Ending 2025

 2025 has been an unusual year, very much dominated by the needs of a relative of mine who has been very sick; that cancelled a lot of plans. However, I'm pleased to say that he is now better and tomorrow, when he picks up his car, we will genuinely be able to say that he has returned to normal. It's been quite a saga. 

Although this is a summary of my year, photos in this post have not appeared on my site before.

 

Dressing in 2025 

I dress as a woman every day but, because I am worried about my skin's severe sensitivity to modern products, I rarely wear makeup so I rarely post photos of myself now. Without makeup I look like a superannuated Seventies rock star, but without the cool attributes, so I don't photograph myself like that. But TGirls have a symbiotic relationship with cameras so I do make an effort occasionally when the blogosphere needs convincing that I am still alive and not an AI bot churning out trans content. So I did take photos at home in January, did a bit of musical cosplay in February, wore my new summer dress and tried out a smart summer look in July, was a bit of a pink whale in August, tried my new footwear in December and now I'm on a Dressathon over the Christmas and New Year period - more on that soon.

Memories 

I've also started going through files of old photos and have introduced a new series of posts entitled a Trip Down Memory Card Lane. So far I've put up photos of visits to Kew Gardens with friends (with thanks to Dee for many of those) and the Great Drag Race (with thanks to Ange and the organisers for those).

Before the Great Drag Race 2010

 

Holidays 

Holidays and exploration are some of my most popular posts. I did manage to get away to some interesting places in the spring, including Monaco in February, Nice (France) in March, San Marino in April and Salisbury (Britain) in May. I had planned much longer trips to Germany in the spring and Britain in the autumn but they had to be cancelled because of my relative's situation. However, if you are interested in photos of my area, join me on my autumn tour guide of well known parts of the riviera like Nice, Monaco, Sanremo and Ventimiglia here and here (or lesser known yet prettier parts like Ospedaletti and Coldirodi here or Bordighera here). If you like window shopping, then you may enjoy reading about about Milan's fashion district. Or enjoy my Christmas illuminations viewing on the riviera in December. 

Luggy the LGBT Crab who sometimes accompanies me on my travels.

 

No meetups 

My main 2025 resolution to meet up with trans girls close to home didn't materialise. That's nothing to do with my relative's illness but the fact that national trans groups, like Arcigay, even though they have a local group here, are into political campaigning more than socialising or, like Crossdresser Italia, are based in cities hundreds of miles away. I recall my early days of going out in the UK when I travelled long distances and spent a fortune on hotels and restaurants just to be able to meet other trans friends, and it's something I'd prefer not to have to repeat here if possible. But the thought only recently struck me that since I am tucked in a corner of Italy far from the action but with France's most LGBT friendly city (Nice) just down the road, maybe I should investigate there. Now why didn't I think of that before? (Now picture Homer Simpson dressed as Marge exclaiming D'OH!)

 

Positive blogging 

The world is a mess right now but I take comfort from the fact that the chief messers are incompetent and the chaos is, on the whole, more noise than substance. The anti trans sentiment is simply a way of focusing the attention of political personality cult followers away from their incompetence and towards a simple-to-target minority. Yet that miniscule minority is actually way larger than is believed, it's just that the overwhelming majority of trans people are hidden from view. You can't successfully eliminate what is largely unknown and already invisible! 

Hiding in plain sight

 

So here on Sue's News & Views I try as often as I can to find positive things to focus on amid the chaos. My latest photo (below) is of me earlier this week enjoying winter sunshine outdoors surrounded by aromatic herbs in an old favourite dress and my brand new boots. I'm perfectly happy with simple things like this and even more with simply the ability just to be who I am.

 

Tonight I'll be eating a traditional New Year's Eve dinner of cotechino sausage and lentils (see pic here) and seeing in the New Year by watching the local drone and fireworks display in my oldest and most comfortable dress. So let me wish you the very best for 2026. I hope it will be free from worries, stress, loss and fear.

Investment tip for 2026. Do what I have just done: spend just one metal money for loads of chocolate money ... and now tell me the future doesn't look happier now!

 

Thank you for reading my blog. It's always means a lot to me that people follow the thoughts, feelings and adventures of a trans person trying to live her life.

Sue x