I was born and raised in South Africa. As an only child with few friends, I kept myself entertained with various arts, crafts and hobbies, and wrote to pen pals from all over the world joining the global community long before the Internet came along.
When I finished school I went on to study horticulture, as this seemed the natural choice given my love of gardening from an early age. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the fact I was writing articles for the African violet club I belonged to at age 12, rather than the plants per se. Once working in the field, I realised my physique didn't quite suit an outdoor job and I went on to do a secretarial course to fill the gap while I figured out what to do.
The gap lasted much longer than I wanted but during that time I got to travel and visited the Amazon rain forests in Brazil, became acquainted with my Belgian and English roots touring through Europe and the UK, and developed a love of butter tarts and great prairies visiting Canada.
In 2001 my next journey via Singapore had a permanent destination when I immigrated to New Zealand. I spent several years in Christchurch working as a legal secretary and then medical typist while studying writing and editing part time.
A few years later I moved to Wellington and it is there that I started to put down strong roots. It launched my career in publishing and with the stability of finding the place I wanted to settle in my passion for arts and crafts returned. When I moved into my previous home, it had no garden to speak of and my enthusiasm for gardening was refreshed as I set to work transforming the dirt and weeds into a magical enchanted garden, and my dream of moving to the country one day was renewed.
I quit my office job in August 2015 and started working as a freelance editor and writer, while also working on various creative avenues that might bring in a modest side income. These creative endeavours began to take up more and more of my time and my garden started to feel too small. The urge to move to the country became overwhelming and at the end of November 2016 I could resist no longer and made the move to Featherston.
I feel blessed to have had my dream of moving to the country come true, hence the name of my blog, Country Blessings and I wanted to share my country life with others who share the dream.
I feel blessed to have had my dream of moving to the country come true, hence the name of my blog, Country Blessings and I wanted to share my country life with others who share the dream.
