"You are welcome to stay at my home," my friend Nadia said when I told her we'd be coming to New England this fall. My husband and I accepted her very kind and generous offer. I had seen pictures of her home and animals on her blog but I was not prepared for the quiet and the beauty.

I slowly drove the dirt roads up the hill, my husband guiding me and wondering if I had the right directions. "I'll know when I see it," I said. Then I drove over a small ridge and there it was. I had to briefly stop the car to look and then I dove faster, my husband warning me that there were ruts in the drive and not to ruin our rental car.

How could I wait? It was beautiful and full of magic. The moment I opened the door, my husband said "wow". I could only nod. It immediately felt like home.

Still awake at strange times due to jet-lag, we got up early to feed the horses, ducks and chickens. After that, we stood on the front porch and watched the fog in the early morning light.

But what did we do when we were not at the farm? We drove around to look at covered bridges, Robert Frost's Stone House, small towns and colored leaves.

Nadia and I met this past Friday for the first time in person at the cosy Tatte café in Boston. I brought my husband with me and she her lovely mother. I was nervous. Would she be as I expected her to? I knew her only from the emails we exchanged regularly. What if we suddenly didn't have anything to say to eachother? I needen't have worried. She walked in, her pretty, dark curly hair bouncing and greeted me with a big, shining smile. Then she said I should tell her when to stop talking since she could talk the afternoon away and she knew it was our last day. Talk we did! I'm sure we could have talked much longer, too, as we talked about everything under the sun. Our meeting in the café confirmed what I had felt when we wrote eachother. We enjoy the same things, and when we talk about them we needn't explain much as the other understands. I was sorry to have to leave. She gave me a small bag filled with special things. So touching.

Thank you again, Nadia, for inviting us to stay at your home. It was a very special weekend for us and we will never forget it. I hope you will come visit us soon.