Canterbury - 19th September, 2006

There is a feint mist and chill in the morning air. 45,000 students have re-populated the city and there is an air of expectancy. Quite exciting.

We have had a busy summer with our apartments booked 80% in July, 100% in August, 100% in September and already 70% booked in October. Christmas is full and we have taken a booking for the Tour de France coming to Canterbury in July next year.

I have never seen a business where the original budgets were wrong by a factor of 2 in our favour. The business is profitable at around 60% occupancy supposing that you don't give away too many discounted weeks. We have just bought another 2 bedroom apartment which will be our top end luxury rental. It's gorgeous. We all want to go and live there ourselves.

We continue to live in our flat roofed 1960s box house with the builders currently converting the integral garage into bedroom 4 and the dining room into bedroom 5. We currently have 2 chinese students in one room and a PGCE student in another. The 4 of us continue to sleep in one room.

Julie is working hard with her refugees, the school (she is already the Chair of the Class Contacts) and trying to keep me and the boys out of trouble and on the straight and narrow. A huge task in itself.

Our vicar has just returned from a 6 month sabbatical and it looks like there are some interesting months ahead of us!