Wait—what?? How can this be? I had thought my November would have dragged by much more slowly, after I signed up for NaNoWriMo and sequestered myself to my writing cave for thirty days. Most of those days started early too—pitch-black early before the clocks rolled back on the 7th—and yet the month flew by anyway.
It was pleasant rising with the sun on those mornings. Most of this blog’s “sun photography” has been of the sunset variety like the one on my header, but there is something special about the quality of the sun at dawn. The stillness, the quietude, the fresh hope that gives birth to each new day is perfect inspiration for writing a new chapter in a novel or starting a new chapter in your life.
“I write for the same reason I watch the sun rise every morning. Not to express some great truth, but because it makes me feel wildly, gloriously alive.” ~ Marty Rubin
Even though it’s November, we are still seeing shorebirds around Perry’s Point. Sandpipers, plovers, whatever the species, I like them all.
And I love that they make their home here in late spring, summer and fall. With the cold temperatures increasing, I predict our feathered friends will be winging their way south very soon. Here are three of my favourite shots of them from my files.
This one seems to have something to say!
So imagine my delight when I scored these lovelies at HomeSense recently:
Now I can enjoy beach birds all year round. 🙂
Bloggers and e-friends: My apologies for not visiting your blogs as much this month, due to my participation in NaNoWriMo. By the time I finish writing each day, I need to take a break from constant screens. But I shall return!
Vivian K. Perry here, filling in for Jennifer who is up to her eyeballs in paint cans, brushes and rollers this weekend. Besides that, she needed a break from her laptop, as she’s been busy this month outlining a new novel.
Anyhoo, I’m sharing several photos of yours truly today. I want to show you a little bit of what an ordinary day looks like for a fourteen year-old feline like moi. I love to explore around Perry’s Point every day, rain or shine, because I’m an excellent watch-cat. These two photos were taken during a misty morning vole hunt.
I spend a lot of time listening for the tiniest of movements in the grass.
No luck this morning. Not even a measly shrew. I’ll try again later.
I happen to have a fondness for ordinary, drama-free days. No pressure, no worries, and oodles of moments I can spend any way I please.
My peeps noticed that I’m doing something new recently. I look for warm spots! Does this mean I’m finding it colder than I used to? Perhaps it goes along with my advancing years. In the photo below, I am in Jennifer’s recently vacated (warm) spot. I’m always stealing it.
May I help you?No, this isn't a guilty look. This is my spot now, so kindly buzz off.
“It has taken awhile, but I certainly do know it now – the most wonderful gift I had, the gift I finally learned to cherish above all else, was the gift of all those perfectly ordinary days.” ~ Katrina Kenison, author of The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother’s Memoir
A little late, but this has been my take on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge 169: The Ordinary
Have a purr-fect week, everyone! Head bumps and nose kisses, Vivian
Hi, everyone! It’s a wild and windy Thanksgiving weekend with storm surges in my corner of the world, so I thought I’d share a few photos that show weather that is more, shall we say, temperate.
“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” – Henry Ward Beecher
“I’m grateful for always this moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.” – Eckhart Tolle
Happy Sunday, all, and Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends and followers! ♥♥♥
To create an illusion of depth in photography, you need perspective. One way to create perspective is by using vanishing points. A vanishing point, or point of convergence, is the spot on the horizon line where the other lines diminish. Sometimes it is visible, other times not.
To start, I’m sharing three of my photos from here in Newfoundland and Labrador. They show fall, winter and summer, in that order.
Driving to Corner Brook on the Island’s West Coast
Looking back at our house from the shovelled path
The gang enjoying Cape Island Beach, Cape Freels
The following three photos were captured during my travels:
Driving through Tuscany
Shopping inMontreal
Champs-Elysees, Paris
“They dealt in transformations; they suggested an endless series of possibilities, extending like the reflections in two mirrors set facing one another, stretching on, replica after replica, to the vanishing point.” – Margaret Atwood
Thanks to two local photographers, you can see why Newtown has been nicknamed “the Venice of Newfoundland.” The community is like an archipelago, connected by a series of causeways and bridges.
Newtown:Tom Cochrane Photo, August 11, Facebook
Barbour Heritage Village, Newtown: Chelsey Lawrence Photography, Sept. 22, Facebook
I think it’s pretty cool that our house can be seen in both photos. 🙂
Indian summer winds blow through the hills, As the autumn sun shines on your hair; I will always remember the day that we met, In that wonderful time of the year.
So, will you dance with me tonight, my love, Beneath the September sky? Will you sing with me tonight, my love, And we’ll waltz for the rest of our lives.
~ excerpt from the song September Sky by Louise Morrissey
I will never forget the night we met in September of 1994, when “I fell head over heels in LIKE,” and how my whole life changed. Thank you for being you.
I’m sharing one of my Evergreen Posts today, because much of its content still applies to my life right now. Between berry-picking, bread-making, and gearing up for more writing this fall with a plan to take part in November’s NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month—I expect to be busy. If all goes well, I will complete the first rough draft of my fifth novel (I have two published, two un-published) by November’s end. Thanks for reading!
I know our Atlantic Canadian summers are short and I treasure the warmer days while they’re here, but there is something about this season of change I truly love as well.
Late summer and early fall has a uniquely different quality, where on a sunny day the air lends a crisper, more metallic edge to the natural world. (This love affair hinges on one important caveat: that the northeast wind doesn’t blow too much and turn our world chilly and wet for days on end.)
The outlines of clouds against the steel-blue sky look sharper, heralding the approach of what is to come. Most foliage and grasses are still summery green. I relish them all the more, knowing the colours will soon transition into vibrant shades of red and gold before finally fading to the cool grey and white hues of late autumn and winter.
It is a season of harvest and renewal, a time of new beginnings and the dawning of fresh ideas. The kiddies are back in their classes. Though my own school days and child rearing years are well behind me, I still feel that push of motivation into new plans and goals, to make the transition into a stricter work schedule, to get back to writing more in the coming months. November and NaNoWriMo are still a ways off, but I strive to clear up all loose ends in preparation for – dare I say it without jinxing myself – a 50 thousand-word first draft of a brand-spanking new novel. But hey, I did it before, so why not?
Then there are the berries. Where would this season be without the berries?
fruits of the first trip
…and fruits of the second
In two afternoon jaunts, the blueberries are now picked, and it won’t be long before we are in on the barrens again to pick partridgeberries. (In other parts of the world, these lovely bitter, relatives of the cranberry are called lingonberries or cowberries.) I make plenty of the jam for my other half since he likes it on his morning toast all year round, not to mention in the occasional pastry tart with a generous dollop of thick cream.
Especially anticipated, besides an excursion on the barrens, is picking the plump, juicy partridgeberries that grow right here on our land. I checked all around the Point last week and it looks like a bumper crop this year, probably a sign of how plentiful their growth is everywhere else.
My boy and me back in the day
Coinciding with the cool-down in temperature is a return to more bread-baking. There’s nothing like the smell of a fresh batch from the oven to take the chill out of your day.
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
What do you like the most about this time of year? Relief from the heat? A return to a more orderly schedule? Getting the children out from underfoot and back in school? Or are you sad because the summer is nearly spent? Do tell!
This post was inspired by Ailsa’s Travel Theme: Seasonal.*
The above photo was taken by my son’s significant other, Jennifer (yes, another Jennifer, but I’ll return to that topic in a bit).
Vivian was enjoying a catnap in our back garden that day. Some days during summer, she crawls into the wild rosebushes in our garden for naps that can last for hours! She hasn’t got the life, I know. Thinking of the photographer reminded me of something I wanted to share.
First, about the southpaws: I am a lefthanded person. I was one of those little girls whose grandmother tried to switch her over to righthandedness, whether I was holding a spoon, fork, crayon or pencil. But I was having none of that. No siree bob. Mom finally convinced my Nanny Lambert that it was useless for her to keep trying.
I was the only lefty in my immediate family. My parents, sister, and brother were all righthanded. But then something interesting happened.
I had: 1 GIRL and 1 BOY
My brother had: 1 BOY
My sister had: 1 BOY and 1 GIRL
Three of those boys, our only sons, were born lefthanded! What are the odds on that?
Now, back to the “Jennifers.”
There are three other Jennifers in my extended family. No, none of them were named after me (shucks).
These other Jennifers are the wives/significant others of mine and my siblings’ three sons! All three couples have been together for years. ❤
Funny how life in all its randomness created such a happenstance. Do you have any strange coincidences in your family? Many southpaws? While thinking on that, have another, more closeup look at our Vivian. Thanks again for the great capture, Jenny!
Jennifer's Journal 