Category: Blogs

Friday Bouquet #8

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

I have been a loyal follower of The Mad Hooligan Chronicles for nearly as long as I’ve been blogging. It went through a metamorphosis last year, and changed its name from the original, The Howling Mad Cat.

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HMC

When HMC (Howling Mad Cat) departed for Kitty Cat Heaven at the ripe old age of 21, shortly after Ellie adopted two new cats by the names of Kobi and Bobo, and the Mad Hooligans blog was born.

Along with the adorably candid photos, Ellie treats us with three quotes to ponder, which relate to the topic of each of her posts.

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Bo & Kobi

From their profile:

“Verily I say unto you: Ye shall have two cats, and they will cause havoc amongst the household.”
At http://howlingmadcat.wordpress.com/.

A light-hearted read to brighten your day, I suggest you take a look at yesterday’s entry. You just may hit the follow button too:

The Life of Riley

Comments are closed here in hopes you will comment on their site.

Have a good weekend, everyone. ❤

Friday Bouquet #7

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

 

I follow quite a few blogs by writers, and Moon In Gemini: Debbie’s Blog about Writing and Pop Culture is one of my favourites.

On her About Page:

I have very eclectic tastes in fiction, movies and TV.  I love genre fiction of all kinds, and am just as likely to have fantasy, horror, YA, historical fiction, sci-fi or romance residing on my Kindle.”

“… Gemini is a sign associated with writing and communication.  It’s also a sign associated with people who can’t make up their minds about anything, so don’t be surprised by the variety of subjects that may appear in this blog.”

I am highlighting the following post because I agree with her opinion on strong female characters. For that matter, we think all strong characters are intriguing because of their flaws as well as their strengths. Their faults are what make them human and real.

The Strong Female Character: I Do Not Think That Means What Some People Think It Means

If you love fiction of any kind, I think you’ll like Moon in Gemini as much as I do.

Comments are closed here. I invite you to comment on Debbie’s blog.

Have a great weekend, everyone. 🙂

Remembering Rhonda

Published on by J. Kelland Perry50 Comments

I started following Rhonda Elkins’ blog around this time last year, and was profoundly moved by her tragic story. It had only been months since she, a registered nurse, lost her 23-year-old daughter Kaitlyn to suicide, and writing about it in her blog, My Bright Shining Star, was her way of dealing with the devastation she was experiencing.

As tough as it must have been for her, Rhonda’s heart-wrenching posts turned into a new project: a book about her daughter to help raise awareness of the rampant depression and high number of medical students who take their own lives. Like her blog, it also proved to be a source of comfort for others who were going through the pain and anguish of losing a child to suicide.

With her permission, I reblogged this post back in February to help get her message out there, that even those closest to us often keep their depression hidden.

Earlier this week, I was shocked and saddened to learn Rhonda had followed Kaitlyn last Friday, leaving her husband and older daughter to pick up the shattered pieces of what remained of their family.

Rhonda had blogged recently about the good reviews her book was getting, as well as her decision to return to her nursing profession part-time (she hadn’t worked since Kaitlyn died in April of 2013).

I, like many others, had believed she had gotten through the worst of it, and was ready to go on with her life.

We were so wrong.

Your life had a purpose, Rhonda. You shared your heart and soul with your readers, painfully, yet with great eloquence. I’m so sorry you were suffering and unable to get past your grief and depression. I’m sorry we couldn’t help you more. And I pray you have finally found peace, and are reunited with your beautiful daughter Kaitlyn.

I will never forget either of you.

Links for Rhonda:

http://hosting-9605.tributes.com/obituary/show/Rhonda-Elkins-101642909

https://www.facebook.com/inmemoryofrhondasellerselkins

https://www.facebook.com/events/771748509514127/

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Friday Bouquet #6

Published on by J. Kelland Perry
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Misifusa’s Blog

With the spotlight on ALS this past week, I am reminded of how often we take for granted the wonder of our bodies and all they do for us.

Can you imagine what it would be like to lose all of those abilities?

Misifusa’s Blog: The Presents of Presence shares the gift of living a positive life in spite of adversity. And who among us hasn’t had challenges at one time or another? Yvonne is a breast cancer survivor who celebrates all that is praiseworthy in the world, and she has been an inspiration to me and many others.

In her own words:

Don’t berate your body for being overweight, not good enough or any other negative thought you may have about it.  Just breathe in and be with your essence of your body.  Hug your body like you would a sweet child who needs comforting.” 

I am highlighting the following post, because in spite of being at odds with our own physical afflictions, there is still so much to be grateful for.

Visit the link below, and don’t forget to tell her Jennifer sent you. 🙂

Love Your Body

by The Presents of Presence

Comments are closed here in the hope you will leave a comment on her blog.

Friday Bouquet #5

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Hey, who doesn’t love food? I know not everyone loves cooking, but Andrea of Cooking with a Wallflower sure does, and she does it with style. Her easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipes are a delight. I have been following Andrea for some time now, loving her recipe ideas and the gorgeous food photography that goes with it. In her own words:

I know that it’s sometimes difficult to find time to cook when you’re balancing so many other things in your life, but my hope is that you will find that cooking can be fun and relatively simple. I want my readers to be able to have fun cooking as well as enjoy what they eat. After all, what’s the point of eating if you don’t like what you eat? So just because I have certain ingredients in my recipe does not mean that you can’t substitute in some of your favorite ingredients. Have fun and enjoy yourselves.”Andrea

Try these:
 Basil Chicken Quesadillas
  Strawberry Apple Crumble
Feel the “food love” today by checking out her site, and let her know Jennifer sent you.
Comments are closed here in the hope you will comment on her blog.

Friday Bouquet #4

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

I have been following Simon Kindt for quite a while now, consistently inspired by his talent for creating poems full of imagery and emotion. In his own words:

I suppose I’m another one of those poorly ironed white collars that got halfway up the career ladder and realised it had left something behind. For me, that ‘left behind’ was writing which I returned to at the end of 2012 after a long time focused on other things.

The difficult thing about highlighting his blog is trying to single out one poem as an example of his work. I love them all!

This one resonated with me this morning:

 Up, up, up by Simon Kindt

If you love poetry like I do, you will want to follow his work. Please let him know Jennifer sent you. Have a pleasant weekend, everyone!

Comments are closed in the hope you will comment on his blog.

Friday Bouquet #3

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

 

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I found the Kindness Blog only yesterday, and am now a follower. I love the types of stories they find and share with the world. Some are heartbreaking to begin with, yes. But when you read on, you find out how someone’s kindness made a difference.

It is uplifting to know there are such compassionate souls out there!

In their own words:

Sharing media featuring kindness in all its varied forms.

Since the Kindness Blog started, the response received from you lovely folk out there has been literally overwhelming. We’re truly honored and touched by your support and encouragement. In this regard, we’re also very conscious that any congratulation received, is due solely to the kind people whose stories we share.

These are the people who freely give help, that lend a listening ear to a sad soul’s tragic tale, that share what resources they have, that tolerate, that understand another person’s plight and actively work to uplift others from poverty, oppression and loss.  This blog celebrates the angels of kindness that walk among us every day.

From the simplest acts of charity through to grand, life-changing gestures of kindness, we publish images, videos, real-life-stories, personal reflections, quotes and other various media which all have one special thing in common…Kindness.

  I have selected two of their posts for you to check out. The first one tells of an act of kindness to an animal.

After Being Rescued From 50 Years Of Abuse, This Old Elephant Actually Cried.

This one tells of a stranger’s kindness to a little girl with autism.

Dear ‘Daddy’ in Seat 16C

 

I have closed comments in the hope you will visit and comment on their blog. Be “kind” and let them know Jennifer sent you.  🙂

Friday Bouquet #2

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

Diana Schwenk is, without question, one of the nicest bloggers I’ve met since I started here at WordPress. She is friendly and fun, loyal and positive, and puts a smile on my face every time we interact (I hope I get to meet her in person someday!).

And she happens to be a fellow Canadian from one of our biggest cities, Calgary.

In her own words:

I believe in collaboration. I believe in building community. I believe in tearing down the walls that separate us. I believe in conquering fear through love and understanding and building tolerance. I believe we all have a mission and we are equipped with the exact right talents, education, experience and passion to accomplish it…

Diana
Diana

I have put the spotlight on her post below from Canada Day because it is delightful and speaks to my love of our mutual homeland. I invite you to pay a visit to talktodiana, her wonderful blog, and don’t forget to tell her Jennifer sent you.

So…Yesterday, I Went To A Birthday Party…

Comments are closed in hopes you will comment on this blogger’s page.

My First “Friday Bouquet”

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

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Isn’t she beautiful?

This is a drawing of my cat, Vivian. My blogger friend, Kath Unsworth, of Minuscule Moments, put my name in for a chance to win a pet portrait last month, and I won! She drew Vivian with soft colour pencils and mailed it to me all the way from the Land Down Under.

Kath writes and illustrates children’s picture books. She lives on a dairy farm in Australia with her husband and family. I find her artwork dreamy and magical, perfect qualities for a child’s eyes, or anyone’s, for that matter.

Check out these other selections from her blog.

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This marks the beginning of a new category on my blog I call Friday Bouquet. I am excited and look forward to this new adventure. Most Fridays, I will toss a bouquet to deserving bloggers who have caught my attention doing something worthwhile and positive in the blogosphere, and in their lives.

This is not a new idea, as I follow a blogger or two who pay it forward like this (you know who you are 😉 ), and just as they do, I am disabling comments here, in hopes you will visit the blog I spotlight and comment there. Simply click on the link below for a visit and tell her I sent you. Thank you again, Kath! xo

 The Artist in Me by Minuscule Moments

Your Opinion, Please

Published on by J. Kelland Perry6 Comments