I thought it funny the book is called “Our Mutual Friend”!
Is your pet as clingy as ours? Please share your story!
*Weekly Photo Challenge: Room No. 2
Author: J. Kelland Perry
In 2010, my husband and I left the city to escape to rural life in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and we're savoring every moment.
I update my blog with everything I love through prose and photography, as well as posts about writing. My first novel was released in March 2016 and its sequel was released in March 2017. My third novel, The Women of Wild Cove, was published in September 2025, this time of the speculative genre.
Vivian’s Room
When the fog rolled in over our lounging chairs this afternoon (with us still in them), we counted ourselves lucky we at least had enjoyed an hour of hot, precious sunshine.
You may see some of the fog in the pic below.
We put our chairs back in the shed and went inside. But Vivian had other ideas.
She stayed behind in her outdoor room…
…demanding that we come back…
…looking more and more pitiful.
She gave up eventually, I think.
Greenspond – Part II
After completing the hiking trail on Saturday, my husband and I took a drive through scenic Greenspond.
It is an especially nice time to visit because of the pleasant weather. The little outport town sparkles like a jewel in the afternoon sun, the plaintive cries of seagulls the only sounds that break the silence.
The breeze has abated entirely, leaving the surface of the harbour basin as smooth as a mirror.
Pretty houses dot the land while oddly shaped chunks of iceberg dot the still blue water.
The peacefulness of the setting is magical, meditative, hypnotizing.
I am drawn to its perfect calm…
…and I drink in its beauty as I quietly reflect.
Troubles melt away…
…and make room for inspiration.
We stop to admire this gem of a property. Everything about it is impeccable, from the patchwork quilt on the clothesline…
…to the softly scalloped valances in each window.
To me, it is a work of art.
Have you ever visited a place that seemed the perfect setting for a story?
Where do you go to think and dream?
A Walking Trail, Bergy-Bits, and Other Pretty Things
Saturday was such a gorgeous day in our corner of the world, one had to get out and enjoy it. We decided to drive to Greenspond, a community comprised of several islands not far from where we live. Connected to the mainland of Newfoundland by a causeway, Greenspond boasts a wonderful walking trail around most of the perimeter of its largest island. It was perfect weather with light winds, so I took my camera.
Once we got on the trail, it didn’t take long for us to discover our first “bergy bit” floating like an ice sculpture in a peaceful cove.
The walking trail winds through the rocky terrain, carrying us through the brush and bog.
The views of the coastline and of the Atlantic are spectacular.
It seems the locals thought of everything. 😉
Almost halfway…
There seems to be a little berg in every bay.
Another “sculpture”…
…and another.
Time for refreshments.
The Greenspond Walking Trail is a collaboration between Man and Nature, resulting in what I consider a living work of art.
Come back and join me in a couple of days for Part Two of my Greenspond photo shoot. 🙂
To my Fellow Canadians: What did you do outdoors on this long Victoria Day weekend?
Keep Reading: Greenspond: Capital of the North
Iceberg Viewing in Newfoundland and Labrador
On Mother’s Day and Always
Mom,
I miss you when I’m happy
I miss you when I’m sad
but I’m forever grateful for
the precious time we had.
On Mother’s Day, as always
I’ll think of you in prayer
’cause if there is a heaven
I know that you are there.
❤
“…even when I can’t see you anymore”
I’m away from home this week, lending a hand with my daughter’s children while their regular sitter is on vacation. This morning while I was waiting for the kindergarten school bus with my six-year-old grandson, we had this conversation:
“J, why are you so cute?”
He smiled a little smile and said, “That’s what my mom always asks me.”
“Are you going to love Nanny even when she’s an old, old granny?”
He looked at me. “Yes. And I’ll love you even when you go away forever and I can’t see you anymore.”
With those words, I felt an abrupt squeeze around my heart. I think it broke a little.
I realized, since he and his sister had already lost one grandparent, this was a part of life he now expected.
I pray I’m there for you for a long, long time, my precious boy! ❤
Spring!
Greetings, humans! Maisie here, covering for Jennifer this week while she is away. My sister Vivian was eager to take over again, but Shy Little Me thought I would venture a few steps out of my comfort zone and host the blog for a change.
My sister and I had grown oh-so-bored with staying inside.
After the long, cold and snowy winter we endured in Canada this year, we are welcoming any signs of Spring with gratitude and huge sighs, or in our case,
purrs of relief.
When Vivian and I lived in the city four years ago, we had to content ourselves with the sighting of a robin or two in our backyard to let us know Spring had finally arrived.
Where we live now, there are many, many more signs to watch for and welcome. Not only fat robins with their red breasts, but birds of all kinds grace us with their presence, usually in pairs as they get ready for mating season. And we eagerly await the arrival of the gannets in May, and arctic terns in June. There is something deeply comforting in seeing wildlife return, especially when you spy them huddled in twos, preening or foraging for food together here on Perry’s Point. The seagulls are here as always, dropping and breaking crabs and sea urchins open on the rocks. But now they are joined by a few saddleback gulls. Vivian even spotted a saucy mink the other day!
During the last few days, my sister and I have enthusiastically returned to the great outdoors.
So much to see, to smell, to hear and to taste.
Vivian and I will stay outside almost all day when the summer gets here…
…just like last summer, and the summer before.
Life is good. 🙂
Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring!
What does Spring mean to you?
BLUE BIRD of HAPPINESS
This being the last day of Autism Awareness month, I am reblogging Kath Unsworth’s post on the topic. She has such a gentle yet inspirational way of explaining how autism has touched her life.
Your Opinion, Please
A Virtual Writing Tour
How and why a writer writes has always been of great interest to me. That is why I accepted an invitation to take part in the #mywritingprocess tour, an exercise in which writers share insight into their writing process. J-Bo over at J-Bo.net is the blogger that nominated me. She is a therapist with a fun writing personality, has been freshly pressed, and she hopes to publish a humorous memoir on her life up to the age of eighteen.
Okay, back to me!
What am I working on?
A number of things are currently keeping me busy. First and foremost, I am putting my focus on trying to get my novel, Calmer Girls published. This involves writing, rewriting, and sending query letters to literary agents, in hopes of snagging one that will shop my book around to publishers.
The thing about this process is that it takes patience waiting for replies, and guts to face the rejections. Most agents only want to know what your novel is about, and may or may not request manuscript pages, so you have to make that query letter pretty darn inviting. This, the business side of things, is my least favourite part of being a writer. I would much rather focus on the actual writing of my other projects. For those of you who haven’t reached this stage yet, enjoy your writing and revising while it lasts!
In addition, I am outlining a sequel to Calmer Girls. This, like the first one, will be able to stand on its own, so readers will not feel they’ve missed anything if they don’t read the other one. But I am hoping and counting on them liking the characters and story so much, they will want to read more. 😉
In between, I like writing poetry, musings, and playing with photography to update my blog. Getting feedback on WordPress and connecting with other bloggers and writers is consistently rewarding and a valuable supplement to my writerly life.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
The setting of my novel(s) is here in Newfoundland, Canada, the first one taking place in 1993, so there are no cellphones and computers to get in the way of daily life and my characters’ interactions. The main character is dealing with several socio-economic problems of that period as well as conflicts and events of a personal nature, to which many sixteen-year-olds can relate.
Why do I write what I do?
I like writing about what I know and within genres I like to read. Young Adult and Coming-of-Age are of high interest to me, and I will continue in that vein for the time being. Realistic, relationship-based fiction has always been my favourite. I wrote my first novel about a teenager when I was fifteen, but never sought to publish it.
How does my writing process work?
In writing Calmer Girls, the first thing I did was settle on a beginning and an end. From this I created my characters and a rough outline. After that a lot of brainstorming goes in, and during the process of writing I allow the flow of new ideas and inspiration to come to me. So I suppose you could say I’m a “planner” and a “pantser” (For those who don’t know, a pantser is someone who likes to fly by the seat of their pants when writing a novel).
It took me about sixteen months to write it, including revisions and the final draft, but this included several interruptions that sometimes took me away from writing for weeks at a time. I found the tweaking at the end the most time-consuming, but I also loved that stage the most. In writing the first draft, I only wrote in the mornings, but the final draft was done all hours of the day.
Next up on the #mywritingprocess tour are Kath, Wendy, and lionaroundwriting, three bloggers who have graciously agreed to take part:
Kath Unsworth from Minuscule Moments of Inspiration lives on the south coast of Australia with her family. Her dream is “to create, illustrate and write happy hopeful stories for children”.
Wendy from greenlightlady lives in Canada like me, and is all “about inspiration for you, your life, and your relationships”. Nature, poetry and photography is highlighted in her blog.
Lionaroundwriting is a young man from Scotland who has written a number of short stories and is now trying to get published like the rest of us. He likes to write about all sorts of things, “drawing… inspiration from real life events, comedy, philosophy, psychology, futuristic musings and the dark recess of (his) mind”.
I hope you bookmark and/or follow these bloggers next week when they present their own personal takes on the #mywritingprocess tour.
Want to read more about my process? Check out these posts:
The Creation of a Novel – A Progress Report
Completing My First Draft: Three Things I’ve Learned
Letting my Baby Go – Tougher than I Thought
Jennifer's Journal 