Update, October 2024

Oh dear, a whole month without an update! I guess that's because I've been a bit unsettled lately, and I'm really not sure what to tell you all. We are both pretty contented and healthy, just a bit low in energy sometimes. The weather doesn't help, does it? I'm sitting here now, listening to the rain falling on the canal, and bemoaning the lack of passing boats - I expect everyone's hunkered down in front of their stoves!

The biggest issue I have at the moment is that, whereas Mike has been busy with his mortgage clients, and is proving to be every bit as good at it as I expected, my own career developments haven't worked out quite as I hoped.

I recently took a break from Viewber, to concentrate on 360 photography and EPCs. It was very exciting and nerve-racking to get my first call for an EPC appointment. The house wasn't too difficult, and the client was lovely. However, the second one I did rather knocked me for six. It was on the same estate, and although the clients were sweet, the scenario was very different. I was both emotionally and physically exhausted by the end of the appointment, and to top it all, I fell off my ladder. You should have seen the bruise! I was so shocked that I decided to pull back from my freelance work and take a break for a bit.

Teasmades

I have mainly been spending my spare time brushing up my teasmade website, which had been sadly neglected. It has been great to sort out my meta data and affiliate links, and add some new articles.

What, you didn't know that I'm the top teasmade expert in the world? Here's my appearance on Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention:

My efforts are paying off, as I have seen myself going up the Google search rankings for "teasmade". I started off on page two, but I am now well up in page one, trying to stay ahead of an old Mumsnet post - we keep swapping between 5th and 6th place! (If you try the Google search, please don't click on their post - click on mine!)

Family trees and cemeteries

Taking a step back from estate agency means I have been able to spend a bit more time on a family tree I'm working on for a client. I'm on a deadline for Christmas, so I'm getting increasingly frustrated at the number of brick walls which I won't have time to beat down! That's the thing with family history. Sometimes you get stuck. It's good to walk away for a few weeks and come back later with fresh eyes. If you're really lucky some new records may be available.

I have been very much enjoying my Find a Grave volunteering over the last month. To give you a flavour of why I find it so interesting and rewarding, here is my 'grave of the month'. It used to stand at the resting place of John Corby, but this was one of the many gravestones at St Editha's in Tamworth which were moved when the library was built.

You can see a line part way down the grave, which indicated the earth level. Everything below that line was underground.

The stonemasons were Mitchell's, and the owner's son, Henry, was an apprentice for the firm. Right at the bottom of the stone you can see some of Henry's practice marks. We are privileged that the removal of the stone also revealed his secret hidden verse:

"Stop spectator and this grave view!
The next that's made may be for you.
Henry Mitchell, Tamworth, aged 14, 1820."

Henry was born in 1806, the son of Henry Young Mitchell and Elizabeth nee Ackeroyd. In 1841 he was living in Hopwas with his wife Mary. He died on 24th Aug 1845, only 39 years old, and was buried at St Editha's in Tamworth. His brother Charles carried on the family business, but he too died young, aged 35, and passed the business on to his sons, Henry Young Mitchell and Arthur Mitchell. Henry Young Mitchell's son Henry Charles Mitchell was next in line, and it was he who carved the well-known Aethelflaeda statue in the castle grounds in Tamworth.

Where to retire?

Many of you are familiar with the coast or canalside home dichotomy, and you are probably aware that I am a victim of this myself. My sister and brother in law live in East Devon, in a lovely village overlooking an estuary where you can swim, and ten minutes from a beach. We were delighted to spend a weekend with them recently.

During our visit we came to realise that we wanted to live in the same area when we retire (3½ years to go for me!) My sister thought we might just be romancing, but over the subsequent weeks, a plan to retire to Devon has been consolidating in our minds. It is good to finally have a decision and a goal to work towards. I've been honing in on a few beautiful Devon villages, and I'll be exploring them soon.

It's a shame that there are no canals nearby, except for the rather short and unconnected Exeter Ship Canal, which is one of the oldest manmade waterways in the UK (unfortunately it is also a loss-making canal). Of course, in the absence of canals, my top priority is to live near an interesting cemetery!

In due course you may see my own canalside house up for sale... but not quite yet.