Bloganuary 2025 Day 1

Well, hello 2025, how’s things? I’ve not participated in Bloganuary before, but I really enjoyed Blogtober, and it’s great to have a focus for blogging.

I’m currently at my desk, with half an eye/ear on the New Year’s Day Concert in Vienna. I don’t listen to much classical music, but I love opera for the sets and costumes, and the aesthetic of this particular concert is fresh and springlike, and the waltzes are uplifting and buoyant. Oh, and the piece during the interval – A Strauss Odyssey – is superb; do catch it on iPlayer if you can. Trippy, but I loved it.

I love autumn and winter, but it’s lovely to think ahead to spring bulbs, blossom, drumming woodpeckers and frogs in the pond. Having a Wednesday Christmas meant the traffic was almost silent for nearly a week: such a joy to hear the birdsong. Our bird table and feeders have been visited by pairs of birds, who are also checking out possible nesting spots both in the garden and beyond.

January is usually quiet as far as retail sales go, as people are shifting their Christmas stock and having new year sales, but later in the month I’ll start mining my database for new stockists. I’m working my way through tweaking the logbooks, and painting new illustrations, as well as making all the birds background-free so they can be more versatile. It’s nice to have a substantial but effectively deadline-free to-do list as I can chip away at it and feel productive without putting myself under pressure.

One of my main aims for this season is to not have to go back to teaching. I have been running courses and classes since about 2010 and although I was down to only running one short class once a week, it wasn’t until I stopped that I realised what a black hole it had become. Of course, it’s a small but regular income but I feel sufficiently galvanised about the potential with the logbooks to be happy about investing my time in my own business and drilling into that rather than diverting my attention elsewhere.

So, that’s my gentle toe-dip into the New Year. Wishing you all a peaceful start to your 2025.