Hazell Jacobs, an 87-year-old grandmother living in Richmond Upon Thames, never set out to become a famous blogger.

Nevertheless, after starting up 'Scarf Aid', a daily blog about her collection of silk scarves, she found herself being called up for interviews by The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph and several other news outlets on both sides of the pond.

The origins of Scarf Aid

Hazell's decision to begin a blog based around her scarves came to her in the middle of the night. On March 3 2020, just three weeks before her first scarf story was posted, Hazell suffered a stroke.

Fortunately, her speech was only temporarily affected, but the shock of it got her thinking about her life moving forward. Just a few nights later, inspiration struck.

"The idea came to me in the middle of the night and I thought I'd like to be a blogger. What should I blog about? Well, I've had a very long and interesting life and I've got all these scarves."

Rather than writing about her life in an ordinary, linear fashion, Hazell decided on a more imaginative approach. A great collector of quality items, including a beautiful selection of earrings, she settled on scarves as a way to indirectly share her life story with anyone who wanted to listen.

So, on March 26, the wedding anniversary she shares with her late husband Godfrey, Hazell published her first blog. Impressively, the 'Busy Bee Blogger' (as she is known) went on to write every single day for 100 days during lockdown. Now, she sticks to writing just one a week.

Hazell's website was set up by Ella, the youngest of 4 granddaughters, who is currently studying Art at Manchester University. Once Hazell has written up her scarf-related story for the week, she sends it off to Ella with a photo attached, ready for her to upload on Sunday mornings.

"It was a lovely experience working with Ella," Hazell says. "We're very close and we have a shared interest in art. I have wonderful relationships with all my granddaughters.

"At the top of my house we have what we call the jungle room; that's where all the granddaughters have lived. They come for 3 months and then stay for 3 years!"

Busy Bee Blogger's big interview

Hazell's first overseas interview came through a local contact - one of the organisers from Age UK Richmond - who had a journalist friend out in California. When Hazell was contacted by journalist Corinne Purtill about her blog in September, she had no idea where the story was going to appear.

"It turned out to be a big spread in the New York Times and it was an article headed 'In her words'. So many famous people have been featured in that, including Meghan Markel when she announced the loss of her child. I'm just an ordinary Richmond housewife - featured alongside all these famous people!"

Soon after the feature was published, Hazell was thrilled to find that more and more people were tuning into her blog for daily scarf stories and amusing anecdotes. The week she was featured in the New York Times, she got more than 4,000 hits on her blog, which "really took [her] by storm".

The Busy Bee Blogger, now internationally known despite never venturing much farther than her back garden, was surprised to find that the British press had also taken an interest in her story.

Just one week after the New York Times article was published, she was contacted by The Daily Telegraph, who asked to send a reporter and photographer to Richmond for a glamorous photoshoot.

"We had a shoot in my back garden - this ordinary little old lady felt like a film star for a bit!"

About the blog

Whether it's her nostalgic story of architect Jim Thompson's love affair with Thailand in 'The King And I' or tales of sunken treasure ships in Marseilles, Hazell's blogs never fail to keep the reader hooked.

When asked what it is about her stories that resonates with people from all over the world, Hazell responds: "I hope it takes readers out of their everyday lives to go on a little journey somewhere. Perhaps through memories of their own."

Hazell has travelled to a lot of exciting places in her time, and hops on her 'magic carpet' every time she wants to transport her readers to somewhere new. However, it's not all about the location.

"I don't think it's travelling that I'm really interested in, it's people. I'm a networker and I think you can relate to people even if you don't have the language."

The blogger also loves playing detective when it comes to her scarves, often doing a lot of research into their historic origins.

"It's so much fun! Last week I found out one of the scarf companies had made campaign scarves for Roosevelt. I get such a kick out of researching my scarves and it takes me on all sorts of journeys."

Hazell and Ella have also talked about creating a coffee table book with lots of lovely visuals of the famous scarves. While they haven't been taken up by any publishers just yet, Hazell has been approached by a well-known agent who saw something unique in her stories.

When the agent got in touch, Hazell was rather taken by the necklace she was wearing: a butterfly on a chain.

Hazell describes how Ella and herself had planned to include the photograph from her second ever blog 'La Farfalla' (meaning 'butterfly' in Italian) on the front cover. The blog in question includes a video of Hazell's dizzying descent on a chairlift while on holiday in Capri. Deciding to embrace the experience, the grandmother can be seen stretching out her arms like the wings of a butterfly.

However, Hazell explains that butterflies were also significant to the agent they were talking to: "She had been running in New York the day the Twin Towers were hit and you don't really ever see butterflies flying around the city. That day, she saw a whole cloud of butterflies. She believed that those were the souls of the dead who were killed that day."

"Butterflies were very special to her for that reason. My hair just stood on end, and it made me even more sure that picture will definitely be on the front of any book I publish."

The astonishing scarf collection

"It's an amazing collection of scarves I have", Hazell says. "Many of my early ones are gifts from my husband and they're actually quite valuable. Perhaps my collection will go to the V&A one day."

Every day, Hazell gets dressed up with a new scarf and pair of earrings. She describes herself as a "collector of quality things", and tells me that she is "incredibly fussy" about the scarves she chooses to buy. One key detail that Hazell looks for in a scarf is hand rolled edges.

"I'm fanatical about that because I sew, myself, and I respect the handiwork of others. It takes a long time to roll the edge of a scarf and hand-stitch it. It's an expensive finish and I admire the skill of it."

Hazell says she has "found many treasures" shopping in Richmond charity shops, including Princess Alice Hospice and Cancer Research, both of which are familiar with her blog.

Hazell once bought a scarf that caught her eye from a charity shop in East Sheen but was disappointed by its "nasty machine edges". Always up for a challenge, she went about the complicated business of hand-rolling the edges herself.

Talented seamstress that she is, Hazell might even be making her own scarves in the future, as a friend recently donated her 50 new silk blouses - watch this space!

Living in Richmond

Those who have hopped aboard Hazell's 'magic carpet' will know that the Busy Bee Blogger has lived in many differnt places throughout her long and exciting life. A storyteller through and through, Hazell explains how she came to live in Richmond.

"In 1990, we were living in Bayswater with an old dog, Anna, that we had taken back with us from America. By then, she was 15 years old and we didn't have a garden. We had to take her in the car up to Hyde park just so that she could go to the toilet!

"Later that year, we had lunch with my sister who lives in Richmond and we were walking along the river when we saw these newly-built houses. They appeared to have little gardens, so we rang the agent the next day, who showed us this house with this small 20x30ft patch of grass. The dog peed in the back garden and we thought 'alright we'll have it!'"

"Nine days later, the dog was very ill and the vet said she had to be put down. We'd bought this house in Richmond purely for her. It's this long skinny terrace house, so we called it 'Fort Anna' which is a play on 'Fortana'.

Thirty-one years later, Hazell still resides in Fort Anna and loves living in Richmond. The 87-year-old is a keen gardener, and has surrounded her little courtyard with an exotic array of orange trees, fig trees and grapes. Here in this "magical garden" is where she would write her blog in the summer months.

Hazell also had a "fabulous" 80th birthday party here in Richmond. She rented the Curzon Cinema on a Sunday morning and had the Jacques Tati film 'The illusionist' show on the big screen. There was also a fancy dress competition and a celebration in Richmond's old town hall.

Hazell's also been thinking about what to do for her 90th: "I'd like to rent Kew Palace to have dinner for my family - I'd also like to meet David Attenborough!"

What's next for Hazell?

Hazell tells me that the 'busy bee' title comes from her grandchildren, as it's the name they have always called her instead of 'granny' or 'grandma'.

Staying true to her nickname, Hazell has been finding plenty of ways to keep herself active during lockdown. Alongside her blogging and gardening, she's been learning Italian and playing bridge online. She has even been making face masks out of old scarves, gifting them to family and friends.

For her latest project, Hazell has started up a little library of audio books, which she sends out to the blind or partially-sighted. A sufferer of partial-sightedness herself, she often reads her stories to friends who are not able to read them.

Always on the ball, Hazell doesn't spend her days waiting for lockdown to be over. Instead, she makes the most out of every day with a simple philosophy.

"I don't live in the future, just today. I don't like to think about tomorrow, but try to just live in the here and now," she says.

In these times of uncertainty over what tomorrow might bring, this is something that we can all aspire to.