Our lives are a series of journeys – traversing various paths along the way, some straight and clearly signposted, others winding, confusing. We stumble over obstacles, the cracks in life. What matters is we move forward – time is never still, nor is life.
We might not be sure what is at the end of a certain road…but that is no reason not to explore, examine in detail. Take a risk, walk on.
Be aware how those oft travelled roads change form with the seasons. For a day or two a busy car-laden highway becomes a mystical wintry snow grotto where only the odd car passes.
The norm is never just that…a new angle, emotion is required to see the road in a new light…to see the view ahead in a manner transformed.
That doesn’t mean we should charge through life obliviously – take time to notice, be aware of the surroundings. They will raise a smile, ignite creative thoughts, inspire stories, poems, art.
Along the way we stop for nourishment, sharing a meal with friends and family.
Here we not only satiate our physical hunger but that of the soul as well; the location often setting the ambience and mood for the occasion.
Birds and their flight of freedom never fail to grab our imagination; their elegant effortless glide into the skies, their expanisve wings stretched to the full.
How often don’t we dream of just that – stretching out, soaring away. But then again, perhaps we already do – every moment of our lives…unconscious of the mystical flight of living.
Finally, I would like to wish each and everyone of you a wonderful celebration on New Year’s Eve and may 2018 be a peaceful year filled with joy and creativity.
As I’m hosting a New Year’s Eve dinner party, I’ve been busy preparing a menu which I would like to share with you.
Annika Perry 
A lovely post, Annika. I hope the party was a great fun. Here’s to a wonderful 2018!
Thank you so much, Robbie…we had a wonderful celebration which included dancing to 80s music and of course, charades! Guess what I choose as my first book title?! Wishing you all the best for the New Year and look forward to reading your posts and chatting away! xx
What a delightful post, Annika. May 2018 bless you with many interesting and amazing pathways. ❤
Carol, thank you so much – it was calming and enjoyable post to write and helped bring reflection into my own life. Wishing you a wonderful New Year filled with joy and creativity. hugs xxx
Such an inspirational post Annika. May we all walk our paths and find the journey which was meant to be for us.
Wishing you great joys, success and health for the new year. Happy New Year! Annika to you and all your loved ones. 🙂
I hope the dinner would have been fabulous.
Norma, thank you so much for your thoughtful and warm comment. It’s strange how seeing photos of the physical paths and roads I’ve travelled this year morphed into a reflection of life as a whole. I agree wholeheartedly with your beautiful and generous sentiment that may we all walk the paths meant for us in the coming year.
Oh, the dinner was a treat, even if the soup was a lot more spicy than meant to be – tasted sublime!! Warmest wishes for the New Year, Norma and yours – may it be filled with joy, laughter and peace. xx
It’s strange that sometimes photos are just photos and sometimes they are totally different things.
Thanks for your kind and warm wishes Annika. 🙂
Beautiful reflections on the journey, Annika. Wishing you a 2018 full of new adventures. ❤
Thank you so much, Diana and wishing you lots of adventures too…Have a fabulous and wonderfully creative 2018! ❤️
A lovely exploration of the journeys we take Annika, I hope your new year feast went very well 🙂
Thank you, Andrea…so many journeys I realised on all levels! 😀 It was a wonderful evening and the food was a great success. I hope you had a special New Years celebration too.
A lovely post with beautiful photos – so peaceful! Thank you for sharing. Hope you have a wonderful year in 2018 with much success! ❤️ 🤗
Thank you so much, Janice and I’m glad you found it peaceful. After the hectic Christmas celebrations and the months beforehand I think I was seeking serenity within reflection. A joy to share here! Wishing you a wonderful, successful and creative New Year and so happy to have met you last year! 😀😀
Thank you, Annika. I know what you mean. It has been hectic but now back to normal and working toward more publications! I am happy to have met you too! 🤗
Happy New Year Annika! A New Year’s Eve dinner sounds divine. Hope it went well.
A very Happy New Year to you too, Kathy! 😀 The evening was wonderful, truly magical with lots of fun and the food was delicious – the soup that perfect kick of hot chilli! Hope you had a great time celebrating the start of the New Year too.
I simply adore your writing Annika. It pulls me gently along into your world and I always leave enlightened and feeling positive. Yes, here’s to new paths and soaring ahead in 2018. Wonderful post. Oh and by the way, the soup on your menu sounds delicious! xo 🙂
Miriam, thank you so much!!! ❤️😀. That means a lot to me and I always feel likewise reading your posts…feel like I’m going on an inner journey! We seem to walk so many paths through a year I realised and wanted to make some sense from these wandering! Oh yes, the soup was delicious but slightly hotter than intended but still so tasty. A real kick to it!
Wishing you a wonderful New Year, Miriam filled with joy, serenity and creativity! ❤️
Thank you so much Annika. 💕
As for that soup, the hotter the better! 😏
Annika, what a beautiful profound and inspirational post.. Each photo choice carefully chosen to match your wisdom. May we indeed walk our paths with more clarity, love, and understanding of all around us..
just loved your post..
Have a Peaceful, Prosperous, Happy, Healthy 2018 and Beyond my friend..
It is going to be awesome, as they say 🙂
Sue ❤
Sue, your words have me smiling and my heart is warmed by your love and understanding – thank you! ❤️ I never realised how many photos I had of paths / roads travelled and the post wrote itself almost. One of those moments!
Yeah, I love the idea of awesome…may it be so for you too, my friend! Wishing you a Year filled with joy, serenity, wisdom and creativity, Sue. 😀❤️
❤
Such a beautiful post and lovely photos, Annika! And I have to admit that your menu sounds just mouthwatering to me! I´m sure it was a total hit! Happy New Year, my dear friend! Hugs! xxx ❤
Thank you so much, my friend and thank you again for your wonderful write-up about my book – I’m beaming away!! Your words mean so much to me.
The meal was indeed a hit…delicious and we had a most special evening. Hope you had a lovely New Year’s Eve and wishing you joy, peace and creativity in 2018. Love & hugs xxx❤️
It was my pleasure, Annika!
And now hurry back to your desk and go on editing your novel!!! 😉
Love&Hugs! xxx ❤
Happy New Year Annika!
A very Happy New Year to you too!! 😀😀
Your photos are a delight to accompany your words and paths in life. The soup sounds lovely as well. Happy New Year’s 2018! Peace, Mary Ann
Thank you so much, Mary Ann! The soup was delicious and had a kick from the chillies…you’d think I’d learnt from one of my own stories! Wishing you a wonderful and joyful New Year filled with music and peace! 😀😀😀 btw many thanks for the lovely twitter message last night. Xx
My pleasure, Annika. We’re off to church this morning to celebrate Mary, the Mother of God. This is also the year of the family. If we lived closer, I could have some of that soup. I will enjoy collards cooked in chicken broth later. The wind chill calls for soup with a -25F. Peace in 2018.
Happy 2018 Annika and it was good to have found your writing in 2017. Looking forward to reading the book when it comes out in paperback.
Wishing you a very Happy New Year, Davy and a pleasure to meet you here on WP last year. Ahh…so glad you’re looking forward to my book. I’m getting the paperback proofs this week so not long after that it should be available….I will post on my blog though! Good luck with writing, compiling and publishing your collection this year! 😀😀
Thank you Annika 🙂
I love the line that ends with: “unconscious of the mystical flight of living.” Wonderful range of photos too. Happy New Year!
Mary, as always it is a joy to go through my photos and try to find ones that support my words…they actually gave me the lead this time as I found so many with paths in them!! 😀😀 I’m so glad you loved the line at the end…I hadn’t noticed it so much until you quoted it back here. Thank you so much and a very Happy New Year to you!! Xx
You had me mesmerized with this beautiful, soothing post, Annika. Lovely photos, delicious menu (I’ll be there soon), and I’m grateful for your friendship. Wishing you a love-filled, happy, and creative 2018 and a wonderful time tonight at your party clinking, chiming, and toasting in the New Year! Much Love and Many Hugs! ❤🎉🎊✨🎆🥂
Wow! Lauren, thank you so much for your wonderful friendship this past year and it’s been a joy to meet you here. ❤️ Ahh…I’m so glad you liked th post and its photos – after the hectic Christmas period I think I was looking for something soothing and taking time to reflect. We had a most special ad fun evening – toasting in the New Year, watching the fireworks, singing Auld Lange Syne followed by dancing to 80s hits! Just perfect! Hope you had wonderful time celebrating and wishing you joy, love, peace for 2018! Love & hugs xxx ❤️
I know people who want the road to always be smooth with clear signs all along the way. They just don’t understand that life is an adventurous journey. It’s supposed to be an experience of learning as we go. I try to explain this to these folks but they don’t want to consider my words.
Happy New Year, Annika! 😀
Glynis, how true that some people seem to expect it there due to have a smooth uncomplicated journey – I don’t understand that! Life is an adventure, through the bumps we grow stronger and learn more about ourselves, develop new skills, thought processes and make new wonderful friendships.
Wishing you an amazing New Year with roads both smooth and travelling over the bumpy darker roads with love and support. May it be a year of joy and creativity…with writing galore! Hugs xxxx
Beautiful inspiration Annika, beautiful menu, and wishing you a Happy New Year filled with love, joy and good health! ❤ 🙂
Thank you, Debby! 😀 It was a wonderful evening and I hope had a great start to the New Year too. May it be a special one with lots of joy, laughter and creativity! Hugs xxx❤️
Amen and thank you Annika! ❤ xx
What a delightful relaxing post. I feel good just reading it. My son called from 2018–to let me know the world will still be spinning (he’s in Okinawa; I’m in California). He knows his mom too well.
Bless him, Jacqui…what a guy and isn’t it wonderful to know he knows you so well! 😀 I’m so glad you enjoyed the post – after the hectic Christmas period I wanted to slow down and reflect…this post was the result.
Beautiful, Annika! Thank you, and wishing you a healthy and rewarding new year, new book and all!
Thank you so much, Cynthia and wishing you a very Happy, successful and creative New Year!! 😀😀
I’m flying over. Okay? Wait. Your New Year’s Eve starts before mine. Well, I’ll be sending you love and hugs and waves of writing magic over the seas. Beautiful post, my friend. To more writing excitement and success in the new year. xoxo
Darn!! I would’ve waited for you!! I’ll have to toast you Happy New Year from here – your early evening I guess!
Pam, thank you so much for your wonderful comment…waves of writing magic…so poetic and touching.
Wishing you a wonderful New Year’s Eve and may 2018 be filled with creativity and joy – look forward to reading your posts and chatting away in the new year. xxxx❤️
Beautiful post, Annika with so many lovely photos! Your menu for NYE looks delicious! We don’t party at New Year but I will think of you and raise my glass of mulled wine! Happy New Year to you and yours xx
Clare, Cheers!! I will toast you right back with a glass of champagne…wishing you and your family a wonderful New Year filled with joy and peace. xxx😀
Thank you so much for your words about the post – one I started looking I was astonished how many photos there were of paths!
My pleasure, Annika! 🙂
A delightful party, Annika, and a lovely setting. 😀 Happy New Year!
Wishing you a wonderful New Year, Teagan and may 2018 be filled with joy, love and creativity! 😀
A delightful post, Annika, absolutely appropriate for the season. As they say, life is about the journey, and having interesting paths to follow makes it all worthwhile. A very Happy New Year to you and your family.
BTW… I’ve downloaded your book and will be reading your stories in the new year! –Curt
Sometimes I feel we don’t even notice the journey or the paths when racing around in our lives…this time of year always provides an opportunity for reflection.
I wish you and Peggy a very special New Year filled with many more adventures!
Ahh…so proud you’ll be reading my book. Enjoy! 😀
It’s easy to get lost in the busy-ness leading up to Christmas, but I have always tried to set aside time between Christmas and New Years for reflection. It’s one of my favorite times of the year.
Thanks, and may you and your family have a wonderful year as well, Annika. I’m looking forward to the book. 🙂 –Curt
Annika, this lovely photo essay made me do something most other posts don’t: I calmed down to savor the words and images, and I smiled. I slowed my breath and let the thoughts course through me.
Happy New Year to you and yours. You’re certainly going to eat well on New Year’s Eve.
Shari, bless you…I am so glad that this post brought a sense of calm and peace to you. I felt it when writing and compiling with the photos. The past few months seem to have sped past without me even noticing, so I took time out for some reflection and wanted to share my thoughts a little here.
Wishing you and your family a very special New Year.
Haha! Yes, it is a bit of a feast…but it is a long evening!! Well, that is our excuse!😀
Oops, Should have written my comment on this post. Beautiful post. Love your menu for NYE
Lyn, no problem at all and lovely to read your comment again and to have you visiting! So glad you liked the post and the menu…thinking of serving Bucks Fizz with the canapés! Happy New Year!! 😀
What a lovely celebration it will be… 😃 thanks for the invite, Annika! Sounds a great menu…. and pavlova, yummy 😉 Have a wonderful and bright New Year with all good wishes 2018. Love n hugs. Cheers! 🥂
I know, pavlova is a dream and luckily we don’t have this too often! 😀 It will be a very festive time and I wish you a lovely evening, Iris. A very Happy New Year to you and yours and may 2018 be filled with joy, laughter and creativity!hugs xxx Cheers!! 😀
Annika I enjoyed your reflections and photos…the opening paragraph is stunning…as is your party menu!! Have a wonderful time and I wish you a most happy new year ! 🌈⚡️
Janice, thank you so much for your wonderful comment – wow, I am so happy that you found the first paragraph so striking. The dinner should be delicious and luckily it is spread over the long evening!! Wishing you a lovely and most special evening and a wonderful and creative New Year! 😀
Thank you Annika! 🎉🌄
Happy New Year, Annika! ❤ xo
Wishing you a very Happy New Year too, Bette! ❤️
Such a beautiful blog, Annika! Have a wonderful 2018!
Thank you so much, Pete! Happy New Year! 😀😀
I love your menu to bits Annika! Almond stuffed courgettes sound great – we have so many in the garden at the moment! Like truck loads. And a pavlova for dessert. New Zealanders and Australians argue to this day over who invented the pavlova – a NZ’r of course! Anyhow hope you have a lovely time at your dinner party.
Homegrown courgettes! Wow! Do you sell them or manage to eat them all? They must taste delicious. haha! I never even knew there was an argument who invented the pavlova- New Zealand in that case! Wishing you a very Happy New Year! 😀
What nice thoughts about the paths we take, especially the unknown ones! I hope you have a Happy New Year. I wish I could bring my group of hungry men to your table! Haha! Actually, we always have a big feast – wings, nachos, shrimp, and other hot h’ors d’oeuvres so no one will go hungry. And tell me, what is pepparkakor?
Barbara, it sounds like your men will not go hungry in the least…I think you’ll have a hoard from here knocking on your door! Pepperkakor are the traditional ginger snap style biscuits made at Christmas time in Sweden. We made them early December and luckily there are still quite a lot left. They are scrummy! Here’s to the New Year and the paths we take, knowingly and unknowingly. Lovely to meet you along the way! 😀❤️
I think I would like the Pepperkakor – they sound like the spiced wafers we get in the fall! Happy crunching!
What a terrific post Annika…encompassing all the seasons and emotions within it! Thanks for the invitation to New Year’s dinner; I would be with you in spirit, nibbling away all those starters!
Our paths… (glad ours crossed) may be long but they are beautiful and adventurous, as your pictures demonstrate most eloquently! Our journeys may seem challenging and endless but exciting enough to encounter that lovely weather your snowy picture illustrates. Thanks for sharing!
Wishing you a wonderful, healthy, happy and adventurous 2018 dear friend. Many thanks for being an awesome friend…looking forward to cementing it further. Love and hugs. 🙂
Balroop, thank you so much for your wonderful, warm and eloquent comment…it is so touching to read. I will imagine you here…enjoying the canapes (decided to go fancy!) and hopefully delighting in a glass of Bucks Fizz! I know if you were here we wouldn’t stop talking and no one would have anything else to eat!!
I was surprised myself how many paths I have walked – literally – during the past year out and about. Then as I took time to reflect, realised these paths are so much more – the journey within ourselves never ceases…just sometimes we are not so aware of them. The snowy road was astonishing as I saw the road I travel at least twice a day from a totally new perspective and how important isn’t it, to see our lives, events, people afresh!
I wish you a most wonderful New Year, Balroop and may it bring you lots of joy and peace…as well as adventures! Likewise, thank you for being such a wonderful friend and I look forward to chatting away in the new year and yes, cementing our friendship further. Love & hugs xxx❤️
Great post Annika. Loved the photos especially – a reminder we are now on our way to Spring!
I’m really impressed by your New Year’s Eve menu. Very tasty.
Mike
Thank you, Mike! I have definitely felt the hint of Spring these last couple of days…and even the birds seem confused and are chirping merrily away! It is lovely with the even slightly longer daylight in the afternoons. The dinner party should be very tasty and luckily it is spread over many hours! Happy New Year to you! 😀
enjoyed walking along
your path, Annika!
and nothing like
a yummy reward
at journey’s end.
happy 2018 to you 🙂
Bless you, David…your comments always leave me smiling. I’m so happy our paths have crossed and always find your posts uplifting, inspiring and rewarding. Wishing you a very Happy New Year! 😀😀
What a beautiful post, Annika. I’m happy that our paths crossed in 2017. Here’s to 2018! Great menu. My mouth is now watering.
Thank you so much, Jan and I am likewise so happy to have met you here this year! I hope you have a wonderful New Year celebration tomorrow and May 2018 be a year full of joy, love and creativity!
Save me some of those almond stuffed courgettes Annika! Best wishes for 2018!
😀😀hmm…Denzil, they are rather yummy and tend to go quickly!! Warmest wishes for The New Year!
Wishing you and yours happiness and health, peace and prosperity in the new year. Your menu sounds delicious and I’m sure you and your guests will be ringing in the New Year with both a full belly and a full spirit. Hugs from South Alabama!
How true!! We will indeed be satiated with our spirits equally merry. Thank you so much for the lovely wishes all the way from South Alabama…May the New Year bring you all lots of joy, laughter and peace. hugs xxx
Beautiful thoughts to accompany beautiful photos. It sounds like you have a wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration planned. Wishing you and yours all the best for 2018. Ring in the New Year with good cheer! Here’s wishing you many new paths and adventures in 2018!
Mae, thank you so much for your lovely comment! New Year dinner party is a bit of tradition for us and yes, it should be wonderful. I wish you a most special evening and may 2018 bring you lots of joy, laughter, and creativity. 😀 Reckon we need to walk those paths, experience those adventures to keep writing! BTW I finished your book last night – wow! I loved it…talk of twists and not my usual read but I was hooked, spellbound. I’ve written a review and will put that on tomorrow or Tuesday. Happy New Year!! ❤️
I’m late in replying, but I’m sure your evening was magical. Traditions are the best, especially when they involve family and friends. I’m sending you the same wishes for much joy, laughter and creativity. And I just saw your review for Food for Poe on Amazon and GR. Made my day! Thank you so much for that fab review. Poe is just a short little novella but it’s special to me, and I’m thrilled you enjoyed it. Happy New Year!
Life is definitely a series of paths. Even if we sometimes don’t choose the right one, what we learn from the “wrong” one is often invaluable.
Wonderful post. Happy New Year to you!
How true, Carrie…it is often on those paths we learn most…and often about ourselves! Wishing you a wonderful New Year and look forward to reading your tweets and posts in 2018. Hugs xxx
Beautiful words, beautiful photos! Wishing you a happy 2018 too, Annika. 🙂
A very Happy New Year to you too, Jennifer! ❤️😀 So Happy to have met you here this year on WP. Hugs xxx
It’s mutual! Hugs back.
This is a wonderful post. Happy New year to you and yours. Your menu looks delicious. Enjoy!
Thank you so much, Darlene!! Wishing you a wonderful New Year filled with joy, laughter and creativity! Oh yes, the menu looks good…the meal should measure up too! Best get food shopping now! Enjoy your celebrations. hugs xxx
“Stretching out and soaring away” is how I think of writing — I wish you a year of clear skies and beautiful landscapes, fellow traveler! 🙂
Sunshine, that is a most liberating way to think of your writing – it is like an epiphany when you can reach such moments. Thank you for your lovely wishes…likewise to you! xxx
It sounds like a wonderful evening and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it to the full, Annika. 🙂 🙂 That opening shot reminds me so much of one I took myself, of fields near here when out with my walking friends. It’s always a pleasure to come here, whether you’re story telling or sharing thoughts. God bless and happy New Year!
Thank you so much, Jo…it’s always a joy to see you here and read your comments! These vast fields are so evocative I find and lovely to walk through when you can sweep your hands across the wheat. Wishing you a safe journey down to Norfolk – take care and have a fantastic time welcoming in the New Year. xx
Hear, hear Annika. Beautifully said with outstanding photos to complement and enhance your important message. Happy New Year!
Thank you so much, Jennie…I’m always reflective this time of year and going through the photos noticed all the paths! A very Happy New Year to you, too! xx
They really do reflect paths. You’re very welcome!
What a beautiful post. And I love your menu. I had to look up pepparkakor, but they sound delicious. I made my first pavlova two years ago, and I think you made an excellent choice… they’re wonderful.
Hoping you ring in the new year with love and laughter, and wishing you a happy and healthy 2018.
Staci, I thought I’d replied to you two days ago!! 😀😀 Thank you so much for your wonderful comment. The menu was delicious even if the soup was hotter than expected – thought I should have learnt about chilllies after my short story! I’m so glad you got to look up pepperkakor- they are so yummy and my mother can’t believe the speed they disappear in our house. Luckily she keeps a lot in her house and brings smaller batches over to us!
We had a fantastic evening welcoming in the New Year and I hope you had a most special celebration yesterday and wish you joy, peace and creativity for 2018!❤️
happy new year, Annika. May you find interesting paths in 2018!
Thank you, Mick…same to you!! I love following your travels, thoughts and novel writings! A very Happy and Creative New Year!
Annika, I wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
Thank you, Joseph and wishing you a wonderful New Year too!
Annika, Wishing you and yours a new year filled with blessings and easy roads filled with adventure.
Thank you so much, Bernadette…here’s to easier roads for us both! Warmest wishes for a peaceful and happy new year for you. hugs xxx
A beautiful post Annika. In your colourful words you talk wisely and deeply about
life. In photos you give us beauty and dreams. Yes, nature in all its hues is the greatest
inspiration.
Now, the New Year’s Eve party…..you might get a gatecrasher.😊 Menu looks delicious.
Have a wonderful 2018 Annika! ❤️🎉
Miriam
Miriam, you would be a most welcome gatecrasher!! So much to talk about…with a glass of bubbly in our hands!! Yep, I think the menu looks great…just hope the meal is as good!!
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment about my writing and the photos here … a time for all year round reflection.Wishing you a very Happy New Year and I look forward to reading many more of your poems in the coming year. hugs xxxxxx
Lovely post, Annika! The photo of you strolling down the path is wonderful. You look so relaxed and content. Your New Year’s Eve menu sounds wonderful! I’ll be there in spirit, toasting a glass of bubbly with you…if I don’t fall asleep before midnight! 🙂 Happy New Year! ❤ ❤
Jill, it would be a joy to have you join us … I’ll raise a glass of bubbly and toast you. No chance of falling asleep before midnight here…sometimes we nearly miss it amongst the chatter! The photo was taken during our brief sojourn in Cley…hmmm…bliss – I was so content! A very Happy New Year to you, my friend! hugs xxx