I was born in the east end of London and spent the first two years or my life living above a fish and chip shop!  Then I moved to Essex – yes, I’m an Essex girl – with my parents and younger sister.  We had a lovely childhood growing up in the countryside with a great group of friends, always off somewhere on bikes, coming home tired, dirty and hungry.  To my mums despair, and my dads delight, I was a typical tomboy.  I hated wearing dresses, never played with dolls and would always be where the boys were – up trees, in muddy ponds or tinkering with cars!

During my life I travelled a lot and have lived in countries such as Cyprus, Ireland, Germany and various places in the UK, finally settling in Ipswich, Suffolk, where I met and married Mick, which was 34 years ago now.

I’ve got 2 children, a son and daughter, 5 granddaughters, 1 great grandson and 1 great granddaughter.  I do miss them but now, when we get together its for quality time rather than a rushed couple of hours every few weeks. 

My sister moved to France over 30 years ago and we would go and stay with her for holidays and loved the way of life so much that in 2004 we bought a little house in Issigeac for a holiday home.  It got harder and harder to go back to the UK so when Mick was made redundant in 2010 we decided to move here permanently.  A cattery came up for sale in Port Ste Foy, we brought it, sold the house in Issigeac and the rest, as they say, is history.   Running the cattery was a dream come true for me, I adore cats and I never looked on it as a job.  I joined the DLCI about 2 years ago but couldn’t commit to joining in with groups, meals etc due to the cattery commitments.

In January last year I closed the doors on the cattery when I finally retired.  Now I spend my days meeting up with friends for coffee or lunch, I’ve joined Lin’s DLCI book club, I’m also on the DLCI committee, I enjoy gardening, reading, crosswords and walking.  I have 4 cats, two of which are handicapped and need a lot of looking after.  I love my life in France, we’ve met some wonderful people and made great friends.  Long may it continue.