A few questions about nice things...

Who do you most admire?

The person I most admire is a very dear friend who was diagnosed with a serious illness when her daughter was only two weeks old. The dignity and determination she showed throughout her treatment – which separated her from her very young family for weeks on end – was very humbling. It sounds clichéd, but it really has made me try much harder to enjoy all the normal, everyday things in life that I so often take for granted.

What are your favourite possessions?

Do family members count as possessions?! In addition to them, I’d say letters written to me by my late father, photographs of my friends and family and pictures and cards drawn by my children.

Tell us about your perfect day or weekend...

My perfect day would start with a long lie in and a large latte in bed, while I read the papers. I’d go for lunch with my husband at our favourite pub The Blue Lion, then for a walk with our children in the Dales or at one of the many ruined abbeys near where we live. Once home, we’d curl up by the fire with a hot chocolate and watch The Railway Children or another old classic film. In the evening the children would somehow manage to put themselves to bed without complaint, leaving me free to enjoy a cocktail or two while cooking for friends.

 

What makes you happiest?

Sunshine (I am totally solar powered), uninterrupted time with my husband, long lazy lunches with friends,  singing my head off with the children in the car, starting a book, playing parlour games with the children & then curling up by the fire with the Sunday papers and a glass of wine once they’re in bed!

What would you like to do in the future?

Raise a happy and contented family and have an extremely belated gap year.