The memory...

Temperate gin-clear waters of the Coral Sea, a phantasmagoria of twirling disco-coloured tropical fish, coral of every hue and nuance and a way too close encounter with a reef shark...

The activity…

Scuba-diving the Great Barrier reef in Australia.

The time of day…

An early summer morning in my garden, the rest of the family safe & silent in their beds, solitary musing whilst relishing the first coffee of the day.

The smell…

Espresso coffee wafting through the house early morning. 

The alternate job…

Author (of a novel worthy of a Booker prize….).

The feeling…

The supreme satisfaction felt at the end of a day when I look back and acknowledge I had so much to do, I did it all and I did it well.

The accessory...

In the words of my husband, there are three people in our marriage, me, he and it =  my iphone.

The snack…

Cheese on toast, eaten whilst binge-watching ‘The Crown’.

The plan…

A sea or an ocean– Mediterranean Sea, Coral Sea, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean– each with its own irresistible allure   (methinks to have been a mermaid in a previous life….).

The quote…

"I will not be ‘famous’, ‘great’. I will go on adventuring, changing, opening my mind and my eyes, refusing to be stamped and stereotyped. The thing is to free one’s self: to let it find its dimensions, not be impeded" - (Virginia Woolf).

The hobby…

Just about anything that brings me joy – diving, swimming, running, hiking, reading.

The friend…

The one person who has never given up on the full-time occupation, and all it entails, of looking after me and our blended family of four daughters!

The color…

Black – as in ‘little black dress, Coco Chanel – the epitome of style.

The vice…

Perfectionism – if taken too seriously.

The virtue…

Perfectionism –  when not taken too seriously.

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