Tag: family

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Tuesdays with Murphy: Sleeping with the Enemy

I have no idea why, but Joe Friday somehow grew wings and is flying to Halifax for a vacation. Who needs a vacation from paradise??? Anyway, while he’s gone, his little devon rex cat, Molly, will be our houseguest.

I was a little nervous about seeing Miss Molly – I met her when I first came to Ocean Delight, and she didn’t seem to like me much. I guess to something her size I seem big and scary – when Jerry and The Berry brought her home she snarled, growled, and hissed like a demon fresh out of hell. Thankfully, to know me is to love me, and my nonchalant demeanor won her over – as you can see, we’ve even taken a few close naps together. I’m a lover, not a fighter!

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

And speaking of another beautiful friendship, I love Jerry and I love his blog. If you do, too, this week is your last chance to vote for him for a TopBlog award. It’s easy to vote, no registration necessary – simply head over to this link and find his category on the bottom left, called Best Professional or Business Life Blog. I’d vote, but I think it’s only open to human citizens!

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More Joe Friday

You’ve heard us rave so much about Joe Friday that you’d be forgiven for thinking he can turn water into wine. Well, not quite, but almost – he’s set up a mean wine making station in the basement of The Gannet instead. Of course, when he’s tinkering away in Joe Friday’s Winery (see above), then we call him Joe Merlot. There’s lots of Joe’s to keep track of!

Many thanks to friend Alan for this great shot of Joe. Now, if you think this is one handsome fellow, or you like reading my blog in general, please vote for me for a TopBlog award. It’s easy – head to this link, and find my blog under the category ‘Best Business or Professional Life Blog’ on the bottom left. And if you have more time, check out some of the other categories and see if anything strikes your fancy. Joe Friday thanks you!

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All in the Family

If you follow my blog you might remember Ed and Phyllis, an American couple (married for 65 years!) who were recently our guests – they came to Newfoundland because Ed’s father was from Heart’s Content and they wanted to explore his roots. Well, what they say about it being a small world is true – turns out that Clifford George is Ed’s long lost cousin!

They connected immediately, which was fun to see. And Clifford has extensive knowledge of all the George’s in Heart’s Content going back to 1705 when they first arrived from England. He shared their stories and the history of life in the area.

Clifford took Ed and Phyllis to his studio and to meet Misty and Sonny. They also had supper with Doug George, another new family member, in New Harbour. Overall it was a great visit and Ed and Phyllis were delighted to meet more family in the Wonderful World of Whiteway. And we were thrilled to be a small part in helping them explore their roots. 

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Tuesdays with Murphy: The Berry’s Back

You wouldn’t believe how happy I was to have everything back to normal this weekend, having The Berry back at the cottages after she visited her family. I know everyone has to take vacations sometimes, and I know it was only a week – but in dog years, that’s a few months! And after a few boys’ nights with Jerry, boy was I ready to have a feminine touch back in the house. Especially when it’s this lady, who is the one responsible for bringing me to Ocean Delight in the first place and is always making me so happy. I think I can speak for Jerry when I say I really missed her!

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Talkin ‘Bout 3 Generations

This post may not be expressly about daily life at the cottages, but close enough. Laurelyn is my brilliant and hard-working (you might say, overly hard-working) partner and if anyone ever deserved a vacation, it was her. Which is what she did last week, when she went to Ontario to visit with her lovely family. I love Ontario, and we get lots of guests from that great province. Laurelyn enjoyed her visit, and I had to share this beautiful shot of her with her mother and daughter – three generations in a row!

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Joe Friday Friday

Chances are, if you’ve been to Ocean Delight, you’ve met my brother and fellow Whiteway newbie-turned-devotee, Joe, aka Joe Friday. When we bought these cottages, we were quite ‘green’ to the industry and didn’t know how much work was entailed – and knowing what we know now, there’s no way we could have gotten through this summer without his help.

Like me, Joe left Torbay as a young man looking for something new, and found it as a bartender in Nova Scotia. Also like me, 40 years later, he found himself in Whiteway and knew his life was about to change.  He came out to help me paint a cottage and I couldn’t get him to leave. He fell in love with the community and the people and the lifestyle, as everyone is wont to do when they discover the magic of the place (or when the Wizard of Shag Rock casts his spell over them).

He stayed with us in empty cottages until more guests started arriving with the warmer weather, and we needed a better solution. He found the perfect one – a cottage just up the road which we call Joe Friday’s Cottage on Joe Friday’s Beach. Then after performing his first screech-in, our guest Geoff gave him the jacket you see above. It’s so cool, you have to call him ‘Joe Merlot.’

And ‘Joe Merlot’ is particularly fitting, as he now makes wine in the winery we set up in the basement of The Gannet.  Joe Merlot intends to expand the winery to make beer. Do I see a Joe Labatt coming? I don’t know how many Joe’s there will be here in the future, but there’s one thing for sure – Ocean Delight sure has one Joe Cool.

We love having him around. Whether he’s Joe Byrne, Joe Friday, Joe Merlot, Joe Labatt, or Joe Cool, we love all of them and don’t care which one it is – as long as we still get plain, ol’ Joe! And thanks, Joe, for all that you do – you’ve made life out here even better, and that’s hard to do!

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Family Brunch (and Then Some!)

What a soul-lifting treat last weekend turned out to be. This table was set for a sunny brunch. The setting was perfect, and our company even more so – so much so, in fact, that ‘brunch’ turned into lingering over drinks and coffee and conversation all afternoon (while I should have been working!), and then a salmon barbque for supper while we watched the sunset and enjoyed drinks long into the night. In fact, I think this ‘brunch’ turned out to be over 12 hours long!The reason we lingered so long was the company. Now, when we have guests stay with us at the cottages, for all intents and purposes they become my ‘family’ while they’re here, and I try to treat them as such. So when the guests are actual family, well, you know how that goes! Of course Joe Friday’s my brother and he’s always here, but added to the mix were our niece Lisa, and her friend, Bill (dubbed The Most Handsome Man on the Planet), and our sister Maureen and her husband Pat.

It was a great night. We all stayed up past our bedtimes, and by the end of night were all noisily arguing politics – that’s almost the law when you’re part of a big Irish Catholic family! Of course, I have to make sure that I’m the on the opposing side of everyone else – I love the challenge! Our parents would have been proud!Overall, it was the perfect day, followed by the perfect evening, followed by the perfect night, with perfect company! Thanks, guys, for coming and spending the weekend with us!

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Splintered

Joe Friday was fooling around this weekend (you know, acting his age and all!) and got a splinter. Luckily for him, our niece Lisa, who happens to be a triage nurse, was spending some time with us at the cottages. So she got the needles out and went to work.

Not given to drama or exaggeration, Joe warned us that the splinter might be a good one. And he was brave right up to the bitter end, when Lisa got close to pulling the splinter out and he started to scream.

Big baby, he called THAT a splinter. What a sook! (To any non-Newfoundlanders, a ‘sook’ is a cry baby!) But he was grateful to Lisa to get it out. That’s what family’s for!

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Cutest Easter Bunny (or, Happy Easter!)

Today is a day for rejoicing and spending time with family (some would also say eating chocolate, though I’m not a huge chocolate lover – shocker!), so today’s post is a just a short oldie but goodie. Here’s my youngest daughter, Kathryn, years ago, making what I think is the cutest Easter Bunny yet. Hope you’re all enjoying you family, or, if you’re like me and all your children live away, able to chat with them and cherish your memories. Happy Easter!