Wednesday, April 04, 2012

When bloggers meet….

Image via Wylio
…they talk…and talk…and talk…Or at least The Broad and I and our respective spouses did, when we met up at her home in Southport a week ago today. The way the talk and the tea were flowing, if DH and I hadn't had to leave for supper with family, I reckon we’d still have been talking at midnight. J

That morning, at an unusually early hour for one of our departures, DH and I had crammed the last items into the campervan and set off north in blazing sunshine. In fact we set off so early that we arrived well ahead of our appointed time and had time to say hello to the family members who were gathering at my brother-in-law’s house for the following day’s celebration of my mother-in-law’s birthday.

Ten minutes before we were due, we set off to drive the mile or so to The Broad’s house, only to find that the last little bit of the route had been pedestrianised without anyone having told our satnav. Poor Gladys got very upset at our refusal to go down the road she was indicating and went into a sulk, so that we had to force her to work out how best to circumvent the obstacle and arrive at our destination. 

The next obstacle manifested itself when we arrived in the right street, only to find that neither of us had remembered to write down the house and phone numbers so carefully provided by The Broad. Doh! Thankfully, before we left home, we had found her address on Google Street View and DH’s visual memory rose to the challenge of identifying the right house without the number.

Only ten minutes late despite everything, we finally walked up to the front door to be greeted by The Broad with a huge grin and a hug, as though we were simply seeing each other again after a gap, rather than meeting for the very first time. There were absolutely none of those awkward preliminaries, as people send out conversational feelers to start to get to know each other. Indeed, within minutes we were sitting round the kitchen table with big mugs of tea and delicious homemade blueberry muffins, nattering away nineteen to the dozen.

The Broad and her husband are so interested and interesting, so easy and amusing to talk to, that it was as though we were the oldest of friends, catching up with each other’s news and activities since we had last met. Our conversation ranged widely and randomly, like all the best meetings of friends, yet we parted knowing there were so many subjects we hadn’t even touched on, but which we could save for next time. For there will be a next time, hopefully lots of next times, as a virtual friendship is transformed by a single meeting into an actual friendship.

Before DH and I left, we all went into The Broad’s beautifully reappointed officewhere our respective husbands tried their best to take some photos of two laughing women, (one of whom has a very bad habit of closing her eyes when being photographed) which weren't blurred or unrecognisable and which captured something of the spirit of our meeting. I think they succeeded.

Broad, meeting you and The Man was great and I’m so glad you suggested it. Here’s to friendship.
Why can't this woman keep her eyes open?
Now calm down and stop giggling, you two!
That's better...
Isn't friendship great?

54 comments:

  1. Hello Perpetua:
    How wonderful all of this sounds. And isn't it amazing that a virtual friendship can be cemented in reality, as it was for you and The Broad, almost immediately? But then, we think that it says much about you both as warm, generous and giving individuals which from reading both of your blogs we know you to be and which is so clearly in evidence in the photographs.

    And the cakes look positively delicious!

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    1. It really was, Jane and Lance. Yes, one learns a surprising amount about a person from their blog, but neither of us realised quite what a difference this would make when we actually met. I've never experienced anything quite like it and it was such fun. The muffins were authentic American ones too.

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  2. Brilliant for you both that you have confirmed that you have a new real-life chum. Also can I say that coral pink is for sure your colour, Big Sis. Unsurprisingly, as it is also one of mine...

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    1. It was a very interesting realisation, Baby Sis and such an enjoyable one. This blogging lark has some very pleasant consequences. The coral pink sweater hadn't been worn for a long time for some reason, so I thought I'd give it an airing. Such a lovely colour.

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  3. Love your photos and to coin your own words, Perpetua - 'isn't friendship great!'

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    1. Thanks, Molly. I'll tell DH as he persevered through a number of spoiled ones to get these. Me and my closed eyes..... Friendship is a wonderful thing and to be cherished when we find it.

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  4. Nice photos and you are obviously having a lovely time. Most definitely friendship is great :-)

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    1. Thanks, Antoinette. we had a truly wonderful afternoon and I haven't laughed as much for a long time. :-) It's amazing what blogging can lead to....

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  5. Don't you just love that Google map app? It's the BEST. It has saved me a couple times.
    And how very cool to meet and catch up with fellow bloggers.

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    1. Well, it certainly saved the day for us that time, Nerima. I couldn't believe I'd been so silly as to come without the house number and phone number. I can strongly recommend meeting up with fellow bloggers if you get the chance. :-)

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    2. Husband #1 once left the house where we were staying with friends of his on the outskirts of Rome to take myself and The Daughter (then aged 11) to see the sights of the city centre for the first time ever and realised when we got off the bus at the end of a very long day that he didn't have the address or phone number with him. It was dark, so everything looked different, the bus stop was in a small piazza with five roads leading off it. We tried most of them before we got the right one. It was exhausting...and unforgettable, even twenty years on I can recall the frustration edging further and further towards desperation.

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    3. Now that's a scary experience which I can well imagine. Getting lost in cities is no fun, especially at night and with a child. Even Street View wouldn't have helped much, given that you couldn't see things properly in the dark. Our forgetfulness only led to a few minutes wandering up and down a nice quiet street in bright sunshine.

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  6. Great photos, and a delightful description of the meeting. You can see how much fun you all had. I am also terribly impressed by DH's property spotting skills, and the muffins look fabulous. Janice.

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    1. Oh, we had such a good time, Janice, and I'm glad DH managed to get some photos to reflect that. The time just whizzed past and we had to tear ourselves away because the family were expecting us for the evening meal. I'm very glad DH's memory for houses was so good as I kept guessing at the number and getting it wrong...

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  7. So pleased that your visit together was such a success - you look as if you have both known each other forever.
    Those Google street views are so useful. I visited a house in deepest Cotswolds, and was so glad that I had checked it all out on the street view first. I would never have found it, as it was down lots of narrow twisting lanes.

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    1. That's exactly how it felt, Rosemary, and I think it surprised us both. To me it's a wonderful testimony to the value of blogging and what can be shared through it.

      Like you, we use Google Street View a great deal when visiting new places and feel unreasonably aggrieved when we find that a particular street or other location doesn't yet feature on it. :-)

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  8. The two of you look so delicious together...looks like you were having a blast! How wonderful for the two of you to be able to meet and cement a friendship that started through interesting blogs. You are truly blessed. Smiles - Astrid

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    1. We did indeed have a blast, Astrid. In fact, when our husbands were trying to take photos we could hardly stop giggling. Much more mid-teens than mid-sixties. :-) You're right - we were very fortunate to hit it off quite so well.

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  9. Hi Perpetua - It is so good to finally meet in the flesh, someone you have only previously known in the virtual world. Someone who has recently taken to commenting on my blog & another one that I follow, came to St. Clements a week last Sunday for the first time. Unfortunately, we only got to chat briefly as he did choose the Sunday of our Annual Church Meeting :-)

    Well done to DH for the photos. Do be aware that by putting two of them side-by-side, the right-hand end of the right photo has ended up in the side bar on my screen. This might not be a problem for those with bigger, wider screens but on my ancient computer.......

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    1. Hi Ricky. This is the first time I've met someone after getting to know them via their blog and it really was good to be able to chat face to face and laugh together. I'm glad you managed to meet up with your new commenter, albeit briefly.

      Sorry to hear that the photos aren't displaying correctly on your screen. None of them have actually been placed side by side by me. They are all below each other, as I only try to put images side by side when they are in portrait format. I've just checked in Chrome and IE8 and they are displaying properly for me, so I don't know what to do to improve things, I'm afraid.

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    2. I use Firefox as does Sybille. On both my screen & on Sybille's new, bright, shiny, wide screen, the photo entitled 'That's better...', disappears into the side bar on the right. Why? I do not know!

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    3. The vagaries of Blogger probably, Ricky. I've double-checked the positioning of that photo in my textbox and it's definitely centred according to the software setting, yet in the emailed post which I subscribe to and which has just arrived, the two photos are side by side as you describe. It's beyond me!

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  10. I heartily endorse what Jane and Lance said. You do appear to be very similar in your warmth and openness. Long may the friendship thrive.
    I love the pictures, particularly the giggly second one, and the muffins look almost good enough to turn me into a cake-eater.

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    1. Thanks, Ray. I hope so too, as we got on together like the proverbial house on fire. It's a good thing both our husbands know how to talk as well, because otherwise they wouldn't have got a word in edgeways.

      I love the second photo too, which is why I decided to include it, despite its being blurred because we were laughing so much. However I had to search for an image of blueberry muffins as we were too busy eating The Broad's to photograph them. :-)

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  11. So glad you got together and had such a ball. I love the photos! It's very heartwarming to hear of bloggers meeting and getting on so well - though it doesn't surprise me in the least. Axxx

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    1. It was such a lovely afternoon, Annie, and I thoroughly recommend it. We had both looked forward to meeting, but the reality far exceeded expectation. Bloggers make great friends. :-)

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  12. It's clear that you had a great time together....doesn't blogging open doors!

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    1. Fly, I'm surprised you didn't hear the giggles from there! I can hardly believe how my life has been enriched through blogging. So many experiences and relationships I could never have anticipated.

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  13. This was such a joyful read that I found myself grinning, then starting to giggle with you, Perpetua. You and The Broad look like you were having a grand time and as if you have known each other for years. Friendship is, indeed,

    Now, may I ask about the phrase "nattering away nineteen to the dozen"? It's one I haven't heard before and wonder if you know its origin. I love to hear adages and phrases and such and this one is a new one I will remember.

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    1. Penny, when I was writing this post I found myself grinning as I went back through that afternoon. We talked about so much, and yet as DH and I were leaving, Broad said "We haven't even mentioned books!" Next time.....

      "Nineteen to the dozen" is an expression I've known since childhood and is most commonly used with a verb indicating talking. It means to do something at a great rate, but I have no idea where it comes from. There's an interesting article about it here: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-nin2.htm

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    2. Thank you for the explanation and to the link, which was interesting. One of my aunts always came up with adages. She would have loved "nineteen to the dozen" - and I love learning new things, no matter how big they are.

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  14. It would be so interesting to meet someone from our blog world. As you said, we already know so much about each other that the blog experience is like having met the person in another place.

    I always seem to close my eyes in photos also. You both look great!

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    1. Rubye,I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only person with the habit of shutting my eyes when a camera appears. DH has just shown me some of the photos he took on his mother's birthday, and yes, my eyes are closed more often than not! Sigh....

      If you ever get the chance to meet someone whose blog you read and who reads yours, do take it. You will already have so much in common that you'll never be short of things to talk about. :-)

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  15. Oh blast..typed a comment and lost it :-(

    Anyway what I said was that I knew this would go well. From my own experience of meeting up with bloggers it's great that you can just jump straight into the real life friendship without the preliminaries or awkward silences. Simply because we cover so much of our lives on our blogs that we already know each other.

    It's one of the best things about the internet, and blogging in particular...making good friends for life.

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    1. So annoying when that happens, Ayak. It was your description of meeting another blogger which made me realise just how different this meeting would be from a normal first meeting and you were so right. I could never have imagined that I would get to know so many lovely people through blogging and it was so good to meet one of them in real life. I have friends made through forums, but blogging tells you so much more about the person.

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  16. Happy Maundy Thursday, Perpetua (& to DH as well). The snow eventually stopped late last night - turning to wet sleet. It's still on the garden and the hills, but the roads are clear, and the wind has dropped so it's not so cold. I love your pictures - but have the same problem as 'chaplain' - 2 pictures side by side. Never mind - I can still see them, and you both look great. I agree with your 'baby sis' about coral being your colour! I must get my blogging going - can't do anything until I find out how to import pictures and get my 'identity' picture in place, but I do like the prospect of making new friends via this medium - meeting them as you've just done. When are you going to Orkney?
    We've got accommodation for our trip up to Mull sorted - 2 nights en route, on with a friend in Kendal and the next at a guest house in Arrochar. Now to sort the return trip - via the east coast to see more friends, hopefully - 2 I haven't seen since Uni in 1961! Then to family (better half's sis and bro) in Rotherham, and perhaps seeing Brother Malcolm in Doncaster as well! Optimistic, anyway.
    Love, Helva

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    1. Glad your snow has stopped, Helva. I expect it will disappear as fast as it came. As I said to Ricky, I have no idea why the photos aren't displaying properly for you, unless it's a browser thing. Do you use Firefox too? When I get back I'll give you a refresher about the technicalities of blogging and make sure you make notes :-)

      No firm arrangements made yet for our Orkney visit, but it will be in late April/early May. Have a very happy Easter and enjoy your holiday on Mull.

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  17. What a wonderful post, and how lovely to see two happy smiling faces. But you know I think you're wrong, a virtual friendship is as actual as any other. There is a long tradition of strong bonds forged by correspondence and blogging is just one 21st century version of that. My parents-in-law met twice before their marriage, they got to know each other in a war torn world through their letters, and their marriage was a long and loving one.

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    1. Thanks, Annie. Glad you enjoyed it. I love the story of the way your parents-in-law got to know each other through letters and I take your point entirely about strong bonds being forged and maintained through correspondence. My maternal grandparents courted by postcard as they lives on opposite sides of the Pennines. I think my use of language must have been poor, but how does one best express the shift from a friendship through words alone, words addressed to a wide and non-specific audience, to a friendship of presence and a relationship between two specific individuals?

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  18. Thank you for such a lovely recap of such a wonderful afternoon. I'm already looking forward to the next time! It is interesting how one develops an idea of a person through blogging and that virtual idea is not the same as the 'in person' experience. It's like experiencing a person on two levels. Now that I am reading your blogs and comments again you are 'Perpetua' again. And I really really like this kind of natural 'dualism' in our perceptions of each other's personalities.

    And that coral really really does suit you!

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    1. Thanks, Broad. That next meeting is already on the mental calendar. :-) I find your remarks about the difference between the 'virtual' and the 'in person' impression of someone very interesting, especially in the light of Annie's remarks just above. I know exactly what you mean as I too felt my mental gears shift a notch when we actually met and yet there was still so much that was familiar and known because of what I'd read in your blog. I love the fact that we both instinctively wanted to use our blog names rather than our real ones, perhaps because the latter are so similar. I had to stop myself calling you Broad more than once! :-)

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  19. Absolutely wonderful! Your sharing just brighten my day, Perpetua. The world has felt very small and intimate since I started blogging, and I just know there will be opportunities for many of us to meet...the when and how aren't known yet, but you just explained the why! Lovely! Debra

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    1. Debra, it was and I'm so glad you enjoyed the account of our lovely afternoon. I too love the way blogging has shrunk the world and that I can interact with you in California and Penny in Illinois and Ayak in Turkey, etc. etc. I could plan the most amazing world tour just to visit the friends I've made through blogging! :-)

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  20. I agree, it's good to meet fellow bloggers - so next time you're in Pembrokeshire (or Wiltshire) perhaps you'll pop by.

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    1. Thanks for the invitation, Mark. I may well take you up on it if we start heading in different directions from our usual ones.

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  21. Well firstly I'm amazed at your ingenuity at actually being able to get to the front door of The Broad's house! Lovely to hear of your time together AND with Cake.... all the best conversations start over cake....

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    1. Well - OK I'm overstating ALL obviously ;-) But certainly the best friendships!

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    2. LOL, Sian. I do think cake is good at starting conversations ans cementing friendships and I'm looking forward very much to our visit to you, when I'm sure there will be cake. Not sure if Street View will be much use on Graemsay though.... :-)

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    3. Believe it or not we DID get the Google Van over one day! But it rained and was misty so he went home again without any footage. LOL!

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    4. ROFL, Sian! Still, I'm sure we'll find each other. :-)

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  22. Great story, Perpetua, and I'm so pleased all 4 of you had fun! That's a real plus, as I can imagine that sometimes a friendship which develops virtually between two people could be risky when their partners are pulled into it..but obviously, no such problems for you, the Broad and your respective menfolk! And what lovely photos..You both look as if you were having a really great time!

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    1. Thanks, CB, we were having a fantastic time. It was a big bonus that all four of us got on so well, as of course our respective spouses knew very little, if anything, about each other. But we're all of the same generation and have enough in common for the conversation never to flag. I do recommend the experience. :-)

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  23. Delightful. What a joyous meeting!

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    1. It was sheer pleasure from, beginning to end, DB, and I'm sure not the last.

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