All Things Newtown

Aerial View of Perry's Point
Aerial View of Perry’s Point – photo credit: Winston Perry, 2018

As Newfoundland and Labrador prepares to reopen to Canadian travellers under our province’s Together Again Plan, I thought it might be a good time to share the All Things Newtown links from my blog. With everything from our sandy beaches, a harp seal whitecoat, to our Heritage Fishing Village, and—yes of course, Perry’s Point!—there’s plenty to read about and tons of photos to enjoy.

Ten Years in This Old House

The Old and the New

Buoys of Summer

Skipper Alex

Fringe

Summer Evening

Found Art in Driftwood

Lots of Winter Ahead Yet, But…

First Snowfall (and Fun Neighbours)

Happy Thanksgiving, Fellow Canadians

Summer’s End

A New Perspective – Aerial View of Perry’s Point, Newtown

Where Once They Lived: The Beothuk of Perry’s Point

Butterflies and Daisies

Sunday Snap(s): Neighbours

Pages From The Past: Moving to Newtown

Sunday Snap: Old

Flippery Friend

Concerned: Part Two

Sunday Snapshot: Concerned

Sunday Snapshot: Whitecoat

Barbour Tickle

Daily Prompt: Impression

Spring and a Special Remembrance

Video: Out and About with Vivian

Vivian’s View From Here: Window Cats

Arrival of Winter & New Horizons

A Murder on Perry’s Point!

Fun, Sun, Sand and Smiles

Meanwhile, in Newfoundland…

My Buttercup Runneth Over

Vivian’s View From Here: On the Prowl

Photo Challenge: Calm

Early Rise

Vivian’s View From Here: Weekend Blizzard

Luminous

Happy Place Haiku

Forces of Nature

Belonging

Winter’s Glaze

January Blue

My Backyard Part 1

My Backyard Part 2 – The Beach

Weekly Photo Challenge – Threes

Still

Beach Golf, Anyone?

Ripples

A Winter Visitor

Heritage Fishing Village

Autumn Walk on the East Coast

Canada Day Weekend

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Like to see other local posts? Check out the link below to my blog’s Newfoundland and Labrador page, where I share my photos and articles from all around our beautiful province:

Newfoundland and Labrador

Here’s to seeing lots of (vaccinated) Canadian tourists this summer! ☀️

Perry’s Point, August 2020

Sunday Snap: Open

jenniferkellandperry.com

“Spring: the music of open windows.” ~ Terri Guillemets

Photo Challenge: Open

Vivian’s View From Here: A Little Help From My Friends

Hey peeps and pets! Vivian K. Perry here, guest hosting for Jennifer today.

Since my last post, my humans have noticed something about me. It seems I’ve gained a new appreciation and affection for the other “critters” around my house. Most likely it’s because I’m craving the companionship of my peers, so to speak. I guess I still miss my sister Maisie who had always been a part of my life since we were womb-mates. I can hardly believe it’s been nearly a year since we said our goodbyes.

Maisie

The first new friend my humans noticed was this stuffed doggie on the spare bed. All of a sudden I’d started taking naps with him.

And this past Easter, I took a noticeable shine to the bunny on our entertainment stand. Jennifer told me she’s made an appearance every spring since I’ve been born, but this is the first year I made her my buddy. While the humans watch TV, I’m usually sprawled out here next to her. Although Easter has passed, my bunny gets to stay.

Here’s another little pal. As much as I know my humans love me, I guess I need a few smaller friends to dote on. They don’t say much, but then, Maisie was pretty quiet too.

“Cats are mysterious; they have more on their minds than we could ever imagine.”
– Walter Scott

“You can’t ever be a cat owner; in the best of cases it allows you to be their companion.”
– Harry Swanson

Spring Trip Memories: 2019

Since we’ve been enduring day after day of rain, drizzle and fog here in Newfoundland—along with a touch of the white stuff yesterday—I thought it was high time to drag out photos from our last vacation off the island. Hard to believe it’s been almost two years since we flew to sunny Cuba for a week. 

The weather was particularly hot and humid this time, but we found ways to keep cool with the help of pools, shady spots, a la carte dining, and lots of cold drinks.

This cloud looked like a curtain being drawn over the resort. The inevitable shower was short, sweet, and refreshing.

The bus arrives for an afternoon excursion to the town of Varadero.

And no trip to Varadero would be complete without an al fresco meal at our favourite “restaurante.”
(Photos from a previous visit in the link below)

Who knows if we will ever see the Caribbean again?
At least we have the Memories!

More from Cuba: A Spanish Purr Sounds Just as Sweet

Road Trip 2: Beautiful Bonavista

Last weekend, Paul and I took another work trip, this time to the town of Bonavista. Thankfully, it was a much shorter drive than the last one—3.5 hours to our destination, compared to nearly 8 hours to St. Barbe and Flower’s Cove on the Northern Peninsula‘s Viking Trail, and we only needed to stayed one night instead of two.

And Spring happened! The weather was much nicer on our trip to Discovery Trail, although there was still plenty of snow around. We arrived at our Airbnb accommodations early on Saturday so Paul could get a jump on his work at the school there. Check out the beach home where we stayed:

The house was exceptionally clean, warm, and charming. I loved its shiplap walls and beadboard ceilings. The ceilings were low, though. I’ve never felt so tall in my life!

The next morning while Paul worked, I took a stroll around the block to see some heritage saltbox and vacation homes. The day was crisp, cool and gorgeous, and it was hard not to take too many pics.

Of special note: a “Seaside Loafers” bench, a potential fixer-upper, a fence made of branches, a seawall, and a family of Labradors.
This was our second visit to Bonavista. I blogged about our fall trip here. If you liked what you saw above, you’ll love the photos in that post. Was it really eight years ago??

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” -Henry Miller

Road Trip to the Great Northern Peninsula

Mountains around the Western Brook fiord

Last weekend I accompanied my husband on a work trip to the Great Northern Peninsula. Also known as the Viking Peninsula, it is a large rural area in western Newfoundland, located north of Gros Morne National Park and extending to L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, a former Viking settlement at its northern tip. The region is known for its Long Range Mountains, the most northern section of the Appalachians.

Both the park and the Viking settlement are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Having visited the region several times in summer, I was excited to travel to the west coast for my first opportunity to see the mountains covered in snow. Lucky timing too, as it’s been an odd winter. Most areas off the Avalon Peninsula didn’t get any amount of snow until late February and early March. Marble Mountain skiers didn’t hit the slopes until March 4th, due to lack of snow and the new Covid-19 variant. Strange times indeed!

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Paul’s work will soon take us to the lovely town of Bonavista, another locale I look forward to seeing in the off-season for the first time. Stay tuned for more photos! Perhaps they’ll be more spring-like.  🙂

Sunday Snap: Baby Picture

When I was a Kitten
Vivian

“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Photo Challenge: Off-Center

Sunday Snaps: Perspectives on Creativity

Do you agree with this quote?

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.”
~ Osho

But then, what of the following quote? Can a person who is low in spirit also be in love with life and create anything worthwhile?

“Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Many have theorized that there may be a correlation between sadness and creativity. Great talents such as Van Gogh and Virginia Woolf come to mind. The romantic poets described suffering as a precondition to writing anything of literary merit.

Angst has a creative upside! That said, I believe joy, heartache, or any strong emotion can stimulate creativity, just as one’s mindset can influence the mood of an artistic piece.

To look through the lens of a somber, troubled mind, one may imbue his or her own state of melancholy onto the subject. . .

Black and white image of Anglican church in Newtown, Newfoundland

. . . whereas, if the emotional perspective and attitude is lighthearted or happy, one might frame it in an entirely different light.

Anglican church in Newtown, Newfoundland framed by an outdoor bench in winter

Sadness and happiness are simply two sides of the creative coin.

Vivian’s View From Here: Puzzle Passion

Our cat Vivian lounging in a chairGreetings, peeps and pets!

Vivian K. Perry here again on my human’s blog with something to share with you. Jennifer has gotten a renewed hankering for jigsaw puzzles lately, which is all well and good, but I had to put my foot paw down after the last puzzle purchase.

Wolves in Spring

If she wanted to go with animals again, I demanded a change in species, preferably of the feline variety.

She delivered!

That’s more like it!

If my human continues to feed this rediscovered addiction of hers, I hope she finds a puzzle with domesticated little cats like me next. Or perhaps she can get a puzzle made from a blow-up of me! I’d be all over that one for sure.

Tiger Sanctuary

Passion for Puzzles Continues as Pandemic Plods On – CTV News

Sunday Snaps: Pink Clouds

“When we feel stuck, look at the sky. The clouds remind us that everything changes.” ~ unknown

Nancy Merrill’s Photo Challenge: Something Pretty
Photos taken June 26, 2020