I was wondering how to start this and thought why not follow the example of my friend Shirley who was member of the month in February. Shirley started by telling us that she’s a Lancashire lass, but unfortunately describing myself as an Essex girl doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. I hope I don’t fit the stereotype (probably worth Googling it if you’re not familiar with the term or don’t hail from the UK).

I grew up in Chelmsford, Essex, one of four girls, and as you can imagine home life was a little riotous at times. Mum did a great job of keeping us (mainly) in check, on her own. I met Barry and we married in 1975. We have one son who currently lives in Aberdeen with his wife, they're a great couple and we’re very proud of them both.

I started out doing secretarial work but when word processors were introduced in the early 80’s (how much has changed since we used to have to put a floppy disc in a machine to get Wordperfect to load up) I found I had a natural ability for technology and so pursued a career in IT. My last role was in a global law firm as an IT Manager which gave me the opportunity to travel to many interesting places around the world.

It had always been a dream to move to France. The plan was to move once we had both retired, however, Barry had just retired and was enjoying his free time when the Brexit bombshell hit. We realised that if we didn’t fast track the move it was going to be a lot more difficult after the Brexit deadline. We made it, sold the house in the UK and bought a lovely home by the Dordogne river and all before the deadline. So we’ve now been here over 3 years. My intention was to continue working until my retirement age but unfortunately this plan wasn’t supported by my employer so I was forced into early retirement, and haven’t looked back.

Our house came with a large garden and a ‘hobby’ vineyard. I’ve always loved gardening, but Barry has found it quite a steep learning curve as he was hard pressed to occasionally cut the grass back in the UK and now he has 1.5 acres! The ride-on mowers and tractor definitely help though. As well as gardening I enjoy dressmaking, reading and more recently have been doing pottery classes which I really enjoy.

We’ve settled in very well here, love where we live and have some great friends. My friend Sue Fairweather introduced me to the DLCI and I’ve been to a few of the events, not as many as I should though, I found that the old adage ‘I don’t know how I ever found the time to work’ is really true. I’m joining the next book club though and am really looking forward to it. I’ve been so impressed by the work that DLCI does, supporting charities and providing invaluable assistance to members.