Photo diary: Project 365, week 1, 2026

 I've never finished last year's Project 365, having stopped some time in late summer. Will I last as long this year, who knows, but I really want to try again.

Here are the snaps for the first ten days of January.

The first of January was all about Stranger Things, which we watched as soon as we got up. We had guests until 1am, celebrating a new year's eve with us, and I was pretty knackered from all the cooking. I enjoy cooking but it was a bit of a marathon, trying to prepare a spread for people with different preferences and diets.

Once we got up, I told my guys they could prepare their own breakfast and eat the leftovers for lunch, as I was not cooking anything else that day.

It feels strange indeed that there would be no more Stranger Things, and that after all these years, there is no new season to look forward to (they did mention a possible Spin-off with a new cast, but it's not the same). 

The finale left me a bit underwhelmed. I've been reading all the discussions on social media about the division between the GenX and younger audience. Well, I am GenX, and though I loved all the 1980s background, clothes and music, I am still not entirely convinced the finale was a masterpiece, as some say. It was just a tad soppy.

Leaving us in suspence re: Eleven's fate was the right thing. It has to be ambiguous.

And the first season is my favourite season of all.

The photo below was taken by my husband, and later in the week, but I thought it relates better to the day than my own photo of a box of watercolours.

I bought this box of Cotman watercolours during the Black Friday week, but haven't had a chance to open all paints until the start of this year. 

And this is the first sketch of 2026, made with watercolours and black pen, Pigma Micron 02. It's a portrait of Eddie when he was little. He adored that Batman hat. 

Cornish Horrors/ Tales from the Land's End from British Library Tales of the Weird was my last book of 2025. 

I bought The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves on the new year's eve (and was rather peeved to see it at half price just a few days later). This is the first book I started reading this year. 

For some reason my husband hasn't watched the BBC Shetland series before, so I have re-watched all the episodes from series 1 with him. It is really good. I enjoyed Douglas Henshaw as Jimmy Perez and was worried about the Shetland series after his departure, but the ladies who took over in the last few seasons are equally convincing.

The characters of Jimmy Perez and his close family in the books are quite different from the TV series. 

My silly potted lime decided it was a good time to start blooming in the middle of winter. For some reason it rarely blooms in summer.

A sketch of a baby bison made with inks on toned paper.

Tuesday was a frosty day, with a smattering of snow. Eddie took this photo on the way to school. By the time I went out in the afternoon, most of the snow was gone.

7th of January was the Orthodox Christmas. I fancied something familiar from my young days, and prepared a Salad Olivier (pronounced Oliv-Eh), the staple of the Soviet celebrations, basically a potato salad, with ham, pickles, carrots, peas and lots of mayo. 

Thursday started with a foggy morning.

I asked my husband to buy a Galette de Rois on the way home from France. It is a French institution, a seasonal treat of a flaky puff pastry with an almond cream filling. There are so many versions, each shop tries to outdo the competitors.

Ours was a plain version from Monoprix. It was actually pretty good.

We're back to watching classics with Eddie, and our latest choice was Forrest Gump. I love this film. Tom Hanks is exceptionally convincing, and so so good. 

Shopping in town later in the afternoon, I passed by the Buttercross.

How was your start of the year?

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