jillballau

Friday, May 1, 2026

Alphabet Challenge

Over on Bluesky Sheena, a Glaswegian living in Northern Ireland, curates a weekly photographic challenge.

I have been participating in these challenges for a couple of months It gives me an opportunity to dig into my rather large snapshot archive and share a few images related to the weekly theme related to a letter of the alphabet.

This is the current theme announcement from Sheena.

‪"🆂🅷🅴🅴🅽🅰‬ ‪@sheena-mck.bsky.social‬· 4d
Attention Alphabetters!

This is your reminder that Mon 27 Apr is the start of Week Q and the theme for the #AlphabetChallenge is Queens. Pics of real queens, places named after queens, any kind of queens. Be creative and cut me some slack-it’s Q😂"

I just got to thinking that this blog would provide an extra outlet for the digging I do to find my images for the challenge. When I remember and if the theme resonates with me, I'll also add my weekly pics here. Some weeks there will be slim pickings when my creativity is similarly slim.

Here goes with a few #WeekQforQueens images from this week's challenge.

QEII in a souvenir shop in Berlin in 2012

Victoria loved Osborn House on The Isle of Wight

Exterior of Queen Victoria Building in Sydney

Interior of Queen Victoria Building, Sydney

Found in my handkerchief drawer

Queen Victoria gets around. Here she is sitting above
the door to the old GPO in Sydney

A Plate fit for a Queen - Osborn House

Queen Victoria in Belfast, Ireland

Queen Victoria in Liverpool, England

On my keyring - souvenir of QEII's Coronation Festival
at Buckingham Palace in 2013

Entrance to Queen Street Mall - Brisbane, Australia

How about joining me on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/geniaus.bsky.social

Blogging from A to Z 2026 - Island Hopping Posts

I am pleased to report that I completed the 2026 challenge on time.

If you scroll down the page you will find a list of links to my 26 posts in the 2026 challenge. I enjoyed the opportunity the Challenge gave me to reminisce on our travels and relate some of the Happy, Hairy and Humorous moments we shared.

My challenge was Island Hopping.

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.

A is for Alexander Selkirk and Austvagoya
B is for Baltra and Bornholm
C is for Churchill Island
D is for Devil's Island
E is for Easter Island (or Rapa Nui)
F is for Fatu Hiva
G is for Genovesa and Gotland
H is for Hiva Oa and Hinnoya
I is for Iona and Isabela
J is for Journeys
K is for Motu Kōkako and Kvaløya
L is for Locating Loos
M is for Magaroya and Mull
N is for Nuku Hiva
O is for Onwards from Orongo
P is for Pitcairn
Q is for Quays
R is for Rangiroa and Robinson Crusoe
S is for Santa Cruz
T is for Tahiti and Tahuata
U is for Urupukapuka Island and Neighbours
V is for Vikingen
W is for Isle of Wight
X is for Xenodocy
Y is for Young
Z is for Zealand

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Blogging from A to Z 2026 - Z is for Zealand

"Zealand (Danish: Sjælland [ˈɕeˌlænˀ]) is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020, comprising 40% of the country's population." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealand

Nyhavn is on Zealand

In August we spent two wonderful days in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, which is located mostly on the eastern shore of Zealand. The remainder of Copenhagen is located on Amager Island.

We made the most of the glorious weather in Copenhagen and participated in both indoor and outdoor activities.

As we toured the waterways we noticed many locals out enjoying the weather and water.

It must have been school holiday time as at the Tivoli, a fun park which we had visited on previous trips, there were plenty of young thrill seekers enjoying the rides.

Entrance to the Tivoli

As per usual there were many Danes out and about on their bicycles. I presume that wearing of helmets is not mandatory.

Our second day on Zealand took us to a new-to-us site, The Glyptotek, which was rather stunning internally.

"The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root glyphein, to carve, and theke, storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection represents the private art collection of Carl Jacobsen (1842–1914), the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ny_Carlsberg_Glyptotek

Outside the Glyptotek

Once inside we found a decent collection of artworks by Cezanne, Degas, Gaugin, Matisse, Monet, Pisarro and Van Gogh. As we didn't know what the collection held this was a super surprise. Sadly our tour didn't give us enough time to savour all the works. There will be a next time.

I highly recommend this site for a visit.

Other Z islands we have visited include Zayatsky, Zanzibar and Zakinthos.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Blogging from A to Z 2026 - Y is for Young

The young people we met on our island journeys, with their innocence, curiosity, and innate friendliness, brought an added richness to our travels. Some of them happily posed for us while I caught others enjoying their environments.