unfortunately a lot of people today just are not honourable!! They are just self serving!! I really don't like it! I am so glad your son got everything sorted in time!!
I love the tags, so beautiful!
xxxx

Yitte said...

I'm glad everything works out for you and your son. Beautiful tags!!

Create With Joy said...

Your tags are just lovely - and I'm sure a welcome surprise after the stress of the past few days!

Enjoy them! You deserve it!

Hugs
Ramona :-)
http://create-with-joy.blogspot.com

Kelly said...

Oh liz so glad everything was sorted in time! That sort of behavoir is just disgraceful! It's a bit of a two fingers up that they managed to get it sorted though! Don't worry what goes around comes around!
On the other hand the tags you made were beautiful, must be venting the anger!