Monday 25 August 2008

A Laughter of Bloggers

I was late for the party.
Not very, very late
but thanks to armed police on the motorway
I was late for lunch with Ali.

My first effort - too ordinary

When I arrived Kristina and Monica were already there
and so was Karen who does not have a blog - yet!
And so were Ali's husband and G, Kristina's huband
and the adorable Mark and Johnny.

G gives advice but it is so not my style

All you mothers of small children
who are on your last legs at the end of the school holidays
take pity on me.
I have been childless for the first time in many years
and now I could watch Mark skydive off his climbing frame
and Johnny seriously select his personal blackberry cupcake;
I could talk to Mark about Lego and admire his giant goldfish
and listen to Johnny chat to Treacle the Cat.
It was such a treat.

This one is just not appropriate

There were other treats too:
smoky blue quails eggs, candy pink watermelon
savoury filo pastries, homemade lemonade.
Thank you, Ali, for such a delicious lunch.

Later we went into Abingdon
to admire the town hall,
browse in the shops and then
to hear Jane Brocket promote her new book
at an event organised by Mostly Books.

At last! THE photo. Pass the cakestand - I want another!

The whole day was such fun
So much chatter and so much laughter
And delight in each others company
with people that I met accidentally
and can now call friends.

11 comments:

BreadBox said...

Good luck dealing with the empty nest:-) We're facing the opposite problem: first days at school, with children who'd rather spend the days at home, where they think (ha!) that they've a chance of persuading us to let them watch television all day....

Transitions, transitions....

N.

RW said...

It sounds like a lovely day "visiting".

Anonymous said...

isn't a wonderful moment when you drop the word 'blog' from the expression 'blog-friend'?

It was lovely to see you again.

Ali said...

You capture things so well Alice. Fun times.

driftwood said...

lucky you, what a fantastic treat to meet up with your new friends. xx

dottycookie said...

I really really wanted to come to hear Jane Brocket and now I hear there was a blog lunch atached I a bereft! Seves us right for organising our holidays too far ahead.

Seriously, it all looks wonderful and I am glad you had such a lovely time!

Anonymous said...

I see you came up with an alternative name for a group of bloggers - I approve! Mind you, am I allowed an opinion, being blogless as I am. Don't you all think you need the objectivity of a non-blogger? Saturday was a lovely day and your various photos of those beautiful cakes sum the day up perfectly! You have a way with words, too. x

Gina said...

A Laughter of Bloggers has to be the perfect collective noun. I very much wanted to go to hear Jane Brocket in Abingdon but family commitments prevailed. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Ginnie said...

Lucky, lucky group!

dragonfly said...

I can almost hear the laughter that I'm sure accompanied such a day!

silverpebble said...

Bit behind on commenting on your lovely posts. Saw this meet up on Ali's blog - it looks as though you had a wonderful time. What a great collective noun you've coined there!