Well, what do you know? WordPress.com prepared a 2012 annual report for my blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.
Silly statistic, isn’t it? But don’t let that stop you:
This Friday, my husband and I are going to town to spend a few days caring for our two little grandchildren. Allowing L and J’s hardworking parents to go off on a private weekend and enjoy some time by themselves has become a little tradition for us, a tradition we happily and gratefully accept.
We look forward to taking them on a couple of outings, one of which will be to buy a Christmas present for a needy child and putting it under the Happy Tree at the mall. Some visits with family, a Santa Claus Parade, and the obligatory games and bedtime stories will ensure lots of fun-filled moments for the children and grandparents alike.
This weekend couldn’t come at a better time for me. Spending time with my sweet little ones is just the diversion I need right now, a breath of fresh air that will help me regroup, regain focus, and get back to my normal life. There’s this novel I started writing last month that I had no other choice but to put aside due to my recent loss, but it is back on the agenda this week, I am pleased to say.
Here are just a few photos I selected from fun times we had with L and J, over the past year.
Four more sleeps, kids! Your Nanny and Poppy can’t wait. 🙂
we were able to say our goodbyes as she entered into her eternal rest.
I found this poem that speaks of my sweet mother’s lifelong attitude of pragmatism and hope. Somehow it gives me strength and reassurance, reminding me how lucky I was to have known and loved this woman who was my mother.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of a shadow on it.
All is well.
Come along with me as I revisit my community’s Living Heritage Village. It is a major tourist attraction in this part of our province, providing a historical look back at the old days for our visitors, and seasonal employment for some of our locals.
During the summer, the Village provides guided tours by staff in period costumes, as well as dinner theatre and concerts in the buildings I have shown here. Also featured are a craft shop, art gallery, tea room, and a restaurant.
So if you are ever in my area, do drop in and check it out. For more info, visit the website: www.barbour-site.com
“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ~ Toni Morrison
I have recently begun a new adventure, dear readers and fellow bloggers.
No longer can I ignore the voice inside me that is clamouring to be heard, so I have started to write a novel. I am a little nervous, but mostly I am excited to be on this new journey I have destined for myself.
When I told a friend a little while ago about my plan to write a book, she said, “Gee, I’m the one with the English degree. I should write a book!” Well, I don’t have a degree, but I’ve always had a passion for stories, fictional or otherwise, and a desire to tell some stories of my own.
Heck, I wrote a teen novel when I was still in school, at the grand old age of fifteen. So diplomas and degrees or lack thereof won’t hinder me now either.
It has been a rewarding experience keeping this blog that I started back in December. The original purpose of Jennifer’s Journal had been to get into the habit of creating and writing something on a regular basis, in order to better prepare me for the demands of writing a novel. But now that I have taken on this ambitious new project, I will have less of that precious commodity of time to devote to blogging.
But abandoning my blog seems unthinkable to me.. Have you ever nurtured a child? Cared for a pet? Or even tended a garden? And then, stopped? No, I will keep my blog, adding thoughts, inspirations, and a photograph or two, as often and as regularly as I can. I would also like to keep you updated on my novel’s progress.
Life is going to get busier, that’s all.
I leave you with another favourite quote of mine:
“Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” ~ Gloria Steinem
How about you? Have you ever written a book, or do you see yourself writing one someday? Do you have advice for someone taking on a creative project?
Come along as we take a stroll through Newtown on this beautiful October day.
Trees and their foliage are, without a doubt, some of Nature’s most wondrous treasures.
But sometimes, the best photograph of a tree is not as much about the tree itself, but what is found in and among its foliage and branches.
Like in this photo I snapped in Varadero, Cuba, you may see tiny birds:
…two “love birds”, perhaps?
Or you might happen upon a couple of sister cats exploring among the leaves:
And if you see a magnificent tree such as this one day, don’t be surprised to find little children playing among its sturdy limbs:
This has been my contribution to wheresmybackpack.com’s weekly Travel Theme.
This week: Foliage
Thank you for the inspiration, Ailsa!
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I am happy to introduce a guest blogger on Jennifer’s Journal this week. Please welcome Vivian K. Perry, a very dear friend of mine who also happens to be, um, feline.
Greetings, humans! I am thrilled to be given this opportunity today on WordPress to share some photos, and a few things about myself.
To be honest, I think Jennifer is allowing me to host today to make up for shrieking at me last week, when I brought a mouse in the house. It was a gift, after all, so instead of screaming bloody (mousey) murder, shouldn’t she have been grateful to receive a trophy of my hunting prowess? Especially since I brought it home to her, and dropped it in the hallway – STILL ALIVE? You try to do something nice, but you are only misunderstood…
Actually, I enjoy a lovely life here with Jennifer, her husband, and my sister and womb-mate, Maisie.
Up until two summers ago, we all lived in the city. It was okay, but my sister and I were not allowed outside by ourselves because of all the traffic in our neighbourhood, and the danger to us that it entailed. So when we moved to the country, imagine our delight to be free to explore the great outdoors!
We can now come and go as we please, chase birds, butterflies and rodents, and savour the lifestyle we had only dreamed about in our former life.
Just last month, Maisie and I celebrated our fifth birthday. Here is what we looked like when we were adopted from the SPCA:
Even though we are sisters, Maisie and I are different in many ways. (Some people don’t know that kittens from the same litter can have different fathers; did you? I think that is what happened with us.) Maisie is smaller, and very much on the quiet side…
…while I am larger, quite vocal and in-your-face.
I am truly a Social Animal who adores human relationships and have been known to be exceedingly dog-like. I’ll follow you, talk to you, keep you company, sleep with you, and never, ever let you get lonely.
In fact, the other day, I went next door to visit our neighbour Ben. I simply walked in, meowed at everyone, ventured upstairs, and enjoyed a nap on his bed. No invitation necessary!
Many people think that a cat is a cat is a cat. But I’m here today to dispel that assumption. I am not aloof. I don’t scratch, bite or hiss at people. I can be very friendly with just about anyone.
And even though I do catch mice, and perhaps meow a little too loudly, I am as loyal and loving as any dog.
Just ask Jennifer.
* This blog post was since selected for publication in BBooks – Blog Books, an online magazine!
It is with great honour and appreciation, that I once again accept an award nomination from one of my peers here at WordPress. Almost Spring has graciously nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award, saying that she found my blog “truly inspirational and of much variety.” The sweetheart! I am touched by her nomination. I urge you to check out her blog which is all about her painful, yet brave journey from “we” to “me”, as her marriage ended. Her experience certainly struck a chord with me.
Versatile? Yes, I suppose my blog is a reflection of my many moods and passions since I started it at the end of 2011. And who better to know what a blogger goes through and deals with every week, than another blogger? Who better can identify with the sometimes frightening task of putting yourself out there, and daring to show your vulnerable side to whomever may happen upon your poems and musings?
In keeping, somewhat, with the award rules, I will share seven random things about me, followed by a list of seven blogs I follow and suggest you try as well.
1. I wrote a teen romance novel when I was 15 (a second novel should happen any year now! ).
2. I feel more spiritual in the natural outdoors than I ever have inside a church.
3. I have one daughter and one son, all grown now. And I am immensely proud of them both.
4. Sometimes I feel like I’ve lived several different lives.
5. I am most definitely an introvert.
6. I’ve always been a night person, not a morning person (will this change as I get older, I wonder? I hope??).
7. When I was a child, my dad called me a little Question Mark because I was always asking “why?” and “how come?” I think I’ve retained that curiosity about life (maybe I’m simply nosy).
Here is my list of lovely and versatile nominees, in no particular order:
– published author, freshly pressed, lively posts on a variety of topics
– advice and observations from a life coach
– a good writer and talented poet
– fashion, art, and other pretty things
– inspiring and original poetry
– lovely writing, good advice, and freshly pressed twice (only twice, right?)
– travel adventures by a couple of fellow Newfoundlanders, and now brand-new parents
These are not all that I follow out there in the blogosphere; I am also subscribed to a few breathtakingly lovely photography and travel blogs, and two inspirational quote blogs. Occasionally I check out food blogs too.
Have a wonderful week, everyone! And remember, there would be no feel-good awards to win without the kindness of the people who bestow them. Thanks again.
I join lemony squeezes in her protest. Animal cruelty cannot be tolerated. ~ Jennifer’s Journal
Jennifer's Journal 