Although February is the shortest month, it feels like it’s never going to end when you’re not a big fan of winter. And now there’s another special weather statement for a storm on Monday. Yippee!
All of this frigid weather we’ve endured lately has me dreaming of summer beaches, sunny climes, and tropical getaways.
I took this photo of swimming pool rules on our resort in the Dominican Republic last spring. My man and I got a kick out of the “No Topless” symbol. Wouldn’t you agree it’s just a tad provocative titillating?
No need to warn me about the rule of “no smooking” either!
This is my contribution to Kammie’s Oddball Challenge. Odd Ball Photos are those great photos that you take which really don’t seem to fit into a common category. We’ve all taken them and like them, because we just can’t hit delete and get rid of them. If you have any of those type of photos, this challenge is for you. – Kammie
Les chuchoteuses (English: “The Gossipers”) is a 2002 bronze outdoor sculpture by Rose-Aimée Bélanger installed along Montreal’s Rue Saint-Paul, in Quebec, Canada.
I took the above photo ten years ago on my second visit to the beautiful city of Montreal. I’ve been beating myself up ever since for cutting off the middle gossiper’s toes!
Here’s a pic of the full sculpture from Wikipedia, toes and all:
Perhaps I should take the advice of this quote:
“Don’t beat yourself up for not being perfect. But you might want to kick your own ass
if you’re not trying to get better.” – Hal Elrod
By the way, I stopped beating myself over real gossipers a long time ago. 🙂
Last Sunday, I shared photos from our beautiful but cold sunny walk on January 1st.
The very next day, everything changed when a blizzard moved in and left our little town without power.
The lights – and heat! – went out at suppertime while our macaroni and cheese casserole was still baking. That was okay, because it was almost done and there was enough heat in the oven to finish it up. So we ate by candlelight in the living room.
With no other heat source and before the room cooled off completely, hubs and I covered ourselves in bathrobes, throws and blankets and decided to read to each other from my Kindle. We chose Treasure Island, which I’d forgotten I had, and read alternating chapters until we got too cold to continue.
We found out online that the power wouldn’t be back until morning at the earliest because of the ongoing blizzard. So we got the idea to go to the small spare room upstairs, light as many candles as we could find, and hopefully stay warm that way until bedtime.
It worked! We set up a game of Scrabble and the candles on my writing desk, poured some wine, and played while listening to digital music. You wouldn’t believe how much heat comes from candles in a small area! We were toasty warm until it was time to blow them out and turn in – cats and all, of course.
Who won the game, you may be wondering? Hubs was in the lead the entire time, but my last play of all seven remaining letters clinched a win for me!
Neither one of us can remember what the word was – probably because of the wine. 😉
A couple of nights ago we took up Treasure Island again and read some more to each other. No, the power wasn’t gone, but we thought it was fun enough to continue reading it that way.
Have you ever come up with fun ways to enjoy a winter power outage?
Do tell!
Dear WordPress bloggers, fellow writers, followers and friends,
December 31, 2018 marked my seven-year blogging anniversary.
Yikes! I’m into the eighth year! Who knew that when I published my first post, Follow the Yellow Brick Road on New Year’s Eve of 2011, my blog would still be active in 2019? I genuinely hope I’m not wearing out my welcome here and that you continue to let me into your in-boxes, your readers, and your lives for my brief visits once or twice a week. 🙂
pinterest.com
I’m not one to get hung up on blog statistics, as I value quality of interaction over quantity any day, but I’d like to share a few highlights from my 70 posts of 2018.
I’ve set aside statistics on my About Me and Author Page to concentrate on regular posts.
The three most-liked posts of last year:
Beach Love
When your address is Sandy Beach Avenue and you live near one of the longest beaches in the province, posts like these are bound to show up regularly. These photos taken at Lumsden North Beach grabbed the most likes of 2018.
Winter Morning Haiku
Summery beaches didn’t get all the love.
A haiku poem with one of my best-loved winter photos,
taken from my back yard.
Imagination
Kids with coffee filters.
How could one possibly resist a click?
Morning Coffee
(Again with coffee?)
No surprise – this beverage is a vital part of the day for many of us.
Even some of you who prefer tea were moved to give your two cents worth!
Blog Hop: Born in a Treacherous Time by Jacqui Murray
Once again, I’m delighted to share news from my author colleagues.
I loved this book of the prehistoric fiction genre.
So much so, it got me reading the Earth’s Children series by Jean M. Auel.
I look forward to Murray’s next novel in her Man vs. Nature saga.
***
2018 was a special year all around, but it didn’t exceed previous records set by my blog.
January 18, 2016 still holds the favored position as the day that generated the most views thus far, when I introduced the ever-popular Newfoundland and Labrador page…
…and the individual post that has scored the most views to date under that Newfoundland banner is Berg Watching, originally shared on June 2, 2015.
Springtime in Iceberg Alley at its beautiful best.
The Sunday Snap series has gained in popularity since its inception in August 2017, and my new addition for 2018, Friday Fiction, has met with positive reviews as well.
Many thanks to everyone who visits my blog. However long I continue, I appreciate all the follows, likes, comments, and shares. Love to you all, and blog on!
Sincerely yours,
Jennifer
P.S. to bloggers: Have a favourite post from your own blog I may have missed or you’d like to highlight? Don’t be shy – share a link with me in the comments below. 🙂
Yesterday, our local Lions Club sponsored and held Pearson Academy’s Speak Out Competition. We had 17 student participants and an excellent audience turnout.
Speak-outs are great opportunities for youth to practice and build skills through public speaking, and to encourage them to have a public voice in issues that concern them.
The winners:
Rhianna Bishop, 1st Place. Topic: Leadership in Rural Communities
Jessica Melindy, 2nd Place. Topic: Growing Up with Mental Illness – Anxiety and O.C.D
Deidre Hounsell, 3rd Place. Topic: Dangers of Driving Under the Influence
Rhianna Bishop and Jessica Melindy. Missing from photo: Deidre Hounsell
As the first place winner,
Rhianna will compete later at the regional level.
Steve Perry, Lions member and moderatorTed O’Connor, teacher and judge
The judges for the speak-out were Joanne Wiley,Theodore O’Connor and myself.
It was a privilege to spend time with these young adults and to volunteer once more for this worthy event.
***
Have you or your child ever competed
or taken part in a public speaking competition?
…and that makes me purr.
Jennifer's Journal 