Profile
An honest, loyal and professional couple, dedicated to the smooth running of a household, while remaining in the background. Willing to go the extra mile to exceed all expectations and provide exceptional attention to detail. Possessing excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to develop and maintain strong internal and external relationships. With a background in the hotel and hospitality industry, we have a great awareness of hygiene, a good knowledge of catering, setting of tables including serving, and general maintenance and security.
Good gardening skills in incorporating planting, winter pruning, Autumn tidy up, spring planting, weeding, grass cutting, edging, hedge trimming, the list goes on.
Good with animals, mainly dogs, cats, chickens and horses. Happy to exercise and clean up after and arrange vaccinations etc.
Both of us can cook most cuisines, from winter comfort food, depending on location, to Mediterranean salads and light dishes. Tamara also specializes in Georgian food, which uses all fresh ingredients and many herbs. Comfortable with cooking for up to 20 people as long as it is very casual and informal.
From our hotel background we are both comfortable with managing staff and delegating duties to get the best out of them, while still maintaining a very hands-on approach. Happy to work using our own initiative, or follow clear instructions to the letter.
Professional Experience
Mar. 2012 – Oct. 2015
The Cregar Family
Household couple
Employed by a family in New Jersey, where the duties were wide and varied. Main duties were daily tasks to include cooking, cleaning, shopping, school runs, some heavy duty cleaning and some babysitting. Husband’s duties were mainly both inside and outside general maintenance work, calling in tradesmen for more specialised repairs, a lot of driving, as neither of the principals wished to drive, involving airport runs, daily trip to the office, journeys to the weekend house and after school activities for the children. Other jobs consisted of general gardening, snow blowing, leaves collection and some car care and servicing.
After much deliberation, we decided to leave this great position, as we wished to return to Ireland and search for vacancies in Europe.
Feb. 2006 – Jan. 2012
The Ferguson Family
Household couple
The family entertained quite a lot, so there was a big involvement assisting in the cooking and serving. Most other duties were of the normal kind, including cleaning, driving, general maintenance, pet care, plus involving some farm animals. There was also some antique and fine furnishings care as well as some classic cars to be looked after.
We enjoyed our time with this family, but as the family grew up there was less demand for our services, so we thought we would move to the U.S. for a few years.
Mar. 2000 – Nov. 2005
Tennants
During this period we ran a small 15 bedroom hotel on the shores of Strangford Lough. This was very hands on, and we covered all tasks in the course of the working week. These included, reception, housekeeping, cleaning, cooking and serving. There was also a lot of general maintenance, most of which could be carried out in-house, as the building was quite old and in constant need of repair. We gained a great in-depth knowledge of hygiene, health & safety, budgeting and security during this time.
However, this business was very seasonal and we felt we would be happier in an environment with a more stable income.
