Workshop Story

Zimbabwe......After my divorce in 1998, I had to move from my home where we had lived since my second son was a toddler and from where I had run my business. I found some premisis in an industrial park in Harare. Cheap and cheerful but adequate for my needs at that stage. Loads of space and fresh air. I bought the scooter so that I did not have to queue at the petrol stations in Harare, bikes were allowed straight to the front of the queue......which often stretched litterally for miles....no comment!

Having a scooter had another function, it was something I had never tried before and I needed to occupy my mind with bizarre and different things as I was about to lose my 2 precious sons, Shane and Gavin, (15 and 13) to the other side of the earth, New Zealand, convinced by their father this was necessary. THAT BLACK DAY came and they left with their father and his new wife as a bright new family, in February 2001, I was powerless to fight this, financially or emotionally, (unlike the UK there is no support in Zimbabwe) my only positive thought was that they would be away from the evil destroying the country and would have a safe future. Nothing in my life will ever ever ever match that utterly heart breaking, cruel day as long as I live and breathe on this planet. I will be forever grateful to my close friends who took care of me that day,Cheryl and Lynn, and all my dear friends who have been a shoulder ever since. I will never forget. I rest assured that those due to be punished will be one day, it is the law of the universe.

God Bless my precious children, my special heros. The photo was taken a couple of days before they left. I love you so much.

for more of my most precious pictures Click HERE

I had an interesting time learning to ride my little scooter, learning to fix it, even starting it was a challenge, but indeed great fun...I drove round and round the industrial park, even in fits of giggles, I also spent many hours decorating it and my helmet. I do miss my scooter.

So, for anyone who has terrible traumas to deal with in their lives, I recommend you buy a scooter!!!

I also miss my "wild yard cat" which I named Petit Lion, Lion by colour, Lion by nature, sigh...

Then, later that year, my one and only member of staff made false reports about me which prompted a local "organisation" to threaten my life. As a single white woman business owner in Zimbabwe you are an easy target for intimidation in a country rife with corruption. They demanded large sums of cash and , as you have to do, I paid it, after which "it" turned to me and growled "I am not finished with you yet"... ( So in fact this was simply assuring me that letting my sons be taken away was the best thing for them, their safety and their future)

At a time when a great deal of my customers were leaving the country and my no longer being able to import my diamond burs or have my engraving drills serviced, the dollar crashing dramatically so that any money that I had left was soon worthless, (by 2009 16 zeros had been removed from the currency...if you can possibly imagine that!) leaving me not enough money to go and visit my sons and see where they live (which I am still yet to do), I sold the sandblasting side of my business to buy a ticket to London, the life direction dictated by my British Passport which I was lucky to have from my dad being born here, but which my sons could not have.

Distraught and unable to deal with life and what it was continually chucking at me.......November 2001....to the fridge I came, UK, one small drill, laptop and camera....(bizarrly I was intending going back, thankfully I didn't) I took a job waitressing in a tea room in Walberswick, a popular seaside village in Suffolk. Scarey start, but was soon a whizz at serving , making the best capuccinos and many other manner of beverages, and cleaning and scrubbing....and cleaning and scrubbing, ...did I mention cleaning and scrubbing? My colleagues and on some days my "stand in Bosses" were the age of my sons, but it was great fun, a good laugh and most importantly it enabled me to buy a new PC and begin my business in glass once again. Thanks to The Parish Lantern for my starting job in the UK and to all my fellow waitresses and waiters, you were the best!

I found cheap premisis, no water no loo!!! However I had a special caring, supportive and loving gentleman at my side, my new friend, Brian. God Bless him, he is my proverbial ROCK, without whom I could not have coped.

I had never seen snow before, wow, and driving in it....like driving into a computer screensaver.

I do want to thank my pioneer engraving customers and my bank manager at this point, they believed in me without much more to go on than a few photographs. This market requires years of work building a name and a reputation for yourself, not much use being well known in Zimbabwe!! it is art/craft unknown to many. Have YOU ever commissioned an engraved glass??

I also want to thank the caretakers and Business centre owner who really have helped me out and my various neighbours in the other units, what stars they have all been. Last but not least my precious Brian (seen painting merrily below ) My knight in shining armour who has cared so much for me and continues to do so.

Progress, Progress, Progress, Forwards, Upwards, Fly, Fly................I moved premisis again in Dec 2003 (same industrial Park) slightly smaller ....but with loo!!..and a little less out of the way.

....The first item I bought for my business in the UK was a stapler, significant or what?....to the present day 99% of the profit is ploughed straight back into building the business and repaying the loan. There is light at the end of the tunnel and visiting my sons is finally becoming a real possibility!!

"Believe in yourself, NEVER let ANYONE put limitations on you!" ...and..."KEEP SMILING, KEEP BUSY and STAY POSITIVE" Valuable words I was told once and never forgotten.

January 2007 my new sandblaster and Hydrovane compressor, another rung on my ladder climbed. This magnificent machinery will ensure that I can produce excellent and efficient sandblasting and will see me through many years. It also takes flat glass, eg windows and other glass panels.

THE BUSINESS EXPANDS YET AGAIN>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1ST MAY 2008..still a few bits of sorting out to do...you will see in the photos my eldest son and his fiance (then girlfriend) helping me whilst they visited from New Zealand!!! How awesome was that, not to mention my Brian and his business partner creating a new front door for me!!! I have some special loves in my life.

.......2010...finally some decent display cabinets!

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