Heather Knowles, 40 years old, and living in the North East of England, although I was born and brought up in Southampton:
This photo was taken in 1998, when I got married for the second time.
I also have a wonderful 16 year old son from my first marriage, called Richard. He recently achieved 2 A*, 5 A, 2 B and 1 C grade on his GCSEs, so I am very proud of him! He is responsible for most of the photos on this site.
We live in a small village in the middle of nowhere, so we are surrounded by wildlife, including a resident tawny owl, three squirrels and a fox. Our first squirrel visitor was nicknamed Cyril, and Richard managed to catch him on film recently:
We also have wildlife inside the house - our two cats. The tabby tom is Tigger, or Flat Cat, and the black-and-white queen is Chloe, or Fat Cat:
I began my working life as an English and Drama teacher in a comprehensive school. After a few years, I set up in business as a freelance copy editor and proofreader. When I began to yearn for the security of a monthly salary again, I began work as a database manager with a software firm, until 1997 when I collapsed (literally) with ME. I have been housebound (and often bedridden) with it ever since.
If you don't know anything about ME, I have a page (see the link on the home page) which tells you more than you would ever want to know...
Because I am housebound, I cannot get out to see my friends, and so spend some time, every day that I am well enough, communicating by e-mail with them to keep in touch. I have also made a number of very valued friends through my newsgroups and mailing lists.