Festive Fun in December Spreading the Joy- #WBOYC?

Welcome to What’s Been On Your Calendar? 2024! I can’t believe it is the final WBOYC? for the year. I hope you have had a wonderful month and if you are linking up, I can’t wait to hear about what you’ve been doing. If you don’t blog I’m still interested in what’s been happening with you and encourage you to leave me a comment and tell me your news.

Firstly, a very huge thank you to those who have linked up each month, commented or shared on social media. I love this community and am always excited to see what you’ve been up to during the month as women living well. I wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas/Holiday season and look forward to sharing more with you in 2025. I’ve also included at the end of this post the Dates for the Diary 2025. You can make a note of each monthly linkup so you don’t miss it.

Festive Fun in December Spreading the Joy – #WBOYC?

I love December! It is one of my favourite months of the year because it is all about Christmas and the Festive Season for me. We arrived back from our Caloundra holiday and immediately put the Christmas Tree up to get into the Festive Mood.

For me, this time of year is full of joy which fits nicely with my weekly Sparks of Joy posts. I love giving to others and trying to bring joy and happiness to my friends and family.

In the Kitchen

Festive baking included the Christmas pudding, christmas cakes, spicy nuts & bolts and rum balls for gifts. I joined in the BKD Cookbook Club link up and made a recipe from Nigella Christmas.

Nigella Christmas Chocolate Cookies Recipe

Fun with the boys

It’s the school holidays so the boys and I had fun making Rocky Road and decorating Christmas signs. We wrapped the rocky road and they distributed them to the guests on Christmas day. I love our baking traditions and being a Nan is the best.

Decorating the Tree, Shopping and Wrapping

Mike and I have a great partnership, I do the shopping and he does the wrapping of the gifts. We both decorate the tree with decorations I’ve purchased on overseas trips. He has the job of looking after the lights because when he packs them away there aren’t any tangles the next year!

Another tradition I have is to purchase decorations for my grandsons for their tree. I started it when Ethan was born 10 years ago so they now have quite the collection.

Christmas Get-togethers & what we wore

We started early with the Probus Christmas party followed by a get together with our neighbours poolside. I caught up with my running friends for brunch and as mentioned then it was all about family.

Mike stepped out of his comfort zone for me to wear a Surfing Santa shirt and I think he looked great. I chose outfits based around my favourite festive colours – red, white and green. It is hot here in Australia so we need outfits that are cool but stylish.

This is the first year in 30 years that Mike and I didn’t host our combined family Christmas get-together. Mike felt that it was getting too much for him to organise and although I found so much joy in preparing and hosting, I knew it was time to hand the baton on to the next generation – even if I did it reluctantly!

We enjoyed a family get together at his son’s place on the 21st. They live on 5 acres so there was plenty for the children to do – swimming, soccer and even horseback riding.

Christmas Eve

Mike and I usually like to set aside Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve as time for ourselves. We don’t book anything in socially and spend the time together. Just the two of us enjoying time together and reflecting on the year that has been and making plans for the year to come.

For Christmas Eve the menu was:

Christmas Mousse with Avocado & Smoked Salmon

Mediterranean Baked Fish Delight with Mashed Potato

Ricotta Cheesecake with Roasted Blueberries

Christmas day was enjoyed at my daughter’s home.

A special link up to start the year

If you’re into writing a word of the year post in the new year, I will be co-hosting a linkup with some blogger friends on Monday 6 January. You are welcome to join in with us by adding a link to your post (WOTY specific) and appreciating what words others have chosen and why. It’s always a fun way to start the year, looking for a word to focus on. Hope you can join in. Thanks to Denyse Whelan for approaching us with the idea and the graphic.

What’s been on your Calendar this month? I’d love you to share what you have been up to.

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by love and friendship which also extends to you in my blogging world. Thank you! xx

I’m sharing my co-hosts’ links as well so remember to pop over and visit to see how their month progressed.

Debbie Harris
Donna Connolly
Jo Tracey

Enjoy your month and I look forward to next month’s WBOYC? edition. Please note link up dates below.

What’s Been On Your Calendar? #WBOYC

What: 2024 Monthly Wrap-Up Link Party.
When: Last Thursday PM (Northern Hemisphere)/ Last Friday AM (Southern Hemisphere). The link will be open for 48 hours
Why: A space to share highlights from your past month.
Where: Link Party, Blog, Blog Comments, Instagram or other social media.
Who: This linkup is open to everyone.
How: You can share in the comments, with a blog post, or on other social media of your choice. Include the hashtag so that we can find you and include your link in our posts.

Dates for the Diary in 2025:

Last Thursday, 2 pm (PST)/Last Friday, 8 am (AEST). Please note dates slightly different for July and December – aren’t we organised! LOL 🙂

January 23/24
February 27/28
March 27/28
April 24/25
May 29/30
June 27/28
*July 31/August 01
August 28/29
September 26/27
October 30/31
November 27/28
*January 01/02 2025

The next #WBOYC will be Thursday January 23/Friday January 24. I’m looking forward to seeing and reading What’s Been on your Calendar? during the month.

Women Living Well After 50

Living Life Your Way