Wise Web Woman should be packing her case in readiness for her forthcoming trip to Ireland.  She arrives in on 30th May and next day she will be up bright and early to take part in the Flora Ladies Mini Marathon in Dublin City.  Oh for the energy!   So, if you are going along to watch the Girls strut their stuff you need two placards, one with ‘Wise Web Woman on it and the other for Patricia Anglican!

Meanwhile procrastinating instead of packing, WWW is gazing at the award she received from Gossamer Woman.

Now I like the sound of that…. reaching out and building bridges!

In the true spirit of blogging she passed the baton on and shared some bloggy goodness to people who in her own words:-

I admire and who reach out across boundaries with their sparkling honesty and truth:

Her list of nominees are:

• Tessa at Nuts and Mutton.
  Twilight at Twilight Starsong.
  Verna at Out of the Cube.
  Nick at Nickhereandnow.
  Grannymar at Grannymar.
  and
  Conor at Conorjte.

I think she made a mistake…. ’cause my name appears on that list among some wonderful people whose blogs I enjoy.  Thank you Wise Web Woman for the honour.

Sitting with thinking cap in place I scroll through my list of virtual friends to choose a half dozen deserving of this accolade…. It is so difficult as so many of you reach out and build bridges…

My choice this time are:-

Damien Mulley the father figure of blogging in Ireland, who shares time, information and link luv on a daily basis.  He is the brains behind the Irish Blog Awards and the Irish Web Awards, events that don’t just happen over night, but take months of planning and preparation to bring so many together for a fun filled evening in recognition of their peers.

Darragh Doyle alright so I am biased!  Darragh had the ‘Obama’ spirit long before we heard of Obama.  I sometimes wonder if he was born saying “Yes we can!  Yes I will!”  There are no doors in Darragh’s lexicon, if he wants to meet someone he walks right up there and says hello.  He meets people.  He introduces people and most of all he enjoys sharing people with all of us through his blog.

Lily’s Blog makes a refreshing read on a wide variety of topics and it is difficult to believe it only arrived on the scene in the last twelve months.  Lily, a busy wife & mother to the Collison Clan was the last member of the family to join the blogging world.  The boys keep her on her toes baking, blogging, twittering and following their escapades across the globe.

From the Magpie’s nest proves that nagging works. 🙄  Magpie11 has been a regular visitor here for a long time now, and from his observations and comments I felt he had what it took to feed a blog of his own.  Thankfully for once I was listened to and proved correct.  I particularly enjoy his cookery hints they are always tasty and tempting.

Stretching my long arms wide I will pick one blog from and easterly direction and one from the west to comple my half dozen.

Ramana’s Musings reach us all the way from Pune in India.  Ramana is an avid reader of everything from heavy tomes to the frivilous fripperance of Grannymar.  His blogroll stretches across the globe and he acknowledges every comment that he receives.  He has brought many visitors here to join in the fun and I have discovered many new blogs.

Leveraged Intelligence with Conrad (who hails from Kansas and now lives in California) at the helm is a fun place to play.  He introduces the subject and we are all invited to join the conversation, at times the visitors take over and Conrad can hardly get a look in.

Now it is your turn… go reach out and build six bridges!

Back in December on that dreaded Facebook I received an invitation.

‘How about a coffee & a mince pie before Christmas?’  The request came from a Toyboy!       Now you all know me by now, I never want to miss the chance to meet up with a fellow blogger.  Calendars were cleared and arrangements made, and that is how I met D@\/e. It was interesting to meet another Norn Iron blogger and learn about the world from his perspective.

Dave brought his wife (a non blogger) and we chatted easily.  In fact we talked so long that we worried rent for the table & chairs might be added to the bill ❗

Before we parted we decided on a return match and I suggested we try somewhere with softer seats, and so we settled on the Comfort Inn at Antrim for our return meet-up during the final days of the Christmas season.  As I waited for Dave to arrive I watched the the dismantling of the Christmas tree from the foyer.

Again we drank coffee and chatted and the idea of an open blogger meet-up was bandied about. Where and when to have it, how to advertise it etc. were all thoughts discussed.  Since we were rather comfortable where we were sitting, that solved one problem, next up was the date, time and to let people know.

So the plan is:

To meet for a coffee, and or a meal with plenty of chat (you are welcome to try all three!) here:

The Comfort Inn, 20 Dunsilly Road, Antrim

13 February 2009 at 19:00

Dave has all the info on Facebook and I see that Nelly, Hannah & Ciaran have their names down already.  Phil is hoping to coax Davy to load up his bus with the Belfast gang… sure you know you don’t want to miss it!

Any southern bloggers in our neck of the woods that evening?  You would be very welcome.

With apologies to Ross Parker the author of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ a favourite tune for the Forces Sweetheart from WW11 – Dame Vera Lynn

Let’s say “Hi” with a smile, dear.
To chat a while, dear, we must start.
Don’t let that starting upset you,
I’ll not forget you, sweethearts.

We’ll meet I hope, I know where, make it fast, I want to meet together quite soon in Cork

Keep blogging through, just like you always do, ‘till the Blog Awards drive the dark clouds far from Cork.

So will you please say “Hello” If your folks I don’t know tell me I won’t be wrong?
You’ll be happy to know that I so want to go, I am singing this song.
We’ll meet at last, I know where, make it fast, I want to meet quite soon way down in Cork

With the 2009 Irish Blog Awards almost upon us, a simple Meme is just the thing.

That whipper-snapper Rick O’Shea started it. I would link to him if I could see his blog 🙄

This Meme is simple.

Name 5 bloggers you haven’t met in the flesh before that you’d like to say hi to at the Blog Awards, say why if you want, link to them. They then, in turn, link to 5 bloggers they’d like to meet and so on.

That’s it. It’s just an icebreaker for the night. Yes, I know they might not be coming but it might act as an incentive.

I’d like to meet:

Holy Shmoly – Donncha has always been willing to offer help and encouragement, no matter how silly my question. His camera eye fascinates me.

Trust Tommy – A 14 year old Toyboy! Need I say more? 🙄

Paddyanglican – who will be freshly returned from singing with the Corrigan Brothers, representing Moneygall and Ireland at the Grand Festivities in honour of new President Barak Obama near the White House. Well you never know he might bring me up to date on all the background gossip. 😉

Caricatures Ireland – Irish caricaturist Allan Cavanagh whose caricatures are witty and innovative and I would love to sit, talk and discover how he decides who is a good subject and perhaps sit for him sometime. We might discover the real Grannymar! 🙄

Ian Poulton – A long time commenter whose life in Ministry has straddled both sides of this island. Regularly Ian writes posts that are thought provoking and at times they make me uncomfortable in the best meaning of the word.

I hear you….  Yes I did pick five toyboys… I have my reputation to think about 🙄

We girls are more organised; and since we learned from last year how much fun it was to meet up in advance of the main event, we are once again, thanks to Sabrina Dent, having a Ladies Tea Party on the afternoon of 21st Feb in Cork.

Well then, to keep you happy:

Reluctant Memsahib – Realistically it may not happen this time since Anthea lives in Tanzania with her husband and children. She moved from a farm within easy striking distance of one of the country’s busiest cities leaving all the things we women take for granted, such as day school for the children, regular appointments with a hairdresser and lunches with friends. Home now is an Outpost, a place once famous as brief home to Dr Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley; her older children have had to be bundled off to boarding school a 12 hour drive away. To while away the hours she writes, walks & teaches her youngest at home & keeps in touch with the outside world by phone. Her life is so different to mine and sounds like something I have only known from the pages of a book

OK I don’t hold a grudge, so I will link to yer man.. What’s his name? Oh yeah, Rick somebody