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How are you? How has your January been? Do you like fog?
Driving in it is not my favorite thing, but otherwise fog is the next best thing to snow: muffled whiteness, softer edges, mystery…. Most of all, for us photographers, it creates interesting and very photogenic landscapes.

We’ve had quite a bit of it in the past couple of weeks, and I have managed to grab a few shots.
I thought it would make a perfect wallpaper for February: a newly captured image that represents the season in this part of the world (yes, I am still in Italy). It is also a reflection of where I’m at personally in my life right now: in the fog, not seeing clearly, just taking one step at a time towards the little I can see close to me while not tripping and falling.

Two days into the new year, I received really good news from two (separate) friends, both of whom had finally achieved positive results in something they had long been working at. After the year I and many of you had had, I felt as happy and thrilled as if that had happened to me.
Their good news made me excited for them wholeheartedly, but also gave me hope that things I have long been working on might finally bring happy results for me as well.
Part 2 in pinned comment…

After the intensity of 2024, this coming year feels like a fresh start on so many levels that for the January wallpaper I really wanted a new image, a freshly captured one.
Any notion of a magical snow scene has been indefinitely postponed by the weather forecast, and the glorious pink camellias that were already blooming on the tree were all stripped by some seriously wild winds for which the word blustery is a mild description.

All the same, I took my camera and went for a meander in the garden to see if anything caught my eye. I found a few dried leaves that had stubbornly hung on throughout the wind storm. The soft winter sun was making them glow as if from within, offering them the opportunity to shine once more before complete transmutation.

The simple, barren scene spoke to me, softly and quietly, offering a spaciousness that felt soothing. It was a perfect representation of the season: both the outer shown by nature, and our own inner one.
Winter has just begun and we have three more months of it. Cold is not my favorite physical sensation, and I really struggle with it. Yet what I love about winter are the invisible stirrings I can feel silently happening deep underground. They whisper of new life to come. Are we listening?

So here it all is, in one image which I hope will speak to you as it did to me, and that you will enjoy throughout January.
The link for the download is the usual: https://bit.ly/2LMF1B7 - or Link In Profile.

PAUSE.
BREATHE...
As after all the lovely softness of the above scene I will be switching gear.
… part 2 in pinned comment …

Once more I find myself having to apologize for the delay. Actually, yesterday I even doubted I would ever be able to share this final wallpaper of 2024 as things have been taking much longer than usual.

Just over a week ago, I flew to Italy to spend time with my family and help care for my mum, whose health took a sudden toll when my dad passed away last June. The plan is to be here for 2-3 months, or as long as needed.

I am glad to say she is doing better, but still needs constant help and support. From what I have seen in the past few weeks and months, I am aware that many of you know too well what this means and how much physical, mental and emotional energy it all takes.
So between being a caregiver (a privilege in such a case), the stress of travel and adjustment, whenever I would have a moment to focus because my mum would be napping, I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes open myself. The jet lag is real!

Somehow I finally managed to complete the December wallpaper, and all the many files that go with it, even if a tad late. You can finally download it at the usual link: https://bit.ly/2LMF1B7 or LINK IN PROFILE
Once more, it features one of my and my family’s favorite Holiday cookies: Vanillekipferl.
It’s a favorite image, and is as festive/wintery as I could get in the circumstances. I hope you will enjoy it (and remember you can find the recipe on the blog).
Part 2 in comments….

Oopsy-daisy! This wallpaper has been ready for a couple of weeks already, and now I’m realizing that tomorrow is November 1 and I almost forgot to share it. Almost 🤪
So here it is, the new November 2024 calendar wallpaper, featuring one of my favorite images shot at one of my favorite places: the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross, CA (Marin County) on a rainy fall morning.

Download it at the usual link: https://bit.ly/2LMF1B7 or LINK IN PROFILE - and I hope you will enjoy it!

Wishing a Happy Halloween to all who participate and a wonderful November to you all.
Love & Blessings,
Monica
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#loob_nature #calendarwallpaper #gardenlovers #inmygardenthismonth #yearningfornature #naturehealsthesoul #mindfulpractice #shinrinyoku #forestbathing #vibrationalhealing #mothergaia #earthenergy #sacrednature #naturemedicine #groundingenergy #leavesfalling #autumnleaves #favouriteseason #leavesarefalling #crispair #autumnishere #cozyweather #cozyautumn #allthingsfall #momentsofmine #lifeunscripted #autumnmood #natureloverforlife #iheartnature #whywelovenature
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©Monica Schwartz - all rights reserved. Do not copy or share without written permission.

The last few months have been rather challenging. Uhm… the whole 12 months have been in fact… No, wait, the past 5 years more like…
Yes, well… back to the present!

A couple of weeks ago, a very kind lady from The Netherlands, who subscribes to my blog and has been enjoying my wallpapers a lot, contacted me sharing her appreciation and wondering why I had not posted any for 2-3 months, and hoping that everything was well.

Sometimes I share things (photos, blog posts, wallpapers… whatever that might be in the moment) and get no feedback whatsoever. I know that algorithms are a whole bad element of their own, and we are all jaded by the amount of information and imagery that are thrown at us constantly.
Even so, I am left to wonder…. Does anyone even like it? Does anyone even enjoy this? Should I even bother to continue?

Being contacted via e-mail so kindly from someone I don’t even know personally… that lifted my spirit, and inspired me to resume sharing. So I say, “Thank you, Conny”, and here I am, with a burst of color for the new October Calendar Wallpaper.

You can download it for free as always and at the usual link: https://bit.ly/2LMF1B7 or LINK IN PROFILE. I hope you will enjoy it.

By the way, things are a bit better now.
I wish you all a colorful October. May you be safe and have ease and blessings in your life.
xoxo
Monica
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#loob_nature #calendarwallpaper #simplepleasures #visualsoflife #countrylife #theartofslowliving #leavesfalling #favouriteseason #autumnleaves #halloweenmonth #autumnlover #leavesarefallng #fallingleaves #crispair #autumnfeeling #autumnishere #iloveautumn #shinrinyoku #forestbathing #autumnvibes #octoberishere #naturehealing #rechargeyoursoul #mindfulpractice #deepbreathing #naturehealsthesoul #sacrednature #earthenergy #mothergaia #inspiredbynature
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©Monica Schwartz - all rights reserved