Born and raised in England. Emmigrated to Canada in 1966 with my wife, Anne. Taught High School, mainly in Red Lake in NW Ontario. Raised three boys there, the middle of which is autistic. Moved to Ottawa in 2001 to bring our autistic son near to his siblings. Took up basket-making as a hobby/business. In March 2009 set up my etsy on-line store at www.JohnToftBasketry.etsy.com. Through etsy learned more and more about on-line communication systems such as blogs.