IF

If I said to my friends

“I have someone coming for lunch today – that I met on the internet”

I think that they would look at me with raised eye-brows. They would quiz me about why I was inviting a complete stranger into my house. They would brush away my assurances that we have had a perfectly satisfactory e-mail correspondence. Also they would mutter darkly amongst themselves that I was naive in the extreme.

However

What I said was -

“I have a garden-blogger coming to visit”

Of course the reactions were – “which one”, “how lovely”, and understandably “You better do some weeding then”.

It is so interesting that when you belong to a blogging group; be it gardening or textile – there is, for the most part, such a sense of community and positive assurance between the members. There is support from complete strangers when you go through a rough patch. Also joy, from those same strangers when something goes well.

So do you recognize this person? – You have seen this shadow before here

Yes – VP came to visit to-day and I had a perfectly lovely time. VP knew I lived in this part of Wales – so she let me know when she was holidaying near us, and accepted my invitation to come for coffee.

In fact she came for a cheese and bread lunch, we talked, we laughed a lot and we walked on the beach.

I have to tell you at this point – my feet are the rather grubby ones on the right. (All that gardening in flip flops at the weekend!).

Not only was I delighted that VP took the time to hop on a train and visit – but she arrived bearing gifts from Threadspider. A wonderful digitalis (Foxglove).

I was green with envy recently when VP and Threadspider spent an afternoon at the Botanic Nursery, which holds the National collection of Foxgloves. Thank you so much Threadspider.

All so soon it was time for VP to hop back on a train.

It was an absolute delight to meet her and I hope that if she comes for a holiday in this neck of the woods again she will drop in.

I shall try to entice her back – by sending her random e-mails and comments with the words Crug Farm, Crug Farm.

(This is a nursery that we both want to visit – and it is only an hour or so from here)

It is an interesting experience meeting up with a blogger – in some ways, you know so much of what they choose to present to the world at large via their blogs. In other ways you know nothing. For me, lunch with VP did not feel like meeting a stranger for the first time, but rather catching up with a friend – and picking up where we left off.