My name is Penny Roberts.  I spent my first 23 years in Northaw, a village in Hertfordshire mid-way between Cuffley and Potters Bar.  I attended the village school, was a member of the Church choir and kept a pony at Nyn Manor Farm.  On leaving primary school I attended firstly Ware Grammar School and secondly Potters Bar High School, finally taking a course in secretarial and business studies at East Herts College of Further Education in Turnford, Herts. (Now renamed Hertford Regional College).

On leaving school I worked as a secretary with a local horticultural company and left after four years to work with my father as his secretary at Belling & Co., a domestic appliance manufacturer based in Enfield, Middlesex.

The birth of my son in September 1971 was the perfect opportunity for a change of career; I'd always wanted to work with horses so took a job with the local riding school where my pony was at livery.  I passed my teaching exam and a short time later opened my own livery yard where, in addition to teaching clients on their own horses and ponies, I bred Welsh and Welsh/Arab cross ponies (and British Toggenburg goats).  I also competed in show-jumping competitions around the country, both on my own and clients' horses.  Although very hard work, I loved every minute and it meant that I was able to take my son with me whenever necessary and he would have a healthy outdoor life with plenty of other children to play with.  He was never very interested in riding but enjoyed getting filthy!

In 1992 my husband, Bill, became ill and I decided to give up horses to be at home for him and took a part time secretarial job with the architect husband of a friend for whom I'd been working 'casually' since 1987. (I was still working there up to Christmas 2005 although only on a 'stand-in' basis, having been replaced somewhat by a bookkeeper with typing skills!  I'm now officially 'retired' although still the full-time 'carer' for my mother).

I resumed my 'old' hobby of painting mainly to keep my husband occupied making frames as he loved woodwork and had few other interests that he was able to pursue.  I find the act of 'making marks on paper' very therapeutic and never really intended to paint for commercial purposes.  My husband made frames entirely by hand using 'raw' wood not just the usual ready-made moldings and because our combined efforts could be considered 'craft work,' we decided to offer paintings for sale through the many craft fairs held during the summer months. Bill made some 'stands' and we booked our first stall at a local show; this, however, was none too successful as the weather was appalling and there were few visitors.  It was just a week after this that my husband had a stroke and died six weeks later following complications.

My elderly mother moved in  following Bill's death and is still with me today. 

My son was still living at home then and bought himself a computer: it was then that I discovered the World Wide Web!  Up until then I had only used a Word Processor and the internet opened up a completely new world for me.  I bought my son's much loved Ford Escort from him and joined firstly a U.S. Escort on-line Club, followed by a couple of British ones.  I became involved with The Ford Escort Owners' Club - UK (renamed The Ford Enthusiasts Owners' Club) and showed 'Eric' the Escort with them was great fun. I'm also member of Escort Evolution, a club for marques five and six Escorts and am a regular attendee on the forum there and, more recently, with a new club for owners of all models of Ford, SportingFords.  I wish I were able to attend more shows but advancing years mean I don't like driving long distances these days particularly in the dark.

Joining the Escort Clubs meant that I needed to take photographs of the car (everyone does), especially at the shows.  Apart from a very basic instamatic that was a little 'hit and miss,' I'd never owned a camera and knew absolutely nothing about digital photography.  I contacted a fellow club member, Lee Sullivan, who took some pretty terrific photographs and he recommended an inexpensive entry-level camera to get me started.

I became more and more keen on photography as both a new hobby and a very useful reference aid for my paintings.  I was recommended by Lee to join ukexpert, an online 'community' with a very strong photography section.  This I did and through them (and again with Lee's input) moved on to a slightly more advanced (although still entry level standard) camera (Fujifilm E550) that is simple to use and produces some pleasing photographs.  I have now purchased the Fujifilm FinePix S9500 a more sophisticated model than the E550 with a 10x zoom and many manual settings with which to struggle.

Not only do I now enjoy photography but also the company of some great new 'friends,' as ukexpert have 'meets' at different venues all over the country and also an interesting forum on which to discuss widely differing subjects.  Uploading photographs to the ukexpert site can also lead to winning prizes!  I've been lucky enough to win three times - the first was a collection of art materials plus two cases of wine, the second was a super portable DVD player complete with a DVD and a disk containing all my photographs uploaded to the site and the third a medal in a club members' monthly competition!

Well, that's quite enough rambling and if you have been, thanks for reading.  If you have any queries regarding anything on this site, feel free to contact me.

Penny

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