I would like to wish everyone a healthy, joyful, and fulfilling new year. I hope you had a lovely holiday season. Mine was enjoyable and relaxing. Nature has given us here a gentle start to 2023 with light rain and mild temperatures, high 4C or 39F, on New Year’s Day.
To ring in 2023, I watched the 15-minute fireworks display launching at midnight across Toronto’s waterfront. I celebrated New Year’s Day with a healthy breakfast, a gentle yoga session, a good lunch, a bike ride, a delicious family dinner, chocolate, and an intriguing book. It was a wonderful day!
Forecast and Outlook
My activity forecast for 2023 follows nature’s four seasons: Quiet reflection and preparation in winter (January-March), emergence and new beginnings in spring (April-June), abundance and growth in summer (July-September), and gentle wrap-up in autumn (October-December).
I have an optimistic outlook for 2023. While we don’t know what this new year will bring us, I know there are at least three things that I can and love to do:
- Maintain my health and fitness in various ways.
- Show support to family, friends and community.
- Explore and enjoy life via my hobbies and travel adventures.
On the Blog
During my break, I did some blog housekeeping behind the scene and on my Home page:
- Changed my blog header image from a beach to an island.
- Updated the pages on the menu at the top of my blog.
- Updated the widgets on my blog sidebar.
I hope to continue documenting my explorations and discoveries with pictures on my blog. I have a few outings in the queue to write up. For this week, I am sharing a recently painted mural that I discovered on one of my walks. I like its nature theme and cheerful colours.
The Bathurst Quay Mural featuring artwork by Shawn Howe depicting birch trees growing against a purple, pink and orange sky with a stream surrounded by rocks in the foreground and a large moon or sun in the sky.
Weekend Coffee Share
I continue hosting the Weekend Coffee Share (WCS) linkup which includes the Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC). Welcome to WCS linkup #101! This weekly linkup allows bloggers to come together to share what’s been happening, simple joys from their week and/ or favourite public art photos from around the world.
Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own WCS or PPAC post each week and then sharing your link in the InLinkz dashboard or comments below, anytime between 8:00 am Friday morning and midnight Sunday night (Canada Eastern Time). I look forward to hearing from you.
Copyright © 2024 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.
Natalie the Explorer 
Hi Natalie – I LOVE the colours of the sky in that mural – the whole thing just glows and looks gorgeous. Nice to see you back for another year of hosting and to read about your plans and your little blog tweaks to keep things fresh. Happy 2023!
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Happy 2023, Leanne. I’m glad you liked the mural. The artist did a great job to make the walls glow. Thank you for linking up.
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Hi Natalie,
Lovely murals. I wasn’t sure about the coffee break challenge this week, but can try and link up the post I’ve just written. I must do the same and sort out my blog. I also have a optimistic outlook for 2023 and my word of the year is motivate.
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Hi Ali, Motivate is an excellent WOTY. I’m glad to hear you also have an optimistic outlook for 2023. Thank you for linking up. I look forward to reading your post.
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Thanks Natalie 😊
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Happy New Year to you and yours, Natalie! You spent New Year’s day in a wonderful fashion and your outlook for 2023 looks healthy, entertaining, and rewarding.
I love that new mural and your blog changes. Just a quick note: the last words of the subtitle of your blog are not visible in your new header.
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Happy New Year, Liesbet. I hope you, Mark and Maya had a great start to 2023 and are keeping well in Colombia. Thank you for your feedback regarding my tagline. It’s meant to be a reminder to myself. I’m aware that some words are not visible. It depends on the computer, tablet or device. On my computer and tablet, it looks fine. The last word ‘life’ is obscure on my phone 🙂 I’ll see if I can make some changes to make the whole tagline visible.
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Happy new year. Sounds like a stellar break although I thought TO got snow and you went for a bike ride? Love that mural. I think those artists are amazing at changing a bland building into something spectacular.
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Happy New Year, Bernie. I’m glad you love that mural. I like to start my new year with something bright and colourful. Downtown Toronto hasn’t got any snow since December 27 and no snow in the forecast for the next three days so I have been cycling. We had some snow before Christmas but nothing extreme like some areas in Ontario, and all of it was gone after some rain and a week of mild temperatures.
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Sounds like you’re good to go, Natalie. Happy New Year!
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Jo, A nice holiday and blogging break has recharged me. Happy New Year to you and yours!
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Hi, Natalie- Your blog tweaks look great! Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!
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Thank you, Donna, for your positive feedback. Wishing the same for you and Richard.
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Happy New Year! What a lovely positive post to start the year (and day) too. I also really like your new heading. Thanks for continuing to host the weekend coffee share.
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Happy New Year, Barbara. Thank you for your positive feedback. I look forward to reading your blog.
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Happy New Year, Natalie. I’m looking forward to a great year of coffee sharing.
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Happy New Year, Shari. Here’s to a great year of coffee sharing.
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Happy New Year Natalie. It’s great to have weekend coffee share back. These murals are lovely. I enjoyed reading about your plans for the year and will look forward to your posts each week.
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Happy New Year, Jennifer. I’m glad you like the murals. Thank you for linking up. I look forward to reading your blog.
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Hi Natalie, Happy New Year to you and welcome back! I also did some behind the scenes work on my blog, very similar to yours actually, and although no-one see the work that goes into it I did enjoy getting ‘things cleaned up’. You’ve made some good updates there!
That mural is fabulous, the colours and style are so vibrant. I like how you’ve designed your year around the seasons. I’ve just changed the Weekend Coffee Share image on my sidebar to the new one, it’s lovely!
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Happy New Year, Debbie. Great minds think alike regarding the blog tweaks 🙂 I looked into a new WordPress blog theme but didn’t see anything I like right away so I kept the same theme. I’m glad you like that mural and the new WCS badge. I wanted something bright and cheerful for the new year and both felt right for my first post in 2023. It’s winter season here so things are naturally more quiet than other seasons. I relish the tranquility of the season and hope to follow the natural rhythms for the rest of the year.
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Happy New Year Natalie, and I loved reading your plans, intentions and what’s been happening to make some changes on your blog. I loved the mural and we have a regional city in New South Wales called Bathurst. I am glad to be back and blogging with more motivation and enthusiasm in 2023. Thanks always for your support…and the link up. Denyse.
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Happy New Year, Denyse. I’m glad to hear your blogging enthusiasm and motivation are back. I look forward to reading your coffee share post. Thank you for linking up.
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Happy New Year Natalie. Here’s to another year of blogging and searching for Public Art 🥂Love the colourful murals as well as the blue skies
Here is my first entry for the year. https://mywanderings.travel.blog/2023/01/07/tudor-village-in-fitzroy-gardens/
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Happy New Year, Teresa. I’m glad you love the murals and the blue skies. Thank you for your PPAC contribution. I look forward to sharing public art photos with you this year.
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Looking forward to it too, Natalie! Have a good day!
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Have a great weekend, Teresa.
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❤️
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That mural is gorgeous! I love how they can just appear sometimes (well, I know they take a lot of work but I often miss the process). I’m looking forward to reading more about your adventures in 2023.
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Hi Janis, I’m glad you like that mural. It was a delightful discovery on one of my walks. I’m preparing for my adventures this year. I relish the quiet time before the pace picks up. Happy 2023!
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Happy New Year, Natalie! Looks like you used your time on your break well and I’m sure you are rested and refreshed to tackle your blog challenges for 2023! Those murals are so pretty and colorful, glad you could share with us.
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Happy New Year, Terri! The break was wonderful. I feel quite calm and relaxed atm. I hope my post next weekend meets your January colour challenge white and gray. Have a wonderful week!
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Happy New Year! I always enjoy the murals around your area. Karen
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Happy New Year, Karen. I’m glad you like the murals. Thank you for stopping by.
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Hi Natalie, welcome back. I’m glad you had a relaxing couple of weeks off. I did basically the same thing you did behind the scenes on my blog except for the header picture. I love yours, though. Your murals are beautiful.
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Happy New Year, Marsha. Great minds think alike regarding the blog tweaks. I considered using a new WordPress blog theme but didn’t see any theme I like so I keep the same theme. I’m glad you like the murals. Have a wonderful weekend!
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What theme are you using, Natalie? I’m excited about the new year and getting into new dimensions of blogging. Have a great week.
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My theme is Plane. I had a chuckle when I saw the theme name a few years ago as it goes well with my blog name (Explorer by plane, lol).
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That is funny! It seems to be working well for you, and you understand it. I switched a year ago to Lens, which was recommended by Cee Neuner. I love it, and because it is visual I have people reading a lot more of my older posts because they can see them. It’s easy to pick and choose based on picture and title. My most popular posts have been some of my Coffee Share posts.
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I’m glad to hear your most popular posts have been some of your Coffee Share posts. Most Coffee Share bloggers are good at commenting. The InLinkz dashboard helps with visibility. I hope you add your link for this weekend.
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I forgot, sorry. It’s too late now. I’m sorry, too. I had it done in plenty of time, too. I had a super busy day today, though and I wrote the post late last night.
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No problem and no obligation, Marsha. I hope your weekend is going well.
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No, I was so sleepy last night, I thought it was Sunday at midnight for some reason. I was sleepwriting. I hooked up first thing in the morning and spent about an hour reading your links. 🙂 There’s some great advice and some fun shares there.
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I saw your link 🙂 Thank you for linking up. Have a great week!
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You, too, Natalie.
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Glad you had a good restful break. Have a wonderful 2023!
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Thank you, Trent. Wishing the same for you.
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Happy New Year Natalie! Sounds like you had a good break and are looking forward to 2023 🙂 I love the colours in that mural!
My PPAC contribution this week is probably not truly speaking public art – except it is on public view, costs nothing to visit (although donations are encouraged!) and involved a considerable amount of talent in its creation: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/lord-shiva-statue-in-the-hills-above-pokhara/
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Happy New Year, Sarah. That statue is beautiful public art. I left a comment on your blog but it didn’t appear so I hope it’s in the queue for moderation and isn’t lost. Thank you for your PPAC contribution.
I’m interested in the Virtual Tourists meet-up in Chicago in September. Please let me know how I can get more details. I enjoyed Chicago when I visited the city a few years ago.
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Yes, I got your comment and replied – not sure why it didn’t appear (I didn’t have to moderate it) but that happens to me sometimes on certain blogs. The vagaries of WP eh?!
Are you on Facebook? That’s the best way to engage with the Virtual Tourist community and I could invite you to the group where Chicago is being planned and discussed. Perhaps you could message me via the contact page on my blog (under ‘about me’?
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Sarah, I am not on Facebook. I could message you closer to September when I know more about my travel plans.
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Yes, do that. It’s a lot easier if you’re on FB but not a deal-breaker! I would just need to do a lot of copying and pasting of info, and act as a go-between. Or I could put you in direct contact with the organiser – that might be the easiest solution. Let’s see nearer the time if you’re still interested. It would be great to meet you!
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Sounds good, Sarah. Hope all of our travel plans in 2023 turn out fabulous.
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Here is my contribution. Love your photos!
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Thank you, SadiRose, for your contribution. Have a great weekend!
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The mural is beautiful. The colors pop. A question: did you have a difficulties updating the widgets on your sidebar? I tried to do that and was told I have “legacy widgets” which made me disinclined to touch a thing.
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For some of my widgets I saw the “legacy” notice. I did a few clicks and selected to keep the ones I like. I also looked into new themes but didn’t see any theme I like so I keep the same theme for now.
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Found myself in the same situation. Nothing new called to me so it’ll be what I have for the foreseeable future.
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Happy New Year Natalie! What a great beginning and plan for the year. I wish you all the joy and happiness you deserve ❤
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Thank you, Maria, for your warm wishes and for your weekend coffee share. Have a great week ahead!
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Happy New Year to you too, Natalie. That is a beautiful mural; the colors just make me smile!
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Thank you, Joanne. I’m glad you like the mural. Smiling is great 🙂
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Happy New Year to you and your family Natalie.
Great to have you back for 2023.
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Thank you, Gary. Happy 2023 to you and your family!
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Happy New Year Natalie!
I love your post. You are so organized, it’s inspiring! I absolutely love the murals, they are all so BEAUTIFUL! I’m so happy you had a great holiday and I’m also so happy you host the weekend coffee shares!! Have a wonderful week ahead! 🤩💞
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Happy New Year, Diana! Good to see you this weekend. I look forward to continuing our blogging connections in 2023.
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I loved your mural. Great colours and shapes. I also love your plan to divide the year. In Australia particularly lately the weather all rolls into one. We even had an Antarctic blast complete with snow in Summer this year.
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Thank you, IM. I’m glad you loved the mural. Good to see you at the linkup. I look forward to continuing our blogging connections in 2023.
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Happy New Year! Looking forward to year of touring and following you.
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Happy New Year, Antoinette! Thank you for your ongoing support. I look forward to continuing our blogging connections in 2023.
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Happy New Year, Natalie! Thanks as always for having us! I too love that mural! The color gradient is so pretty!!
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Happy New Year, Kathleen! Thank you for linking up. I’m glad you love that mural. I like to have bright and cheerful colours for my first post in 2023.
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Happy New Year and I love the murals. Hoping that 2023 is a wonderful year for you.
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Happy New Year, Patrick. I’m glad you love those murals. Wishing you a healthy, joyful and fulfilling 2023.
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I love your plan of letting your attitudes towards your lifestyle follow the seasons. Happy 2023!
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Happy 2023, Astrid. I find it more relaxing to follow the seasons.
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Your goals always impress me, Natalie – almost as much as your accomplishments. Happy New Year and all the best reaching those goals – blog and otherwise.
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Dan, Thank you for your kind words. Wishing you a healthy, joyful and fulfilling 2023.
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Happy New Year!
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Same to you, Tessa.
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I love how you organize quarters of the year into themes. Hmm..this is just me quickly giving the quarters a theme…for me it’s January to March: experimentation. April to June: bloom. July to September: preparation and relaxation. October to December: energize.
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Julie, Your quarterly themes sound great. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Happy 2023!
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Happy New Year, Natalie 🎉 Best wishes for 2023 😃
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Thank you Jez. Happy New Year to you and your family!
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