Serendipity!

 

After going through a bit of a topsy turvy year where my emotions have been all over the shop, I have just had a weekend that has lifted my spirit no end. I already have had the lovely gift of my Grand Daughter, Phoebe, but have since had another great surprise.

To cut a long story short, (or maybe not so short, bear with me)!I have been on a dating site for a while, may I just add this is not for the faint hearted or for anyone of  gullible nature! This is something I thought I would never do, but then I didn’t think that at the age of 51 I would be on my own! After my relationship broke down 12 months ago, the last thing on my mind was meeting somebody else, I was too busy licking my wounds and feeling sorry for myself!

That was until one day I decided I was the only person who could change my life around. I soon discovered being alone and having to pay all the bills myself didn’t leave enough in the kitty to go galavanting to meet people.

A friend recommended a dating site, my first reaction to this suggestion was to shake my head and say that wasn’t for me, oh how quickly I changed my mind!

I was cautious to begin with, but once your on there you soon get chatting to people. Peoples first reaction when you say you are meeting someone off a dating site is take in a sharp intake of breath and say how dangerous it is and to be careful. Granted you do have to be careful and sensible before committing to a date, but to be honest meeting someone off a dating site is safer than meeting a stranger in a pub on a night out, you don’t know their number, their email where they live, and you certainly wouldn’t have a photo of them!

Anyway, to fast forward a bit, over the last few months I have been on a few dates, all of which I must admit have been enjoyable, you tend to know you will get on after chatting on msn for a while, so your groundwork on getting to know them through chat first helps break the ice!

Like I said the dates I have been on have been good, but nothing I wanted to pursue, but two dates in particular  were absolutely brilliant. The first was with a guy in Inverness! Me being me thought if I chatted to someone who lived so far away it would be safer, silly I know but hey I was really green on this dating site malarky! Well after chatting for a long while over the weeks I was invited to Inverness to meet, what was really exciting for me was that the guy I was meeting lived in a cottage over looking the Caledonian Canal!

Peters gorgeous cottage, overlooking the Caledonian Canal.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             We had a great weekend, where he lived was beautiful, he was kind enough to show me around Inverness and the canal, it was really nice that we had interests in common, with boats the canal etc. I was amazed how gorgeous the Caledonian Canal was, and how huge, made our canal look like a stream! ( oh dear I can hear it now, “how dare she say that about our canals”, but you know what I mean)! I have always loved Scotland anyway so to be invited was brilliant, and the Canal connection was a bonus! There were more yachts on the section of the Canal where I was staying, but I believe they do have Narrow boats there too!

My trip to Inverness was back in June, I have had a few dates since, all of which were good fun!

Just recently though I got talking to a guy on the site, it turned out to be a real “ serendipity” moment! Neither of us had put in our profiles anything about boats, but on chatting we were both  amazed to discover we both lived on one! What was even more mind blowing for me was that his boat is a 90ft Dutch Barge, that he lives on in France! Well that was it we spoke for hours on Skype, we had lots to talk about, as we had so much in common, we hit it off straight away, so much so that to my utter amazement he invited me to Dinner in Paris! Well to say I was gobsmacked would be an under statement, things like that don’t happen to me! Once over the shock and after sleeping on his fabulous invite, I decided I would be mad not to accept. once I told him I would love to meet him in Paris, he had booked and confirmed the flight within the hour!

So last weekend I was whisked off to Paris, and I have to say it was fantastic, Bob is a lovely guy and made my visit really special, I was well and truly spoilt, from drinking champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower, to cruising along the river Seine taking in all the sites, not to mention the fantastic Lunches and Dinners I was treated to, and the great company, we hit it off really well and had a fun filled weekend! This was the figure head on one of the Barges on the Siene, I thought he was great!

I am sure I will be meeting up with Bob again, as we got on so well and have lots in common it would be mad not to! Not to mention the fact I would love to see his boat, she sounds huge, 90ft long and 16ft wide, wow!  Tickety Boo is a Dinghy in comparison, a very much loved Dinghy I hasten to add! Bob has also said he would love to see her too.

        Bob’s Barge! Moored in Dijon.

So for anybody out there contemplating going on a dating site to meet people, go ahead you never know when your Serendipity moment will be! Nothing ventured nothing gained, and who knows where all this will lead for me, do I believe in fate? Hell yes!