December and no further forward!

Well, the flat is sold but nothing has happened on the purchase of the house in Southwold that we are so excited about.   Apparently when the current owner and her husband bought it 25 years ago they renovated it...pulled a wall down here, blocked a door there, took down a porch here, built a dormer window there...without getting Listed Building Consent!   Listed building consent has no statute of limitations.  If the planning authorities find a listed building that has been messed about, the current owners are liable and may be required to reinstate.  So we're signing nothing until the retrospective listed building consent that the seller has applied for comes through.   Planning authorities can be slow, so we are in limbo.  As soon as the consent comes through we can exchange contracts and complete immediately.   In the meantime the lady has moved out and the house is empty although she has left the heating on low.    So a very large room in a friend's house is stacked with our furniture from the flat and our study is full of boxes and bags.   I'm finding it hard to concentrate on anything!

Except knitting!  I am on my third Christmas present sweater for my great nephews and am racing to finish in time to get it posted.   And pottery. 

I started pottery in September and am loving it.   The class is full of friendly people and the tutor is excellent.  Each week she teaches a different technique and I am producing a steady stream of objects that a child would be proud of!   Still, I'm getting more skilled with each pot and having a great deal of fun!  Here's a couple of examples.  The two on the right are the result of my pots collapsing on the wheel, but I thought they looked interesting enough to keep and glaze.

It's another very windy day.  Yesterday when I went shopping my trolley was lifted off the ground!  Today I'm making the excuse of the wind not to go into the garden to do the much belated tidying up.  I shall tackle a pile of ironing instead.