Denise was born on a beautiful sunny day, just like today. She decided to show up three weeks before her due date of July 6th. Born at Carbonear Hospital, she was the smallest baby there at the time, weighing a dainty five pounds, seven ounces.
My life as a very young mother had begun!
Denise at Six Years Old
Denise was a happy child, but she was also softhearted, intelligent, and focused.
Bachelor of Nursing Graduate
She always worked hard to realize her goals.
Her Beautiful Family
Happy Birthday, Denise! I am so proud of you, and can’t imagine my life without you in it!
Love Mom ❤
When the fog rolled in over our lounging chairs this afternoon (with us still in them), we counted ourselves lucky we at least had enjoyed an hour of hot, precious sunshine.
You may see some of the fog in the pic below. We put our chairs back in the shed and went inside. But Vivian had other ideas.
She stayed behind in her outdoor room…
After completing the hiking trail on Saturday, my husband and I took a drive through scenic Greenspond.
It is an especially nice time to visit because of the pleasant weather. The little outport town sparkles like a jewel in the afternoon sun, the plaintive cries of seagulls the only sounds that break the silence.
The breeze has abated entirely, leaving the surface of the harbour basin as smooth as a mirror.
Pretty houses dot the land while oddly shaped chunks of iceberg dot the still blue water.
The peacefulness of the setting is magical, meditative, hypnotizing. I am drawn to its perfect calm… …and I drink in its beauty as I quietly reflect.
Troubles melt away… …and make room for inspiration. We stop to admire this gem of a property. Everything about it is impeccable, from the patchwork quilt on the clothesline…
…to the softly scalloped valances in each window.
To me, it is a work of art.
Have you ever visited a place that seemed the perfect setting for a story? Where do you go to think and dream?
Saturday was such a gorgeous day in our corner of the world, one had to get out and enjoy it. We decided to drive to Greenspond, a community comprised of several islands not far from where we live. Connected to the mainland of Newfoundland by a causeway, Greenspond boasts a wonderful walking trail around most of the perimeter of its largest island. It was perfect weather with light winds, so I took my camera.
This is the view from Perry’s Point before we left. The icebergs dotting the horizon were too far away to get good shots.
Once we got on the trail, it didn’t take long for us to discover our first “bergy bit” floating like an ice sculpture in a peaceful cove. The walking trail winds through the rocky terrain, carrying us through the brush and bog. The views of the coastline and of the Atlantic are spectacular.
We can’t help but admire the work that went into the boardwalks.Some were quite steep, making for a great workout.
It seems the locals thought of everything. 😉 Almost halfway… There seems to be a little berg in every bay. Another “sculpture”… …and another.
Time for refreshments.
The Greenspond Walking Trail is a collaboration between Man and Nature, resulting in what I consider a living work of art.
Come back and join me in a couple of days for Part Two of my Greenspond photo shoot. 🙂
To my Fellow Canadians: What did you do outdoors on this long Victoria Day weekend?
I’m away from home this week, lending a hand with my daughter’s children while their regular sitter is on vacation. This morning while I was waiting for the kindergarten school bus with my six-year-old grandson, we had this conversation:
“J, why are you so cute?”
He smiled a little smile and said, “That’s what my mom always asks me.”
“Are you going to love Nanny even when she’s an old, old granny?”
He looked at me. “Yes. And I’ll love you even when you go away forever and I can’t see you anymore.”
With those words, I felt an abrupt squeeze around my heart. I think it broke a little.
I realized, since he and his sister had already lost one grandparent, this was a part of life he now expected.
I pray I’m there for you for a long, long time, my precious boy! ❤
Greetings, humans! Maisie here, covering for Jennifer this week while she is away. My sister Vivian was eager to take over again, but Shy Little Me thought I would venture a few steps out of my comfort zone and host the blog for a change.
My sister and I had grown oh-so-bored with staying inside.
After the long, cold and snowy winter we endured in Canada this year, we are welcoming any signs of Spring with gratitude and huge sighs, or in our case,
purrs of relief.
When Vivian and I lived in the city four years ago, we had to content ourselves with the sighting of a robin or two in our backyard to let us know Spring had finally arrived.
Where we live now, there are many, many more signs to watch for and welcome. Not only fat robins with their red breasts, but birds of all kinds grace us with their presence, usually in pairs as they get ready for mating season. And we eagerly await the arrival of the gannets in May, and arctic terns in June. There is something deeply comforting in seeing wildlife return, especially when you spy them huddled in twos, preening or foraging for food together here on Perry’s Point. The seagulls are here as always, dropping and breaking crabs and sea urchins open on the rocks. But now they are joined by a few saddleback gulls. Vivian even spotted a saucy mink the other day!
During the last few days, my sister and I have enthusiastically returned to the great outdoors.
So much to see, to smell, to hear and to taste.
Vivian and I will stay outside almost all day when the summer gets here…
…just like last summer, and the summer before.
Life is good. 🙂
“I coulda hosted. It was my gig. Pfft!”
Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring! What does Spring mean to you?
Look, I will be the first to admit it. I love all animals, but my adoration for creatures of the feline variety is mega-size and always has been. So if you think I’m a hopeless ailurophile – for those who don’t know, that’s the fancy word for cat lover – I will readily own up to it. This blog has my name on it which means there has to be a cat post now and then.
I think often about kitties of all stripes (pun intended), particularly my own. On the days leading up to our trip to Cuba earlier this month, and actually, any time we travel, I begin worrying in earnest. What do our cats think when we disappear like that, for days on end? Do they open their eyes from each nap expecting to see us, and roam from window to window, wondering what the devil has become of us? Do they fill with anxiety, for fear we shall never return?
We’re so blue without you.
When I voice these concerns to my husband, he gives me a patronizing smile and reassures me once again that they don’t think that way, especially as we make sure before we go that all their needs are met and we have someone checking on them. And of course they have each other. But how can he know that for certain, that they aren’t pining for us? I know he loves cats too, but does he think he can read their minds?
Wherever we go, Cuba included, little cats seem drawn to him. I’ll give him that. Like this little tomcat.
“Hola” from el gato!
The Cat WhispererThis gorgeous tabby belongs to the restaurant’s next door neighbour.
He stares at my husband in quiet awe.Pose pretty for the camera, sweet boy. x
So even though I remain unapologetic and consider myself as devoted to cats as he is, and I worry more about the ones we leave behind, I wonder why they always give him the lion’s share of attention. Even the Spanish ones.
What do you think? Say anything, but please don’t call me a crazy cat lady!
“Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author’s words reverberating in your head.”
― Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies
Ah… the written word. It has been my truest passion since my chubby little hands first held a book and my eager, unfledged mind tried to unlock the enchantment within its pages.
As I know it is with many of you, reading since childhood has taken me everywhere, through experiences and adventures in exotic lands beyond my horizon, and all the way back to the charm – or heartbreak – of a domestic story around the corner.
Books have allowed me to journey along with colourful, unforgettable characters, to get inside their minds, to live other, more fascinating lives. And between the lines, some books have given me truthful and enlightening glimpses of myself, that I may never have learned otherwise.
Reading at Poolside
Our book cluboffering this month,The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, found its way with me to sunny Cuba last week, a key item among my accoutrements, and a vital part of my prescription for R and R. To me, bringing along good reading material on a holiday is arguably more important than bringing along my husband my camera. Hmm. Of course, if I hadn’t had a camera, you wouldn’t be looking at my sun-starved knees right now. 😉
In our rapidly changing world of hurried living, instant technology, and short attention spans, has the enjoyment of full-length books fallen by the wayside? Certainly not for this blogger. Even if you are clutching an e-reader, as I witnessed with many fellow vacationers, you are my kind of people.
You are the kind of people who would probably love and identify with these other delicious author quotes I found on the love of reading.
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” ― Jorge Luis Borges
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“The world was hers for the reading.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
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“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” ― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish
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“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
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“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ― Cicero
Do you always pack a book or two when you travel? Or does a good read have the ability to take you away no matter where you are, even from your couch or in your own garden? Come, bookworms, share your thoughts!
My One-Year-Old Daughter and Me
Denise at Six Years Old
Bachelor of Nursing Graduate
Her Beautiful Family
Jennifer's Journal 