I grew up in Skowhegan, Maine, the daughter of a self-made machinist, and a talented homemaker-gardener. I was a product of a country up-bringing. There was a large garden, 100-tree orchard, rabbits, cats, dogs and a horse named Bessie who gave foal to "princess". I loved it all. The hoeing, the weeding, the rides through the orchard, and even milking the cows by hand. There were always chores; picking apples, making cider, cleaning stalls, weeding the garden produce which we sold at our roadside stand. It got plenty cold in winter to even minus forty degrees. Carrying hot water to the animals was my job.

Many of my fondest memories lured me back to the country life. In 1996 my husband Ray and I moved to the Moraine area where I could pursue my dream of having a horse again. We had always had dogs, cats and even a hamster and rabbit since we were married in 1986. Now I wanted to get back to my dream of having a horse again. Ray became my willing partner. We purchased my Half-Arabian Jasmine in 1997, and Blackberry and Picabo our Morgans soon followed. In the last eight years I have leaned a great deal about horses, they have taught me much, but most of what I know I learned form Jack macDonald stables.

While I was employed at Verizon, Ray became my backup and took care of feeding and blanketing. He has a knack with horses and especially loves "whispering" to them. Now that I have retired and started the business of pet sitting full-time, he is still my back-up and loves animals as much as I do. His favorites are his horse Blackberry, and Little Bear our part Collie-part Border Collie.

My other hobbies include photography, oil-painting, cooking, and my organic garden (the seeds are not organic-but no pesticides are used). I also love sewing and plan to learn quilting and selling art on EBAY. My favorite pastime is riding the "girls" and trying to make "ladies" out of them. Dressage is my fancy.

As of January 23, 2006 I am fully retired giving all attention to the business that was born in 2004. Taking care of the pets of others, so they can relax while traveling, gives me great pleasure. My job at Verizon has taught me to give attention to detail and how to satisfy a customer. I was a customer service rep for almost thirteen years. I expect great customer service from other companies I deal with, and my customers deserve great customer service from me. My greatest satisfaction in life (next to serving the Lord) is making sure every animal in my care is happy and loved.