This is me...

The Man calls me a butterfly - nothing to do with my stature (more about that one later) but more about my tendency to get fired up and excited about a new project, work on it for a short while and then flutter onto the next one - from flower to flower! I'd like to use this blog to bring some order, reason, and yes even some sanity to my creativity! If I see all my projects and plans written down, and actually think about them in detail, perhaps some sense will prevail before I flutter onto the next one. I have so many ideas and I know I can actually do most of these if I set my mind to it so I want to physically do them all - how mad am I?!? Jack of all trades and master of none is how I sometimes feel...

A little about me to set the scene: I'm 39, married, no kids, a cat (PC for Pussycat aka Whinging Minnie) and a beloved dog (Carter, a gorgeous big Golden Retriever who keeps me sane). We live in a beautiful part of England, East Devon to be precise, a couple of miles as the crow flies to the sea. We also own a barn in Normandy, France, which we are slowly renovating (hope to have it habitable this summer - but don't hold your breath cos you may go blue!). So we trundle across the Channel every so often - not often enough for our liking.

I work as an interior designer for Fired Earth where I cover a huge territory - the entire south west of England - aaargh! Theoretically this is a lovely job: be nosey in peoples' houses and then tell them what to do... doesn't quite pan out that way! Previous lives have seen me work in IT for IBM, in the NHS as a business/marketing manager, in motorsport doing PR and in intellectual property licensing (sounds flash but simply put its selling image banks - or 'properties' to companies to use on their merchandise, eg Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter for clothing or ornaments or toys).

What else? I qualified with a post-grad diploma in Essential Oil Therapy for Animals in 2002 (part-time and boy was it hard work) as I love animals and love holistic healing methods such as aromatherapy. Haven't pushed this side of my life as I seem to get entangled in so many other projects to have time. I also write articles for a couple of local magazines (Devon Today and EX1) mainly about interior design, but want to expand this side of my skill-set and see if I can get more work from national magazines this year (oh no, sounds a little like a new year resolution.... don't do them...). I'm also involved with a local art group - but more of this later.

I'm a keen knitter but very very rarely manage to finish a project off - being the proverbial butterfly in picking up the needles, having bought the yarn (and yes, I am a yarn snob - no acrylic at all for me!), start the jumper or cardigan, whatever, and even sometimes manage to virtually finish the item - but then get bored with it and move on. I recently cleared out our loft and gave away most of my knitting yarn and half-finished jumpers (some going back 22 years...) and have only kept half a dozen with the intention of actually finishing them (or at least frogging and reusing the yarn - now why didn't I do that with all the yarn... no, don't go there!).

God, so many plans and dreams and so little time. And I haven't even touched on my art and craft hopes and projects ... more another time!