Update, June 2024

Hello again! I hope you are well and enjoying the improved weather. Hasn't it been hot? It has been super busy on the Coventry Canal in front of our house this week, with beautiful heritage boats, many of them heading for Braunston, hire boats, liveaboards, and leisure boaters, all enjoying the lovely cruising weather.

It's high time I sent you an update to explain what's been going on in my home and business life, and why I've been a little quieter than usual lately.

After my hubby Mike had his heart issues, we decided that rather than keep our savings ring-fenced for a property in France, we would get a few jobs done around the house, and try to make it feel more homely and comfortable, instead of it feeling like a house we'd just borrowed from the previous residents. I've been up to my eyebrows with project managing everything, selling things on eBay, scouring the internet for bargains. The refurbishments have mainly been in our garden room and kitchen, but have also included a fabulous little home office for Mike, created out of a repurposed dressing room. After weeks of chaos and a house full of workmen, we're actually getting organised again now, and loving the changes so far. It's amazing how different it looks and feels.

I have also been immersed in a rather demanding course of training - I'm learning to carry out EPC surveys. This is a valuable skill which I intend to offer both independently and through Viewber - that's the platform through which I provide many of my estate agency services. With EPC services under my belt, I will be equipped to carry out nearly all of Viewber's appointments, including viewings, property inspections, photography, 360 tours, floor plans, bespoke property reports, fire door checks, key holding reponsibilities, and more.

I have just completed the online classroom section of the EPC course, and by the end of today, I think (or hope) I will have submitted all the required assignments, except for the final three case studies. These case studies are effectively mock-ups of real EPCs, which have to be carried out to professional standards on real properties, and then submitted to the accreditation scheme for auditing. If I pass all my assignments and the case studies are approved, I will be qualified to join an accreditation scheme and carry out EPCs on domestic properties. I'm hoping that all this will be done and dusted by the end of next week.

But that's not all that's been going on here! As you may know, Mike recently left his job as a manager for a packaging company. He previously worked in financial services, and he has now returned to that field, but in a different capacity. This week he completed all the remaining training and the hefty regulatatory processes required to become a mortgage advisor. I am immensely proud of how hard he has worked to launch this new career, even taking one of the exams within a couple of weeks of his pacemaker being fitted. He is truly inspirational, and he'll be an amazing mortgage advisor, as he is so kind, trustworthy, supportive, and an all-round decent man. (I really am lucky to have him as my husband!)

I'm sure that after reading this, you can appreciate what a busy time we've had over the last few weeks. All our efforts now are focussed towards both of us working successfully from home and managing our own timetables, with flexibility to enjoy family time and relaxation as needed. There probably won't be much chance of any proper downtime in the immediate future, but at least the goal posts are finally in our sights...