🎶🎶“Doot, doot, do, lookin’ out my back front door” 🎶🎶
💕💕💕
“All my life has been a series of doors in my face
And then suddenly I bumped into you…
With you, I found my place
With you, I see your face
And it’s nothing like l’ve ever known before
Love is an open door.”*
💕💕💕
*from the movie: Frozen
🎶with my apologies to CCR ☺️
My contribution to Thursday Doors by Dan Antion
Buttercups, bright eyed and bold, hold their chalices of gold to catch the sunshine and the dew. — Julia Caroline Dorr
Photo originally posted here.
Back in March, I shared pics of the kitty suncatcher my daughter gave me, in memory of Vivian. You can check it out here: All That We Love Deeply.
One of my longtime blogger friends had mentioned I should have a suncatcher for Vivian’s sister as well:
“You need a little Maisie suncatcher so the sisters can be together again.” – Lois
Well, once more, dear daughter has surprised me with a gift. She found a kitty (the closest she could find to resemble her) to memorialize our Maisie who passed in 2020.
I’ve already shared her on Facebook and Instagram, but I thought all my blogger friends and followers should also have a look.
Aren’t they sweet?
These little mementos bring comfort—and occasional tears—and will have to suffice until we rescue one or two more cats later this year. ❤️
Happy first day of summer, friends!
We are experiencing an early heat wave here in Newfoundland, so our longed-for season received an early start.
Last week, while the weather was cooler and we were having our morning coffee out on the deck, we saw a cloud that was nothing short of spectacular. It started with a low bank of fog stretching across the entire horizon, but soon morphed into a tall white marvel.
And just before it dispersed, it grew even bigger:
“A cloudless plain blue sky is like a flowerless garden.” – Terri Guillemets
On the eve of our heat wave, the sky and clouds were an artist’s tableau:
“I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now. From up and down, and still somehow, it’s cloud illusions I recall. I really don’t know clouds at all.” – Joni Mitchell
Last month, our daughter Denise surprised us with this lovely sun-catcher she found online. Does it remind you of anyone?
Is it a coincidence that she found a cat replica that looks like our Vivian, who passed away in November? I think not. Now we have a visual reminder that she is still peering out over Perry’s Point, which she knew like the back of her paw. 🐾
It’s also the perfectly fitting remembrance of her many guest posts on this blog—“Vivian’s View From Here”.
We still miss her terribly, yes.
But I like to think we have our own little guardian angel
watching over us. 💙
“What we have once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” – Helen Keller
Here is the second (and final) instalment of dramatic photo highlights from my blogging archives. I’ll start with two “vivid skies” left over from Part 1:
I wasn’t long running for my camera when this giant funnel cloud appeared by our house a few years ago. At first I thought it was a tornado!
***
Cotton candy clouds at sunset are always a summery treat:
***
A perennial favourite—my clothespins encased in a glaze of ice:
***
A spider and her web I discovered on my kitchen window one misty summer night. I was amazed by the detail:
This ghostly tree caught my eye one November, outside a Grand Falls-Windsor inn:
***
Berg watching in Greenspond was a delight that day in June 2015.
Admiring Nature’s sculptures in Iceberg Alley. Check out the entire blog post here.
***
“Study Nature, love Nature, stay close to Nature.
—Frank Lloyd Wright
It will never fail you.”
*Photo Challenge: LAPC: Dramatic
When I think of dramatic photos I have taken, vivid skies and sunsets come to mind. And what better place to find them than on Perry’s Point?
Sunsets are proof that endings can often be beautiful too.
—Beau Taplin
The sky broke like an egg into full sunset, and the water caught fire.
— Pamela Hansford Johnson
Here’s a favourite of mine from Newtown branch:
Long before evening sets on the Point, the sun is often brilliant, dancing on the surface of the waves:
Lots of beauty elsewhere, of course. I captured this curtain of a cloud on a tropical holiday:
Another favourite. This time from Bonavista NL, with the sea and sky together:
Stay tuned! Part 2 of Dramatic Photo Challenge coming soon. ☺️
*Photo Challenge: LAPC #282: Dramatic
I honestly can’t believe how fast this year flew by. 2023 was quite eventful, what with signing a new publishing contract—YAY!—as well as reaching a couple of personal milestones. More on those in a bit.
Not everything was rosy, however.
As many of you know, we had to say goodbye to our Vivian in November. Eight weeks later, the grief is still so raw, so fresh. I think the only way to ease the loss is to rescue another cat, or two, come spring.
Now for the milestones.
In 2023, our house here on Perry’s Point turned one hundred years old!
We’ve lived here since we left the city in 2010, with very few regrets. Paul and I love it here next to the ocean and away from the hustle and bustle of urban life.
If you haven’t already, check out my post from 2020, Ten Years in This Old House, to see how we spruced it up before we moved in.
Milestone Number 2: On August 15th, Paul and I celebrated our silver wedding anniversary.
25 years married to my best friend. Of course Paul always reminds me we were together four years before our wedding day. 💕
I am deeply thankful on this New Year’s Eve for many things, and one of them is having you, my blogger friends, in my life. Each of you have made blogging much more meaningful than I ever thought possible when I started this journey.
Which just so happened to be on New Year’s Eve, 2011.
Wishing you good health and happiness in 2024!
How was your 2023?
The time has come to blog about something I’ve always dreaded, and the tears will be inevitable as I write it.
It has taken me a while to accept the heartbreaking fact that, after a brief but devastating illness, our precious Vivian is no longer with us.
Life is too quiet now. Our home will never be the same. Perry’s Point will never be the same. I’m still grieving far too much to make these words eloquent, so just know that our pain and loss is real.
Vivian was our constant companion and our family member for over sixteen wonderful years. Her love and her devotion to Paul and me was unconditional and mutual. She will remain in our hearts forever.
My hope is that she is reunited with her sister Maisie, enjoying all kinds of capers, cuddles and catnaps in a sweet kitty afterlife.
🐾 🐾 ❤️❤️ 🐾 🐾
Rest easy, sweet kitty!
I’m sharing Vivian’s first guest post on my blog from 2012 below:
Jennifer's Journal 