Friday 18 May 2012

Blog visitors come to call in Normandy!

On Wednesday afternoon some really nice folks came all the way from California for afternoon tea with us at the Presbytere!
Waveney, an artist, writer and interior designer, came to visit my blog "Normandy Life" during the Tartan Parade Party in March.
Click here to see Mr Ben watching the Tartan Parade if you missed that post.



My dear friend Sarah @ Hyacinths for the Soul and Waveney's friend Alison @thepolohouse were both hostesses for the Tartan Parade and as Waveney and Doug were planning their third trip to France, concentrating on the rural countryside this time, with a little antiquing on the side, she contacted me to ask if we were a B&B.
Sadly, I had to let her know that we don't take paying guests (just family & friends) but did say that if they were in our area and had some free time in their schedule we would love to have them call in for tea.
On the morning of their visit the Senior Partner went shopping for beautiful little cakes; eclairs and fruit tarts and some small, delicious quiches to go with the cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches that I made.
The weather was so changeable. First we had blue skies & sunshine then overcast grey skies and a chilly wind.
I dithered about not knowing if we should sit out in the garden or if it would be better to stay indoors.
After visiting our local church and photographing the grounds Waveney and Doug arrived promptly at 3.30 pm and we decided to head indoors.


In all the excitement of getting to know new friends I totally forgot to take pictures of the table before we sat down to tea in the dining room.
Waveney brought us a wonderful gift, a beautiful, vintage book entitled "The Cocker Spaniel by Ella B. Moffat which she inscribed:
"To Ben, from chums at Glendogal House. Doug, Waveney, Hank, Maude & Roslyn, 2012."

Hank, Maude & Roslyn are Waveney's dogs!


Click here to take a tour of Glendogal, their stunning home, when it was featured on Alison's blog.
It may take a little time to load as there are lots of pix but you'll be glad you took the tour, believe me.
After tea we took the dogs for a short walk, to work off some of those calories, before returning home for one last picture.


Of course, Mr Ben had to get into the shot, too. After all they had come all this way just to meet him!

10 comments:

  1. Isn't Blogging amazing!!
    We become friends with people we've never met and yet have so very much in common!

    Love the book and I'm sure your house was ringing with chat and laughter long into the afternoon!

    xo
    Shane

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maggie, you know that is one of my favorite shots of Mr. Ben. I'm going to print it out to frame for my desk.
    Glad you had a lovely afternoon with friends from CA. I know the tea time was filled with delicious goodies.
    ~ Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  3. You must have had a very nice afternoon with new friends. How wonderful to be able to share tea with bloggers. The afternoon tea sounds wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a wonderful time you must have had with your blogger friends Maggie.And I am sure they loved your afternoon tea, nothing so good as that. :))
    Isn;t it wonderful to meet blogging friends. I met some bloggers last Saturday and I loved it.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Hugs from Riet

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looked like a perfect day for tea with new friends - and I just know those fresh-baked goodies must have been scrumptious along with homemade sandwiches.

    Lovely book I bet - that dear Ben has friends with great taste!

    Hugs - Mary

    ReplyDelete
  6. Meeting blog friends in real life is such a pleasure. What a lovely tea you prepared.

    If you ever come to Canada - tea will be waiting!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Having blogging friends come by for afternoon tea sounds delightful. What a thoughtful gift she brought for you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm slowly catching up, Maggie. It sounds like a terrific visit (I adore Mr. Ben!). So wish we could have connected face-to-face. Blog friends are terrific!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such a wonderful story- a great testament to the powerful bonds of blogging. One day--- I'm coming for tea!!
    Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello from California! Wave and Doug are our friends and she just shared with me this morning that they had been to your beautiful home and had a lovely day with you. Yes, meeting blog friends is delightful. The book for Ben is perfect! I wish he could have met Hank, Maudie and Roslyn - they are such sweet souls, too. Your Ben is one handsome fella!

    Becky
    PS: for more photos of their home, you can visit The Old Painted Cottage (blog), Cottage of The Month feature and their home is COTM for January 2009.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by, your visit just made my day!