I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a teacher, a writer, a poet and a creative.
I had a grammar school education and 3 subsequent careers.
I worked in engineering creating drawings for the construction industry, originally on a drawing board and latterly using CAD.
I was a trainer for the AutoCAD software I used.
I re trained in 2008 and I have been a teacher since 2009, delivering functional skills, I.T and now ESOL across colleges around Manchester as well as private training companies and Manchester Met. University.
I'm married to Mathew and I have 2 grown up daughters. I have always lived in Manchester, originally Stretford, then moved to the Peak District when I got married and had children. In 2016, after the children had finished high school, my husband and I swapped the beauty of the High Peak, for city life when we bought an apartment in Media City. This has been a complete change in life style for us which we have totally embraced.
Aside from work, I've been a keen squash player, cyclist and recently paddle tennis player. I enjoy anything creative and I've written stories and poetry, painted, drawn, ran art groups as a volunteer and published a book in lockdown.
So, why build a website?
I've always been a creative, though it took a move from the countryside to the city to really embrace it. And it took a career change to really understand it.
I want to use this website as a vehicle for reflection, to share insights into some of those big changes and also to give a middle-aged perspective on modern living. I will answer a series of basic questions as a starting point, share some artwork and some poetry, stories I've written and then ramble about which podcast I've listened to, the TED talk I saw or the book I'm reading. I will also populate the posts with diary entries, to share those key moments that make me stop and be thankful.
I hope you enjoy my journey.