I was born and brought up in Nelson. After training to be a nurse I left Nelson and moved to Dunedin to work where I met my husband, an environmental forest ranger. We decided to go on our big OE in 1980. We began our travels in the US where he had been  before, then after 3 months moved on to the UK and Europe and  after a year of travelling finally to Greece and then home, back to Dunedin. Our first child, a daughter was born in 1983, and a son in 86. We moved out to Waihola where we built a new home. The builders put the frame up and we did the rest. It was a challenge which we really enjoyed.
Frank was made redundant when the forest service folded in 87 so we moved to Waimate where we bought and ran an organic orchard for 8 years. I worked in Timaru Hospital part time and Frank looked after the children and the orchard.We then decided to build another new house so purchased 180 acres and built the house  ourselves with the help of a friend. Life was very busy. Frank got a forest consultants job  and I began a practice as a Naturopath so gave up hospital work and we  juggled dairy grazing and our other jobs for 5 years until the children were teenages and then sold up and moved back to Dunedin .
I began work at Otago Community Hospice and after 12 months purchased 50 acres on the peninsula and again built a new house.
My love art began as a child watching my grandmother paint and learning to paint was on my bucket list, so 8 years ago I went to classes and my new passion was born. I paint mainly in arylic but also love watercolour and love mainly landscapes and old sheds. I retired from nursing in 2012 after a health scare and now spend my time painting, enjoying my 2 grand children, walking and gardening and biking among other things.