Hello and welcome to Weekend Coffee Share #2! Please come on in and help yourself with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate at my coffee station. I can hardly wait to share my news and photos with you.
1. Awesome Coffee Share Party #1
- By closing time on Sunday, 25 bloggers from 5 continents have participated. Countries include Canada, Australia, Iceland, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States. Isn’t that amazing?
- About 50% of the participants joined the Weekend Coffee Share link up for the first time. This is a great opportunity for all participants to make new blogging connections. Thank you, everyone, for coming.
- I added the InLinkz link to make it easier for participants to see all the links in one place. At any time that the InLinkz link doesn’t work, plan B is to use the Comments section.
I read all participants’ blogs and appreciate what you’re sharing in words and photos. Either via InLinkz or Comments, I read what you have to say.
Overall, Weekend Coffee Share party #1 exceeded my expectations. I hope you also had a positive experience. If so, please spread the word. My InLinkz link can accommodate up to 50 participants.
2. A Promised Land
My library let me skip the line to borrow A Promised Land, Barack Obama’s latest book and presidential memoirs. The e-book version shows 1177 pages on my iPad. Normal loans allow 21 days before the book is due. The Skip the Line loans are for 7 days only. I set a target to read close to 200 pages each day for six days, and used the 7th day to review selected chapters.
The timing of this book loan is perfect. Given the recent US presidential election and the upcoming inauguration, the book content is more relevant to me now than any other time. It’s interesting to read history and watch live US presidential events that are going to be part of history.
At 1177 pages, there are thousands of words, and yes, there are 81 photos at the end.
3. Thursday Doors
Speaking of photos, I went through the digital images on my phone to delete those I don’t want to keep and to free up the memory space for new photos. From this exercise, I chose four photos for the Thursday Doors photo challenge. Here’s my entry this week.
This Kwagu’t ceremonial house is part of the hereditary cultural property of Chief David Knox of Tsaxis (Fort Rupert). Go up the few steps in front of the house, and if you zoom in, you see the door handle in the centre.
Two black doors framed with painted cedar planks mark the entrance to Roy Henry Vickers Gallery in Tofino. If you haven’t heard of this Canadian artist, I encourage you to visit his web site for his biography and amazing art. I do not earn any commission for mentioning the artist’s name or his web site.
The rest of my week went well. Your turn:
- How did your week go?
- Are you looking forward to joining the Weekend Coffee Share blog party?
- What do you think of the above doors?
I’d love to hear your comments.
Linking with #lifethisweek, #senisal, #weeklysmile.
Copyright © 2023 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.
Natalie the Explorer 
Congratulations on the success of your first Coffee Share link-up! I am sure you will build a very social community of bloggers from all over the world. I got The Promised Land for my daughter-in-law for Christmas. Maybe she will allow me to borrow it when she finishes the book. It looks like a fascinating read. So cool that you got to skip the line! Good luck with your ambitious reading project.
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Thank you, Laurie, for joining in and for your vote of confidence. The Promised Land book is a fascinating read. Otherwise I wouldn’t spend time finishing it 🙂 I believe the skip the line feature is auto-programmed to reward prompt readers and to increase book usage at the library. I like it.
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Congrats on a good week with the coffee share and thanks for treating the Thursday Doors crowd to some wonderful doors and photos. I love the interior of that gallery. The space has a surreal atmosphere.
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Thank you, Dan, for your encouraging words. It’s fun to share and see Thursday Doors. The R.H. Vickers Gallery is amazing to visit and see so many beautiful art items in one place.
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I’m so happy to hear the coffee share has been a hit, Natalie. The gallery is incredible. Thank you for sharing your gorgeous photos! Not much new here, but the day job and a lot of writing. Have a great weekend!
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Jill, I’m glad you like the gallery and my photos. Sharing art is tricky because everyone has different tastes in art. I hope your day job is calm and your writing is going well. Have a great weekend!
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Thank you for bringing the Coffee Share to my radar, Natalie. It is always fun to meet new people from around the world and revisit blogging friends. I have never used InLinkz, and I may learn more about it.
I have not heard about Skip the Line and I will investigate. I always learn something new from you.🙂 Your photos are always amazing. I am grateful I have some of these places near me. You inspire me to get out there and become a tourist in my home town. Not at this time with all of the restrictions. It is fun to time travel and go through my memories. Always nice to read your positive and beautiful posts.❤️
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Hi again, Natalie, I am not sure correct hashtag – #WeekendCoffeeShare – maybe correct? and then easily shared to SM – I often share SM anyways – Coffee Share is new to me – have a good day 🙂
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Thank you, Erica/ Erika, for joining in and for your encouragement as always. There was a blogger from Iceland last week. Maybe she’ll join later this weekend.
I use the free InLinkz plan just to set up basic link parties. I think it makes it easier for participants to see the thumbnails all in one place and visually it looks interesting.
The Skip-the-line feature comes with my online library access. I believe it’s auto-programmed to reward readers and to increase book usage. I like it 🙂
I’ve seen the hashtag #weekendcoffeeshare. I believe that’s the original one. A little bit long for typing. Thank you for sharing on your SM.
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I did meet the blogger “Maria” and I subscribed to her site. Thank you for linking us together. Thank you for bringing #weekendcoffeeshare into my radar, Natalie.🙂
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That’s great, Erica/ Erika. The start of new friendships is what I hope to facilitate. Maria is in Sweden. SadiRose is from Iceland. Thank you for joining in Weekend Coffee Share. I greatly appreciate your ongoing support. Have a nice weekend!
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Thank you, Natalie. A fun, inclusive and supportive community. 🙂
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I’m glad to learn that your Coffee Share was such a success. Sometimes it takes a new person to reinvigorate an existing idea. Well done.
As for my week, kind of stressful, kind of dull. About the same as usual, I guess. Happy Weekend.
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Ally, Thank you for your encouraging words. Taking on an existing and longtime practice is interesting. Still in early stage for me. I hope Coffee Share continues to be fun for all participants 🙂
Sorry to hear your week was kind of stressful. I hope it is getting better. Have a nice weekend!
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Those photos are stunning. I have seen the one (or one very similar) in BC. I lived in Seattle for many years and love everything involving native culture and artwork. I thoroughly enjoy these weekend coffee shares and thank you again for taking them over. Have a great weekend.
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Thank you, SadiRose, for your comment. BC has a lot of beautiful Native art. I’m encouraged that you thoroughly enjoy the weekend coffee shares. It’s the participants that make the blog party awesome. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Roy Henry Vickers Gallery looks very cool. I love houses and doors made out of unpainted wood. It gives such a warm feeling. Wood is a wonderful material. Some time in the future I would like a little cabin in the woods, made out of logs, or some type of timber, it is such a cozy feeling.
My week was good, we got lots of snow. It looks like you had a great week, and speaking of great, the coffee share last week was great. I am still visiting blogs from last week, a couple every day. Very fun that so many people joined 🙂 Thank you for hosting! This weekend will be relaxing as I have been working hard all week, lots to do after my long winter vacation. I did bring some work home, but I am going to make sure I relax too. Have a fabulous weekend!
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Thank you, Maria, for continuing with Weekend Coffee Share. Log cabins in a natural environment are lovely. We’ve very little to no snow in January so far. Further north it may be a different story. I’ll be visiting the participants’ blogs as they join in the party. Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!
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Those are you some amazing doors, I love street art when it’s well done like in these examples. I’m glad you had such good response on your first week’s weekend coffee share!
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Thank you, Susanne, for participating and making the 1st weekend coffee share a success. I’m glad you like these doors, made beautiful with Canadian Native art. Enjoy the weekend!
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Those doors are so cool! Thank you so much for hosting; what a great turnout for your first party.
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Thank you, Joanne, for joining the party. I’m glad you think the doors are cool. Happy weekend!
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Great doors and terrific coffee share, Natalie.
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Thank you, Antoinette. Hope you’re enjoying a nice weekend in Hilton Head.
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Congratulations Natalie on a great start to you Weekend Coffee Share. I love the images of Kwagu’t ceremonial house. We visited something similar on our cruise to Alaska last year. Beautiful craftsmanship and cultural experience. Have a great weekend and see you at next week’s #weekendcoffeeshare.
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Thank you, Sue, for your ongoing support. I’m glad you like the Kwagu’t ceremonial house. I find Canadian native art captivating. Have a beautiful weekend!
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Congratulations In the success of Coffee Share last weekend. I found it a great experience. I love your door photos. #weekendcoffeeshare
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Thank you, Jennifer, for joining in Weekend Coffee Share. I”m glad to hear you found it a great experience and that you like my door photos. Have a great weekend!
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Thank you so much for hosting Coffee Share, Natalie! I love the opportunity to sit and chat with new BlogFriends.
Isn’t wonderful when our libraries come up with novel schemes to enable us to read what we want to?
Thank you for giving us a peek into the Roy Henry Vickers Gallery – it must have been so comforting to be around so much warmth.
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You’re very welcome, Ju-Lyn. I want to thank you for joining the Coffee Share blog link up. I like the library’s Skip-a-line feature since I get to read books that I like sooner 🙂 The RHV Gallery is beautifully designed and houses an amazing collection of the artist’s work. Have a great weekend!
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Thanks Natalie! Enjoy your week ahead …. looking forward to your post next weekend!
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Hi Natalie!
I’m not (yet) used to seeing your posts appear in my inbox on Fridays. 🙂 You are going to read a 1,200-page book in one week? Wow! You keep impressing me. I’m sure it will be an fascinating read. I have Michele Obama’s “Becoming” in my modest van library, but it will take a while before I will get to that as I have promised fellow authors I’d read their books first.
All your photos look familiar! The ceremonial house in Victoria is colorful and attractive and the art gallery in Tofino was a highlight of our short visit there. We even bought a small piece of art for Donna and Richard in the gallery. Vickers is an amazing artist and the stories with the works are equally intriguing.
I’ve linked up for the coffee share, sharing a post about some Plunge news, pros and cons. That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing and experiencing this past week as well. 🙂
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Hi Liesbet! I’m glad you made it to my blog party. I used to post mostly on Sundays and it’s a change for me to switch to Fridays, too 🙂
Yup, I finished A Promised Land this week. It’s a fascinating read otherwise I wouldn’t read it from beginning to end. I read Becoming about 2 years ago. It was good although in my opinion, Barack’s book is better because of his role as former POTUS.
How great that you bought Vickers’ art for Donna and Richard. His gallery and art work are amazing.
Thank you for joining me. I greatly appreciate your company and support. Have a nice weekend!
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I’ll check out a couple new blogs this weekend. And, now you can add Belgium to your list of participating countries. 🙂
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That’s great, Liesbet. There is a variety of blogs in the Coffee Share party. I was listing the countries where the bloggers reside, not thinking of where they came from but adding Belgium to the list of participating countries sounds good 🙂
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Big congratulations for your inaugural link up success. That is great. It is a very friendly and warm community you have started Natalie. Well-done. Today I linked up a post of mostly visuals. I am going to mix and match what I link up here. I too am enjoying President Obama’s book via Audible. It is great in his voice but also very very full of details (as you know) and it “helped” me reduce my feelings over what we were seeing on the TV last week to listen to a wise and humble president.
Denyse.
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Thank you, Denyse, for your encouragement and support. It’s the Coffee Share participants that make the party awesome. I’m glad President Obama’s audio book helped you. He plans to write a second memoir to continue where he left off in “A Promised Land”.
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Thank you for sharing your post in Life This Week, the Monday link up on my blog. Each Monday, there is an optional prompt but you can link up a post (just one) old or new, on or off prompt. Next week’s is 4/51 Cannot. 25 Jan.Hope to see you back here then. Denyse.
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You’re welcome, Denyse. See you at the link up.
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Hi Natalie. Looks like you dug some interesting pictures out of your phone. The painted walls or should I say planks make it a real task to find out the actual door. But it’s really amazing to see the creativity artist has put in.
1177 pages in a week or 200 pages in a day can be an overwhelming read. But if the book is interesting, then everything is worth it. Good luck and let us know your views about the book after you are done 🙂
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Hi Moumita, I was on the West Coast of Canada when I took those photos. The Canadian native art is abundant in that part of Canada.
I finished “A Promised Land” on time and it was automatically returned to the library when the 7-day limit was up. It’s an interesting and thought-provoking book otherwise I wouldn’t read to the end 🙂
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Thank you once again for hosting! I am glad it was such a roaring success 🙂 I bought A Promised Land for my wife for Christmas. I hope you enjoyed it! Sometimes having a time limit forces us to not procrastinate (I have a huge, huge TBR stack!) The door photos, and interior photos, are great. I do love indigenous art. (First Nations art? Whatever it is called) It is very important to keep the culture alive, and, since the art speaks to all people, it is a wonderful way to do it. I hope you are having a great weekend 🙂
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Thank you, Trent, for your encouragement and support. I enjoyed reading A Promised Land very much and finished it on time. When I saw 1177 pages on my iPad, my eyes popped but divided it over 7 days it’s do-able 🙂 The amazing First Nations art is abundant on the West Coast of Canada. I agree with you that it’s so important to keep the culture alive and we can learn a lot from studying the art work. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Hi, Natale – Congratulations on your success on this linkup. You are an awesome host. I completely agree with you about the Roy Henry Vickers Gallery in Tofino. It is a must-see for anyone in the area.
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Thank you, Donna, for your kind words. They encourage me to keep blogging and hosting. Please feel free to join in the link up any week. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Wow, Barack Obama’s book sounds really interesting! That being said, I don’t think I could read that many pages even when given 21 days. I’m so glad last week’s coffee share was such a success.
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Astrid, “A Promised Land” hard cover book is 768 pages. I read the e-book version. Either way, it’s a long and interesting book. Thank you for stopping by. Have a nice weekend!
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Yes, I did assume the hardcover would have fewer pages, but still it’s a lot. Have a nice weekend too.
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Love the photographs! Best wishes for your week! (Will try to stop by again, later in the weekend. Still wrestling with a cold.)
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Thank you, Lizl, for stopping by. I hope you feel better soon.
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Wow, such cool doors. Very nice. Thanks for sharing them and thanks for hosting. Looking forward to posting for the first time and looking at some new blogs.
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Welcome, Patrick, to Weekend Coffee Share. I’m glad you like my door photos. Enjoy the blog party!
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I’m glad your first coffeeshare was successful! I’m bummed that I missed participating in the maiden voyage. Hoping to join regularly going forward.
I’ve never seen such cool doors….EVER! And I was doubly wowed because I love indigenous art! Thanks for sharing! And happy weekend to you 💜
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Dinah, I’m glad you like my door photos. I knew there would be Native art lovers out there. I hope you’re enjoying the Weekend Coffee Share blog party. Have a nice weekend!
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That is exciting to hear that the Weekend Coffee Share group has grown!
Great photographs always. I haven’t made it to Victoria yet, but I would love to. I have been to Vancouver and it was lovely and I have family in Kelowna. Kelowna was beautiful!
Thanks for the virtual cup. Have a great rest of your weekend!
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Thank you, Shari, for stopping by. Victoria is pretty and Tofino is amazing. Are you in Saskatchewan or Alberta? Have a nice weekend!
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Hi Natalie, I’ve joined you today after the reminder from Erica who posted in my #ShoutoutSaturday post. She recommended you and your blog with some lovely words – Erica is such a gorgeous soul! I’m thrilled to join you and have a few posts lined up to read.
Congrats on the success of your weekend coffee share and I just love all the door photos, so clever! Best wishes 🙂
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Welcome, Debbie, to Weekend Coffee Share! Yes, Erica/ Erika is a gorgeous soul. I’m glad you both join this blog party. Thank you for your support. It’s the participants who make the party awesome. Have a fun weekend!
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Hi Natalie, I Love the doors photos, the artwork is amazing! AND WOW! What a great week of coffee shares. I will try and go through more shares this weekend. I appreciate you having the Inlinkz, makes it so easy to visit each others posts! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Diana ❤
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Hi Diana, I’m glad you love my door photos. Everyone has different tastes in art and I never know what the response is going to be when I share the art I like.
We have an awesome group of bloggers and coffee shares. I hope you enjoy visiting the blogs. Have a nice weekend!
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I enjoy the way you wrap various prompts up together, Natalie. Your doors pictures are wonderful.
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Thank you, Roberta. I’m glad you like my door photos. Have a nice weekend!
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Love the doors and other art. I’m having coffee, even as I type. 🙂
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Thank you, Marian, for your comment. I’m going for my second cup 🙂
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Hi Natalie,
Great to catch up for another week and thanks for the coffee and those amazing photos of the The R.H. Vickers Gallery. I hope I remember to check that out further. Being exposed to cultural diversity around the world and having my coffee friend as my host, is one of the things I appreciate most about the Weekend Coffee Share.
Hope you have a great week.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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Hi Rowena, I’m glad you’re here. It’s amazing that we’re from opposite sides of the globe and can share our stories via blogging. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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Hi Natalie, I’m so happy to hear your link party is going well. I haven’t got myself organised enough yet to participate but I will eventually. I’m easing myself very slowly back to blogging and into the new year. Love your door & art photos! Have a wonderful week! xo
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Thank you, Min, for your encouragement. You’re welcome to join my link party whenever you’re ready. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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I think I missed this as I only did the one non-bookish post last week. I’ll try to join this week. I love some of that artwork by the way – stunning.
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Deborah, I’m glad you like the artwork. I look forward to having you at my blog link party any week. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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I have Obama’s book on Audible – it’s for reading next up but at 30+ hours of listening, that’s a lot of walking! Great pics by the way…
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Jo, It’s the longest memoir I’ve read and the book ends around the end of his first term of presidency. Another book is coming for his second term. He has a good voice though so between your regular walking and perhaps a road trip, you’ll be able to finish it sooner. Glad you like my photos. Have a great week!
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Hi Natalie – I completely forgot about the weekend link up – I really must get my head together and remember this new party. I’m glad it’s going so well and judging from all the comments here, your blogging must be going great guns too. Hope your week keeps going well and thanks for the door photos – very interesting.
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Hi Leanne – I hope you reserve a spot in your blogging calendar for my blog party 🙂 It’s going well although still in early stage. I’m open to learn any tips you have for me from hosting MLSTL with Sue. Have a great week!
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I am looking forward to Coffee Share this weekend, but I am relieved that it is only Monday! Loved the pictures too, and I always love your pictures. They capture me! See you (virtually) on Friday, I like my coffee sweet and light! Michele #Lifethisweek
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That’s great, Michele. I’ll see you at the upcoming blog party. My coffee station will be well stocked and ready.
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Late to the party, but glad to know about it!
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Thank you, Michele, for stopping by. Yes, my blog party is on every Friday.
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Hi Natalie, I’m looking forward to joining the next Weekend Coffee Share! I love doors, in fact I’m thinking of doing a photo post soon of my favourite door photos (which means going through thousands of photos to find them all!). My week has been wonderful, as we’re still settling into our new home and discovering our new life here in Bulgaria. Every day brings us something new and interesting!
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That’s great, Cheryl I look forward to seeing you at my upcoming blog party. Traveling to different places sure gives us a lot of door photos even when we’re not looking for doors. I’m glad your week has been wonderful. Enjoy your new home. It’s yours now so you can take your time to do the improvements you want to do.
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Congratulations on your Inlinkz parties. May you grow from strength to strength. Maybe we can collaborate and you can update your followers and visa versa of the other parties and both of us and followers can win
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Thank you, Esme, for your kind words. I’m new to host a weekly blog party so I’m open to learn any tips (and pitfalls) from more experienced blog party hosts. I do link backs and ping backs to update my followers of the parties I participate in, including yours. Have a great week!
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Thanks, sorry missed this comment. Thanks for linking
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That’s so cool about the very first link up for the year. A Promised Land looks overwhelming at the moment! I have way more to read before that! 😀 Love the gallery photos – I feel like a tourist when I visit your blog! 🙂 Hope you have a lovely week ahead!
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Sanch, Yes, A Promised Land is long and you’d need time to finish it. I’m glad you like the gallery photos. I like to share places that I’ve visited. Have a great week!
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I’d like to read Obama’s new book, but I don’t know if I can handle that many pages! And to think, it only covers PART of his time in the White House!
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Dawn, I enjoyed reading Obama’s new book and look forward to his next memoir whenever it’s published. It’s long for sure. The hard cover version has 768 pages if that helps you 🙂
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Natalie, I have visited both of those beautiful longhouses. For many years I worked in the traditional territory of Roy Henry Vickers’ people, and at the time his sister was one of my colleagues. I am currently reading a book co-authored by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd: “Voices from the Skeena: An Illustrated Oral History.” It recounts stories from a century ago taken from the CBC archives, and illustrated by Vickers. The really amazing thing is that there is a link to a website where you can hear the stories told in the interviewees’ own voices.
Jude
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Wow, Jude, that’s amazing work experiences and connections you’ve had with Mr. Vickers’ sister. Thank you for mentioning the book. I’ll check with my library.
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