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Please tell us about
yourself and your family:
Hi, I’m Gardenfairy Ann or just :0) Ann. In September I’ll celebrate the 32nd anniversary of my 21st birthday… hmmm, maybe it’s just better to say that I’m 52 years young and born in September (in California)… I have been married/lived with my husband (he’s 56 years young) for 20 years. We have a daughter living in Florida, a daughter and granddaughter and a grandbaby-to-be living in California, and a son and granddaughter living in Alaska. We live in New York State during the late Spring, Summer and Fall and a small island called Salt Cay (http://www.saltcay.org) in the Turks & Caicos Islands during the late Fall, Winter and early Spring each year. In New York State, we live in 150 year old barns that we’ve converted into a house and in Salt Cay we live in a 160 year old stone house that we restored. I started my first business when I was 23 years old and have owned/operated about four businesses since that time. We retired about six years ago and have been keeping busy ever since!
I retired as owner of a garden and
gift shop in Anacortes, Washington. Since I was only 45 years
old at the time, I knew I was going to have to find something
else to “do”. In 1997, a friend suggested that I learn html/etc
and start a website. Gardenfairy.com (www.gardenfairy.com)
was born in 1998 and has kept me busy ever since. It started
out as the one and only website devoted to fairies and fairy
lore… it’s grown into an e-shop that keeps me fairly busy.
Being a webmistress and website
designer for a number of other websites help keep me challenged
and busy. It seems that the more I learn, the more there is to
learn. I love it.
What are your hobbies and interests: Where do I start? I am a basket weaver and have taught basket weaving… I was a ballet dancer and taught ballet for many years… I read a few books a week (one book a day on a good week)… I love snorkeling and swimming… I garden and enjoy pruning trees, planting and landscaping… and my latest interest is quilting. I’ve always loved sewing (and costuming!) – two years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to quilting and I’ve made at least six quilts and countless small projects since then. Recently I designed a purse and will be test marketing it within the next month.
Tell us a bit about where
you live:
When we’re in New York (living in the Barns), I enjoy the quiet, rural atmosphere. We live on the top of a hill and look out our windows over about 80 miles of farm country with a view of Seneca Lake (in the Finger Lakes Region). Many of our neighbors are Mennonites and I often wake up to the clip-clop of their horses as they ride their buggies to take care of errands and business. Watching the colors of nature are spectacular – every day is a feast for the eyes.
When we’re on Salt Cay, I enjoy the
peaceful sounds of the Sea and slow lifestyle of island living.
There are only 40 people on the island year round – obviously we
know every one of them. Our house is one of the few places with
a beach and at 2PM every day (not Sunday) the other ex-pat
ladies come by to sit in the sun, swim and float in the Sea. We
call our group the Flotilla. We attached a bouy to a hole in the
coral about 30 yards off the beach and brought down swimming
pool floats that we attach a rope to and then attach the other
end to the bouy so that we can lay in the water without drifting
off to a remote, deserted island. Humpback whales migrate past
our place on the way to the Silver Banks to have their babies –
it’s a special treat during February and March to watch them
play in the Sea. Two years ago, my husband and I started a
Public Library on the island and I’m pleased to report that the
government has now taken over the salary of the local woman who
is the Librarian. I spend many hours there helping her and
teaching her the computer. This year I took Mavis Bacon Teaches
Typing down and have many of the locals hooked on learning to
touch type. Very cool.
When did you join WOSIB:
I joined WOSIB in October 2000 – WOW, that will be 6 years this year!! It was the first webring I ever joined and is the only one I’ve stayed active in. WOSIB rocks! As a Staff Member within WOSIB, what Gardens are you currently involved in and to what capacity: Currently I’m the Manager of the WOSIB Boutique. The goal of the WOSIB Boutique (www.wosib.org/store/) is to keep the prices affordable while generating a bit of money to pay for the hosting of the WOSIB website. With the support of the WOSIB membership we are able to pay for the web hosting and keep our services free! Once a year I host a WOSIB-wide search for photographs to produce calendars and cards – the photographic skills of our membership is awesome! Had you been involved in any Other Gardens as Staff: Well, yes… I was the first Fairy Queen for the Garden of the Fae. Kaara, the founder of WOSIB, asked me to figure out a fairy garden whose members could anonymously flit about the WOSIB member websites leaving little fairy messages. We began sprinkling fairy dust and having great fun. I was only about to do that for a little over a year and then had to pass the crown over to the next Fairy Queen, my traveling just didn’t allow me enough time to devote to the day to day duties of the Fairy Queen. It’s been a joy to watch it grow!
Before that I sent out the
membership graphics to new members and helped Becca keep the
membership lists in order. I don’t know if that has a name now…
it was just helping out. Oh yea, and I did try to help with the
management of the Events Garden for a while too.
Any other Gardens you were/are involved in: Currently I am a member of the Creators Garden! I joined two+ years ago when I switched from an old graphics program to PSP… it’s been an awesome place to learn how to use PSP and improve my graphic skills. In the past I have been a member of the Garden of Recipes, Receivers Garden, Digging Garden (don’t this there is one anymore), Events Garden (no longer a garden), the Quilters and active in the Chat group. There are so many new gardens that have come into being since I joined and I sure wish I had more time to get to know more about them. What's the best thing about WOSIB and why: Whew… one best thing? I’m not sure it’s possible to single out one thing that’s the best… but I guess I would say Sisterhood. The world-wide sisterhood of Women of Strength & Inner Beauty is the most supportive, fun-loving, informative, interesting, and compassionate group of women I’ve ever met. I’m truly blessed to have met so many wonderful women and look forward to meeting many more as the years go on.
Anything else you would
like to add:
P.S. There's an eyeball at the very, very bottom, right-hand side of my website that is actually a secret link to stuff about me and where I live, etc. if anyone wants to look at pictures and stuff. Thanks for the opportunity to let everyone know me a little better. :0) Ann
Thank-you so
much GardenFairy Ann for sharing your life with us.. :)
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