12 months.

Those bloggers over at WordPress have all the fun.     Several of them are doing 12-month retrospectives prompted by a "Freshly Pressed" challenge.

Unfortunately WordPress allows for some nifty ways to display those photo collections  and I of course, am not using WordPress.  I'm starting to wonder why not.

How many photos do you take in a year ?  It's hard to imagine selecting 12 favourites from a year's worth of photos, and as you will see, I was not able to do that.

I picked this photo from January because I thought it was rather artsy.  The steps are up  the side of a WWII bunker at Hartlen Point, where I had gone exploring with Trey.  You're not supposed to be there.  This photograph represents my love of exploring and my disobedient tendencies.

In February, my friend Sandy from Ontario came for a visit,

Sandy at the Blomidon look off.

and I visited my brother Darrell and some family in Ottawa in time to experience the Winterlude Festival on the Rideau Canal.

Oh dear.  I picked two photos for February.

For my March birthday, friend Amy-Lynn, made me a gift of the beautiful portrait she'd made of your favourite goofball and mine -- Trey.  Didn't she just capture the soppy look of his eyes perfectly ?

The high point of April was a trip to visit family in Portland, Oregon.

The beautiful Japanese Garden.

Stacey and I.

May was marked by two wonderful events -- a solo visit from my sister-in-law Janet,

and the wedding of my good friends Amy and Mickie at Hartlen Point.

In June my friend Pat came for a visit from Ontario,

and the lupines gloriously came into bloom.

The Pride Parade was in July.  I love the pride parade more each year.

Me, Mickie and Amy.
Photo by Timothy Richards.

July, actually, June, July, August, September and any another month with a "diggable-day", is a good day for gardening.  I love moving rocks, shifting plants that have barely gotten accustomed to their current location, to a new ones, and planting trees.

In July, the Tall Ships came.

August found me travelling to Bear River, aka "The Village on stilts" and then on to Brier Island with friend from Ontario, Margie.

Friends Sue and Roger also visited in August.

In September I had a wonderful camping adventure on the Bay of Fundy.

My lovely brother, Darrell, visited in October,

and Lynne and I explored McNab's Island.

In November, I went hiking with Amy-Lynn, Lynne and "flat Kathy" in the woods near Lynne's home.   Actually I go hiking all the time but this photo represents a year full of hikes.

And this one, the almost daily walks with Wendy and Trey.

December found me showing Lynne the sights around Blomidon. 

And there you have it, a year in review.

What a marvellous exercise this has been !   I am so grateful for all the family and friends who have visited and for all those who live nearby.

Gardening, hiking, exploring.  Gosh I'm lucky.