Finding Friendship

Sometimes we find the best friendships in the most unlikely of places.  For me it was through distance learning online, where I met fellow student Sarah and we began chatting about the course and our aspirations and frustrations.  It then developed into blogging, and emails, before we eventually met each other and found we still liked each other just as much in the flesh. The amazing thing about this is that we live at opposite sides of the world - Sarah in Jersey, Channel Islands and myself in Australia.  

Hubby and I had a quick and frantic trip back to the UK in September for a bereavement, and decided to cheer ourselves up with a trip to Jersey to meet Sarah and her family, and what a wonderful time we had.

Sarah is the owner of Quilt Candy, an online store for her beautiful, hand made, bespoke quilts for babies and children.  Here she is showing me one them, with a little help from her son. 

We couldn't go to Jersey without a trip to The Harbour Gallery.  What an alladin's cave!

Here's some photos of inside the gallery, showing you all they have to offer - far too much to choose from.  I doubt anyone could go in there and not find something to excite them. Sarah has told me so much about the Gallery, I just had to visit ... in fact, it was our very first stop on day one!

It's full to the brim of hand made arts and crafts from local artisans, and even has a cafe upstairs.  Definitely somewhere to visit time and time again. 

Sarah and her hubby took us all over the island, where we saw all the beautiful sites Jersey has to offer, and sampled the delicious food.  I'm sure I put on a few extra kilo's but it was well worth it.   We packed so much into 3 days - sight seeing, wining and dining, meeting friends, going for walks, visiting her children's school, shopping, and non-stop talking.

As if meeting Sarah and her family wasn't wonderful enough, she topped it off by presenting me with a delightful handmade mini quilt of my new home, complete with the number on the door.  It was all appliqued, stitched, and quilted by Sarah ... and was a very emotional gift to receive, knowing how much time and effort goes into something like this, and what a wonderful friend I indeed have.  It's something I will cherish forever.

Hubby and I had a marvelous time meeting Sarah and her family, we all got on like a house on fire, and the only sadness is that we live so far apart, but I know our friendship will continue.  There is so much abuse of the internet, which is a shame, because if used properly it's a brilliant tool for meeting people all over the world and forging new friendships, as Sarah and I have done. 

I would love to hear your own stories of how good friendships were made, and hope that you all get to meet the friends you blog with, just as we have.