My closest Bristol friends, taking afternoon tea at House of Fraser.
Work friends on holiday in Cornwall. Check out our alternative Cornish cream tea, with the Bombay Sapphire...
(As an aside here, I do occasionally do things with friends that don't involve eating scones).
I feel very fortunate in my life to have such amazing friends. I was an awkward, unpopular teenager and it is still a source of delight and surprise to me that I seem to make and keep friends easily as an adult. I'm a sociable person and I enjoy other people's company as much as they apparently enjoy mine.
I do think good friends never go away. I have some old friends who I haven't seen for years and what I love about them is the easy slip-back-into-it relationship. It's not even about being able to make comfortable small talk or remain in companionable silence: it's more about knowing someone well enough to be direct and not have to worry about pussy-footing around issues. Over the years I have managed to keep in touch with almost all of the people with whom I've reached this enviable point, and I feel quite proud of that.
The friends pictured above are my day-to-day rocks. This year has been so tough workwise that I don't know if I would have kept my sanity without them; but my long-distance friends have been equally valuable to me because they help me get a perspective. It's useful when they don't know all the players in my dramas because it makes me selective about what I tell, and that has often helped me to think through issues which seemed impossibly tangled to begin with.
I love my own company, but I value my friendships highly. This was a great word for the week, because it has made me think a lot about my friends and that's no bad thing!
There's a new Weekword portal now. It appeared in my blogging absence over the summer and I am still not totally sure how it works, but I do know there is a list of word pickers over there so it's easy to find the Weekword if you want to join in.
What a great post Sally. I think I have found the same too, that as we mature into adults we attract true friends, appreciated all the more when we didn´t have many "friends" in childhood. I love Bristol too, my younger sister has lived there for years.
ReplyDeleteGreat take on the word Sally. Same here, seeming to make more friends as an adult. Great pics, happy friends, happy meals.
ReplyDeleteYAY! Wonderful post--eating with friends is great! So is talking and walking and lots of other things.
ReplyDeleteI had lots of friends in my old town, but haven't made many in my new location.