One year ago today, on New Year’s Eve, 2011, I started this blog, Jennifer’s Journal. And as I mentioned in the very first post, Follow the Yellow Brick Road, I had no idea where my blog would take us. So here is what I found out.
1. I didn’t know I would have the resolve to faithfully post to my blog a little more than once a week on average. WordPress, being the best blogging site – in my opinion – had a lot to do with my enthusiasm.
2. I didn’t know I would be taking my visitors and followers on a pictorial journey of our 2011 trip to Italy and France. Nor did I know that one of these installments,
“Scenes From Italy – Part Three: Siena and Florence, Tuscany” would consistently be my most visited post, from all around the world!
3. I hadn’t made plans yet to take a Spring vacation in Florida, with my husband and my daughter and her family. My photo album from that trip,
“For the Young, & the Young at Heart: Disney’s Magic Kingdom“, would garner a record of 449 views on May 8th, the most views I had in one day.
4. I wasn’t fully aware of how beautiful it actually is where I live, here in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, until I read your lovely comments on my local photographic efforts. 🙂 “Autumn Walk on the East Coast” was a particular favourite.
5. I came to learn how the poems, musings, and photographs of my grandchildren would be a popular subject for many!
7. I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of support my blog received, as I was losing my mother. I cannot fully express what a source of comfort those caring comments were, and still are.
8. I didn’t know I was going to publish sixteen of my poems, and that I would be proud of them. 🙂
9. I wasn’t sure (but I am pleased I did) that I would keep my resolution to start writing a novel, and am now starting Chapter Six of the first draft. My post about it, Then You Must Write It, would be one my most popular blog posts, generating many of your comments.
10. Novel writing or not, I love my blog as the vehicle of self-expression it has turned out to be, and I will continue to update it in 2013. Connecting with many of you and making new friends is one of the best advantages of blogging.
So, let me say to all of my followers and visitors from sixty-six countries, a GIANT THANK YOU! And a Happy New Year to you all. 🙂
Well, what do you know? WordPress.com prepared a 2012 annual report for my blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.
Silly statistic, isn’t it? But don’t let that stop you:
This Friday, my husband and I are going to town to spend a few days caring for our two little grandchildren. Allowing L and J’s hardworking parents to go off on a private weekend and enjoy some time by themselves has become a little tradition for us, a tradition we happily and gratefully accept.
We look forward to taking them on a couple of outings, one of which will be to buy a Christmas present for a needy child and putting it under the Happy Tree at the mall. Some visits with family, a Santa Claus Parade, and the obligatory games and bedtime stories will ensure lots of fun-filled moments for the children and grandparents alike.
This weekend couldn’t come at a better time for me. Spending time with my sweet little ones is just the diversion I need right now, a breath of fresh air that will help me regroup, regain focus, and get back to my normal life. There’s this novel I started writing last month that I had no other choice but to put aside due to my recent loss, but it is back on the agenda this week, I am pleased to say.
Here are just a few photos I selected from fun times we had with L and J, over the past year.
Four more sleeps, kids! Your Nanny and Poppy can’t wait. 🙂
Come along with me as I revisit my community’s Living Heritage Village. It is a major tourist attraction in this part of our province, providing a historical look back at the old days for our visitors, and seasonal employment for some of our locals.
Templeman House, a registered heritage homeTempleman plaqueBenjamin Barbour House
The heritage homes also boast a treasure trove of antiques and other artifacts.
I just love this doorFishing StageFishing Supply BuildingAlphaeus Barbour House
SchoolhouseOld Shoppe restaurantSt. Luke’s Anglican Church is also a living heritage siteThe church received the Southcott Award, for preservation of Newfoundland and Labrador’s architectural heritage.
During the summer, the Village provides guided tours by staff in period costumes, as well as dinner theatre and concerts in the buildings I have shown here. Also featured are a craft shop, art gallery, tea room, and a restaurant.
So if you are ever in my area, do drop in and check it out. For more info, visit the website: www.barbour-site.com
I am happy to introduce a guest blogger on Jennifer’s Journal this week. Please welcome Vivian K. Perry, a very dear friend of mine who also happens to be, um, feline.
Vivian K. Perry
Greetings, humans! I am thrilled to be given this opportunity today on WordPress to share some photos, and a few things about myself.
To be honest, I think Jennifer is allowing me to host today to make up for shrieking at me last week, when I brought a mouse in the house. It was a gift, after all, so instead of screaming bloody (mousey) murder, shouldn’t she have been grateful to receive a trophy of my hunting prowess? Especially since I brought it home to her, and dropped it in the hallway – STILL ALIVE? You try to do something nice, but you are only misunderstood…
Actually, I enjoy a lovely life here with Jennifer, her husband, and my sister and womb-mate, Maisie.
Up until two summers ago, we all lived in the city. It was okay, but my sister and I were not allowed outside by ourselves because of all the traffic in our neighbourhood, and the danger to us that it entailed. So when we moved to the country, imagine our delight to be free to explore the great outdoors!
We can now come and go as we please, chase birds, butterflies and rodents, and savour the lifestyle we had only dreamed about in our former life.
Just last month, Maisie and I celebrated our fifth birthday. Here is what we looked like when we were adopted from the SPCA:
Gosh, I was cute..
Even though we are sisters, Maisie and I are different in many ways. (Some people don’t know that kittens from the same litter can have different fathers; did you? I think that is what happened with us.) Maisie is smaller, and very much on the quiet side…
…while I am larger, quite vocal and in-your-face.
I am truly a Social Animal who adores human relationships and have been known to be exceedingly dog-like. I’ll follow you, talk to you, keep you company, sleep with you, and never, ever let you get lonely.
Working with Paul
Going swimming?
I’ll watch!
In fact, the other day, I went next door to visit our neighbour Ben. I simply walked in, meowed at everyone, ventured upstairs, and enjoyed a nap on his bed. No invitation necessary!
Many people think that a cat is a cat is a cat. But I’m here today to dispel that assumption. I am not aloof. I don’t scratch, bite or hiss at people. I can be very friendly with just about anyone.
And even though I do catch mice, and perhaps meow a little too loudly, I am as loyal and loving as any dog.
Just ask Jennifer.
* This blog post was since selected for publication in BBooks – Blog Books, an online magazine!
Disclaimer: the following rant is in no way intended to minimize or satirize the very serious issue of racism in our world today. It was conceived with tongue firmly in cheek and for entertainment purposes only… sort of.
Are you tired of hearing countless dog lovers dissing cats as a matter of course? Have you grown weary, as I have, of people professing to be proud animal owners, and yet they sh*t on the existence of my beloved pets? I swear, if I hear one more dog owner claiming that dogs are the superior pet, I’m going to start the meanest cat-fight you have ever witnessed.
Don’t get me wrong. I love dogs. I adore dogs. I have owned dogs myself in the past, but right now my life is more suited for the feline variety of pets, due in part to their low maintenance, but also because of the compatibility of our personalities. We are quiet, for the most part, and slightly aloof. We are independent. We keep ourselves clean. And we love each other unconditionally, and pine for each other when we’re apart. ( But I’m getting off track here with my cat love. I am head over heels about horses too, but can in no way accommodate one in my life at this time either.)
Even media personalities are hopping on the “dogs and dog-people are best” bandwagon, spouting their prejudices like it’s something to be proud of. But folks, just because your opinion is popular doesn’t make it right. It makes you sound like you have succumbed to a form of speciesism. Besides, you hardly ever hear cat owners/lovers badmouthing dogs, the way so many dog owners/lovers badmouth cats.
Where is the tolerance? What happened to the idea of Live and Let Live? Can we not embrace all animals for their individuality and wonderfulness? I’ll even go out on a limb here and say it is comparable to the ignorance of a person saying he loves mankind, but in no way can he tolerate foreigners. It just doesn’t make any sense, like so many other kinds of prejudice ( and don’t get me started on that).
Can we not all embrace each other for our differences and uniqueness, and just get along?
Meet the little fellow who happens to own a giant chunk of my heart. At just four years of age, “J” is the youngest person in my family, and in my life.
In many ways, my grandson J is your typical little boy. He likes to do the things his dad does, which includes everything from working on the car..
…to collecting Star Wars figurines! And like most little boys, J loves to get up close and personal with wiggly, wriggly things.
Usually our little man doesn’t mind getting his picture taken…
..but not always. 🙂
When I go to visit my little grandson, at first he is usually very shy, and his first instinct is to hide behind his mother’s legs. Then out of the blue, he suddenly runs toward me, barreling into my waist with the sweetest, strongest hug! What makes a four-year-old boy do that?
He makes me think that I must be a pretty good grandma, and that he knows I adore him. But I bet he hasn’t any idea just how much. ♥
Hmm…this perspective is making me thirsty.
Also in Montreal, I spotted these ladies. I just love them.
Swimming in Florida. Multiples come in actual human form too, of course.
Jennifer's Journal 