Welcome to Life Images by Jill

Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist.
Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.

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Welcome!
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Sunday, 22 February 2026

Chinese Lunar New Year 2026 - The Year of the Horse

Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are doing well.

February 17th saw the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations 

The Lunar New Year in 2026 welcomes the Year of the Horse, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. Celebrated by millions around the world, this is a time for cultural traditions, family reunions, and hopes for good fortune in the coming year.
In 2026, Lunar New Year falls on February 17th, kicking off the 16-day Spring Festival. Chinese New Year.net
Horse is the 7th animal in the Chinese zodiac. Recent Horse years include 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, and 2026.

According to Chinese astrology, Horse is confident, agreeable, and responsible, although they also tend to dislike being reined in by others. They’re fit and intelligent, adoring physical and mental exertion; they’re decisive but also easily swayed and impatient.
I was born in the Year of the Goat - do you know your Chinese zodiac sign? 

There are many traditions and festivals associated with Chinese New Year. You can find out more here - Chinese New Year - fun facts

The Lantern Festival is one of them. Our local Chinese community celebrate, inviting everyone along to enjoy.


We were in Sydney in 2018, at the time of the Chinese New Year "Year of the Rooster" celebrations - you can read about it here - Chinese New Year Sydney

I always enjoy seeing the Lion and Dragon dances.
Some years ago we were in Kuala Lumpur during Chinese New Year and we bought a Moon Cake which we had never had before, and watched a dragon dance down the street.

These two pics are from Sydney.



The Bunbury Multicultural Group have a calendar which lists the year's various cultural days. Very interesting. You can click on the links below - then click on the day you want to find out more about. I noted that the Vietnamese Tet Lunar New Year (Year of the Cat) was on 17 February. The Christian Lent began on 18 February, the Tibetan Buddhist festival Losar started on 18 February, and the Islamic Ramadan started on 19 February.
Here are the two links -
Multicultural calendar
Multicultural events

So many cultures have festivals around the same time. We enjoy a multicultural population in Bunbury where I live. The different cultures bring such a wonderful mix to our city. 

Every year we have the Bunbury Multicultural Festival which is always a wonderful explosion of cultural, sound, and dance


This is our beautiful principal dancer and teacher, Nicole, from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company in Bunbury where I was learning flamenco.
You can see more here on my blog - 
Multicultural Festival 2016
Chinese New Year 2021
Chinese Lantern Festival 2024
Sol y Sombra 30th Year anniversary - 2020
Thank you so much for stopping by. do you have a cultural festival in your area that you enjoy? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
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!

If you are looking for a translate button - it's there near the top on the right hand side. 
   
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Sunday, 8 February 2026

What happened to January in Western Australia?

 Hi everyone, I fully intended to bring to you the final post from our trip down Western Australia's  Coral Coast last year..., but I am nearing the end of my first draft of my memoir that I am determined to finish this summer, so I must keep on.....I promise I will be back with that blog post soon.... 

So just a short post today - my gosh it is February already! what happened to January? It has been much too hot to do much outside except for first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon or early evening. As is every summer, there have been bush fires across Australia, and I feel for those who have been impacted directly. 

Below are some photos from my January..... Clockwise from below left - unfledged nearly ready to fly black swan cygnets on the Leschenault Estuary (more about them later), Australia Day fireworks, white corellas (a cockatoo - a pest in our city), building going on at our local shopping centre, dragon boat training on the Leschenault Inlet, marri flowers- Corymbia calophylla - looking gorgeous right now, the one night only flowering Moon Flower in my garden, a slow drawing sketching exercise with Amy from the Mindful Art Studio (thank you Amy), and in the centre we went to a Cricket game in Perth - our team, the Perth Scorchers won this game, and the series! 

It is full on summer here, and our topic for photography group in January was Feel the Chill, for the Wagin Woolarama interclub photography competition in March. We were warned last winter about the topic coming up, but I managed to put off doing anything till January. So I was stoked to receive golds for both these images. 

I really should have taken this photo of the icy-poles in winter or find someone with a walk in chiller room! January has been hot hot and so I had the air-conditioning on, the fan on, I had to keep adding fresh ice to the bowl, and a couple of times I put the ice-creams back in the freezer as they were melting too fast. However I managed it in the end. 

It really does pay you to have everything set up before you bring out the ice confections, which I did... but I kept rearranging them till I had something I was happy with, and so the melt began. And oh yes - the lights I had on the set didn't help my cause. 

Anyway - here is the final shot. Gold! 


My second image was taken a few years ago when we visited Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. We had never been in snow before, and so we went walking while it was snowing - so cool! We took the hop-on-hop-off bus to Dove Lake - and got off to walk along the boardwalk. This is my husband. 

As I have said I am writing my memoir, and I randomly found this image when I was looking for something else on my computer...it looks like we are camping... our Grandson helping his Uncle with his word sleuth page. I don't normally post photos of family, but you can't see their faces and it is just too cute I had to share. 


Have a great week everyone. I hope you and yours are doing well. Thank you so much for stopping by. You might also like - 


I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
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!

If you are looking for a translate button - it's there near the top on the right hand side. 
   

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.
Until then, enjoy your day...Life only comes around once, so do what makes you happy, be kind, and be with people who make you smile. 
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