Snappy title, isn’t it? Add a little Yellow Swordfish and what have you got? A fun meeting with fellow bloggers over lunch at a local pub, that’s what!
I’ve only met one fellow blogger in person before – the lovely Kate, from iRamble, who very kindly came and visited me when I had my shoulder done – but I’ve got to know quite a few over the years. One of these blogging friends is Silverback of Retirement Rocks, who often pops up on IM when I’m using Facebook, and we’ve had some fun chats at odd times. Sometimes at very odd times, because I’m a night owl, and he spends half the year living the good life in Florida where he travels around by golf cart poking gentle fun at the locals. OH knew Silverback through his own blog ‘Yellow Swordfish‘ too, so when he suggested we could meet up in person before he goes back to Florida, I said yes, despite the risk that he might Not be What He Seemed.
Some of you will know that the very first person I met in person after talking with her online was fellow greyhound-owner and Johnny Depp fan, Tennesse Jenn. I took a bigger risk in meeting her, because she lives (yep) in Tennesee, whereas I live in England and I’d arranged to fly over and stay in a holiday rental with her. We had many semi-joking conversations about the possibility of her not being a ‘her’ at all, but an axe-murderer called Dave, but she wasn’t. TJ turned out to be exactly what I expected; a lovely, fun-loving Southern Belle with a most unladylike sense of humour (thank heavens), who only swooned over greyhounds and Johnny Depp. Interestingly, Ian made jokes about sharpening his axe ready to come and meet us, but he too turned out to be pretty much as I expected, only in his case, not a Southern Belle, but an Irishman transplanted to Leeds. Fun-loving he might be, but he appears to have no tendency towards chopping people into little pieces, or swooning, for that matter.
He brought Daphne with him, who writes My Dad’s A Communist and we all went out to lunch at the Rose Inn. And very nice it was too! We had a great time chatting over a very nice meal, and I for one was sorry when it was time for them to leave because Daphne had a deadline to meet, south of London. Silverback and Daphne are lovely people, and I hope we can all meet up again sometime in the not too distant future.
I’m adding this to the Friday Finding Beauty list, because to me it’s a very beautiful thing to find new friends, but also .. I mean, really. Take another look at the dessert up there. This is the Rose Inn’s rather idiosyncratic version of ‘cheesecake’. From the taste of it, it’s made with mascarpone cheese and cream, resting on a very well hidden layer of shortcake and strawberres. There is chocolate. There is an edible ‘spoon’ of homemade toffee! There are far, far too many calories for any sane person, and wow. It even tastes beautiful!
The feeling of self-righteousness when you manage not to eat the entire pot is pretty nice, too!
Yumm..and gorgeous..looks very FAB!
Kiki~
.-= Kiki´s last blog ..The Blissful Flower Tea =-.
What great fun for all of you, and a really Yummy Dessert to boot ! Soooo jealous ….lol
.-= Angel´s last blog ..Early Morning Shadows =-.
You didn’t eat it all?!!!
How lovely to meet fellow bloggers!
.-= liz´s last blog ..Treating women as equals =-.
Oh, ’tis sacrilege to not eat all of a dessert as lovely as that one.
How nice that Daphne and Silverback turned out as expected – or should I say hoped? I’ve had it work the other way, which is very sad.
.-= Carol´s last blog ..The Young and The Brave =-.
What a lovely post!
.-= BPbOTW´s last blog ..Best Posts of the Week =-.
Okay, so first of all, how great is that? To actually meet fellow bloggers and like them ‘in the flesh’ too. And that dessert is mouthwatering. Both the photo and your description made me drool.
But I have to say: ‘senior citizens lunches’? What? Is that when everything gets thrown in the foodprocessor and fed to you by spoon? With a free bib? (Since I’m still drooling over that dessert, I could use one.)
.-= brinkbeestinenglish´s last blog ..Here piggy piggy =-.
Looks like a scrumptious desert, and must be an exciting time meeting new friends.
.-= Icy BC´s last blog ..Pink Daisies =-.
It was really lovely to meet you both and I really enjoyed the lunch too, thank you! I do hope we will meet again before long. Silverback and I got to the play in time in spite of the M25, and then have had a great couple of days in the Cotswolds on the way back. Hurrah for blogging!
Kiki – It was, it was!!
Angel – We’ve been really lucky with meeting people from the internet. They’ve all turned out so lovely!
Liz – I ate half of it and then I just … well, OK, I could have finished it, but I knew if I did I would suffer for it later. Oh, isn’t it fun to get older?
Carol – Ah, well, you see it was very rich and I just couldn’t manage it. No worries, OH finished it for me!
You’ve met people who were not so nice? Oh, that’s a shame!
BPbotW – Thanks!
Brinkbeestinenglish – Hahaha! Well, sometimes I think a bib might not be a bad idea, but what it actually means is reduced prices and limited menu, usually. LOL!
Icy BC – Oh it was scrumptious, just very, very rich! And yes, it’s always good to meet new friends.
Daphne – It was great to meet you, it really was! I’m glad you got to the play on time. The M25 is so unpredictable. Hurrah for blogging indeed!
Lovely to meet you both at last and great that we had so much in common to talk about. Even The Harrington !
I’m still upset you didn’t give me a preview of Monday’s macro object though. I’ll have to guess like everyone else. Some friend you are !
.-= Silverback´s last blog ..My Blogging Days Are Over =-.
Silverback – Hahahahaha! And I’ll do my best to make it something you saw while you were here just so you can kick yourself. Tee hee!
The Harrington! Ha! ROFL!
Twas great to meet, wasn’t it? Thanks for coming down!
I’ve never met any of my blogfriends yet, not counting the ones I knew before I started blogging of course and even those I see too little of.
That dessert looks way too good. However I was a bit disappointed the pot itself wasn’t edible and filled with a gazillion calories as well…
.-= Mara´s last blog ..Vet =-.
Hi Jay! Fun place you have here! I read your ‘About’ and thought you must be a really neat person to know
I am happy you visited with me and left your comment! So nice to meet you!
Perfectly lovely dessert! And a great meeting of new friends!
Kindly, ldh
It must be great to meet up with blog friends.
I’m afraid I would have finished all of the cheesecake. I may have left the spoon though
.-= babs´s last blog ..Painting by blackmail- instead of numbers =-.
I’ve met Silverback and Daphne too. Lovely people, both of them. Glad you had such a lovely time.
OH my there’s a bucketfull of sins in that dessert. Wonderful to meet fellow bloggers, I have so many on the Agenda but it’s frustrating living so far away, most are in Europe or America for some odd reason.
.-= Baino´s last blog ..Aroma Festival =-.
Wow! I always LOVE when fellow bloggers get to meet each other in “Real Life”
.-= meleah rebeccah´s last blog ..Blog Posts and Ideas! =-.