Hello. I’m Elizabeth.
This page is a bit more about me. I’m 37, a mother of two and English.
Margot and Barbara is the distillation of many hours spent trying to make sense of my giant, sprawling list of interests. I’m a scanner. Multipotential. Dilettante. Whatever. What that means is that I will never find the perfect job, never settle down to just one thing. Never grow up. I’ve spent a long time and wasted a lot of tears trying to find the ONE thing that I was meant to do, but at the ripe old age of 37 I am at peace with myself. I’m fine. Great, in fact.
The initial reason for this is that a few years ago, I was given an article torn from the pages of a magazine. It was called “What Do I Do When I Want to Do Everything?” and was my first introduction to the work of Barbara Sher ( www.barbarasher.com ) and my start on the journey towards accepting and loving being a scanner. I did grow up, and have two amazing children, and I’m still a scanner. There is no one thing that will be perfect for me. It’s just who I am – and that is actually a brilliant truth. Without the endless hunt for the one true thing that I should do for the rest of my life, I am actually free to pursue as many things as I like, and enjoy the process of discovery and learning for its own sake, not just in case it should be my career. Life is pretty long. We’re always being told that it’s short, but I plan to be around for at least 50 more years. That’s half a Century of discovery! It’ll do.
There are loads of great resources on the internet for folk like me (and you?) if you look for it. I suspect you already have. One site I came across recently is www.puttylike.com which I think is awesome, especially for those of you who are wondering if you’re a scanner too. The scanner community is a friendly one.
I guess for those of you not familiar with old BBC comedy, I should explain the title of this site too. Margot and Barbara are the two female leads in my favourite sit-com, The Good Life, produced by the BBC in the 1970’s. Take a look here: www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/goodlife/. They’re neighbours and friends, but polar opposites. Margot is a social climber who loves the finer things in life and Barbara is trying to become self-sufficient. Many of us have played that game “Which Friends character are you most like?” Well, this is my interpretation of that. In listing out all my interests, passions, work and hobbies, I realised that I am basically both Margot and Barbara. Haute Couture? Yes. Allotment gardening? Also yes. So, here it is.
Meet Margot and Barbara.
Margot Loves…fashion, beauty, perfume, spas, travel, restaurants and a spot of luxury.
Margot devours the latest glossy magazines, lusts after high heels and has an admirable collection of handbags.
As someone who has well and truly seen the back of her teenage years, you will not find mini skirts and sparkly lip glosses on these pages. More like anti-wrinkle cream and fashion for those of us who like to hide our upper arms. Plus reviews of anything I’ve tried.
Barbara Loves…gardening, baking, trawling antique and vintage stores, analogue photography, environmental issues and a bit of thrift.
Barbara grows vegetables, bakes cakes, goes for long walks, camps, rides bikes and religiously recycles.
Here is where you’ll find my writing about my allotment, cooking with my kids, a tiny bit of crafting and whatever I might find at the local antique place. Even if it’s Chanel, which Margot would simply adore too!
I also love to have microadventures; tiny adventures fitted around everyday life, and I will share these with you too.
My other project is Sage & Thrift. We currently run a bi-monthly cookbook swap in our home town of Leeds and hope to expand that soon to include many other things. Once we find a tiny scrap of time hidden amongst everything else…
I hope you like the site, take a look around and come back soon!
Elizabeth x
