Are you not simply amazed by all the technology we have at our fingertips these days? It can be hard to keep up. Just considering we went from this:
to this
to this
I do my best, but I must admit, the technicality of things doesn’t always sync (that’s a techie word) up with my ultra creative endeavours. Qu the ‘Never-been-done-before’ (but soon to catch on):
Skype Tea Party
(say it like the Queen of England)
Hat’s and gloves were encouraged. I did get to see Julia’s wonderful Aqua sun hat momentarily before technical difficulties ensued. While it wasn’t smooth sailing, we had a fantastic chat in spite of it. With all the magic of the modern world, six gals from around the globe had an amazing virtual visit ! All while sipping our favourite blend of tea or wine. Yes, fabulous wine, I wonder who that was?
Oh, and every single lady has their own special accent, well except for me of course 😉 I sound practically normal as can be, hehe. Of course Alyster set himself up for the whole event and brought a new friend too.
Want to plan your very own
International Skype Tea Party?
I started by picking a time to Skype that would work well in all the time zones. By asking Google what the current time was in their home, I could figure out the time difference from me.
Once you know the time difference you can map out a few possibilities for your Skype session. Here’s what I sent to my guests.
You’ve chosen a date, now:
- insure each of your guests has the latest version of Skype
- send each account a ‘Please add me a contact’ request
- once they’ve replied, add them to your ‘Favourites’
- To make a ‘Group List’ for a call, follow this link Making a group call on SKYPE
- Make a Group Video Call, there’s no extra fee!
Paulines from New Zealand and Julia’s from Virginia
Un-Official Boomdee Tip: If you should decide to read poetry, do ensure you’ve read the entire poem before sharing with your posh and lovely guests. I read a poem by A.S.J. Tessimond who is, pardon me, A CAD and is OFF my poetry reading list foreva !! A lovely little diddy about cats, lures you in with lyrical brilliance then leads you down a dark path of horror. Hardy my cup of tea (pun intended). On that note, I shall instead, share this joyful and calming poem by me, your’s truly, Boomdee (International Tea Party Hostess…..extrodinaire):
One Small Wish
If I shall be granted just one small wish,
to have just for this day.
It would be to sit and drink a tea
with friends from far away.
❤
Please visit my dear friends for more Tea Party fun
Teddy and Tottie – More Lady Edith Than Audrey
Gardening Nirvana – Blogging Nirvana
Life on the Bike and other Fab Things – Intern’l Skype Tea Party
The Contented Crafter – Still no art, more life
Boomdeeadda 
awww…a treat, I bet to tea with creative souls—Pauline just radiates happiness!
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Doesn’t she though? We have something in the works that will blow Tea Skyping out of the water. But that’s all I can say for now. Very hush hush, on the down low. LOL
Look at that face of hers, how can she possibly be retired? Is it the New Zealand air? Radiant! Lovely! Wise! Gardener! Mommy of Sweet pets! Artistic soul! I adore everything about Pauline 😀
Thank you for floating around my blog today and following too Robbie. I’m just running out now but had the best time visiting. I’ve bookmarked your Blog to visit tonight. Cheers and later tater xK
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she truly is beautiful inside + out! And a wise old soul for such a young gal!
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That is a really cool concept. And you think you aren’t tech savvy!? lol
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Actually Group Video Skype is now free. So way easy and effortless. Pauline, Alys and I Skyped last Friday. We chatted for over 2 hours….to New Zealand!! Can you even believe it? It boggles my mind. What will they think of next? “Beam me to the garden Sunshine” LOL
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That sounds like fun!
Skype never behaves for me, I have woofed over a Google Hangout.
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You did a Google Hangout Clowie! That is fantastic. Pauline from The Contented Crafter and I tried Google Hangout and it went ok. Pauline lives way way way in New Zealand and the Audio kept cracking in and out. Still, very impressive that we can see each other, in real time so far apart. Amazes me really xK
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I know I said this to pauline but I’m going to say it here as well (who said I couldn’t?).
Use Jitzi I’d reccomend VoxOx for someone who’s (I’m sorry if this offends you) not as intellectual with computers. I’m not exactly sure if they can do group calls, however it’s quite a common feature with VoIP (software like Skype, Jitzi and VoxOx) offer, even if you need to pay extra D: The world is dark (almost as dark as my soul…. Just kidding!) so dark poems are normal..at least from what I can see.I think that Compatable would be a better word to use than sync, just me (great post by the way!). And I thi Nice poem as well about cup of tea — I always thought tea was a british thing, I drink about 10 gallons a day!Looking forwards to another post, say thanks to The Contented Crafter (or Pauline, hope you ok with me saying that) for helping me finding this blog.
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Thanks for the tips Will. It’s something to keep in mind and no offence taken at all. Just little ol’ me trying something new. Good to be learning something along the way. I normally drink coffee but do enjoy a tea with friends too. I don’t think the Brit’s have dibs on the ritual any longer, there’s almost as many tea choices as there is cereal choices at the market these days. Thanks for popping in and your nice compliment too. I really appreciate that. Cheers.
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I guess the Brits have lost the right to tea, the normal (Tetley or PG Tips is the norm where I live) ones anyways.For example, I’m currently drinking lose leaf herb tea called ‘Spring breeze.’ I seen it in a hotel in the little “Tea and coffee area” when all it had was some tiny pots of horrible ‘long life’ milk (which by the taste had already gone off) and some sub-par coffee. Still love the taste. I also discovered one called ‘Open window!’ What does open window even smell like? More so – what does it taste like?! Tell me what you think open window would smell/taste like, car fumes and burning wall paper (anything behind my new PC is set on fire – I seen it for myself!).That’s what’s happening in my world, and my house ISN’t on fire so don’t worry!
I do think now that VoxOx does do group calling and can be used to call real phone numbers too — just like Skype! I think it’s cheaper too. Do I sound like a sales person, I don’t want to appear to be! Promise 🙂
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You girls always know how to have fun 🙂 Amazing you all managed to get online at the same time too, sounds like it was meant to be to me! Wishing you a wonderful weekend Kelly, and a very Happy Easter XO Gigantic hugs from all of us.
P.s Have you read Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats? It’s a book of whimsical cat poems by T.S Eliot, and pretty loverly stuff 🙂
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We’re a tame bunch 😀 but I must say, it was a lot of fun to hook up with everyone. Pauline and I actually did a Google Hangout a couple of nights later. Don’t know if you ever use any of these things, but I’m so lame, I couldn’t figure out how to open up that either…LOL. We did finally get it going and ta-da, I’m in her living room in New Zealand for a couple of hours.
Thank you so much for all the hugs and Easter wish too.I haven’t read that collection of poems, but I’ll remember to look for it at the library next time I pop in. Thanks for the recommendation Kathryn, I will be better prepared the next Tea Skype 😀 oxxoxoK
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What a creative and remarkable idea my friend…just too fun. Can you believe I am in Texas now? Crazy how life changes isn’t it?
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Holla Laurie! Are you settled in? What part of Texas are you calling home? We were in Texas to get married in 2001. It’s a whole lot like Alberta but there’s an ocean at the end of the hi-way, ha. The antique shopping in Texas was really fun. I was wishing I could take more home xo
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This post is scrumptious :). I think we have been dancing around reading each others comments on other people’s blogs for a while now and I have NO idea why I don’t follow your amazing blog. Consider this tardy and most foolish omission remedied. You are now tucked into my RSS Feed Reader between Bonzai Aphrodite and boozebrain. Hope you enjoy the new neighbours 🙂
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Well, Thank goodness for that, LOL Bonzai Aphrodite and Boozebrain, those are quite the bookends, snort! Make room, Boomdee coming through ! HA
Thanks for saying it’s ‘Amazing’ here on my wee slice of WordPress, that’s really, really kind of you! This was our inaugural Skype Tea so we had fun hearing each other for the very first time. Unfortunately, a couple of friend never did get the video going so we’re going for the
re-do at some point. The gorgeous Pauline, The Contented Crafter, and I are going to ‘Hangout’ on Goggle+ tomorrow. Maybe less glitches.
It’s kind of fantastic how small the word gets when you can talk to someone in real time via video from the comfort of your own home. My good friend Alys, who I also met thru blogging, says on her About Mr page, “I came for the writing and stayed for the friends”. True that !
Btw, anyone with dogs and a garden will surely be a good neighbour of mine. We said goodbye to our last dog, Buddy, 3 years ago now. We miss him tons. Basically I will maul any friendly dog I come across that’ll allows me to cuddle, pet or play. See you around the hood! I shall swing by tomorrow to see what manner of joy you’re up to narf77 😀
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I read the Google + thing and as a card carrying Luddite technophobe (who has Google +) I am not sure what you guys are talking about. I will have to ask Stevie-boy when he wakes up but probably not a good day today as we are getting 10 tonnes of logs dropped at the front gate and Stevie-boy has to assume his lumberjack mantle and get stuck in so that we can drive out of the front gate (occasionally a good thing 😉 ) so he might well be thinking about more pressing things than my need to be nosy about Google +’s additional peripherals 😉
I came to the blogosphere because we moved from one side of the country to the other. From HUGE Western Australia over to teeny tiny Tasmania and left my elderly mum behind (albeit with my sister and brother still but I was the eldest and first to bugger off and not come back). She was demanding an email a day and I realised that if I started a blog, I could get out of that email a day to every single relative in one fell swoop. I used to blog daily for a year. After a while I started to meet some amazing people. I found some truly inspirational new blogs to follow. I learned about the delights of (and the slavetude to) RSS Feed Readers and have 250 blogs that I follow cram packed into my RSS Feed Reader of the day (I survived the crash of Google Reader and am waiting till that promised “talent” drops on my head as part of my Graphic Design course in order to make that t-shirt 😉 )
Oh LORDY Earl would love you! He is a people dog. He adores cuddles and kisses and will look up at anyone who gives him a bit of attention with adoration in his eyes. It is just a pity that most people think that he has “KILLER!” written all over him thanks to the (stupid) media. Bezial is less cuddly but loves a snooch from his mummy (that would be me) whilst watching Steve all the time to see if he is being observed accepting gratuitous cuddles 😉
I post on Wednesdays. My muses are many (but are erratic and bolshie). I comment copiously and eccentrically because that’s how I am made and I love this crazy whacked out demented world that I wake up to every single day. Here’s to we wacked out international ladies of a certain age because without us, the blogosphere would be a very VERY boring place! 🙂
Oh, and by the way, your blog IS amazing 🙂 If you check out Ms Bonzai Aphrodite you will see she is a fellow (whacked out) vego and Mr Boozebrain is a recovering alcoholic.
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I will swing by Ms B Aphrodite, with a name like that one must anticipate something quite entertaining 😀 Thanks for your fab message. I’m so looking forward to following true life stories from Tasmania.
I don’t know anything about Hangout at Google + either, LOL so I hope I don’t disappoint dear Pauline and goof it all up (again)…I can’t wait though. What a fantastic way to start the weekend (here anyways). Cheers!
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I think you are in good company. Remember that post about where Pauline had to get her lappy serviced? I think we “women of a certain age” are naturally gifted with technophobia. My kids all roll their (adult) eyes at me if I don’t understand where the hooza-ma-jig button is or whenever I can’t fandangle the bamometer but you know what? I have other talents! (Not entirely sure what they are yet but I am stoic in my belief that I must be talented at SOMETHING! 😉 ). Stevie-boy the punk/goth tramp is somewhat of a natural with PC’s (indeed we met online when he was living in the U.K. and I was living in Western Australia and were one of “those” internet relationships that seems to have worked…so far…) so I just wave my arms in the air and make plantive noises at him whenever something goes wrong (usually because I hit one of the nefarious “F” keys in conjunction with another key and removed one or other of the dashboards 😉 ). Is the Google + a sort of message board? Again, I will have to wait to ask Stevie-boy because he is currently fast asleep with the rest of the wolf pack curled up in bed as it is 5am (exactly!). I get up at 3am in order to live in my cyber world for 4 hours before the real world bites into my “me” time. I was supposed to be reading my 175 (and growing daily) blog posts this morning but I got sidetracked by some lovely blog posts and have spent more time commenting than I have reading but whatchagonnadoeh? 😉
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This looks like such a lot of fun!
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Hi Jen, it was! Hopefully next time less silly tech issues and more time to gab. 😀
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This is the sweetest idea! You ladies are too lovely! x
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Thanks a ton! It was loads of fun to try something new (and for the non-techy, challenging too). I especially love that I now have a voice to go with the messages we all exchange. Blogging confirms to me that it’s not always a big scary world after all. Cheers!
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Brilliant idea – I am sure our lovely Queen would have loved to join in with you – I know she likes a good tea party!
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😀 I’m sure she would have had a chuckle or two. I’ve been to Buckingham Palace, we got to tour inside since Her Royal Highness was on holiday at another royal residence. Palaces are not particularly decorated in my tastes, but I really admired the garden and the gift shop. LOL I bought a friend some slippers that said, “These were stolen from Buckingham Palace”, rather cheesy but they made me laugh. I also bought a Christmas Ornament for my tree, as that’s what I generally look for on a holiday.
Unfortunately we didn’t have as much time in London as we would have liked. We were joining a hosted tour through Europe. Hopefully, a more leisurely stay next time ! 😀 Thank you so much for visiting our Tea Party, it was as they say, “quite civilized” 😀
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I used to visit London quite frequently for my job in Fashion – we are about 200 miles away. I have not been for ages and I have still not been to Buck Palace – I am waiting a formal invite for afternoon tea as I hate queues LOL!
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My goodness, only 200 km’s! How nice to have the option to visit when ever you wish.
If you are really keen on ever seeing Buckingham Palace or have visitors that would like to go, I could recommend you take an arranged tour. As a hosted tour, the guide has your ticket ahead of time. We walked straight by the giant line-up 😀 We also did this at Eiffel. Many people travel to Paris and don’t see her because they don’t want to wait in a long queues. But it’s a shame because she’s gorgeous and I could barely breath, it was so exciting 😀
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Good idea I will remember that.
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Oh, that sounds like so much fun! I’m putting it on my “to do” list for sure!!!
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Thank’s for leaving your nice message. Hopefully some of the detail will help although clearly I’m not an expert. It’s just a riot to hear everyones voice for the very first time. We all loved that part. Funny how we don’t hear our own accent. I felt like I was on a holiday and arrived in Australia and then New Zealand and back to North America in a blink of an eye. 😀 Have fun with yours, I’d love to hear about it when you do.
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What a fantastic idea! 🙂
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Thanks Sorcha! We had a ball and there’s something about actually talking with people you’ve adored for months, you feel the distance between your homes just melt away. Enjoy your day!
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What a totally grand and oh so very Boomdee idea – a virtual Tea Pahty (note the pronunciation!)…..a lovely way to stay connected to those you love and whose company you enjoy AND a great excuse to wear a cool hat too! We are very “un-techie” in my house…no Skype, no fancy phones – just a couple of old people and an old cat. But we have fun anyway! 🙂
Hugs, Pam
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pish posh, “a couple of old people and a cat” that sure keep us entertained and a BE-autiful home with a giant yard 😀 Truth is Pam, I can generally figure it out but totally misinterpreted some ‘How Too’ information. I’m no spring chicken anymore I guess, LOL We still had fun though, so we will give it a whirl again down the road.
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WAIT…..take these in your pockets for later!
xoxo Hugs
(I remember dad giving cookies on the way out the door, off course he knew we ate them on the way to school)
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I’m sorry but I have chucked about your poem all day (or at least your growing horror of it as you read your way through!).
What a fabulous evening and it was wonderful to hear your voice and everyone elses, too. Thank you so very much for organzing the skype session and for including me! I feel so lucky!!
My post about the event is up and links back to yours.
So very happy today!
xoxoxoxo
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LOL, it was a growing horror….head slap! I think if you could have seen my face it would have been priceless. I thought, “yah, a vintage book of poems fits into my idea of a Tea Party”….well I guess they were not as sensitive back then. I felt like a kid in school who didn’t do her homework well…LOL.
I wish we could have gotten you on screen, but it was awesome to talk. I loved all your photo’s and your post too. So glad you were able to join with LB. It wouldn’t have been the same without you xoK
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What a great idea, Boomdee! I loved reading about your party. The hats were great, too. I’ve never tried Skype or Facetime (though my FYS is pushing me to try it out), so my somewhat techie self is giving you a deep curtsey in awe of your accomplishment. Those phone photos were so good, too. I still have my first cell phone, from 1986, I think. And a dark red Princess phone. What I really want is an old wall phone with the earpiece on a cord . . . I love seeing everyone’s tea cups, too. Nothing like old china, is there? If you go on to do more, I hope you post about them, too. It would be fun to watch the evolution . . . ~ Linne
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As always, thank you for you very generous message Linne. Alys and I have Skyped a number of times because we always miss each other. But this was the first group Skype.
So funny about the phones, 1986 doesn’t even seem that long ago really. Speaking of Antique Wall Phones, hang on to your hat…….the house we just bought, comes with a refurbished, antique wall phone with the little horn shaped thing you hold to your ear!!! The very nice people who are selling, love antiques and had it hardwired in when they built the house. I’ll post in June when we finally move in.
I hope we’ll do more Skype Parties, or Google Hangout maybe. Will keep my peeps in the loop 😀 Cheers xK
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This made me laugh aloud. I will have to go back and read the comments in more detail when my brain is not so tired. I simply must ask, though, what on earth is that in Alyster’s tea cup? It doesn’t look like anything he could be drinking?!! Sorry you didn’t get my OK on the photo, I was thinking I copied it to everyone and said it was OK to do whatever you want with it (even draw a moustache on it, oops, don’t say that to Boomdee as she knows how it is done!) Thanks for an unforgettable experience at a very difficult time, ladies!
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I’m in the process of making a new collage with everyones photo. I know they’re on the other posts too but I really want to share them here too. Thanks for sharing yours as well !
In Alyster’s Tea Cup is a little grassy mound I bought for the Fairy Garden, I had a postcard standing in a Pin that Alys sent me, it’s vintage Victoria. After all the dilemma’s I didn’t want to sidetrack the visit with a tour.
You’ve opened a can of Boomdee-worms with that invite for a mustachio Tea Party Photo….LOL. I just loved talking with you and was tickled I got you on my screen in your aqua hat to begin with anyways. I wish life was more gentle for all you Denton’s right now. Keeping you all close to my heart with good thoughts for happy endings to all the worry.
xoK
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Wow, I’m impressed. It’s amazing how you and the others got this all pulled together via technology. And, I love the old aqua phone. Somehow it brings back warm fuzzy memories of the phones of my youth. 🙂
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Thank you Sheryl ! This wasn’t a Tea Party your dear Grandma could imagine. We attempted to make like knowledgable ‘young people’ and embrace technology 😀
Did you have a princess phone of your own at home? We had one phone in the house. A yellow rotary wall phone. It like have a super long curly cord that allowed you to go to the hall closet for privacy…..LOL so posh!
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No, but my cousin had a yellow princess phone and I was really jealous. 🙂
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What a great job you did Boomdee, and what a great time it was! I laughed and chuckled just about all the way through. I’m sorry I was late in getting my permission through to use the selfie – I thought as I’d sent it to you that was enough permission 🙂
Now I’m looking forward to our next experiment with technology. I’ll see you soon 🙂
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Deeply impressed! We just about manage a two-way call on Skype 😉 Have worked out that Facetime on a mac is a lot easier and better quality too. Glad you all had a lovely tea party.
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Ha, you had to be a fly on the wall. Went more like,”hello, who’s on?, I can see you, I can only hear you” But it was loads of fun too. We might have to look into the FaceTime thing too. For now we are giving Google a roll. Thanks for cheering us on, appreciate it tons xk
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What creative, good fun! Cheers to you all!
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Thank you Cindy! We are breaking the mould and taking tea parties where no fine china has gone before, LOL Such silliness and fun!
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What a fantastic idea. Thanks for sharing the fun.
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Thank you so much. All in all, it was a lot of fun. I’ve really got to feel close to some of my blogger friends. I’m pretty sure we’ve chatted about everything under the sun through our blogs, FB or texting. Now, when they leave one of their generous messages, it’s like I can hear them too. For me, it makes the distance between us disappear. You may not know, but Alys at Gardening Nirvana and I met thru our Blogs. Since then, two fabulous holidays and another one planned for August. We rarely miss a day of saying hello somehow. She’s one of my dearest and most treasured friends. Blogging is so much more than anyone would think.
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Oh! Boomdee, I love it – “International Tea Party Hostess ,,, extraordinaire” that is you to a (Ha!) T! What a wonderful thing to do in this post – encourage other bloggers – and show them how to host their own Skype tea party. Such a fabulous idea! You are too kind to refer to my blog in your lovely aqua writing at the end of your post. Thank-you so very much! It’s so good to see Julia in your post, too, because i couldn’t see her yesterday. What great conversation we all had. I really like the tour through technology at the start of your post – and your poem, One Small Wish, is so good! I really hope there is a Boomdee Book Of Poems in the future. You could have an international Skype (or Google) book launch! Don’t you and Alys look gorgeous! I loved both of your hats. Thanks a bunch again for organising such a fun event, Boomdee! Huge hugs! Dani xoxoxoxoxox
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((You)) made it extra fun with all your lovely pets, visits from the kids and your big gorgeous smile. I wanted to gush over every fluffy appearance but didn’t want to interrupt anyones visit or make them feel bad if they couldn’t see you and your posse. But they’re all beautiful. Your zest for life, family and pets shines through your posts and the messages you kindly leave for me here.
I will add another photo of Julia here. I hadn’t yet heard a reply from her about using her photo when I posted. She wore an Aqua hat too. I got to see her for a bit, then something went amuck.
Thank you for joining with, all your sweet compliments and for just being you. BTW, I shall have my publisher ‘Fly’ all my Tea Party Gals to the book launch….Paris would be nice 😀 To the moon and back, I adore you xoxoxok
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Brilliant! You are the bees knees, Boomdee. I adore you from the top of your Aqua hat to the tips of your aqua-painted toes. You did an amazing job putting this all together. I’m impressed at how successful it was. We were all on the same call at the same time, and any technical glitches are Skypes, not ours. We were always able to hear each other, until Pauline lost connection towards the end. Kudos to you.
I love the photos of the different phones. It’s amazing how phones have changed.
Please let Alyster know that I love what he’s done with the place. That tiny lantern is quite charming, as are the little wooden stepping stones. So, he has a new friend, eh? Sounds like he’s asked you to use your work discount to feather his nest. What a character!
Hugs to infinity, my dear. xoxoxoxo
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If I’m the bee’s knees, (( you )) are the bee’s elbows or maybe fuzzy sweet cheeks 😀 Actually I laughed because today my toes are aqua, ha. I got Alyster some new garden accruement from Corinthia Flowers on the weekend. Adele has the cutest Fairy Garden Display and all kinds of treasure. I took photo’s and will share in an upcoming post. I need to go back again, I just wasn’t sure what would fit in Alyster’s teeny tiny Kingdom. I’m not sure if picked up his little friend on the way or what, I guess we’ll find out 😉 Thank you for everything you are for me and your message too, I’ll take those hugs and cherish them.
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That Alyster has one posh abode. Can’t wait to see the additions. xoxo
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