As with most people there were several turning points in my life, the first came when I worked for Wallace Arnold, Coach Operators in Yorkshire, when I was just out of college.  At their annual Dinner Dance in 1970 I won a prize which was a week in Torquay.  I had never before been so far south !  The Manager at the hotel offered me a job as receptionist and as I had fallen in love with Devon, I accepted ! 

After 2 years  in Torquay, I also fell in love with Nick, my wonderful Devonian husband to be !! We married one year later. So began our 50 year marriage !!  At that time I worked in tourism marketing . We moved several times, restoring our homes until we found a very tranquil spot with no neighbours, just below the moors in South Devon where we rebuilt the Edwardian house during our 25 years there

During that time I showed our English Setters which was a hobby that took me all over the UK,  We had several Show Champions, one named Storm, won Best English Setter at Crufts. Pedigree Petfoods included both Storm and I in a TV advert !!  I also judged setters and other gundogs. After about 10 years of marriage I discovered the world of antiques and so I became a dealer specialising in early ceramics.  Over the next 25 years I drove 50,000 miles a year finding stock and selling it.  It was a good and exciting life.  We had no children, our present family comprises two whippets and one Birman cat.

In 2003 both Nick and I had problems with our backs and because of a work related traffic accident, I could no longer drive long distances for the NHS, where I worked in Cardiac.  So we decided to take early retirement from our jobs.  It was Nick's idea to move to France so we began to house hunt in the south west and found a large farmhouse which needed everything done to it, it also had 4 hectares which was perfect for the 3 setters we took with us. 

The restoration took 3 years at the end of which I took up painting, the hobby I had always promised myself. For 40 years I had been an artist in my head only because the travelling and my jobs gave me no time at all for such luxuries as indulging in painting.  I paint in pastels mostly, usually every day even if only for a few hours, mostly animals both pets and wildlife.  I used to take commissions but nowadays I don’t have the time, some of them can take a week or more !

The 4 hectares which were in fields are now half covered in trees where we’ve planted new copses. We’ve always found the time for gardening.  I’m addicted to propagation and planting, we especially love growing Japanese maples, camellias, roses and herbaceous plus all fragrant plants that bees love, we have a couple of hives

So retirement for us gives us little time for new interests the best part is that we rarely drive long distances these days  !

Retirement in South West France is great !!