I’m taking a mini-break from blogging over the Christmas season.
Happy Holidays, and I’ll see you again in 2019. (Wow! Seriously – where did that year go??)
Happy Christmas!
Blog
Lions Club High School Speak Out
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
As the first place winner,
Rhianna will compete later at the regional level.
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?
Memories of Nico
Nico was our one and only grand-puppy. He was a Golden Doodle who had the sweetest, most loving temperament I’ve ever witnessed in a dog. We only had Nico in our lives for five short years before he tragically left us, but he will always live on in a special corner of my heart.
Even though it’s been over a year since he passed, I still miss him when I visit my daughter and her family. They have two cats now, Ginger and Joey, but no one can ever take the place of this big boy who was full to the brim with life and love and fun.
Getting over the loss of a pet is never easy, and is particularly hard for animal lovers like our family. I can’t imagine what it will be like to lose my cats when that time comes. Then again, maybe they will outlive me.
Have you lost a special dog, cat or other animal recently?
Please share in the comments below.
❤
Paw Prints
Cold winter days are fast approaching, and for our feline friends and housemates Maisie and Viv, that means snowy paws and shorter trips outside.
Sometimes they cry to go out, but change their minds and make a quick backtrack when we open the door and the bitter wind hits their furry faces. Then they cry again as if we can magically change the weather for them!
“Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.” – Joseph Wood Krutch, American writer, critic, and naturalist
Blogger Bouquet #55
Marie Zhuikov of Marie’s Meanderings is a novelist, science writer, poet and editor that I have followed for quite some time.
From her About page:
“The meanderings of Marie’s mind blog explores life in northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and anywhere else Marie Zhuikov’s travels may span. There are bound to be thoughts about her passions, which include nature, environmental issues, the arts, music, children, dogs, books, relationships, cooking, water, wine and the like.”
In Marie’s previous novels she has focused on endangered animals, and her next one is no exception. Check out Marie’s recent post on the pine marten, also known as the American marten. She has even written two magazine articles about the marten that are on newsstands now.
Marten Mania
Comments are closed here but you can leave a little love on the blogger’s page.
Have a beautiful weekend, everyone!
❤
Sunday Snaps: Root Cellars of Elliston
These photos of root cellars are from one of my November posts five years ago. I’ve been thinking about them lately because in the speculative novel I’m writing, an abandoned root cellar figures largely in certain plot points of the story.
More than 130 root cellars have been documented in the Elliston area, dating back as far as 1839, and some are still used today to store homegrown vegetables.
According to Elliston folklore, the older folks told the children that babies came from root cellars. For more photos and info, click on the link below:
Mom, where do babies come from?
Cozy
When I folded laundry from the dryer the other day, I put a throw cushion on top until I got around to bringing it upstairs.
I usually do that to prevent one of the cats from turning it into a bed. Well, Maisie couldn’t resist the warm nest and simply nudged the cushion aside.
“Voila! Thanks, Mom.”
I didn’t have the heart to drive her out of it. ❤️
“Like all pure creatures, cats are practical.”
~ William S. Burroughs
Today a reader…
Please encourage your children to read.
Give them books they would enjoy for Christmas.
Take them to the public library to get their own library card.
If they are too young to read themselves, read them bedtime stories.
It’s never too early to inspire a love of good books. No, they won’t all become leaders, but research shows that reading to children and discussing the book is the best way to increase your child’s IQ and instill a love of reading.
Sunday Snap: A New Perspective
This cool photo of Perry’s Point was snapped last week on Monday, November 5th by Paul’s cousin, Winston Perry. He took it from a small plane and gave me permission to share. Check out the sand and the seaweed around the coastline.
That’s my house in the foreground, closest to the end of the point, the blue one with the shed and a little blue outhouse to the far left. A large portion of Newtown is shown in the background.
The sunshine that day makes the house colour look lighter from that angle, but if you click on my Facebook link below, you’ll see its true colour. Laundry and all! That photo was taken by Winston’s brother and our neighbour, Wayne Perry.
Thanks for the great captures, guys!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Places People Live
Evening Sky in Autumn
“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.”
– Percy Bysshe Shelley
Jennifer's Journal 