WHAT A BUSY AND FUN-FILLED DAY!

When our friend, Linda, who now lives in Cheltenham, messaged a couple of weeks ago, she asked if she could come and see us on her way to the Chiropractor - and as we hadn’t seen her for many months, in fact, back in 2020, we said we would love to see her.

She arrived just after 12 noon and we had a lovely catch up - and we were so pleased to hear that she had been able to go to Bulgaria to see her parents and family during the summer, as she hadn’t seen any of them for over 2 years.  She said they didn’t do very much, it was enough just to be with them and to catch up.  We have known Linda and her daughter, Vyara, for about 12 years since I met Linda at the school Vyara was attending and formed a very close friendship.  We don’t see one another as much since she moved to Cheltenham, but are still in touch regularly.  We couldn’t believe it when Linda told us that Vyara is in her last year at Pates Grammar School and will be going to university next year - in fact, to hear that she will be 18 years old in November was quite a shock - where did those years go?

Anyway, we had to have the obligatory “selfie” - so here we are - in the garden before the rain came on again.

Then, once Linda was gone, we laid the table ready for tea and cake with Blip friends, Heidi and Pam and Pam’s husband, Roger.  We haven’t seen Pam and Roger, who live in America, since May 2019, so it was good to catch up with them and what has been happening in their lives.  They have family in the UK so were combining a visit to us with visits to various family members.  

However, unlike lots of Blipmeets, we don’t go to posh places and take lots of photographs, we just stay at our house and eat cake and drink copious amounts of tea and coffee, although I did get out the best Royal Albert china - but I do need to get a decent teapot to match!

We hadn’t seen Heidi for a few months, so it was also good to catch up with her - and thank goodness for mobile phones - she was able to let us know there was an accident on the M4, so she had to come via a different route - but she made it and then we had our tea/coffee and cakes.  I made a mincemeat cake and some flapjacks and she brought some marzipan cakes from IKEA called vacuum cleaner cakes, and of course, there was much merriment about why they were called that.  

I don’t think we stopped talking and laughing all afternoon and because Heidi had driven Alfie, her motorhome, Pam and Roger had a conducted tour but sadly it had to be done in the pouring rain and boy, did it rain.  However, before we knew it, the time had run away with us and it was 7 o’clock and already dark!  It was so lovely to see them all and now Mr. HCB is in the kitchen washing up, bless him, while I get my Blip sorted.

The wonderful thing about Blip, for all of us, is the making of friendships and then meeting up from time to time - we might just get to see Heidi again before the end of the year, but I don’t think Cincinnati will be on our list for quite sometime.  

This quote seemed quite appropriate for a Blipmeet, as I’m sure you will agree!

“So take photographs of everything:
     ordinary things,
          simple things,
between the door
     and by-the-window things;
          light-ridden and shadow-heavy things.
Forever things.
     Fleeting things;
          take photographs of everything.” 
(and Mrs. HCB usually does!)
Morgan Harper Nichols