I want to thank you again, for inspiring us all to keep blogging – share our experiences and learn from each other. It has been good, so good. And tonight I truly feel sorry about losing this opportunity.

Many of us got to know each other through WPC, now some of us maybe will not have the strength, discipline or imagination to blog that frequently again. But, even in the desert there is beauty…So, I hope we will! – You have been a great help to make blogging fun and addictive in a positive way.

It will not be easy to choose an all-time favorite…I don’t believe it is easier to choose  three or four either. I will think about it for an hour or two…meanwhile, I send my love to you all, and especially to: Krista, Jeff, Michelle, Erica, Ben, Sheri, Donncha, Jen, Sara and Cheri.

I cannot choose a favorite of mine among you either…and why should I? I just felt that Cheri, your words added to your picture – those words touched the heart of my blogging.

My choices… there is much feeling connected to the pictures chosen, memories and heart…While some of them were favorites of yours, some of them maybe are only favorites of mine. But they all are some years old – otherwise they could not be All-Time Favorites, could they? (More of my criteria at the end of the post. )

In the header, a lonely beach on the east coast of New Zealand. My family traveled together for a whole month, and we walked alone on this beach, each one of us…contemplating the beauty of Earth, and the end of our journey. Here is my son listening to the ocean.

Then – a hot night in Barcelona, my family and I was out walking and ended up in the middle of a gigantic motor bike gathering. Foreign feeling – but magical.

This is also a family hiking memory – very dear to me. My daughter resting on a giant pine branch in the Spanish mountains, somewhere between Spain and France.

Spain again – Segovia and its famous aqueduct. I had never seen anything like it – it goes through the city center and is still standing after centuries and centuries. No concrete, no nails – only the stones themselves. I walked, sat, stood in the steps contemplating – for hours. Enigmatic shadows as well.

This photo was taken at our summer house, when I still had both dogs, Mille and Totti. No other photo of them shows so on the spot their special temperaments. Now, who is the wild boy and who is the law abiding one? Fond memories.

My dear blogging friend Maria (Mariayarri), in Jämtland, took me to the Tännforsen waterfall in winter. I had never seen a gigantic waterfall frozen before. It took my breath away – and I remember, many of yours’ as well.

An early spring day some years ago, it started snowing on my way back home from the forest walk. This deer shed was still standing. (Now gone) The photo became a favorite with both my readers and me.

My Princess of the Night in flower for the first time. We waited for hours – and then everything was over within 20-30 minutes. A Wonder. This flower is about 20 centimeters and the scent fills the whole room. A photo is not enough to grasp the event…you need all your senses!

Meeting another dear blogging friend, Seonaid (Greenmackenzie) – from Scotland. She does not blog anymore, but I got the opportunity to visit her two times when she lived just outside Edinburgh. She and her lovely family had three Bearded Collies, and two of them looked just like my Amanda ( – before Mille and Totti). Those few, magical days with them will never leave me. Also a photo with feeling, showing well the character of the dog.

This photo was taken on a rainy trip to China. It rained every day – and the wedding couple here had a speedy walk on the Bond in Shanghai, waiting for their photographer. In Sweden there is a saying that rain in your crown on your wedding day – will give you a happy marriage. I hope this one was/is! This shot was a favorite with Sylvain Landry when he had his weekly prompts.

 

Catedrales beach, Spain. We just happened to find it – a World Heritage – it was not in the guide book…Kilometers of rock formations of enigmatic size and shapes. We spent several hours walking in the sunset. Incredible feeling that such a marvelous place was not marked out in any book. It made the experience even more magical.

The last photo, of Lhasa and the Pothala Palace, also marks what I see as my criteria for All-Time Favorites: Deep feeling, being in awe, magical surroundings, beauty, dream fulfilled or come true.