Once again I wasn’t sure if I’d manage it but once again I’ve scraped in before the 10th of the month IMK cut-off which makes me very happy because via this post I wanted to highlight the loveliness & friendship of our blogging community, and thank some special people.
First, thank you all for your generosity popping in and commenting even though while the G.O. and I are becoming accustomed to our new everyday my blogging presence has been sporadic.
Since my last IMK post in January, we were fortunate during February-March to take a trip to Victoria during which we met up with several blogger-friends. If you are ever going to be in a blog-buddy’s neighbourhood, all I can say is, the experience of sitting with, chatting and extending the connection is gratifying.
Fortuitously Francesca & Meeks live near my sister so we were able to catch up with them on their home turfs. Not just putting faces to names but places. A few days later Kate, Ardys & I shared a lovely lunch in Melbourne CBD with Celi of thekitchensgarden and her cousin Maria. Before the G.O & I continued on our travels, along with Kate we met up with the delightful and talented Anne Lawson.
The Victoria locals shared some wonderful and useful travel tips which added highlights to our trip we’d have missed otherwise. And beautiful & thoughtful gifts left us with tangible mementos of our meetings to take home.
Travelling with us to Victoria in our caravan fridge was a jar of my sourdough starter Polly, daughter of Celia’s Priscilla. Revived in my sister’s kitchen she was cloned as Holly. And has gone on to be very successful via my sister’s bread baking efforts.
Upon our arrival home I was greeted by another beautiful & thoughtful housewarming gift sent from the UK by Mary, who although living far away feels very close.
When I started blogging four years ago, it was to keep a bit of sanity in my life. The G.O. and I were living in a tiny city apartment and working hard towards making our dreams of a life in the country come true. At the time I had no idea the impact the interaction of the blog world would have. Connecting me with interesting & likeminded people worldwide it has fleshed out our dreams via their inspiration and companionship, distance notwithstanding. I’m truly grateful.
Thanks to Maureen at The Orgasmic Chef for hosting the monthly In My Kitchen, and the blogging community for the inspiration & virtual company they provide. Special thanks to Francesca, Anne & Mary for the lovely cards & housewarming gifts.
daleleelife101.blog 
That was a memorable trip to Melbourne, wasn’t it? Having seen your kitchen, I know how well everything fits in with what you have there, a great combination of the best of nannadom and modern adventure!
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It’s amazing how the blog world brought us diverse but commonly grounded individuals together online, and then geographically when a clever person had the bright idea of a lunch ☺
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And we meet friends whom we’d never encounter in the normal course of things. What a happy day!
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It was delightful to meet up. A brilliant idea from whoever thought of it!
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I’m dobbing… it was Kate 😉
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She is such a many talented lady!
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When I heard Celi would be in Melbourne, I asked if we could meet at some stage. She suggested lunch, and it snowballed, as others asked to join in. And of course, once I was there, it made perfect sense to meet up with you – and I’m so glad I did!
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Yes 🙂
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And thank you for taking the time, on your wanderings around Melbourne, to drop in and have a wonderful chat. Your gifts from the north were lovely too.
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It was fantastic we had the opportunity to meet, and our paths will surely cross again ☺
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How fantastic to meet like-minded bloggers. This is a fantastic community and I’m so glad you had a lovely trip! 😀
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So fortunate that however the blog world magic works, I find myself in good company many blogs over, and for it to extend to face time is testimony the integrity of the community ☺
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What a nice tribute, Dale. I agree that the personal connection is a gratifying one and that blogging has enriches my life immeasurably. Now you’ve made your deadline, enjoy the rest of the month!
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I love how we simply continued conversations we had begun virtually and evolved, catching up rather meeting.
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‘Enriched’ 🙂
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Lovely!
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Next time we visit my Melbourne sister expect to hear from us ☺
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You really sound settled now and I couldn’t be more pleased. The trip to Melbourne must have been fantastic to actually chat face to face with fellow bloggers, I’m actually a bit jealous especially as I have so many fine friends in Australia. In June there’s a big get together of Bloggers too in London which I’d love to go to.
Have a fantastic new week Dale
xxx Sending Massive Hugs xxx
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Not quite settled but getting there. You would have enjoyed our lunch with Meeks… we had pies ☺ And you wouldn’t have needed to worry about table etiquette & speaking around eating – the G.O. barely got a word in…
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The sour dough bread you made looked great on the previous post. I’ve never made it for some reason which is silly as I like the flavour and texture.
Your trip sounds exhausting!
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I have some dried sourdough starter packaged up. Email me via my gmail address if you’d like me to send it to you. The Melbourne visits were over a few days… the rest of the trip was pretty busy too but we really enjoyed it, not having had the opportunity to get out and about much while we were working.
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Ooh I could eat some of those crackers with pickles right now! Add my envy at your in-the-flesh meetings to the green heap growing among the comments – one day, Australia, one day. Just need to remind Archaeo-man about all that rock art. And how fast time is flying. Great to have you back, Mary x
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On the back of the success of my choko pickles I’m going to have a go at making my own cucumber pickles in due course. Francesca’s were fabulous, heaps less sweet but tastier than the supermarket jars.
I have only seen rock art in Kakadu but it’s very good. I hear the Kimberley’s is amazing.
When I started blogging I wasn’t sure if other connections would be considered intrusive but I’ve only ever encountered bloggers who are happy to extend the friendships – interests and geography permitting 🙂
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How wonderful to be able to meet and connect with fellow bloggers. And such thoughtful gifts.
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IMK I think particularly connects likeminded bloggers with a natural progression towards catching up in real life but not all bloggers I’ve met and/or have become friends with otherwise are IMKers… it takes time, and we often connect via multiple blogs so there’s a real sense of community and familiarity.
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I’ve been a netizen for a very long time, but in all that time I never actually met any of my online friends in the ‘flesh’. This last year I’ve met one gaming buddy and now you and the G.O. And both meetings were so natural, as if we’d been meeting up for food and a chat forever. Even the Offspring commented on how comfortable everything felt. And yes, I think our passions have brought us all together.
Next time you’re down this way, could we organize a BIG get-together? Maybe all of us in the Melbourne area?
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Lovely idea to have a Melbourne get-together. I remember my first blogger meet up with Celia of FJ&LC for coffee… I was so nervous, for about 10 seconds… after which we talked non stop. In Feb our original plan was only to visit my sister… the visits and the rest of the trip rolled out in a somewhat ad hoc fashion from there. It was great not only meeting up with you and the Offspring but in your neighbourhood. I’m looking forward to another wander around next trip. The G.O. is still thrilled with his tiny motorcycle & side car, and I’m still demanding the kudos for finding it.
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lmao – you and the G.O. – the definition of team work! And yes, hurry up and visit again. I might even clean house and bake a cake for you. 😉
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Cake yes 🙂 but clean house… well, up to you but cleaning is overrated… I have terrible eyesight and am unlikely to notice one way or another 😉 I have adopted the philosophy that so long as my standard of housekeeping doesn’t kill anyone, it’s fine.
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lol – I gave up being house proud a decade ago but when I have guests I still get a bit twitchy. Plus with animals in the house all the time I do have to dust once or twice…a year. 😉
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Haven’t yet met a blogger friend in real life but it is on my bucket list! Lovely gifts from special people..how very nice!
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I hope one day you come to Australia… and we can organise a get together… unlikely I will fly overseas though, sadly, I just don’t cope with flying like I once did.
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how wonderful to catch up with virtual friends. i was in canberra in Feb and met up with a couple of lovely bloggers there. it was wonderful indeed to meet up in the flesh. mm those cuke pickles look tasty. I must make myself some:)
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Blogger meet ups add a whole other level, it’s a great way to extend the connection.
Me too for making cucumber pickles. Now I’ve tried the real thing, the supermarket ones just aren’t good enough 🙂
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The feather drawing looks right at home…and the matching blue one should be with you very soon. Fingers crossed and the wind at the back of Australia Post! Your honey is delicious. The Aldi one we had been eating has gone to the back of the cupboard. And yes to a big Melbourne Meet up sometime.
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I love that you gave us a feather drawing, we have jars of the real thing around the house, and the G.O. had a hat full at one stage.
I cannot now eat supermarket honey… I’m ruined, I just love the good stuff… so I’m pleased to hear you like it.
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Aren’t these IMK posts such fun! Glad you were able to make the deadline.
Have a super day.
🙂 Mandy xo
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Thank you. It’s a real community who shares generously 🙂
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I do love that your pictures show real life, with a mix of practical things, sweet memories and reminders of your active and creative life.
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Thank you. I dreamed of having this life for a quite some time. I’m glad you enjoyed the glimpse into my kitchen.
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Blogging for me continues to reward in ways I couldn’t possibly have imagined. I wanted a place to store my family’s recipes and found a community of wonderful people. In fact, this is probably the only forum on the internet where every person that I’ve met is even nicer than their online persona. Each and every one. 🙂
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Blogging and bloggers are so much a part of my life now that even when I’m not able to spend much time on line, they are in my thoughts and I look forward to when I have time to catch up.
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So lovely to read about your time in Melbourne – it would be great to get together with all you lot! You’re amazing. I met up with a fellow blogger in Bali by a strange string of events after I’d been blogging for just a short time and it was such a wonderful couple of days. We worked out we were born on the same day allowing for the hemispherical time differences so decided we must have been twins separated at birth (very, very weird.)
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It’s a natural community I think, I’ll read a blog and find a blogger who I already know has commented in places our interests coincide. IMK is one such place but also in others un-orchestrated.
What an interesting encounter you had in Bali… I like the synchronicity 🙂
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Flying in not much fun anymore, but maybe someday…
Meanwhile there’s a couple of bloggers locally and we try to meet up – usually during bad weather when no one’s able to work – no one has “normal” jobs.
You home looks so warm and welcoming. Glad you are finally able to live real.
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That’s the thing… we get along so well in the virtual world… it’s that annoying distance over oceans that stops more of us from meeting up but it doesn’t mean the friendships suffer. I’m so missing spending time in the blog world. I was only today thinking about your R.C., and meaning to pop in for a visit… our Soossie-share cat is quite the demanding miss when it suits her.
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I recommended another blogger try a share cat the other day based on your experiences – not really a bad idea at all.
I never expected such a community with blogging. Pleasant surprise.
RC sends you a sleepy paw wave – cloudy weather good for naps can’t be wasted.
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Great text and great pictures, thanks for sharing!
Would love to see you on my blog as well since I just reactivated it after travelling for seven months and there is loads of new content going to come up soon!
xx
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Thank you Johanna for popping by, and the lovely comment 🙂
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Reading this post made me want to be there with all of you, but I don’t know if I ever make it to Australia . Blogging has enriched my life tremendously. I made a new friend through my blog that lives nearby and almost met another blogger when I was in Germany.
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Blogger meet ups are easy, in my experience, because we already feel like we know one another, so no introductions – explanations necessary 😊
I’m reluctant to fly long distance these days which makes me wish I did it more when I was younger and it seemed simpler. But if you ever do make it to Australia, it would be wonderful to see you.
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I’m soo far behind with keeping up the blogs I follow. I’m happy to see you and G.O. are doing well & had a wonderful trip to Victoria. And I absolutely LOVE your gift from Mary in England. I’m dealing with a broken ankle right now… it’s not fun. It’s spring here in Massachusetts, although we’ve been having a week of rain.
Once the rain stops, I’m determined to get out there to plants some flower seeds. ; o )
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You aren’t alone in respect of blog reading. Our day-to-day continues to be busier than we anticpated at this stage. But enjoyable. After we do a little more work on the house we are preparing for our next, longer trip.
I hope your ankle doesn’t give you much grief but maybe an opportunity for R&R.
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Thanks for your sweet comment. Where do you plan to go next? I ‘was’ planning to head out to our place in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania but…. I’ll have to wait a bit for my R&R it seems.
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We’re heading to warmer climes for the winter, Northern Territory & Western Australia… our long awaited big trip 🙂
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Awesome – can’t wait to see the photos!!
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