geordiebaker

I am a 71yr old mother of 6 children aged 43-51- granny to 11 aged 8-22, am thankful everyday for my family ,well mostly!! certainly isnt boring. I am a retired social worker who worked in the local deaf community for nearly 20years . I live in a rural area in what was once a thriving mining village many years ago .

Love to travel and have been lucky enough to travel many times to USA, lived in Cyprus for 3 years and travelled to Israel and Egypt ,Turkey , Tunisia, Malta. I have visited most of Europe , lived in Germany for 8 years and have visited Poland and Czech Republic several times .

We have recently bought a holiday home on the coast and we love spending time there enjoying the coast and countryside and peace and quiet.

I enjoy cooking [good job as my kids can empty a fridge in record time when they come to visit ! ] I make jam, pickles and chutney's and bread.

My real love though is baking I love trying out new recipes especially from USA and treat myself to a baking book every time I visit ,its part of my holiday ritual I love vintage cookery books although these are getting harder to find,I trawl through carboot sales and charity shops and sometimes i find a little gem and gleefully take it home .

I liked listening to music however Iam deafened due to an accident 30years ago so i did struggle to hear music clearly however have now got some new digital hearing aids which are the business, so am now able to enjoy music once more and the theatre no more undertitles for this gal. .

Iam an avid reader anything and everything from chick lit to Dickens,love Jane Austen ,anything to do with social history love to read about how people lived and different cultures. Empty Cradles - true story about british orphans sent to Australia 1940s- 1950s to work on farms and a social worker who became involved in the 1990's when she received a letter from a man trying to trace his family in England and what she discovered.I recommended this book to all of my social work colleagues and anybody else I could persuade , it touched me deeply and reinforced why I chose my profession.

My guilty pleasure is reading Lee Childs Jack Reacher series . Alexander Mcall s No1 Ladies Detective agency The Fishing Fleet its the true story of upper - middle class women who travelled to India from 1880's to 1930's looking for a husband !! it's a really good read, the anecdotes and photographs are brilliant. I will try anything friends recommend

I love watching films mostly at home as lot of cinemas dont have good hearing systems . Where to start! Musicals from 1940's onward eg West Side story, Wizard of Oz,Caberet,Dirty Dancing, Grease, Strictly Ballroom,Chicago, Les Miserables . Four weddings and a funeral Love Actually Some Like it Hot[anything Marilyn Monroe she's the biz] My big fat greek wedding, Last of the Mohicans Dances with wolves All of the Indiana Jones series - great fun . James Bond films . Sleepless in Seattle You got mail The Green mile The Help The best exotic marigold hotel Avatar Sgt York[ stars Gary Cooper my dad took me to see it ] Gone with the wind, Lawrence of Arabia [my dad again] Love me or leave me [Doris Day] Pride and Prejudice

Leverage, Justified, Bones, ,Grimm, yes i like american detective series ! History documentaries Who do you think you are ? both brit and us versions Masterchef the Professionals Great British Bakeoff Strictly Dancing The Sewing Bee Hairy Bikers cooking show Call The Midwives Downton Abbey Wanted Down Under Murdochs Mysteries Antiques roadshow Larkrise to Candleford Cranford Sleepy Hollow The Bletchley Circle Homes under the hammer Diners drive ins and dives, want Guy to come up north. Longmire Heir hunters My guilty pleasure was Sean Bean in Game of thrones Murder mystery and my family.

I have always loved to sew but haven't felt I had the time while I was working and since I retired have been reacquainting myself with my trusty sewing machine . I enrolled in a local college craft class that teaches bagmaking and I love it ! I have a great teacher and the gals in the class are hardcore, lively or perhaps feisty would be a better word to describe them , there is a very mixed bag of expertise and everyone has an opinion and is not afraid to voice it on anything and everything . They have been very supportive since my husbands cancer was diagnosed and I love them for that . 2020 My husband is luckily now in remission . I fancy trying stained glass or leather work .

Likes:

Fountain Pens and stationery cannot walk by a stationery shop without being compelled to go in and see what they got!

Collect baking recipes from other countries, USA is favourite

Kitchen gadgets - yeah I'm a gadget girl love the USA for that, hurrah for outlet shopping I say.

Collect cookie cutters got about 40 so far ,I add to them when I see ones that take my fancy ,usa is best place for them so cheap

Collect postcards connected to baking and cooking

Love washi tape ..

I have an untreated fabric addiction am filling my third trunk with stuff and am now the proud owner of a lovely wooden 1930 sewing box I bought it at a junk shop and it was full of vintage sewing kit bargain !

I love flamingos and my spare bedroom is known as the flamingo room by my grand kid's , family and friends buy flamingo “stuff” which is displayed on a ships trunk in the bedroom .

Dislikes:

Gel pens- prefer a fountain pen think my handwriting needs all the help it can get !

Glitter , gets everywnere

Happy Kitty ,Disney - cutesy stuff just not me.

Tea - not a fan at all, never drunk it which is unusual in my country and in the area I live in .