My once-upon-a-time started in South London. I was born a few years after the second world war and grew up in a city dotted with bomb sites. By then backyard air-raid shelters had been converted into tool sheds and playhouses, but the wartime stories, memories and recipes were still very much a part of my home life.

After some globe-trotting years, my husband, Ray and my three amazing kids emigrated to Canada. Family grown, Ray, Piper, our rescue cat, and I now live in an eighty-year-old house with a wonderful view over Halifax Harbour, as you can see from the picture below.

I have an art college background, and as a mature student obtained a BA at Mount Saint Vincent University. For many years I worked in the Youth Services department of the Alderney Gate Library. As part of a creative programming team, I presented literary based programs in branches all over the Halifax Public Library system.  It was the most fun job ever. I particularly loved the old-style Dartmouth Summer Reading Club where we got into long discussions with the kids about the books they were reading.