Tag: advice

How to Use Nature to Connect with Your Grandkids

Published on by J. Kelland Perry34 Comments

Today’s post is brought to you by my guest, author Susan Day.

Photo by Fay on Unsplash

Spending time with your grandchildren is one of the best things you can do for them, and for you too, for that matter.

Sure, kids love gifts and candy, and they get really excited about going to a theme park or spending time with their friends. However, there is a secret world which exists right outside the window and one which has a powerful allure. I’m referring to nature.

Nature offers an endless array of beauty and wonder, and for the most part it’s free and easy to access. Taking your grandchildren outdoors is a great way to build a strong connection with them. Just spending time and ‘being’ with children is important for their wellbeing.

Some children don’t get outdoors enough, and the simple act of wandering along the street, running at the park or tramping through the beach sand is an experience they are sadly missing out on.

Ignite a Sense of Curiosity

Research tells us that curious kids are intelligent kids. The more questions they ask, the more their minds grow and develop.

Nature has a bounty of things to be curious about. You could literally spend hours outside with your grandchildren exploring, and you don’t have to live near a forest or a beach to enjoy nature either. It’s in your yard, in your neighbor’s yard, at your local park, or any place a tree is growing and the birds are singing.

Do your grandkids know where bees go, and what they are doing buzzing around those flowers? Do they know why some birds migrate, and others live in the same area all their lives?

Point Out the Beauty in Small Objects

Each time your grandchildren come to visit, make a point of taking them outside and showing them something nature is doing. It might be new buds on the tree or the color autumn leaves are turning.

How many people rush through their busy days, not noticing subtle changes happening around them? Isn’t there something magnificent about the way birds take off or the way clouds move across the sky?

“Isn’t that interesting…” you might begin to say, and then point out an aspect of nature that is happening right under their very noses.

Look at a Leaf

What shape is it? Does it have any spots or spines? Compare it to another leaf from a plant that is growing close by. What things are similar? What are different? You could also begin a leaf scrap-book and share details of trees and shrubs that live in your area.

Analyse an Ant

Who doesn’t love bugs? Well, most adults don’t find them interesting, but kids love ’em! Bugs, beetles, aphids, and ants are like miniature dinosaurs or creatures from outer space living in our backyards. Without interfering with their busy lives, make a point of sharing these remarkable creatures with your grandchild.

Marvel at Moths

Moths, butterflies and dragonflies all go about their daily lives in nearly every place on earth, living in the most amazing ways.

Your grandchildren will love to learn about them. They will enjoy the wonder nature has to offer through your eyes, and come to a deeper understanding of how remarkable the world really is.

“I’d Rather Watch TV, Grandma!”

Nature has a way of going about its business whether we are watching or not, and all the while our televisions and devices are nagging us to watch and engage.

You may find your grandchildren are not used to examining nature in so much detail. They may not understand what you are getting at, but one thing is for sure: they won’t forget the time you have spent with them and how important nature was to you. It is a privilege to be able to see what nature is doing, and stand in awe of what it will do next.

What child doesn’t deserve to be introduced to all of this wondrous world?

No doubt your grandkids will grow and mature, and will find themselves stopping to admire a flower or cloud patterns. They will turn to a friend, their partner or even their own children, and share memories they have of you and how you introduced them to one of the most magnificent things on this planet – nature.

About Susan Day

Susan Day is a passionate author, educator and, of course, a grandmother. She wants to empower all grandparents to build meaningful relationships with their grandchildren. Discover here the Top 10 Things Happy Grandparents Never Regret Doing.

Susan lives in Australia with four dogs, three bossy cats, two rescue guinea pigs, and an errant kangaroo.

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Interested in sharing one of your original articles as a guest? Feel free to submit your ideas to jennifer@jenniferkellandperry.com. Preference is given to topics relevant to my blog, such as books, writing, nature, photography, travel, children and pets. – Jennifer

The Marathon of Novel-Writing

Published on by J. Kelland Perry7 Comments

I’m guest-posting on A Writer’s Path today, sharing my experiences as a novelist.

Come on over for a visit and check it out!

The Marathon of Novel-Writing

Sunday Snap: Play*

Published on by J. Kelland Perry21 Comments

*Sunday Snap is a brand new feature on my blog, starting today. Drop by every Sunday to see which favourite photo I’ve chosen to highlight. 🙂

Blogger Bouquet #47

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

Kristine over at candidkay is a journalist, marketing exec and mother of two.
From her About page:

“I write about life as I know it. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious. But always interesting.”

Kristine recently shared “one small slice of life on a Sunday afternoon that deserves a bit of limelight.” And I wholeheartedly agree. When you are part of a two-household family and you realize that an important lesson in values – namely, kindness to others – has gotten through to your child, it gives you pause to be thankful for good role models.

“Oh, waitress”

Comments are closed here but you can leave a comment on the blogger’s page.

Have a great week, everyone.
❤

Blogger Bouquet #46

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

D. Wallace Peach (aka Diana) is a delightful blogger and fantasy writer that I’ve discovered only recently and am now following.

From her Myths of the Mirror blog About page:

“I didn’t care for reading as a child – I preferred Bonanza and Beverly Hillbillies reruns, Saturday morning cartoons and the Ed Sullivan show.
Then one day, I opened a book titled The Hobbit.

Tolkien … literally changed my life.”

Seeing as I’m taking a short break from my own blog for the next couple of weeks, I’m highlighting a timely post of Diana’s today where she asks: “How does anyone keep up with blogging and not burn out?” Check out the useful tips and tricks she shares in the link below.

The Benefits of a Blogging Break

Comments are closed here but you can leave a comment on the blogger’s page.

Have a restful weekend, everyone.
See you all in August!
❤

Completing My First Draft: Three Things I’ve Learned*

Published on by J. Kelland Perry11 Comments

Besides being featured on Jill Weatherholt’s blog yesterday, I also guest posted on The Writer’s Path to share one of my articles on writing fiction.

It was interesting to look back on this post because I wrote it before either of my books were published. Still, I believe the concepts hold true and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Completing My First Draft: Three Things I’ve Learned

*Originally posted on Sept. 6, 2013 on jenniferkellandperry.com

Guest Post: EuroTrip Planner – When to Go and What to See

Published on by J. Kelland Perry23 Comments

With my eye on a trip to England next year, I am sharing a guest post by lifestyle blogger, Marie Nieves, who gives some practical advice on planning a European adventure.

I am also welcoming other guest posts on the topic, primarily about travel to the United Kingdom and nearby countries. Please send your guest post ideas to: jennifer@jenniferkellandperry.com.

Take it away, Marie!

EuroTrip Planner: When to Go and What to See

 Europe, Source

Having a tour through Europe is always a great idea. However, if you would like to explore Europe, there are a number of things to consider beforehand. First of all, you should know that regardless of how long your trip lasts, it will not be enough to see everything you want. What you need is to make a plan of your trip in a way that you can make the most of the time you have. Doing this is often difficult as you need to be realistic, but at the same time trying to meet all the expectations regarding the trip. I’m here to help you do that!

When?

There are three main traveling seasons in Europe. They are called high, low and shoulder seasons. The first one is from June until August, the second one is November to April, and the Shoulder seasons are April to June, and September to November. Choose the season depending on your preferences since it will have a major effect on your trip. If you can stand the heat, the high season is great for you. However, if you prefer traveling when temperatures are lower, some other seasons may work better in your case.

Packing

Since you’ll be visiting many countries, and therefore changing locations frequently, I advise you not to bring a lot of luggage. This may or may not be possible depending on how long you’re staying, but try to bring only your essentials. You need money, passport, phone, camera and something to wear. Don’t stock up on anything since you’ll be able to buy things along the way.

Metro, Source

Accommodation

This can be tricky. Perhaps you can choose a country which will be your base and then have excursions from there. For example, you can choose England as a base. If you’d like to stay in a hotel, Tavistock House has great reviews. You can also choose the Oceanic Hotel in Falmouth or the Grasmere Hotel. On the other hand, if you prefer to save a few bucks, there are great offers for shared accommodation in England. One suggestion would be to book a hotel at your primary location in advance and find accommodation for your excursions on the go. Keep track of offers before and during your trip to get the best price for a stay in other countries, as well as to keep your routing options open.

Excursions

Depending on how you structure your trip, you will set the time for exploring England and other countries. It’s all about maximizing your performance during the time given. That is why enticing canal cruises in England are a convenient way to see several different cities such as London, Reading, Windsor and Oxford.  You will surely enjoy cruising along the River Thames and admiring the scenery you pass by. As far as other countries are concerned, the good thing is that it’s really easy to travel by plane from England to any European country. The connections are excellent, so you can go anywhere you want.

River Thames, Source

If this is your first trip to Europe, I recommend sticking with just a few countries. For instance, visit France, Italy and Germany from England. See the capitals and all the main places in these countries. Try the local cuisine, walk down the streets and breathe the air and atmosphere of each city you visit. Give yourself enough time to really experience every country. It’s better to stick with just a few of them rather than try to visit as many as possible and end up confused and exhausted. European trips should be done this way, in stages. Every time you visit, you’ll have a completely different experience!

About the author

Marie Nieves is a lifestyle blogger who loves unusual trips, gadgets and creative ideas. On her travels, she likes to read poetry and prose and to surf the Internet. Her favourite writer is Tracy Chevalier and she always carries one of her books in her bag. Most of her free time at home she spends walking her Labrador Retriever named Max. She is an avid lover of photography who loves to talk about her experiences. You can find Marie on Facebook or follow her on Twitter and Pinterest.

How To Boost Your Blog Using Social Media

Published on by J. Kelland Perry36 Comments
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https://pixabay.com/p-488886

Social media is here to stay, and cannot be ignored as a way to network. By connecting you with millions of users around the world, it is the perfect marketing tool – although many of us are still working out how to get the most out of it.

For blogging, it is one of the best tools you can use to increase your readership. Share your blog posts on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll immediately notice the increase in visitors – but that’s only the first step to using social media to boost your blog. By using social media to its full potential, you can transform your small, seldom-visited site into a buzzing blog with an avid community of readers.

Which types of Social Media are best suited to you?

There are many social networks, to all of which you can sign up, although in most cases certain ones will be better suited to the theme of your blog – the ones where you should put the bulk of your focus.

No blog can do harm from having a Facebook and Twitter page. These are the biggest social networks, appealing to almost every audience. You can create a Facebook and a Twitter page separate from your personal pages – and invite all your friends and family to like and follow.

Other social networks may be better suited to specific kinds of blogs. If you own a cookery blog, Instagram could be a great way to share pictures of your foodie creations, although not so suitable if you own a business advice blog (for this kind of blog, a site like LinkedIn would be more appropriate for promotion).

Automate Content Sharing

Once you have social media pages, the best practice is to automate your blog posts so that as soon as you publish them, they automatically share on social media (easier than having to manually post them each time). There are many social media automation programs that can do this, although WordPress users can use its built-in automation tool.

Add Social Media Sharing Buttons

Next, you should add social media sharing buttons to your blog, so that people who stumble across your posts can become regular followers. You can get sharing buttons for Facebook and Twitter. These require you to embed a code into your blog – there are sites that tell how to do this if you are unsure. Make sure that the share button is somewhere clear where readers can see it, such as the top of your blog’s homepage. 

Build up Likes and Follows

As already discussed, you should invite your friends and family to like and follow your social media pages. The more likes and follows you have, the more official your blog will appear. If you have a music blog that reviews bands, or a make-up blog that reviews cosmetics, contact the artists and brands that you positively review and get them to like and share. You can also join community groups and forums to gain followers.

Hashtags

Hashtags were made popular on Twitter, but have recently moved onto Facebook and Instagram. On Twitter and Instagram, you can use them to relate your posts to a theme so that others searching that theme will find your posts. It’s a great way of connecting to trends such as #catsofinstagram or #photooftheday or #music, although in each case your hashtag should relate to the post and not merely be annoying spam.

You can also use hashtags to create your own trending topics and to categorize posts. A music blog might create a #newmusicfriday hashtag to make people aware that it blogs about new music every Friday. If your blog covers multiple themes, you could separate each post with an easily identifiable label in the form of a hashtag, such as #travel or #tech. Note that tweets with hashtags ordinarily earn twice as many likes as those without, although more than two hashtags can have the opposite effect (lesson to self)!

Run Ads

You can run an ad on Facebook for your page or for an individual post. The promotional ad will appear on timelines around the world, alerting other Facebook accounts to your blog. Ads can also be run on other social media sites. You will often be asked about the demographic in which you wish to target your ad, so make sure that it is one that is likely to engage with the content of your blog.

Network with other Blog Owners

The best bloggers read other people’s blogs. Find a blog that you like and become a familiar reader by following their social media pages and regularly liking and sharing. You can also use social media to directly message other blog owners and offer the opportunity of cross-promotion. You could write guest blogs on one another’s blogs, share each other’s social media pages or endorse each other on LinkedIn. With many blog owners already doing it, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask.

Repost

Don’t just post new content – give new readers a chance to see your old content too, by reposting it on social media. You can use automation tools to do this or manually choose and repost yourself at your leisure. Sometimes an old post may link in with a current trend. For example, a political or social issue that you blogged about might suddenly link in with current news events, or a product you reviewed may have suddenly found mass attention somewhere. Seasonal posts related to Christmas, Valentine’s day or Halloween can be reposted year-in-year-out, as they will always be relevant. Obviously, the more content you have, the more you have to repost.

Bloggers: do you have any other tips and tricks for boosting your blog?

Blogger Bouquet #41

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

blogger bouquet spring

Audrey Kalman is one of several experienced writers I follow here on WordPress.

From her About page:

I have been writing professionally for more than 35 years. I published newspaper and magazine articles in the days when such things still involved ink on paper, wrote a database how-to book when such things were popular, and now offer writing and editing services as a consultant.”

In the following post, Audrey shares her reasons for writing in a 12-point list, which she says are “perfect for matching up one with each month of the new year…whether you are a writer or not.”
I think I will refer to this list when I need extra motivation and inspiration to continue in the pursuit of “the solitary, frustrating, and often painful occupation of writing.”

My Top 12 For 2017

Comments are closed here but you can leave a comment on the blogger’s page.

Have a great weekend, everyone!
❤

Great Gift Ideas on a Small Budget

Published on by J. Kelland Perry15 Comments

There is satisfaction in settling on the perfect gift – something that shows how well you know the recipient and how much you care about your relationship with them. And contrary to what advertisers will tell you, you don’t have to drop loads of cash to find the right present. In fact, the most meaningful gifts are often the ones that cost less money, but take a little more thought, time, and creativity.

Check out this list of gift ideas that tug at the heartstrings while giving your wallet a much-needed rest.

Poetic License

Express how you feel about the recipient with a poem or quote (you can use someone else’s, but please give them credit). Write it on heavy cardstock in your prettiest handwriting and frame it. Even if you’ve never crafted before, there’s lots of inspiration to be found online.

dinner-meal-table-wine
(Photo)

Dinner Party for Two (or More)

You don’t have to be a master chef to make a delicious, inexpensive meal. Look up some recipes and whip up a loved one’s favorite meal and dessert. For an extra festive touch, deck the table with Christmas decor items from your local thrift store.

Personalized Playlist or “Mixtape”

Burn a CD of songs that mean something to you and the recipient, make nifty cover art with an easy-to-use template, and print out a track listing.

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Movie Night – Their Choice

Invite that special someone over for a movie marathon – they get to choose the flicks. Make awesome snacks, munch, laugh, discuss, enjoy, repeat.

Say That Again?

Choose a quotation that means something to your friend or loved one, or is significant to your relationship, and get it lettered on a cool print.

Make It Snappy

Print photos from a trip or an event, or order pictures of you and the gang, or the family. In a world of online selfies and digital photo albums, a tangible memento has special cachet.

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Bargain Bag

Searching Amazon for “cheap stuff” returns a treasure trove of fun gifts. Do your part to help a loved one get goofy and playful with a bundle of goodies they might not buy themselves! Need some ideas? A vintage owl pendant, ‘80’s Style Wayfarer Sunglasses, The New York Times Light & Easy Crossword Puzzles, and the game Set totals less than $19.

Selecting the perfect gifts for your loved ones is often tough, we all know that firsthand. But if you can come up with heartfelt presents, they will earn you mistletoe merriment and possibly save you money in the bargain!

Do you have any clever and inexpensive gift ideas or online gift sites to share?