I grew up on the Wirral and after dropping out of school at 17, escaped to a job in the Civil Service in Liverpool. I worked in accounts, quickly got promoted and moved to London. 6 months later I bought a lovely two bedroomed garden flat in Sydenham and have kicked myself ever since for selling it instead of letting it (hindsight being a wonderful thing).

I met my husband, David, at a works do and about a year later we got together. By then I was working in Human Resources. We were relocated to Portsmouth, buying a lovely house near Southampton. We were married in 1993 in Poole, where he worked briefly.

After a few years there, I was posted back to London and, after a couple of years of week-ending, David managed to do likewise. We bought a lovely house in Godalming (another one we should never have sold) and I developed a love for gardening having seen the River Cottage series on TV and being a fan of the wonderful late Geoff Hamilton.

Having become a bit tired of working long hours for pretty poor pay, I left the Civil Service to work in a Housing Association back in Portsmouth that was an umbrella for 4 other organisations. The pay was instantly better! I really enjoyed that job but then an opportunity for David (and me) to go to Italy for 3 years arose. As it would be his last job before retirement, I agreed. So in 2001 we left Blightly and lived in a large villa in a town called Licola, just north of Naples. At first it was wonderful, so much to see, Capri, Ischia, Sorrento, the Amalfi coast etc etc. However, having been used to working all my adult life, I found the expat spouse life rather difficult. After about a year, I managed to get a job working in the housing support unit and continued with them until David’s job finished.

David always dreamed of living in France and so in 2004 we moved into a sweet, chocolate box cottage in the Haute Vienne. After extensive renovations, we found that the house was far too small and moved to a large stone house with gîte, two barns and a garage. It was a dream house, but of course needed total renovation, which we set out to do.

Eventually of course, I started missing work and found a job as an estate agent with Piégut Immobilier in the Cussac Office. I loved it even though it was commission only. Of course at that time, the financial crisis caused properties to lose value and so it was very much a buyers’ market. It was hard work and long hours, but very rewarding. After 5 plus years with Piégut Immobilier, I was offered a job with Bourse Immobilier (now Human Immobilier) in Châlus with a salary. What a difference that made. So I worked in a French team and continued to very much enjoy the work. Sadly all good things come to an end and due to increasing problems with arthritis, I eventually had to give it up.

In search of a warmer dryer climate, we moved to Monfaucon 2020 just as the second confinement for COVID kicked in. We’ve downsized to a small modern house and the garden is much smaller than we had previously. We are lucky to be surrounded by wonderful French neighbours so the language skills are being maintained. We have involved ourselves as much as possible in local French life and help out at the library and Chouett’ Café. We also help with Phoenix and were part of the set up and take down teams for the latest Big Book Sale, held on the 28 May, when we raised over 19 000 euros due to the generosity of participants. I’m also the secretary for the Association Sport Pour Tous, which promotes fitness in the La Force canton.

So that’s about it in a nutshell. Would I go back to work if I could? Possibly, but I’m kept very busy so I’m not missing it as much as I feared.