We kick off with New Year’s Day and it is a wet one!

On the 6th we have Epiphany/ Three Kings, Nollaig na mBran/ Woman’s Christmas or little Christmas. Followed by Orthodox Christmas Day on the 7th.

Monday 13 is Plough day and the Punjabi winter festival Lohri. January’s full moon is on the 13th at 22.26 and is called the Cold Moon, Wolf Moon or Stay at Home Moon 🥶🐺🎑

Old Twelfth Night is on the 17th, and from 24-26 is the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch with Burns Night falling in the middle on the 25th.

It’s also my birth month and I’ll be celebrating my 41st 😱 on the 27th 🥳

The Lunar New Year and Chinese New year, the Year of the Green Wood Snake 🐍 begins on the 29th.

I love the month of January as it always feels new and fresh. Fresh air, fresh starts, new ideas, new energy after the mad dash of December. This first full month of winter is one to enjoy the slow and take the rest – and maybe plan for the year ahead.

In the garden is lots to do, plenty of little jobs I want to finish up so that come later I have the space to do the bigger things. Normally I would have most of my garden journal set out by now but since December was so full of fun things with the advent we did, it’s taken a bit of a back seat. The last few days I’ve been thinking out and planning some spreads I want for this year and I’ll be making a start on those today.

Lots of new things for the garden too, new seeds to try and varieties to grow and I really want this year to see some of my years old plans to come to completion this year. No more dreaming. It’s time for doing!

Happy new year you lovely lot, I hope it’s a good one!

Oh and also, I look forward to my luffa grow along and still have some seeds left to give, (don’t worry it’s FREE and all I need is your full name & address) that will start mid February. Join in!

Almanac by @lia_leendertz
Illustrations by @nemesista

Way back when in 2010, my now husband, Scot started an annual thing of getting up before sunrise on New Year’s Day to capture the first light of the new year, and so, the New Year’s Sunrise challenge was born. Along with many of his photographer friends around the globe we all got up in the cold (northern hemisphere) to catch that first precious light.

I missed that first year but once we met later in 2010 and I moved in (didn’t know that at the time) in december that year we shot our first sunrise together in 2011. we had various results in light, most were very grey and overcast, one was a stunning orange and yellow one. We continued to do so for many years with sunrise 2014 being the most special one.

For months leading up to it we had the idea of doing something different, dressing up as if we’d just come back from a New Year’s party and dressed in our finest. Little did I know that Scot had a secondary plan.

What we didn’t account for was the enormous storm that was raging and so, armed with thermals, wet weather gear (that I ditched before I got out of the car & into the storm) and coffee we set out. Scot set up the camera and I waited in the comfort of the rocking car (it was so windy and stormy, the waves were insanely high!), when I got out the wind literally knocked the air out of my lungs. I got in position and..

Scot dropped down on one knee! All of it was captured on camera and this shot is actually just before the proposal, as a “test” shot. You can see Scot holding something in his left hand 🤭💍

Roll on to this year and we decided to go out for sunrise again. Another storm, another flask of coffee, thermals and wet weather gear and it brought us right back to that one day on the beach 11 years ago ♥️

Here’s to many more moments like this, enjoying things together, no matter how big or small!

Happy New Year!