On 2nd August 2024, to my continuing astonishment, I celebrated my 70th birthday. Where did the time go???? This site may hold some clues….
This "significant birthday" came as quite a shock simply because, in my mind, I remain an ever-optimistic 29 year-old.
Love Life, Love London
I was born in a small town in West Wales although I left there almost fifty years ago and have only ventured back a few times since. It’s not that I don’t like it there – it is beautiful – it’s just that my life now is very different and “home” is most definitely London. I’ve been in London – to my mind the most amazing, ever-changing and inspiring city on the planet – for the best part of forty-five years now and feel lost if I leave it for too long – except perhaps when I’m lying on a beach somewhere!
Working On A Dream
Well over twenty years ago now I embarked upon a major change in career – call it a mid life crisis if you like! - when I became completely disenchanted with the banking industry in which I had worked since leaving school. I got quite heavily involved in a digital satellite television project (that never actually got off the ground, if you’ll excuse the pun) and also in putting together some more mainstream TV productions. A further career shift soon followed after the main TV project failed to gain traction and, though I had no real “career plan” that I can remember, I was given the opportunity by a global women’s health charity to handle its administration.
Don't even think of trying to find the connection between high finance, television and what I ended up doing - there isn't one! The fact is that I got very bored with banking and when the possibility of doing something linked to TV came up I jumped at the chance. As you can tell, things didn't quite work out as I'd planned – it really IS a long and rather disheartening story that speaks volumes about trust, personal relationships and the depths to which some people will stoop to make money – and the thought of going back to finance horrified me so I ended up doing something completely different, to say the least......!!!!!! Before you jump to the wrong conclusion, I am not bitter….not very bitter anyway! In many ways, it all probably worked to my advantage in the long run.
I am now retried and the freedom that not having to go to work allows me gives me the opportunity to take the time to do more of the things in life that I really enjoy – all of which have been, and will continue to be, reflected on this website.
The Eyes Have It
When I was very young, my mother always said that if I didn't stop doing that I would either get hairs on my palms or go blind. So far my hands remain follically unchallenged but, ironically, maybe she was right about the other thing........
About twenty-one years ago, I was diagnosed with a form of macular degeneration – a relatively rare thing in one then as young as I was (OK - I may now have reached my seventies but, at the time of my diagnosis, it was generally accepted that this usually affected people significantly older than me!). Basically, it means that my central field of vision is impaired and my peripheral vision is also slightly out of whack. For over twenty years now things have remained stable and manageable but, through all of that time, I have had to accept that there may come a time when many aspects of my life (including updating this website) may no longer be physically possible for me.
In the meantime, life goes on – and, so far, thanks primarily to my wonderful optician, the staff at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the support of my friends and family, things have been holding up pretty well. When I was first diagnosed, there was little doubt that, by now, I would be in far worse shape than I am. So I am still living what I consider to be my best life.
I’m not sure what else I can usefully add. Life is good – I intend to keep on having fun and to add to this site everything that makes my life and the things in it so enjoyable!
If you'd like to know more about me, you can always e-mail me with any questions!