I am 65yrs, retired (although not sure where I fitted in work before!), married to Ray and we have a cat called Ebony. I practice Vipassana Meditation, sing in the North Shore Chorale and in recent years I learnt french at Alliance Francaise. I have two adult sons one living in Florida , USA and the other in Wellington New Zealand, both have partners. I also have two step sons living here in Auckland with their partners and five step grand children.

I have always enjoyed puddling around with art and craft - have done some water colours and fabric painting and starting to learn soft stone sculpture, which is great fun. I was a secondary teacher and more recently was national appeals manager for Barnardos (a children's charity for children at risk). I love cooking (am vegetarian) and of course love eating, much to the detriment of my figure! I play the games Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne when I get the chance with friends. We enjoy having time with friends and exchanging dinners together. I love opera and classical music as well as some modern music. I sat Trinity college exams in singing to Grade 7.

For about the past sevenlike years I have been practising Vipassana meditation, which is a wonderful technique to learn, for stilling and purifying the mind. I like to go one day a week to the beautiful centre at Kaukapakapa, which is about 1hr norh of Auckland city.