Catherine Anne Kissack (Annie), 59, lives at Lamode Rushen, with husband Phil Gawne, and their two grown-up children, Ewan and Kitty.

A fluent speaker in Manx Gaelic, Annie teaches at the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, and alsdo sings with the choir, Carrjyn Cooidjagh.

She was recently named as the fifth Manx Bard

What is your idea of a perfect meal?

I like chips, vegetable curry, anything with water cress in it, oh and blackberries. I’m not sure that these together constitute a perfect meal but individually, they do fine. Actually I do have excellent friends who make wonderful vegetarian meals with mysterious ingredients and invite me to join them.

What is your favourite way to relax?

Reading in the winter and gardening in the summer are enjoyable. And music, when I stop writing or analysing it, and just listen!

What is your greatest extravagance?

I was brought up to be careful with material stuff, so it’s probably something abstract like talking too much!

Do you have any pets?

Yes. We have three horses and two cats (I’m the cat person.)

What is your greatest achievement?

Perhaps it’s conducting and writing music for the choir Caarjyn Cooidjagh over the last 25 years. We’ve made a few CDs and have a new one lined up for the New Year. But of course, I was equally delighted to be given the title of the fifth Manx Bard in August.

What is your favourite time of the year?

Early autumn, when the light sometimes picks out the hidden details in the landscape.

What is the first job you ever had?

Serving toffee apples and candy floss at the Moo Cow Cafe at Port Jack. I was thirteen and petrified. You can do a lot of damage with candy floss!

Do you have any irrational fears?

Of course- but that’s fine now I’m officially a poet and can exploit them.

What is your worst habit?

Talking too much and waving my hands about, knocking things over.

What is your favourite book?

When I was growing up I read nothing but Charles Dickens. These days I would always want to have access to W.W. Gill’s Manx Scrapbooks. There’s such a fascinating mix of Manx folklore there.

What is your favourite TV programme?

There’s always The Simpsons.

What is your favourite band/artist at the moment?

Clash Vooar, a Manx band that is getting quite a following and rightly so. As musicians and performers, they are all tremendously talented and energetic.

What is your favourite part of the Isle of Man?

Here, where we live near the Sloc, but I also like the view out west from Cronk y Voddy. Less familiar but beautiful are those green, verdant parts of Maughold to which spring comes so much earlier than to the rest of us.

What is the last show/band that you saw live?

Probably Clash Vooar playing in Peel.

If time/money were no object, what would be your perfect day?

A sunny day, walking, talking with people who had interesting things to say. Covering the miles without realising it. Stopping in a pub for a nice meal. And one with no ’to do’ list at the end of it.

Choose three people, dead or alive, to invite to dinner?

The three grandparents I never knew. I suspect I owe them a lot.