“If baking is any labor at all, it’s a labor of love. A love that gets passed from generation to generation.”
~ Regina Brett
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Our little baker girl at two years old:
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And here she is at nine years. Where has the time gone?
Our boy is turning SEVEN on Saturday.
Can’t wait to see you on the weekend, my treasures. xo
❤
“Grandchildren are one of the sweetest rewards for raising a family.”
~ J. Kelland Perry
❤
Weekly Photo Challenge: Reward
What does reward mean to you?
A departure from my usual “pat on the back” of fellow bloggers, I found this quote recently and it made an impression on me – as did its author.
“I am an optimist, and I believe that people are inherently good and that if you give everyone a voice and freedom of expression, the truth and the good will outweigh the bad.”
– Matt Mullenweg, founder and CEO, Automattic and WordPress Developer
Matthew Mullenweg, born January 11, 1984 in Houston, Texas, is an online social media entrepreneur, web developer, philanthropist, and musician. He is best known for developing the free and open source web software WordPress, now managed by The WordPress Foundation.
After dropping out of college and working at CNET Networks from 2004 to 2005, Mullenweg quit that job and founded Automattic, the business behind WordPress.com, Akismet, Gravatar, VaultPress, IntenseDebate, Polldaddy, and more. In December 2012, Mullenweg was listed in 2012 Forbes’s 30 Under 30 in Media. His professional blog is ma.tt, a domain hack. ~ Wikipedia
Matt lives in San Francisco, California. His hobbies include photography and music. He turns 31 on Sunday.
*Photo from WordCamp San Francisco 2014 taken by Sheri Bigelow (ma.tt)
“Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose.
Anything else is a form of slavery.” ~ Wayne Dyer
How do you picture freedom?
One sunny afternoon last month, we accompanied friends aboard the Virtue, their Beneteau 400 sailing vessel.
We were only too happy to share in the enjoyment of the October sea and sky.
“Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
“I never get tired of the blue sky.” – Vincent Van Gogh
“Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll… Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops with the shore.” – Lord Byron
“Long may your big jib draw.” – legendary Newfoundland saying meaning good wishes for the future
“I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.” – Alaine Gerbault
“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”
– Arthur C. Clarke
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
– William Arthur Ward
“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.” – Buddha
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau
“I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.” – John Masefield
Have you ever gone sailing on a beautiful day such as this?
Good day, my friends and fellow felines. Vivian K. Perry here, returning as guest host on Jennifer’s Journal.
Jennifer caught me unawares one morning last week, indulging in a wonderfully delicious cat nap. These pics she took make me wonder: do humans dream the same as I do?
Jennifer says I get twitchy at times when I sleep, where my paws seem to act out the dream-movie playing in my head. In the dream-movie, I might be chasing a shrew or a mouse, or I could be trying to catch up to Paul on a walk.
I wonder, is it the cat version of REM sleep? Except it’s RPM sleep – short for “Rapid Paw Movement”?
I think the camera captured me here resting up for another night of fun and frolic. While the weather is still mild, Maisie and I enjoy napping for most of the day, so we can return to our wild, nocturnal adventures as the moon rises and darkness descends…
…then we pad back home at the break of dawn to stir the house with urgent meows and vibrating purrs.
Time to get up and fill our bowls, humans!
“How nice it is to think that feline dreams, like our own, are painted with creative brush strokes from time to time. Perhaps my cats and I even share the same dream…where every cat has a safe, warm place to sleep.” ~ Barbara L. Diamond
“I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can play together all night.” ~ Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes)
Before I sign off of course, Jennifer insists I include a sleeping Maisie in my post:
Wishing you all – and my dear sister – the sweetest of dreams! ♥
Further Reading:
Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Dreamy
I Dream – a poem by Jennifer
I have been a loyal follower of The Mad Hooligan Chronicles for nearly as long as I’ve been blogging. It went through a metamorphosis last year, and changed its name from the original, The Howling Mad Cat.
When HMC (Howling Mad Cat) departed for Kitty Cat Heaven at the ripe old age of 21, shortly after Ellie adopted two new cats by the names of Kobi and Bobo, and the Mad Hooligans blog was born.
Along with the adorably candid photos, Ellie treats us with three quotes to ponder, which relate to the topic of each of her posts.
From their profile:
“Verily I say unto you: Ye shall have two cats, and they will cause havoc amongst the household.”
At http://howlingmadcat.wordpress.com/.
A light-hearted read to brighten your day, I suggest you take a look at yesterday’s entry. You just may hit the follow button too:
Comments are closed here in hopes you will comment on their site.
Have a good weekend, everyone. ❤
As the last tranquil days of summer disappear, I am drawn to the warmth of the sandy beaches that encircle Perry’s Point.
For a few moments, I can almost forget colder days are approaching…
“To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.”
~ William Blake
It’s good to see that the beach birds are still around.
The sandpipers and plovers seem to be in no hurry to wing their way south for the winter.
“The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.” ~ Charles Darwin
Thank you for stopping by to enjoy the beach with me, and Summer’s last hurrah. 🙂
Has Fall arrived where you live?
“If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere.”
~ Vincent van Gogh
There is something about this time of year, before the advent of autumn, that I love about life on Perry’s Point.
Unconventional to say the least, my backyard here in Newfoundland has no fences, save for one side shared with our neighbour.
One day last week I got out early with my camera, hoping to capture the soft morning light.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
~ Albert Einstein
Join me next Monday for: My “Backyard”- Part 2: The Beach
As I await responses from various publishers on my novel queries, I’ve been reading reams of info on the publishing world. Learning what to expect in terms of selling your work can make you wonder if it’s worth it at times, when you think of all the love and effort you put into your project.
If there is one tidbit of advice I keep reading, it’s that you better be in it for the enjoyment and satisfaction of writing, and not for making a ton of money, or even a living. But that’s a topic for a future post.
I wanted to share this book list with you. It may give you more incentive to keep striving for that goal, to get your own work in print.
All of these ten wonderful works of fiction, are, of course, bestsellers. Some of them even won the Nobel and/or the Pulitzer Prize.
But what is most interesting and inspirational to me about this list is this: they were all first novels. Yes, that’s right, these were debut novels that were wildly successful, and in fact there are many more ( I shortened the list). The older classics are known to still sell thousands of copies a year.
And many of them were rejected by numerous publishers before ultimately being signed.
As an example, Kim Edwards found great success with her first novel The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, the last one on my list, and the second to most recent I’ve read on the list. Published in 2005, it made it to #1 on USA Today’s list of bestselling books. As a result, in 2006 USA Today chose her novel as the Book of the Year. As they put it:
Book clubs and word of mouth helped send The Memory Keeper’s Daughter to Kite Runner heights, and once you’ve read this heart wrenching story, it’s easy to understand why it has connected with millions of readers.
On a stormy winter’s night in the 1960s, a doctor delivers his own twins. One is a perfect son; the other is a daughter with Down syndrome. He tells his wife the little girl died, and his lie reverberates across the years and affects every character.
Prepare for tear-blotched pages and a redemptive, hopeful ending that makes the tears easier to bear.”
I loved that book and loved finding out it was a first novel. So take heart, burgeoning writers. Perhaps your debut novel will make money. And if the stars align, perhaps it could be added to this list before long. Wouldn’t that be a dream realized? Stories like these are what keep me hopeful in selling and promoting my work.
You miss 100% of the shots you didn’t take. ~ Wayne Gretzky
What keeps you optimistic in your writing life?
In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~ Albert Schweitzer
Nearly twenty years ago, I met my person. He came into my life at a time my “inner fire” had gone out, at a time I didn’t think I would ever be truly happy again. He gave me back my smile, made me believe in myself, and has been my best friend ever since.
Sixteen years ago today, I married him.
Thank you, Paul, for everything you do for me, everything you mean to me, and everything you are. I love you. Happy Anniversary to the man who rekindled my inner spirit and will always be the love of my life.
Do you have a special person in your life you are grateful for?
* Friday Bouquet will return next week
Jennifer's Journal 