We can hardly believe our luck, as we had no idea whether we could find a replacement tenant this time of year. And we worried that if we did find someone, they would want to move in right away, which would be difficult while David's still working. So to find these people on the first viewing, and to have them be so flexible with the dates, is just fantastic.
The agent e-mailed me today saying the couple has made a formal application, so all that remains is for them to pass their reference checks. The plan is for us to move out on Sunday November 11 and them to move in on November 14.
An extra bonus of this whole process is that the couple was really interesting to meet when they came to look at the flat. They are lesbians, for a start. The girl who did most of the talking was named Nonnie, and she was very nice and friendly and apologetic for her Type-A list of questions she'd brought along to ask. She was about my age, and said she went to Oxford too when she saw my sweatshirt.
Her partner is named Lucy, and she was a little younger, wore a leather jacket and nose ring, and looked like she could beat me up if she wanted to. But fortunately she was quite nice too. She arrived separately in a pickup truck that said MotorcycleFunerals.com on the side. Naturally, we looked it up immediately after they left, and we learned she drives motorcycle hearses for a living!
In the meantime, David has put in his notice at work, which was pretty exciting for him. His last day will be Friday October 26, just a few days before the work visa expires.
So we will spend the first week of November here at the farm, getting rid of most of our stuff, packing, and enjoying David's new freedom with some sightseeing in our general area. Then we'll have two weeks for a farewell tour of the UK, which we are thinking of dividing between London, the southeast of England, and Scotland (I can't believe we haven't made it there yet!). Then we'll come back to Oxford for my degree ceremony on Saturday November 24, then we'll be free to begin the next phase of our adventures!
In other news, last week we welcomed a new gadget into the family: a beautiful Canon L 70-200mm zoom lens. We resisted the expenditure for awhile, but it became clear that if we are going to photograph cathedrals and other things semi-professionally, we need the proper equipment. At least it is tax-deductible as a business expense!
So the new baby is now attached to David's camera mostly full-time. With me using the wide-angle lens, we make a good team. The zoom arrived mid-week last week, so at first it could only be tested on things around the farm. But David had a great time bothering the chickens and hunting other creatures from the bushes.
Pondering life during an evening walk.
Portrait of one of our girls that makes us such nice eggs.
Pheasants
Bunny!
Full moon over Great Milton
One of the coolest things about this new lens is that it has image stabilization, which means you don't need a tripod to photograph things in low light, or the moon! After a few exposure adjustments, David took the above photo by just walking outside and pointing the camera at the sky. Seriously cool.
On Saturday we took the new lens to another local parish church to really put it to the test. This church is in Thame, which is 7 miles northeast of us. It was quite a large and nice church and full of zooming opportunities. The visit was made even more pleasant by friendly ladies bustling around decorating it with harvest-related items.
Exterior (by me with the wide-angle)
Interior (by me with the wide-angle)
A king and an angel near the ceiling, beautifully captured by the zoom. We could never get such photos before!
Blowing bubbles? Mouth full of candy? I dunno!
Victorian (1800s) stained glass window of St. Nicholas of Myra, of Christmas fame. (You can read more about the original St. Nick and the three bags he's holding here.)
Wall painting of the Virgin Mary (once part of a Pieta), c.1500. Left photo with wide-angle by me; right photo with zoom by David. This illustrates one of the reasons we're so happy to have the zoom lens - you can walk further back from details like this and avoid distortion by shooting straight on.
Churchyard path, by David.
(For Steve R.'s benefit, a path led from the churchyard to a huge cricket pitch!)
On our way back to the car from the church, we happened to chat briefly with the owner of this lovely 1966 Land Rover. He saw our cameras and approached us to ask if we happened to know any celluloid camera enthusiasts, as he had one to sell (a camera, not an enthusiast). We weren't much help there, but we ended up learning that he owned the old Land Rover as well as the newer black one nearby, and he was going to drive the old one from London to Brighton as part of a Land Rover club the following day. He was about David's age and a friendly lad, made perhaps more so by the fact that he'd just emerged from the pub. He smelled strongly of beer, despite the fact it was only 1pm. Ah, Britain.
Thame was a nice market town and had a lot of old half-timbered houses too:
Another church presented itself along the road near Thame, so we stopped briefly for a photo or two:
No comments:
Post a Comment