Curriculum Vitae

I am actively looking for work I can do from home, like the rest of the UK population.  So I thought I would put a CV on my blog, just in case.

I have long experience as a writer, blogger and editor.  I worked for ten years for Lloyd's Register of Shipping (LR), the classification society, not the insurance market, working on both in-house and external publications.  I wrote articles on shipping and industry for LR, and edited their in-house magazine and was assistant editor for their technical quarterly magazine and annual report.

Since leaving LR, I have written articles, newsletters and provided administrative support for a large number of companies on a freelance basis.

I have a strong interest in home education and unschooling, having home educated my (now adult) three children, and have written for TES and Young Minds magazine.  I also wrote a speech for my then MP, John Randall, which was delivered in Parliament at Westminster Hall.

I have been fascinated by virtual worlds since I joined Second Life (SL) in 2004.  I have been working as a creator in Second Life for 15 years.  I worked for Linden Lab as a freelance creator for five years, and have blogged professionally about the virtual world.

I have been researching my family history for decades, and have helped hundreds of people with their research.  I have blogged and written about genealogy and researching your family. I produce powerpoints for anniversaries and funerals, and I am setting up a website to help other people do this for themselves.

I enjoy crafts such as papier mache, jewellery making, decorating boxes and bottles.  I love composing music, and have recently taken up gardening.

I live in Lincolnshire with my two adult children and their partners, and my dog Tizzy.

Melons growing, courgettes not

My melon seeds have burst into life, while my courgette seeds are stubbornly refusing to burst into life at the moment.  I was given some raspberry canes which I planted immediately and seem to be doing well.

Yesterday my son Tom took down the larger part of a bush that had become a tree and was threatening to push over the wall between my neighbour and myself.  I hadn't realized that it had already dislodged a few bricks which meant they landed in her garden.  We initially thought that just the bough which had damaged the wall would have to come out, but then it became obvious that the tree was growing towards the light and two other trunks of the tree were pressing against the wall.

It was in poor condition, with some sort of blight on many of the branches, and so I don't think it was long for this world anyway.  The previous owners of the house had put a heavy metal drainpipe in as a support for the main tree bough, and that doesn't look very safe either.  It could definitely kill a child if it fell away from the wall.

I like my neighbour, Linda, very much, and I would never want anything on my side of the wall to affect her side of the wall.  It's going to be very strange not having the screen of the tree between us, and I will miss the tree in general - small birds seem to love it.  But safety comes first, and so the tree must come out.  The energy in the garden has already changed, strangely.  It makes a difference to the amount of light too.

It's a shame as this tree, which my plant finder thought was Laurustinas or viburnum, is loved by the birds.  If it IS Laurustinas, it's growing considerably higher than the average - it is at least seven metres high at its tallest. There is a motley collection of bricks and roof tiles underneath the plant, and its trunks are about 20 cm across. I rather liked the dark arch which the tree made with the Forsythia on the other side of the path, but it will lighten up that part of the garden a lot to take it down.

I've been collecting garden lanterns for a long time - I always pick them up in charity shops for a small amount - and I decided to make the best of having an oversized cherry tree in the middle of the garden by hanging lamps from it.  I have a very similar arrangement in Second Life, and the real life version is better.  I'm going to need to buy some more votive candles to put in them.  It's magical.

I've ordered a firepit locally from a maker who recycles metal cannisters etc into firepits.  I'm hoping that we can enjoy the garden together in the summer, and have a few barbecues etc in the evenings if we are still in lockdown.  The weather has been very warm and sunny this week, although the garden could definitely do with some rain. 

We've been enjoying the lilac in the garden, although it is starting to go over now. I've pulled out most of the self-seeded honesty before they had a chance to set seed, and I have planted some erigeron and hydrangea in the places where the yellow loosestrife grew up last year.  I try to keep a balance between the wild and the cultivated, and plant companion plants where possible.  My onions seem to be growing very slowly indeed.

Life at the moment is mostly housework, washing up, gardening and watching Modern Family (Netflix and Now TV).  I'd resisted it until I finished Life in Pieces (Amazon Prime) but then have binge watched Modern Family and it's grown on me. It's easy to watch and doesn't mention Coronavirus once.