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:
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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.
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“Study Nature, love Nature, stay close to Nature. It will never fail you.”
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.
They say that travelling to places you’ve never been before is good for your brain, especially as you age. The island of Newfoundland is quite large and is the perfect place to accomplish this, with its ancient rock formations, dense forests and breathtaking coastlines and seascapes.
I know, I know—there’s no big culture shock from travelling within my own province, but it’s still nice to sightsee in locales we haven’t visited before. As I mentioned in a previous post, Paul’s work affords us many short road trips to all corners of the island, and we try to visit little nooks and crannies of interest in between. So when we found out about site visits to two schools on the Port au Port Peninsula last August, we were particularly happy to go. We’ve both been up and down the west coast but never there. And this would be our chance to visit the only peninsula on the island that we’d never been!
Port au Port Peninsula is that tiny arrow shape on the west coast.
We booked a two-night stay at The Inn at the Cape on Cape St. George. It was lovely, the host was friendly, and the breakfasts were wonderful.
Inn at the Cape
“Discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
Gulf of St. Lawrence Limestone cliffs of Port au Port
We didn’t get to take in everything on that trip but would gladly go back to sightsee what we missed.
“I take to the open road. Healthy, free, the world before me.” – Walt Whitman
(My apologies if you received a blank post in your inbox previous to this one — I had a glitch. Hope I have it fixed!)
On icy cold days like today, I love to reflect on photos from my summer travels. This selection takes me back to an overnight stay on Gander River last June.
Whenever my husband Paul has to travel for work in our beautiful province, I often accompany him. Particularly enjoyable are the trips that take us somewhere we haven’t visited before. And when we can combine business and pleasure, the trips are all the more fun.
This time Paul’s work took him to a business associate’s cabin on the Gander River, to design an extension and renovation for the client. The long boat in the photo above took us there, the only way to access the site.
In spite of the high winds, and getting splashed by spray over the side of the boat, the temps were warm and the views were lovely.
Here below is a shot of the little guest cabin we stayed in on the property. So cozy!
The Gander River is well-known for its salmon pools and outfitting business. To learn more, check out this site.
Below: blue flag iris growing along the shoreline.
Time to eat, sit back and relax.
Our gracious hosts provided a delicious grilled steak supper and refreshments at the main cabin.
Did you know I have a Newfoundland and Labrador category of posts on this blog? I will add this post to it shortly. Depending on what device you’re on, you can access the list from the menu or from under the header. Or click on here: Newfoundland and Labrador
Hello, Peeps and Pets! Vivian K. Perry here, fondly looking back on a memory from Summer 2022. Oh, how I miss the warm days on Perry’s Point! The brilliant sunshine, the butterflies and buttercups, the soft sea breezes and birds aplenty—yes, I know they will all come again, but I can’t wait.
The Photo Challenge prompt over at Xingfu Mama is Pull up a Seat.*
Well, a picnic table certainly counts, doesn’t it? Of course it does.
I don’t like going outside for very long when it’s cold. So in the meantime, I will endure the long winter by taking lots of naps, with pleasant dreams of long summery days. The good news? The days are getting longer! Do you look forward to summer as much as I do?
Oh! Before I forget, let me share Jennifer’s blogging anniversary. This blog, Jennifer’s Journal, has now entered its twelfth year! Meow and Wow!
Hi, everyone! I hope you’re all keeping safe, happy and healthy, wherever you are in the world.
Perry’s Point
For various reasons, it’s been a while since I blogged. But I hope to do better in the new year. I received a most unwelcome early Christmas gift, by the name of Covid. Thankfully, the vaccines must have worked because I was only feverish for a couple of days, and now if my sinuses would clear, I should be as good as new!
Perry’s Point
I wish for each and every one of you the warmth of a memorable Holiday Season, and an abundance of peace and prosperity in the New Year. Looking forward to connecting with you all again in 2023!
Cee Neuner’s challenge for photographers yesterday* reminds me of this photo I took back in August. I captured the spider and her masterpiece through my kitchen window that fog-shrouded night, not knowing how the outdoor light on our house would illuminate its detail so well, especially the misty moisture that clings to every intricate strand of the web. The overall effect reminds me of fine gold chain.
PERRY’S POINT, NL – AUGUST 13, 2022
“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” – Pablo Picasso
Jennifer's Journal 