My grandmother was a celebrated florist, my other grandmother a trailblazer in education and really curious about nature and everything. My mother was colour mad, and a keen gardener, sewer, and intellectual. Dad was a provider of note: of comfort, advice and wisdom.

He taught me to be curious: “my darling, learn one new thing every day!”

So I try to do them justice and am so lucky to have found work in the many fields that I love. I failed a B.Com degree by a tiny margin, but retained the really useful bits about marketing. Nothing about Accounting endured.

Forty-five years ago I started making linens, designing with some fabulous people. My doodle drawings were translated into embroidery and that was another learning curve! I studied Textiles, which gave me the confidence to give advice on fabrics to clients.

In 2002 I qualified in Aromatherapy and since then have studied and fiddled essential oils constantly.

Learning watercolour painting gives me joy. And daily sketching is a lovely escape, as is the inherited love of plants.

The luckiest part is my Family: Bruce, my clever, funny husband who loves and supports me; Shirley, our London-based architect and plant-loving daughter; Stuart our New York-based architect and energetic son; and Owen our musician and English teacher son who is, happily for us, based in Cape Town.

I hope you find what you love on this site, and thank you for visiting.