Plants are amazing

These hanging baskets hung out all winter.  We haven't watered them at all this spring - after all, we were supposed to have moved out almost 3 months ago - when our buyers dropped out on 22nd March we had been expecting to exchange contracts and complete within the next couple of weeks.  

Since we accepted the offer by the current buyers (on 4th April), we've been constantly on edge, thinking that we can move soon.  As it is, their conveyancers have raised question after question.  Currently, the problem is that we are a semi-detached house.  On our land is a septic tank which is shared by our attached neighbours.  When we moved in, we were made aware of this, but we (and our conveyancer at the time) didn't see fit to worry - there is an arrangement whereby when we have it emptied, our neighbours pay half.  We have never had any problem.  If it needs repairs, our neighbours' landlord (they are tenants) is responsible for half the cost, and wants to be involved in decisions about who is employed - also not a problem.  But this has all been largely informal - there is a document signed by previous owners of our property.  The other semi is still owned by the person who signed the document years ago.

The conveyancers for our buyers have decided that this informal arrangement is not good enough, and that the document is not legally binding.  They want something more formal in the deeds.  Which, of course, involves getting the agreement of the owner (rather than the tenants) of our adjoining semi - fortunately he has not been difficult about this.

So our conveyancer has drawn up a suitable document and it is currently with our buyers' conveyancer.  A gentle email to our conveyancer today (a week after she told us she was sending the document to the buyers' conveyancer) elicited the response that she is "still waiting for your buyers’ solicitor to approve my draft documents relating to the covenants.  I will chase again this afternoon as it would be nice to get somewhere with this, especially as all of the extra paperwork is at their insistence!"  What would be even nicer - in my humble opinion, is that she was chasing it without needing to be chased herself.

Meanwhile, I find it really difficult to motivate myself to do anything.  But the garden is doing its own thing.  Despite our total neglect, we have gorgeous flowering geraniums in the hanging basket (and a fuchsia in its neighbour, though that hasn't flowered yet) and large quantities of strawberries.