Wow, lots of news. Congratulations on the passing law exams, graduations, and finding jobs and property.
My mum came from Wigan though my cousin grew up on the Wirral. She was from a sprawling mine/mill family but went to Oxford, picked up a Southern accent and left it all behind. I used to like our (very) occasional visits. Every terraced house in one mining village seemed to be occupied by relatives, so lots of sweets. I am still in touch with my godmother's sister. My last link.
DH and DD are going up to Manchester this weekend to see Bournemouth slaughtered by City. (His forecast 5:0.) I declined so have a weekend alone.
Otherwise we are still in student mode. The piles of stuff from both flat and placement were in our living room but have been moved to DDs bedroom. DD passed her exams but still has a year left of elective and placement. She is going out to see her brother, and will then be in London for two months in a research lab. One of her friends is having to pay (an extortionate amount) for an elective at a London hospital and will be staying. She is from the rural south west so London should be interesting. Ditto DS should return for a couple of longish trips as his PhD supervisor is on sabbatical in London, and he will bring one of his course mates (Latin American?) to stay as they too don't want to change supervisor at this stage and the supervisor has been kind enough to agree.
Next is F1/F2 which seems fiendishly complicated and a bit of a lottery. It is all done on points. DD had a disappointing result in one exam (she got a better mark in her mock which she sat in January before revising), so is not going to be able to compete for the most competitive places. She is thinking of choosing one of the more unpopular deaneries in the hope then that she gets first choice of hospital and speciality. Working out the options and tactics is likely to take most of the rest of the summer.
DH needs to go back to the office in September. We have been really lucky to have had use of my mother's flat near the beach, but will almost certainly need to sell when the current mortgage rates end. My project has been to sort out the block management so that Directors and the management company have the ability and will to stop water coming in via the roof, balconies, gutters and just about everywhere else. Quite a disparate group with very different priorities. One guy, who quite possibly is the richest of us all, seemed determined to continue to block any expenditure. I think I have won that battle which effectively has landed me with the task on meeting drain people, and gutter people, and roof people. It would be unfair to expect the management company to deal with the politics. One random problem is that seagulls take shellfish onto the roof and crack the shells which fall into the guttering. Something the original architect did not allow for. I am learning a lot.