Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved gardening - digging her little patch in her parents' garden, sowing seeds and planting flowers and trees. As a result she rarely had clean fingernails and often had smudges of soil on her face - so her Mum and Dad called her "Dirty Face".
She did very well with her studies at school and college and passed lots of exams with very good grades. She continued to love growing things, learning to take cuttings and working with Dad on his allotment. But when she went to see the careers advisor and she asked for advice about working with plants, she was told she would "just end up working in a garden centre" and was "far too academic" for anything like that!
So she went to Sheffield University, supposedly to study Ancient and Medieval History - but got involved in the Students' Union advice service, and spent the next twenty-five years working in welfare rights and housing advice. Which she loved, and knew was helpful to people. But she never stopped gardening...
Then one day she was offered voluntary redundancy, and so had the chance for a complete change of direction...
I'm now in the second half of my RHS Level 2 studies at Reaseheath College near Nantwich, Cheshire, and have just started advertising (postcards in local shops) "Sarah's Plants and Gardening Service".
"Dirty Face" is back!
