Starting a year of gratitude

It's a new year and a new start for my blog which has been severely neglected for many months.  I've decided to start blogging again and as well as sharing photographs from walks and paintings that I've done as I always have,  I'm planning on also using this blog as a daily gratitude journal - we tend to take for granted the good things in our lives and it can be all too easy to get bogged down with negative thoughts whether it be work, the weather, the media, family disputes,  financial difficulties etc etc. so every evening I'm planning on writing a short blog highlighting something that has happened that I'm grateful for and to notice and appreciate each day's gifts.  I'm doing this for my own reasons and am more likely to keep it up if I do it in the form of a blog.  Please feel free to join me and share your own daily highlights in the comments below or write your own list just for you! Then look back at the year and see how blessed it was, focussing on all the positives rather than any unpleasant stuff!

So here goes for the first day of the year!....

I tend to go for a walk on New Years Day and today was no exception - I had plans to visit my mum in hospital in the afternoon so we didn't have all day free.  We drove up to the Little Orme on the North Wales coast which is about 40 minutes away from where I live and walked up to the summit.  It was cloudy but dry and the views were superb.  

This is the view over Llandudno Bay and the Great Orme

Holly enjoying the views from the summit trig point

This is the view on the way up looking over Penrhyn Bay, Rhos on Sea and Colwyn Bay

There was also plenty of wildlife about including grey seals in a small cove which has the lovely name of Angel Bay, fulmars and choughs flying around, a few stonechats and a peregrine  -  here are a couple of photos taken by Gary Jones Wildlife Photography

I'd also like to share a special photo from New Year's Eve - we were hoping to catch the final sunset of the year from Llanddwyn Island on the coast of Anglesey - things were not looking great weather wise and it rained heavily most of the day - then magically the clouds lifted to the west and we rushed over to the island as the tide was going out and sat watching the sun set on 2015 - the perfect way to end the year. This place has a magical feel to it and is one of the most beautiful places I've visited. 

photo taken by Gary Jones Wildlife Photography

Today I go to sleep feeling grateful that I am able to experience these places that many people only get to see in photographs  -  also this afternoon my mum came home from hospital and is feeling much better which is wonderful news. 

A happy new year to you all