TAHILLA GATHERINGS
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| My Vintage Corona |
It started with a blog
When people ask how I came to live in New Hampshire, I tell them that it is because of my blog.
As many of you know, I have been writing a blog, Collage of Life, for the past ten years. What started out as a writing exercise for our expat travels…turned into a life changing chapter in my life and ultimately for my family. For it was in the words written in one blog post after another, year after year, country after country, that friendships were formed and woven into an intricate pattern of community across the globe.
The Collage of Life community started with my offer to send a postcard to blog readers from our home in England…followed by mailings from France, India, Myanmar, Morocco, Cambodia, Vietnam, New Zealand and Australia. I wrote each and every one and often had more than one mailing from each country. I discovered that snail mail was a trip down memory lane for many…an enchanting one for the recipient and me!
From postcards we moved onto talking about books and sharing them via the post office with The Brown Paper Book Club. Today, we talk about the books, the ones we are thinking about, the ones we loved reading and the ones we didn’t. There is always a thought to be shared when it comes to books …I love our little book community.
And then…serendipity in the blogging world led me to friendships that have deeply rooted me in the woods of New Hampshire. As we started a new expat chapter in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam we intertwined it with the purchase of Tahilla Farm, an antique farmhouse at the end of a dirt road, in need of love. Many said it couldn’t be done…renovate to the extent we did, while living in Vietnam. We were fortunate to have a great team of tradesmen and tradeswomen working on our behalf and it went off without a hitch.
I am especially excited this year for we will close the final chapter of renovation with the completion of our barn/carriage house featuring a gathering room for small group discussions and a writing studio.
My Collage of Life world is now coming full circle as I thread another community into the story with a new venture, Tahilla Gatherings.
Quite simply, I am looking to bring together small groups of like-minded women in the spirit of sisterhood; to share, laugh, create, inspire and talk about life. I never doubt that there is a special magic that happens when women come together…and in the woods, the magic is captivating!
Last year, I created a survey with my blogging community, asking what would inspire them to travel to Tahilla Farm for a workshop/retreat. The idea of a literary retreat combined with quiet reading, group book discussion, walking and photography was the most popular scenario. Ultimately, it was the idea of friendship, fellowship and laughter that appealed to them the most.
I am very excited by the possibilities and there are many!
In the spirit of keeping the discussion flowing, if you have recommendations on what would interest you and or your friends, please feel free to write to me jeannecollageoflife@gmail.com
Jeanne xx
Tahilla Gatherings Timeline
