Hello dear readers, and welcome to my New Year edition. Another year has come and gone. I can't believe it is already 2025! It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the dawn of 2000. Over those 25 years we retired, we lost our parents, our eldest son got married, and had two children, the eldest of whom has just completed Year 12 and going to university next year! How did that happen so fast? At times I feel that time is running out, and there is still so much to do!
For today I am going to share a few highlights from 2024. If you would like to read the posts just click on the links to go back and take a look.
In January we travelled to Albany on our south coast so I could attend an Advanced Botanical Eco-printing class with master printer Penny Jewell at Summer School. It doesn't look like I blogged about it, but I have blogged about eco-printing several times before. How far does the hand reach - The Peace Cloth (July 2019)
We attended the Chinese Lantern Festival for Chinese New Year and the Australia Day Fireworks.
In February we were in the safety boat & on-water control for a dragon boat regatta (a great opportunity to take photos from the water), took photos at a triathlon, and took photos at the South West Multi-cultural Festival - a truly wonderful cultural event with music, dance and food.
March was spent getting ready for a couple of art markets - The Tree Street Art Safari and the Dardanup Art Spectacular Art Trail
In April we watched our sons compete at the Australian Dragon Boat Championships in Perth, and I collected a photography prize at the Dardanup Art Spectacular, and had an enjoyable market weekend talking to lots of people.
In April we commemorated Anzac Day and made our annual autumn visit to the Balingup Golden Valley tree park.
In May I made Quince and Grape jam and revelled in having my blog recognised as worthy enough to be preserved on the National Library of Australia website - Trove. And I had a rather dismal attempt at photographing the Aurora Australias.
In May I was excited to photograph Spoonbills along the Leschenault Estuary for the first time.
Earlier in the year I was sorry to be told that the travel magazine, On The Road, which I had been writing for since 2010 was closing down. I was lucky to secure another small writing gig with Caravan World magazine. My first Side Tracks article for Caravan World was published in June. Beringbooding Rock water tank
In September we went on a 3 week wildflower, midwest and goldfields trundle. The links are in my intro post here - Wildflowers, midwest, goldfields trundle - intro. I still have one more post to share with you!
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| My Gold awards for 2024 |
In December we had a couple of nights in our capital city, Perth, and visited the amazing Rone Exhibition at the Art Gallery of WA, and also visited the Museum and the botanic gardens at Kings Park.
In the last few weeks I have had friends loose a loved one, so I think of them as they start the new year without them.
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| Hoya in my garden |
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
Happy New Year! Your reflections on the past quarter-century are heartwarming and poignant. Time does indeed seem to fly by, often faster than we'd like. The milestones you've experienced—retirement, the loss of loved ones, family marriages, and the next generation stepping into adulthood—are testament to a life richly lived and full of treasured memories.
ReplyDeleteHello Jill,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great recap of your 2024 photos. You accomplished a lot during the past year. I love your capture of the Aurora, the Spoonbills and the Parakeets. The Lanterns and the Autumn colors and trees are my favorite mosaics. Your art work is lovely. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy New Year to you and your family, I wish you all the best in 2025. Take care, have a great day and a happy week ahead. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.
...Jill, what a colorful and exciting 2024! I wish happiness and good healthing 2025.
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ReplyDeleteThis week I'm replying much earlier than usual...
It's Sunday, the afternoon to write my comments. It's snowing and raining outside. The weather service warns of black ice. Gray daylight, which is not very inviting to go outside. And I understand this mood well, what you wrote here. Yes, I agree. Time goes by fast and faster. You had sad remberings and some good. Yes...
However, I am also happy about another wonderful post for MosaicMonday, dear Jill. Ver, very nice to read agin of your days. Wish again a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025 and of course healthy days.
Thank you so much for your participation, dear blog friend ... interesting to read! Greetings from Heidrun
Dear Jill, your year 2024 seems to have been not only beautiful, colorful, entertaining, varied and exciting, but also successful. And your supposedly "rather dismal attempt at photographing the Aurora Australias" looks beautiful. (Maybe not like in real life, I can't judge that, but the picture looks like a color-harmonious work of art.)
ReplyDeleteI wish you and all your loved ones a healthy, peaceful and happy New Year!
✨🍀🐞🍀❣️🌟❣️🍀🐞🍀✨
Best wishes, Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2025/01/ruckblick-2024-teil-1-weihnachten-und-2.html
That's such a fun way to share your year and highlights! You've got a lot to be proud of and lots of happy times to remember! Happy new year!
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful year!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos of the year gone by!
ReplyDeleteWish you and yours a super 2025!