Humour – Jennifer's Journal

A Purry Point of View Part 2: Louie

Published on March 25, 2025 by J. Kelland Perry30 Comments

Hi Folks and Felines! Louie here, finally getting my turn to guest blog on Jennifer’s Journal.

Gordie really let me have it on his guest post last time, didn’t he? Well, guess what? I’m here to spill the tea on him! You see, my new brother for the last six months is not as innocent as he would have you believe.

It all happened last fall on Thanksgiving Sunday. After Jennifer and Paul had their meal of roast turkey with all the trimmings, they were about to relax in the living room and leave the turkey, covered in foil, on the counter to finish cooling before putting it in the refrigerator.

But knowing how hungry Gordie seemed to act all the time, Paul suggested putting it back in the oven with the door just ajar.

Lo and behold, when Jennifer came out to get a drink, what did she see? My brother Gordie SITTING ON THE OVEN DOOR, FACE INTO THE TURKEY! He had torn the foil neatly away and had taken a perfect circle of bites out of the drumstick. He looked at her as if to say “Nothing to see here!” All Jennifer could do was laugh.

You see, as was explained to me, Gordon had a somewhat severe case of what is known as food insecurity. Because he had been a runaway stray for a long period of time before his adoption, he was overly anxious about when he would get his next meal. He isn’t as bad as that anymore, thank goodness. The worst he’s done since is grab a pack of deli ham off the counter where it was defrosting. Jennifer found his unsuccessful attempt to open it on the floor with a few tooth marks in it.

I’ve grown to love my silly sibling, even though he does weird things sometimes—just like me.

Oh, I almost forgot: look what Jennifer’s daughter included with her and Paul’s Christmas presents:

Aren’t we cute? These socks were made specially by soxos.ca, a proudly Canadian company. 🇨🇦

Thanks, Jennifer, for letting me share my two cents on your blog. Purrs and nose bumps to all, love Louie. 🐾

A Purry Point of View: Gordon

Published on March 6, 2025 by J. Kelland Perry35 Comments

Hi there, friends! My name is Gordon—aka Gordie, and that’s Louie cuddled in behind me.
I’m guest posting for Jennifer today, who has had so much existential dread lately that she can’t seem to get up the gumption to blog like she used to. Fear not, though. I’m sure she’ll be back on track soon.

I wanted to share with you some pics of what my silly “brother by another mother” has been up to since we moved in with Jennifer and Paul back in September. Because I’m three and he is only one, I’ve been trying to have the upper hand, you know, to keep him in line.

But Louie is simply beyond my ability to control. He is always into something! Here are a few examples:

He jumped up to this chandelier until he finally succeeded to grab this:

Then he turned his attention to these starfish on the wall:

…but was unsuccessful because Jennifer scolded him so many times.

But he did manage to make off with this whatchamacallit from the bathroom in the middle of the night (tore it right off the chain!):

Then Louie decided to grab a couple of things that weren’t nailed on, such as this thingamabob:

…and this doohickey from the wall:

In spite of all his antics, we do have lots of fun together…

…and I think we’re going to keep him. 💙

Vivian’s View From Here: What’s on the Telly?

Published on June 27, 2021 by J. Kelland Perry27 Comments

Happy Sunday, peeps and pets! Vivian K. Perry here, talking today about my television habits, of all things.

Of course, I’m at the mercy of my staff in this area. I don’t have the manual dexterity to use the remote, so what they choose to watch, I am stuck with. Sometimes that’s good, and sometimes not so good.

Playoff hockey is tolerable. I like watching the players chase after the puck like I chase after my favourite ball. But I couldn’t care less who wins!

I lost interest in The Woman in the Window movie. There was a cat in it, but she only had a teeny tiny cameo part. Anyway, my staff said the book was a thousand times better (and the cat was in more scenes).

The Younger series is silly to me, and I usually fall asleep when it comes on. Mom says she never wishes to go back to relive her twenties, and she definitely wouldn’t want to be a millennial in today’s world. Then why does she keep watching it?

Now here’s something I actually love. “Cool cat” 60’s jazz from Dave Brubeck: Take Five. I’m signing off now, but do have a listen below. Have a purr-fect week, everyone!

Perry Boys – a Look Back

Published on March 24, 2020 by J. Kelland Perry26 Comments

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m having trouble concentrating long enough to compose an original post. So today I’ll share a post from exactly five years ago, a nostalgic look back to simpler times.

When my husband Paul was six years old, he and his family moved from Newtown – the little community in which we live now – to live in the capital city of St. John’s. Their parents relocated so that Paul’s oldest sibling David could attend the Vera Perlin school for his special needs.
On the day of the big move, Paul crawled up under the house – the actual house we live in now – in a show of protest. “Everyone should be able to live where they were born,” he argued through tears, but the die had been cast. He was pulled out and packed into the car with everyone else.

On the very first day at their new school, Paul and his other brother Kevin, who is one year older, decided to walk home from school for lunch, despite being told to stay there and eat the lunch they’d brought. But when they saw other children going home, they wanted to go as well. Unfamiliar with their new neighbourhood, the two boys got lost, and Kevin started to cry.

Brave little Paul tried his best to console his big brother by distracting him. “Don’t cry, Kev. Look at the pigeons,” he said, pointing at a bunch of them as they waddled across the sidewalk, hoping the strange, tame city birds might cheer him up. It worked, and they ended up following a classmate to his house. Between the jigs and the reels, their dad had to leave work and go pick them up.

Let’s go back a couple of years when Paul was four and Kevin was five, to another time the younger boy displayed his wisdom. A new addition to the family of three boys had arrived, and this time, it was a girl! When their mom brought baby Julie Ann home, the boys crowded around to get a look at their new sister. Kevin’s eyes opened wide when her diaper came off to be changed. “Look, Paul,” he said, incredulous. “She ain’t got nar topper!” (penis)
“No, ya foolish,” Paul said, enlightened beyond his years. “She got whatever Mom got.”

Now before you think I’m beating up on my brother-in-law, I’d like to share one more tale. Okay, two. When Paul was about nine and enjoying his summer vacation in Newtown, Kevin saved him from drowning. Paul was diving with some other boys off of Burnt Island, but he tired in the deep water and panicked. Kevin grabbed him by the hair on top of his head and pulled him to safety.

Years later, when Kevin was just beginning his teaching career, he and Paul were driving along in St. John’s one evening. Without warning, Kevin pulled over, stopped the car, and jumped out. He’d spied two teenage boys in a fist fight near the local hockey rink, and he wanted to stop them. Paul watched as he parted the boys, reasoned with them, and ended the scuffle.

It was a day he never forgot. Where most people would just keep going and not get involved, Kevin stepped in and tried to solve the problem. It made Paul really proud of his brother.

Paul confessed there were other boyhood fights where Kev stepped in and rescued Paul himself, fights my husband started and couldn’t finish. I would say he’s grateful for those too. And so am I. 🙂

**L to R: David, Paul, Julie, and Kevin**

Originally posted on March 24, 2015 here.

Menopause…or “Perry” Menopause? An Update

Published on January 30, 2020February 8, 2020 by J. Kelland Perry25 Comments

Last week, while looking back on a few of my January posts from the past, I hit upon the following that I’d written exactly eight years ago. I thought the timing was perfect to provide an update as the last line suggested. I had mentioned that “The Change” can take anywhere from two to eight years. Thankfully, it didn’t last anywhere near eight years for me, and yes, Paul survived. 🙂

By the way, he still plays floor hockey on Monday nights and I never turn the heat off anymore in the dead of winter. I hope that brings a measure of comfort to those of you who are dealing with menopause or perimenopause at the moment.

January 30, 2012:
So here I am, on a frigid January evening. Outside, a bitter wind chill of minus 10 degrees Celsius (that’s 14+ degrees for you Fahrenheit folks) is blowing directly off the North Atlantic just a few yards from our door. Husband Paul is gone playing floor hockey at the high school gym, so I’m alone, trying desperately to chill out. Not figuratively, mind you, but literally. I turned down the thermostats so there is no heat on in my house, simply because my body feels like a furnace turned up on cremate.

This is a new and fresh hell for yours truly, only making itself known within the last couple of weeks. Somehow, I had let myself believe I’d be lucky enough to escape the discomfort of “tropical moments” at this time of my life. How I used to chuckle when one of my friends or coworkers complained of a hot flash. Ha! The joke is now on me. And for the uninitiated, it doesn’t feel like a source of external heat that hits you. It’s more like internal spontaneous combustion, where you think you just might suddenly burst into flames.

pexels-photo-207353 Stripped down to a tank top and appropriately, sweat pants, eating blueberries out of the freezer (still frozen), I’m trying to hold it together. I made the mistake earlier of googling other menopause symptoms, and started ticking off other lovely ailments I’ve been experiencing. Brain fog? Check. Anxiety? Check. Night sweats? Check. Mood swings? Okay, that one is just me, can’t blame that on The Change.

The website also warned that the whole process could take anywhere from two to eight years before it is done. That’s just terrific. Think I’ll go out and stick my head in a snow bank.

And now Paul is home. “It’s freezing here!” he says. He looks at my red face. “Is it alright if I turn up the heat?”

“If you must,” I bark, fanning myself with a throw cushion.

Then I realize something. In our house, PMS always stood for Paul Must Suffer. Well, the PMS might be coming to an end for me, but it won’t be ending for him any time soon. Will he survive? Will I?

Check back in two to eight years.

*Images courtesy of Pexels

No Topless, No “Smooking”

Published on February 24, 2019February 23, 2019 by J. Kelland Perry33 Comments

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

Thanks, Mom!

Published on May 13, 2018May 19, 2018 by J. Kelland Perry23 Comments

Mom cut my bangs

Dear Mom,

Thank you for the many, many things you’ve ever done for me. As it is for most mothers, they are far too numerous to list here.

An endless list, actually. Hey, you even took it upon yourself to trim my bangs from time to time. Why would we bother driving to the beauty parlor when you were there, eager and happy to do it? How hard could it be? And naturally, your other daughter’s bangs didn’t escape your butchery expertise either.

Now Mom, I understand we were a one-income household at the time and you liked saving money wherever possible, but don’t you think your scissors-happy ways may have been a tad aggressive, especially for a school photo, recorded for posterity?

This practice of yours was nearly as darling as your penchant for dressing up my sister and me as twins. Never mind that I was two and a half years older than her.

And yet, as I flip through this old family album, my heart swells.

I see your smile.

I hear your laughter.

I feel the love.

I see my happy childhood, personified, in all of these snaps of captured memories.

And you know what, Mom? It makes me realize I wouldn’t change a single thing.

– Love your daughter,
Jennifer

Wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all the loving moms out there!

Imagination

Published on March 18, 2018March 18, 2018 by J. Kelland Perry43 Comments

kids wearing coffee filter hats — **Sunday Snap: Imagination**

Coffee filters have many uses.
All you need is a little imagination.
And a little brother to share them with.

This photo wasn’t taken yesterday – our angels are 10 and 12 now.
❤

“That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up.” ~ Walt Disney

The Cutest Ornament?

Published on December 10, 2017March 7, 2018 by J. Kelland Perry27 Comments

Our grandkitten Joey is going to be the cutest ornament on the tree this Christmas – that is if and only if the tree survives his yuletide antics!

My daughter (who snapped this pic) said the little rascal climbed to the top in under half a minute, and in the space of twenty minutes he climbed it eight times.

Readers: Any pet pointers for this pressing pussycat problem ?
Please post below!

Vivian’s View From Here: Window Cats

Published on January 18, 2017 by J. Kelland Perry40 Comments

Greetings, humans! 041-800x415

Vivian K. Perry here, back for another guest blog on Jennifer’s Journal. I have new photos to share today!

We had snowy, blowy weather last night, which gave us pretty windows to look through when we woke up. As much as Maisie and I don’t like it when it gets too cold, sometimes snow can add an aesthetic appeal to our long winters.

The first pic shows some of Jennifer’s other cats.

winter-window-1280x846

Now on to us real kitties…

img_2419-832x1280 At first, I thought I would like it outdoors today.
img_2417-1280x941 I quickly changed my mind.
img_2418-1271x946 Maisie seems oblivious to my discomfort. (Please disregard the high-tech reading lamp)
img_2422-1280x574 I am quickly let back inside, and then…
img_2427-1066x1280 …the shoe is on the other paw!
Ha! Snow on her nose 🙂