The kitchen at St. Peter's street. Amazing what you can do with a wide angle lens. 

View of Canterbury Cathedral from the upstairs kitchen at Station Road West and yes I am going to move the drain vent from sticking up like that (click on photo to enlarge). 

The upstairs apartment living room at Station Road West.

The house we are are converting into 2 serviced apartments in Station Road West.

The downstairs bathroom at Station Road West. 

Canterbury - 30th March, 2006

This is the night before:

1. The end of term for the boys.
2. The last night in our camp site self catering unit.
3. We (Daddy and the boys) leave to drive to Chamonix to ski for a week.
4. We exchange on 2 more properties.
5. We have had our first property in Canterbury for exactly a month.

Phew. It's all go around here. Julie has been in her new job (see: www.kran.org.uk) for 2 weeks now. She has her first event with them next Thursday. She was slightly perturbed today when a woman at another meeting she went to, explained that she (the woman not Juie) was not allowed to make home made cakes as she has not got her Basic Hygiene Level One Certificate. Now isn't that the best excuse in the book. Julie hasn't got one either but 5,000 people must have sampled her baking by now (she did 500 at one go for a wedding!). This kind of attitude unfortunately is all too prevalent in the quasi-governmental, Guardian Jobs page types of jobs that everyone has around here and especially everyone who works in any type of social service like Julie is doing now. She is going to have to bite alot of her tongue.

Work is at full tilt on the first of our serviced apartments (see: www.canterburyservicedapartments.co.uk). All the walls have required re-plastering, we are doing 2 new bathrooms, 1 new kitchen and new carpet and decorations throughout. We have our first customers moving into both apartments on 23rd April and I even have a tentative booking for another property which we are yet to complete on. We have amazed and encouraged at the response we have had so far.

I am going skiiing with my brother in law and his boys and Julian and Sammy. We are driving to Chamonix. The boys are really excited as they loved skiiing in the U.S. last year (oh my was it that long ago?) and they know that their cousins have never been on skis before and will therefore not be able to keep up with them for the first few days.

Canterbury - 3rd March, 2006

I just have to get back to the blog and let you know how we are doing. We have had such a good week this week that we feel guilty for receiving so many blessings, well above what we are due.

The biggest and best news is that Julie just got the best job in the world for her. She has been taken on by the Kent Refugee Action Network (www.kran.co.uk) as a manager of refugee mentors. This job was made for her. She gets the laptop and the mobile phone (perhaps not entirely made for her) and she visits, recruits and trains people who want to mentor refugees. It's a job share with (coincidentally) another parent of a Canterbury Steiner School child. A fact she only found out after the first interview. She subsequently met the lady in the school car park. She will be doing two and half days per week which she can basically fit in at any time during the week. The job pays the boys school fees completely and some more.

She is over the moon and can't wait to get started which she does on March 22nd.

Today we completed on our first property (we had originally offered on it back in November but have been going slowly on it) which is located at 32, Station Road West, Canterbury. See my hastily developed website at: www.canterburyservicedapartments.co.uk. We are taking bookings and have already (it was only put on the web last week) had a week booked from Australia and a Pastor from Aberdeen who wants 3 weeks from March 11th (ooopppps I had better get on with the refurb) and yesterday we had an enquiry from the whole cast of Black Beauty who need accommodation for 8 people for 3 weeks. Since we have 2 flats with 2 bedrooms in each, I am able to offer them the whole building. Yet to find out if we have sealed this deal but the immediate response has been so encouraging we just can't believe it. One of the cottage / holiday lettings agents who operates around here is coming over to see the property on Monday. She reports that her most sucessful property is one that is in the middle of Canterbury (like ours) and that it is almost always booked out. Our hopes are raised!

We have 3 more properties on the go and they are all going through smoothly so far. We should complete on a 6 bedroom student accommodation (currently rented) sometime in the next week. Thank goodness there is nothing to do with this one. It is a new build property, purpose built for student accommodation and it is occupied at least to the end of this academic year.

We have an apartment on top of a shop in the pedestrianised high street. The building is over 350 years old and looks very wonky but the survey has come in OK for the mortgage. The final property is where we are going to live (for a while anyway) in the immediate future but it is also a cracking property to convert into a 5 bed student let in due course.

Julie and I both have a sense that we are finally moving on again.

The boys are also doing well. We had some very positive feedback from Julian's teacher who said he is doing fine and is perhaps the most enthusiastic learner in the class. When Julie and I had scrapped ourselves off the floor, he went on to say how delighted he was with him and how different he had turned out to be in comparison to how he was during his interview when his then prospective teacher described him as perhaps the most belligerant boys he had ever met.

Sammy too, is getting along really well. He literally jumps out of the car in the mornings and we have to drag him off the basketball court at the end of the day. Last week he and his buddies were playing with diablos and he is now very proficient. The school certainly suits his style.

Julie has become renowned for her baking. The school has a fund raising bake sale every Friday at collection time. She is also doing some work as the helper to the Class 5 class representative. They are organising a Quiz Night in a few weeks and we have been doing the tickets and invites. We are getting back into the swing.

Things are moving along with the church as well. Julie is doing a Fairtrade stall there over Fairtrade Fortnight and doing a little introduction to it in all the services. We are putting feelers out about starting a family home group (starts at 6:30pm and finishes prompt at 9:00pm and all the children come and are looked after) and they are very enthusiastic about it. With 35 home groups already going, they need new ones. As soon as we move into our house we will get going.

And finally we are getting some visitors. Julie has one of her best friends visiting this weekend and they are going to the theatre and next week we have a visit from some other friends of ours from Ealing.

So good.

Canterbury - 30th January, 2006

Over the last few weeks Julie and I have completed about 20 sessions of invigilating for a local school. These have mainly been mock GCSEs and also some A and A/S level re-sits. We have had some absolutely remarkable moments, eye popping and heart stopping:

"Sir, sir, over here. Sir, sir, I've got bl_o_ coming out my f_ _ _y"

She was trying to shock but it did catch me momentarily off guard, being as it came from the mouth of a 15 year old girl who announced it loud enough in the exam hall for at least 20 students around her to hear. It was actually quite funny and the girl in question was surely going to be a commedienne in later life but at the time .....

Some of the attempts to complete exams (or not complete them) were staggering. Almost in all cases, students taking an exam of an hour and a half (didn't exams used to be 3 hours long?) were finished within 40 minutes. In some cases students did not even attempt to look at their papers. Apparently we are paying some of our students to attend school now and as long as they sit in the exam hall they will continue to receive their payments. Paid to do nothing.

What we did see (and we spent quite a bit of time in the staff room) was a team of brilliant teachers, committed to the kids and who where truly professional. Unfortunately (and this is corroborated in the school's Ofsted report) they are up against a brick wall of a disruptive and often absent set of children. We could hear lessons being taken where the teacher spent at least 80% of the time just trying to bring order to the room and this is in no way an inner city sink school.

The whole experience was quite good fun and we should be going back for the main stretch of exams in May and June. During these we will be taking more care to ensure mobile phone are not taken into the exam rooms!

Canterbury - 14th January, 2006

Somethings have changed. In comparison to our life in London . . . . . .

• We have NO night time meetings at all.
• We have not entertained anyone in our home (except Christmas) since October.
• We are not in a house group (yet).
• The phone rings only 4 times per week on average (outside our working day).
• We have only been in one traffic jam in 20 weeks.
• We do not work at the weekends (yet).
• The boys do no organised extra-curricular activities at all (outside school hours) - it is not recommended by the school. (They do enough).
• We have only had three sets of visitors to our house in 20 weeks.
• We do not have a land line telephone.
• The TV is only 14" (diagonal) and is on only 6 hours per week (for videos only).
• We have spent hours and hours and days and days together as a family.
• Our accommodation costs us £600 per month (half London cost) - including utilities and taxes.
• We listen to at least 10 hours of story tapes per week.

This is not a comment but just a reporting exercise ("The facts mam, just the facts"). This will not last for much longer and neither would we want it too but it is interesting (for me at least) comparing it to our "4 nights a week out, busy, entertaining full time lifestyle" as we knew it.

Here is our Narnia lampost. Not that it's always winter and never Christmas. We are very snug and warm in our holiday chalet. The swimming pool is frozen and covered in snow. 

This is the road to school. No one has been down here for a while. The only prints in the snow are from foxes and pheasants. (click any photo to enlarge). 

You may remember the picture across here from before. The sun was shining and the grass was green. 

Yes, I know it looks like a picture postcard. Well it is. Almost as white as Canada. You just can't imagine that you are in Kent. 

Canterbury - 31st December, 2005

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We all hope you have had a great Christmas and are now having a Happy New Year.

I have posted some photos of the snow we have had recently in Canterbury. Sadly, it has all melted today.

Very soon in the New Year we will have a property or two available and we then sincerely hope to see some visitors to this beautiful part of the world.

Lots of love

Julie, Richard, Julian and Sammy

Now I know you have been waiting with baited breath to hear the next episode, so here it is:

The Kentish Gazette - 22nd December, 2005

Around the Villages: Barham

From our correspondent Amanda Willis about the local WI.

The Barham and Kingston Women's Institute Christmas lunch was enjoyed by everyone with entertainment from Mrs. Butterfield and Mrs. Greenstreet. Mrs. Helbling won the pomander competition.

Penny Marsh from the Brockman Family Centre chatted to members and collected the gifts donated for the centre's children.

A Father Christmas sack contained a small gift for every member of the institute.

The next WI meeting takes place in Barham Village Hall at 2:30pm on Thursday, January 12th, when Angela Barnes will talk about reflexology. The competition will be for a decorated footprint on A4 paper.

Just thought you ought to know the result of the competition. I will keep you posted as to who wins the decorated footprint.

The Kentish Gazette - 8th December, 2005

Around the Villages: Barham

From our correspondent Amanda Willis about the local WI.

During the annual meeting Dora R. was presented with a box of heathers to thank her for her work and support during her years as a committe member. Three new memebers joined the existing committee, Mrs. C., Mrs. S and Mrs. W. Mrs. B agreed to remain president for another year.

During the year the Wednesday Walkers achieved their 90 miles of extra walking and are now compiling a scrapbook which will be entered in the Federation competition. Another achievement was Barham with Kingston receiving third place in the 90th birthday cake competition.

Mrs. B. thanked her committee for their support, especially Mrs. R. who supervises the teapot. The finances are sound and reports were received on the Etchinghill birthday party, the group meeting and the Federation Day.

After the business, entertainment was provided by Mrs. S reading Pam Ayre's poem about the common cold and Mrs. F. reading one of her own stories, Ladies Only.

The next meeting is the Christmas lunch today. As is tradition, members are asked to decorate themselves with a piece of tinsel and take a gift up to the value of £1.50 for the bran tub and an unwrapped gift for the Brockman Family Centre. The competition today is for a pomander.

It's so beautiful it nearly made Julie cry. We have so much to look forward too.

P.S. Sorry about the layout changing about but I am making an effort to learn HTML (web programming language). Life is just not complete until you can create and post your own webistes. I have so many that I want to make including: www.myhometel.co.uk, www.canterburyhostfamilies.co.uk and www.canterburyservicedapartments.co.uk (bit long that one) and also www.canterburyhomemakeovers.co.uk. They are all in the pipeline somewhere except it is a very long pipe.

Canterbury - 9th December 2005

Poor Julie, she has just completed a marathon 13 day stint of back breaking work. 3 days at the hamper factory, 4 days at a show in Earls Court, immediately followed by 5 days at the hamper factory. Much back massage needed here. All this has been accompanied by car problems which on one occasion required me to rescue her from the side of the road at 8:30pm at night.

That's all behind us now. The sun is shining, the car is fixed (for the grand total price of £31.00 for a 2nd hand set of brushes for the alternator) and it's Saturday morning. The boys are performing this afternoon in the parent's festival. They will be singing in French and German, playing the recorder and doing Eurythmy demonstrations (if you are not sure what that is see: Eurythmy). They are very excited about this. Julian is also very excited because he has been asked to perform his juggling at the end of term show. I always knew it would come in useful. Teach your children to juggle. Nothing beats it.

Canterbury - 30th November, 2005

Julie is well into her 2nd week of "hamper factory". She is working very hard (physically). It's a man's job really (ok calm down you lot!) but she is pretty tough. She is on her feet all day, sometimes packing as many as 150 to 200 small (8-12 items) hampers. It's pretty certain that her output is at least as good as the regulars there. They have many temporary staff there but most of them (of 12 who started 3 weeks ago only 1 survives) just can't hack it.

She comes home at night with a very stiff back and fingers and hands that are dry and chaffed. She has to endure 8 hours of non-stop Virgin Radio. That alone must be torture. She has conversations that leave her speechless (a girl who was talking about "O" level said; "Well if I had any "O" levels I wouldn't be working here would I?" and "who do you think is going to be the next person to leave Celebrity Get Me Out of Here").

It's quite interesting for me to have her see what I did for 10 years. Now she knows. Someone (mentioning no names CHARLOTTE B!!) had the audacity to remark, that now that I am a house husband, I am at least doing the cooking (for a change) or is it that I am doing the defrosting? Can you imagine? All I can say is that I wish I had been doing what I am doing now for the last 10 years! At least you can do it in a building that is more than a single degree above ambient.

The "I earn it - she spends it" lifestyle we enjoyed so much previously is a little harder to stomach when the shoe is on the other foot. N'est pas? My last expedition to the Stelling Minnis Country Store (our local store 2 and half miles away) cost £27.00 which she dutifully told me she had worked most of a day to earn and why was it that we needed a "bake your own bagette", sweets for the boys, a video, some beer and some batteries (for the computer mouse). I couldn't really answer that.

Normal service will be resumed. I keep reminding the boys of this as I serve them burnt sausages for the 3rd time in a row. Why don't we both stick to what we are good at? The thing is that women (of the age we are) are far more "employable" than men. Mature women are a far better bet for getting on with the job than grumpy old men. As an employer myself (or previously anyway) I can only confirm that in my experience this is the case. This is why I am at home and Julie is in the hamper factory (as we call it in-house).

For some reason (and I blame the Ag family) we are now Archers fans. I guess it has something to do with the fact that the boys have no access to TV. They do latch on to any other media if they can, for instance both of them are a request for radio 4 news in the morning. This seems like a good thing but what with the Archers and the daily news, we spend an awful lot of time explaining things like; gays rights, DNA testing to determine paternity, homosexual bishops, sexual assault, teacher sex with pupils, naked dancing marines and other interesting subjects. Perhaps we should just switch on CBBC.

We have bought our first property. You will see it here: Our First Canterbury Property. It's a property divided into 2 flats with 2 bedrooms each. We have given up on the B&B idea. The only financing you can get for an existing B&B is commercial. This means mortgage rates of 8% (variable) and they must be repayment mortgages. I just don't want to have to go to bed at night wondering what the Monetary Policy Committee is going to do to my life. Fixed rates are more up my street.

Our idea now is to buy a number of properties and set up an accommodation business with these. We hope to be able to do some serviced appartments or at least self-catering units with this first property and then buy some students let houses and (hopefully!) a property where we can live and have some students or a few B&B's.

The way ahead is blocked. (click to enlarge)

Trouble getting to school this morning. Who let the sheep out? A whole field of perhaps 40 sheep had managed to congregate in the middle of our road to school today. There was nothing for it other than to send in our own shepherdess. We all know how good she is at pushing things along.