There aren’t too many Mums who give their daughter a tool set for Christmas!

I love my tool set, but not as much as I love my Mum – Pauline Dwyer

My Mum not only gave me a tool set for Christmas, she also taught me how to use it. So when Mum told me her idea for Home handywoman, I was soooo excited. It’s like she’d found her calling in life.

For more than thirty years, my Mum has been pottering about her workshop, tinkering in the garden, fixing all sorts of things about the house. And through this website, she’s bringing together her many talents and interests, and sharing them with other women around the world all the tricks of the trade to DIY maintenance around your home and property (as a former teacher, I reckon Mum is perfect for the job – she’s certainly taught me a thing or two!)

I don’t know anyone like my Mum. I’m so proud of her for being who she is she’s all things nurturing and loving (as you’d expect a Mum to be). But she also has this perfectionist (you could say obsessive) DIY side that is totally off-the-planet. It doesn’t matter what she turns her hand to, her workmanship is top-notch even skilled tradies marvel at how clever she is (and they probably get a little peeved too if the truth be told! A bloody woman? Who’d have thought it!).

For as long as I can remember, my mother has made it her mission to learn about the things that have otherwise been (almost exclusively) male territory building, plumbing, woodworking, welding, landscaping etc etc the secret men’s business that has previously escaped most of us females.

But because my Mum was a single parent, compelled to be resourceful, she had little choice but to learn all that blokey stuff. She couldn’t afford to pay some fella to fix the toilet, change the tap washer, build the pergola, pave the patio, build the retaining wall, tile the bathroom. So she did all these things herself.

Over more than thirty years, Mum has built a swag of skills in the workshop, around the home and property that simply blow my mind (and impress virtually everyone who sees her handiwork).

I’m so proud of my Mum. She can do many things that other people can’t. And what makes her even more special is that right here, on this website, she’s sharing the secrets and tools of her many trades with every single woman who like her is eager to learn the skills, tricks and tips “her father didn’t teach her and her mother didn’t know”.

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