Well, here I am like the new girl on the block who should be wearing a name badge saying, “Hi my name is: Gill – That British Woman.”
 
People are looking at me thinking, who is she, why is she here?  So to make readers more comfortable and answer your questions, I guess I’d better introduce myself.
 
My name is Gill and I have a blog called “That British Woman.” I am going to be writing a weekly column for the Eden Valley Messenger about life in Canada, with memories of Appleby mixed in amongst it.
 
Now your next question is going to be, “how are you qualified to write about either of those things?”
 
Good question and an easy one to answer!!  I moved with my family to Appleby at the ripe old age of six and lived there until my husband (who will be known in future as “dh”), son (ds), daughter (dd) and I moved to Canada when I was 25 years of age. I spent all my formative years in Appleby (years that made me who I am) and then spent the past twenty-one years living in Canada.  Yes, I will be 46 years of age in March; gosh time is marching on!
 
I suppose your next question would be “why move to Canada?”
 
That one is a bit more complicated to answer, as there were a number of reasons. Dh worked at British Gypsum and back in the 80’s rumours abounded that the mine would be empty by the late 90’s. By then dh would be at a more “difficult” age of finding another job, especially in the Appleby area.  We also wanted ‘more’ for our children (university, etc.).  My aunt had lived in Canada for years and loved it; my dad had moved to Canada and loved it.  We were young enough to start again, as that’s what would happen if we moved there and it was an adventure, so why not?
 
So there you go, a brief introduction to who I am.  Obviously there is much more to me and my life but I’ll share with you as the weeks progress.