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!
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Cotton candy clouds at sunset are always a summery treat:
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A perennial favourite—my clothespins encased in a glaze of ice:
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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:
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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:
When I first moved to Newtown back in 2010, my husband Paul told me how he used to play in “the farm” as a child.
“Show me this farm!” I said.
“Oh, it isn’t actually a farm anymore,” he chuckled. “But we used to play Cowboys and Indians, and climb the big rocks over there. Folks pick berries there now.”
In recent years, the farm trail has been upgraded and storyboards have been added.
The Farm: “In the late 1860’s and into the 1900’s, there were two ways to get from Perry’s Point to E & S Barbour’s and William Barbour and Son’s businesses. The long way was a semicircle past the Greens and Tulk’s houses, but usually when asked which way you had gone, the answer would be across “the Farm”.
“Uncle Ned Green had a long “hen’s house” . . . and in the summer, horses would gather to feed and were not driven away. This was the area where all young kids would play games, climb the rocks, and build mud and wooden huts. The Farm became their playground in the summer and a place for snow sledding in the winter. It was also a great place to pick berries in late summer.”
Did you know Beothuk children played here long before Paul and his friends did?
”Nature gives us so much: clean air, beautiful landscape, breathtaking views, fish, animals, and the list goes on. We want people to come, see, and actually walk the path where a tribe of Beothuk once lived with their children and took care of the land without damaging our environment. We need to show our appreciation to the first peoples by protecting and preserving this same environment for future generations.”
Well said and I couldn’t agree more!
*This hiking trail is part of the Wonder Shore Trails system which start in Greenspond and go all the way to Musgrave Harbour here in beautiful Bonavista North.
Greetings, Peeps and Pets. Vivian K. Perry here, happy to share that I celebrated a milestone birthday last week. I know, I know, I’m already sweet and fabulous!
Sixteen wonderful years with Jennifer and Paul—three years in the city, thirteen in the country. And thirteen years with my sweet and beautiful sister Maisie.
I still get to explore the outdoors here on Perry’s Point …
… especially during the gentle days of summer.
I even grab naps outside!
🐾 🐾 🐾
Yet, it’s equally as lovely indoors where I get tons of love and attention.
Jennifer says she can’t imagine life without me.
All I know is, however long I remain in this earthly realm …
… I’m pretty sure no cat has had a better life.
I am one grateful feline.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
🎈🐾🎈🐾🎈
With all the hype and hoopla about the new Barbie movie—no, this isn’t a review as I haven’t seen it yet—I thought I’d dig out the only Barbie I own right now.
It’s also fitting to share her this year because she was a bridal shower gift to me back in 1998, from my husband Paul’s Aunt Cassie. Yes, on August 15th, we will celebrate our silver wedding anniversary!
Twenty five years later, I’m dusting Barbie off and “unveiling” her for you. This is what is written on the back of the box:
Below are her accessories:
… and her open-toe pumps:
Here she is with her veil on:
… and with the veil pulled back:
Before I put her away, should I reenact our wedding?
Hmmm … where’s Ken when you need him? 😊
As an avid reader, I am always looking for something a little different when it comes to novels. Happily, I found four books this year which fit the description well. All four are very well-written, have vibrant female central characters, and yes, they are also authored by women.
In The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, “a female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose – selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives who have wronged them – setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.”
📚📚📚
In Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, “Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. And like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why Elizabeth finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. And she isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.”
📚📚📚
In The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, “an aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love.”
📚📚📚
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn is “an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm, Mila Pavlichenko, who becomes history’s deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.”
📚📚📚
I enjoyed all four of these novels, although to a lesser extent, the last one, because war is not a subject I care to dive into very often.
Have you read any of the above?
How did you find them?
Do you have any recommendations for other books with unconventional female protagonists?
Do tell!
Jennifer's Journal 