What the Internet means to me

When Blip Central announced the Digital Planet competition, I wondered how on earth I could represent what the Internet means to me in a single photo. It is entwined in every part of my life. I wouldn't even be living where I do if it wasn't for the Internet. It not only provides me with an income developing websites, but it lets me live where I choose.

Because of the Internet, I got on a plane in Carcassonne and flew to the UK for the weekend purely to go to a garden party. I can't remember how long I've been reading Fiona's blog, but I remember being pulled in by her skill at making ordinary, everyday occurrences seem special. She blogged about her daily life: gardening, cooking, keeping hens, painting and decorating, dogs ... and somehow made them mean something more than that. For years, it was the first thing I read every day when I got to work. I got so involved I even cried when her favourite hen died. While telling myself, "This is ridiculous. It's only a hen, and you've never even met her!" The site has become a hub for like-minded people, eager to know what is happening at the cottage, but also sharing their own mishaps and happy events, recipes, gardening tips, livestock stories and more.

Last year saw not only the first Cottage Smallholder garden party, but a round-Britain trip by a couple of the blog's dedicated followers from Oregon, who visited a host of friends they had "met" on the site. When people say that the Internet isolates people, hunched behind their screens with meaningless virtual friendships and "Like" buttons, I need only point to this.

I was so thrilled to meet Fiona and Danny for the first time last year. I felt as if I already knew them, and it was one of those times when someone you haven't met turns out to be exactly the person you thought they were. So wild horses wouldn't have stopped me from going to the second party this year. It was lovely to meet, catch up, and chat late into the night on Friday. Even the weather smiled on us. Despite the previous day's rain, it was a lovely warm day on Saturday, and we were out in the garden until well after 10 o'clock. So let's hear it for the Internet, without which these people would never have met.

Oh! And incidentally ... this is my 200th entry! I was so pleased when I realised it would fall on the day of the party.