A blog is more often than not an individual affair, a mouthpiece for one person who has something to say to the world on a particular theme or hobby horse. What we have here, by contrast, is the blog of four diverse individuals who have something to say to the world about anything and everything, including the ups and downs of everyday life, the impact of current events and the vagaries of the English language.
The first thing to explain is how we got together and how this rather unlikely alliance between four English immigrants to New Zealand came about. It all began when Emily Smart met Trevor Plumbly several years ago. Trevor and his wife Pam moved from Dunedin to the house next door to the one Emily and her family were renting in Ponsonby, Auckland. After several months of polite conversations about the neighbourhood, Emily discovered that Pam and Trevor like a drink or twelve, as well as barbeques and storytelling. Everything, in short, one could wish for in a neighbour, along with grandchildren who came over and played happily with Emily’s brood.
Trevor is tall, knowledgeable about loads of things and is one of the most engaging people you could ever hope to meet, as well as being the consummate drinking companion. More about Trevor…
Emily met Angela Caldin at a play group in Ponsonby where Emily’s offspring and Angela’s grandchildren gambolled happily amongst the Lego and the paint pots. Whilst her main home is still in Chiswick, London, Angela spends six months of the year in New Zealand, hanging out with her two daughters and three grand-daughters. She and her husband Hugh have now been granted permanent residency in NZ and they intend eventually to make the place their permanent home.
There is general agreement that Angela is quite knowledgeable about the English language. Her spelling, grammar and punctuation skills are the stuff of legend and she is a copy editor and proofreader par excellence. Angela keeps an orderly house, raises her eyebrows a lot in disbelief and is a passionate advocate of fairness. More about Angela…
It may be clear from the above that it is Emily Smart who brought these disparate souls together and whose brainchild it was to have a collective blog. Despite differences in age, temperament and alcohol consumption, there was a general feeling that we had much in common: the four of us are British born and bred but have made new lives for ourselves on the other side of the world. We share a love of language and a desire for people to be fair and do things properly.
There is general agreement that Emily leads a full, action packed life, peppered with exciting and often quirky happenings. Mother of three, with a full-time job and a partner with a taste for serious house renovation, she likes interesting people who share her passion for the simple things in life: good food, booze and great conversation. More about Emily…
Susan Grimsdell is a newly welcomed addition to the verbalberbal team, and in her first few posts has demonstrated that she has much in common with the values and views of the original bloggers.
Susan met Trevor through their membership of the Blind Association, and once he learned that she could write and argue with the best of them, he invited her to contribute to our regular musings.
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