Fifteen things about me

Hi everyone. I'm back. And here, whether you want to know or not, are fifteen facts about me, since Beth on MySpace has tagged me.

My parents had been married for nearly 17 years when they had me. My mother never gave up hope of having her own child.

At primary school, I once campaigned to get rid of a teacher, until I was told it was very hurtful thing to do.

As a schoolgirl, I got 100% in maths exams on two separate occasions; the first was the 11-plus.

I had acne all my teenage years, and have had acne rosacia for many years. Many of the things that affect it would normally be regarded as beneficial, many fruits - apples, pears, grapes, and so on, onions, tomatoes, nuts, red wine, and other things like white bread and coffee.

I also had eczema for many years, until we installed a water softener, which brought about a dramatic improvement.

During the GCE as it was in those days, (the 16+ public exam,) I got acute gastro-enteritis and missed half the papers. I have never felt so ill before or since; I lay in bed, not wanting my mother to leave my side. I took the missed exams four or five months later.

At one time, I felt peeved at having no middle name, and for a brief period, adopted the name, Adrienne.

I gave blood a few times, until it made me nauseous. The first time I went I was turned down because I was below 7 stone. After that I lied.


My first secretarial job was with a theatrical agent, where I saw young enthusiastic artistes getting rejected as soon as they came through the door. I should have learned something from that.

Within a few months of passing my driving test, travelling at about 10 mph, I hit a police car in the rear.

I wrote The Fruit of the Tree by hand and then copy typed in with my old fashioned manual typewriter, circa 1950 - an Imperial 55, which I still have.

My son introduced me to computers when I wrote my self help book on cot death. I fell in love with my computer within a couple of weeks of having it. You either love ‘em or you hate ‘em.

In 1969, M and I lived for the 6 months from July to January without laid on gas or electricity.

In 1976, M created a solar heating system with an old radiator, covered in glass and painted black, connected to our water tank in the loft. I observed it for three months and wrote an article on it which was accepted by a technical journal. It was my second published article. Unfortunately, the radiator was so heavy it eventually made a hole in the garage roof.

In the eighties, I was on BBC Radio Four on a programme called Punters. I loved every minute of it. I spent three or four days with the producer and presenter, visiting an agent, a vanity publisher and three women’s magazines. After editing, it was eventually whittled down to 20 minutes. I was also on Sky TV three times.