June 30, 2013

Elvis at Doo Wop's!


We saw an ad in our local News-Leader that Amelia Island's  Doo Wop's, Best 50's Diner was hosting Roger Hawk & the Mystery Train Elvis Tribute Band, June 29th, from 3 to 5 pm.  Bruce and I like 50's music and the atmosphere and food at the Doo Wop is great- hamburgers are huge and I like their spaghetti- and the milkshakes... Well, we went and there on the sidewalk out in front was Elvis in his gold trimmed red jumpsuit, complete with huge collar, big belt and rings on his fingers.  And the music?  It was terrific! His combo of musicians/male backup singers added a richness to the overall sound.  Thank you, Doo Wop.  We heard things are going well for you.  That's wonderful news. We'll be back for another good meal soon.

Check out Doo Wop's menu here:  http://doowopdiner.biz/ and visit them at
1120 S 14th ST, Amelia Island, FL.

 Roger Hawk as Elvis
 


 of course they would serve this to honor Elvis

hanging on the wall inside the Doo Wop

June 26, 2013

Ramble Alert! - White Enough?

I’m always up for a challenge.  This time it’s drinking from a straw.  As you roll your eyes at my ineptness, let me continue.  I am on a quest to have a sparkling smile, so sparkling, in fact, that a tiny  star appears on my choppers in all my photographs, as it does on those of  Gaston, the mean guy in the Beauty and the Beast cartoon.  While I am sufficiently in touch with reality to realize this ain’t gonna actually happen, my mission continues.  To that end, I asked Santa for  those dental whitening strips you leave on your teeth for thirty minutes.  I must have been a pretty good little girl, last year, because he gave me a box.  Not only have they worked, more mentally than  actually, probably, but I get the added benefit of playing the part of a rabid dog any time I want as my lips overflow with the frothing product working its white magic.  Additionally, I have toothpaste and mouthwash and gum, all of which are supposed to assist in this process. 
 
Is this just another phase of my life, like knowing the Latin names of house plants, making stained glass, pouring candles, quilting, playing the spoons, etc?  Certainly not.  Why?  Because this has to do with vanity.  Let’s face it.  If you’re a girl, it's a lifelong affliction.  Enough said. 
 
So back to the straw. I’ve heard how red wine, coffee, etc., stain your teeth. I have never been a coffee drinker until Bruce, my thoughtful husband, suggested I try a cup with French Vanilla creamer and a packet of sweetener.  I was hooked after that.  However, since it discolors my teeth and the fancy creamer makes me fat, I stopped drinking it for about six weeks.  Then I heard something.  Remember,  if it’s on the news, in print or online, it’s true…  Here it is:  If you drink coffee and wine through a straw, it will bypass your teeth and they will remain pristine white.  I don’t know about you, but I am unable to suck on a straw without the coffee filling my mouth and surrounding my teeth.  No matter how far back in my mouth the straw is,  coffee abounds.  So the straw is out.  Besides, all that puckering  makes wrinkles around your lips and that will never do.  I end this ramble because my coffee is gone and it’s time to swish with a whitening mouthwash.  As someone once said, “Don’t hate me because I have a semi-brilliant smile.”  Or something like that.
 
PS  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that, as a public service announcement as part of the sometimes whacked world of Gracious Jane Marie, July is Find Your Favorite Tooth month- and the tooth has to be in your own mouth!  I’m leaning toward my upper right incisor.

PPS These are the things that clog my mind...

June 22, 2013

mini TV interview

Last Saturday, I was doing a book signing at Books Plus on Centre Street, downtown  on our beautiful Amelia Island.  Fellow writer, Chuck Barrett, author of Breach of Power, was also signing his novels. That's when I spied a News 4 Jax (Jacksonville) TV reporter and she spied us. She was doing a piece on the first day of summer, June 21, and taping segments around the island for it. And so we were interviewed. While that interview lasted all of two minutes, only 16 seconds made it past the final edit.

When it aired, I snapped a photo from the television and for some electronic reason I don't care to investigate at this time, the quality of the picture isn't good, but you get the idea. While my words were less than eloquent, I mentioned "island paradise" three times, these interviews are good practice for my acceptance speech when I'm awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Chuck Barrett and JMM interviewed

June 18, 2013

Baby Birds

My brother, Bob, sent this photo and I had to share. He found these babies inside the tool shed by his house.  He's been watching the feathery fluffs grow up and, as you can tell,
they are about ready to fly away!
 

June 16, 2013

Dad's Day


In the Irish, as they say,
'Tis Himself,
we honor today!


 
Happy Father's Day!

June 12, 2013

Clean Living

I saw these two items on my desk, side by side, laughed and said to myself, "Talk about your clean living!"  Yup, clean, wholesome and all-American- that's what it's all about...    :-)
 

June 9, 2013

Magnolia-Mark of a Man Favorite

The old talkin' tree, a magnolia, plays its part in Mark of a Man, the third novel in my Amelia Island Goodbye Lie Trilogy series.

My granddaughter, Ava, and I sing the chorus of a song A Hundred Million Miracles from the Broadway musical Flower Drum Song.  Click here to listen to the words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRWOtwweKUg&feature=endscreen&NR=1.  It's similar in meaning to "stop and smell the roses."  And so we do.  We examine the patterns on calico material or we'll study the differences in the sharks' teeth we find on the beach or--you get the idea.

So when a friend brought me a magnolia blossom, I started to examine it. Although I've seen hundreds of these flowers on the trees down here in Florida and Georgia over the years, and I know they are the most prominent flower of the South, plus  the very word, magnolia, is in the opening paragraph of Gone With The Wind: ...her thick black brows slanted upward, cutting a startling oblique line in her magnolia-white skin — that skin so prized by Southern women and so carefully guarded with bonnets, veils and mittens against hot Georgia suns..., I never appreciated them until now.  I wanted to share because they are so beautiful, inside and out.  And I didn't realize the flowers open in the day, close at night and then reopen!  Enjoy!



 I  measured this blossom with a ruler.  It is 8 inches across!
 
As I looked closely at the center, I saw a real work of art.  I don't know what the parts are called, stamens?, but notice the curls on the top half and what appear to be closed petals below them.
 
 
The blossom closed during the night and would reopen the next day.
 
 
Day 2, the center turned brown and what I thought were petals on the lower half opened wide!
 
 
 
(As always, thank you to YouTube.com and its contributors for the video in this article.)
 
 

June 4, 2013

Goodbye Lie Diaries-Peeper

1880s
Fernandina, Florida
Grandmother Peeper writes:

When I was a small child, there was this here Indian called Walkin' Wise, who come every Sundee
and sat on the step of our church just awaitin' for us children ta come outside when service was finished.  I suspect he come for the potluck dinner at 12 o'clock noon but he would tell us stories. I recall one time when he told us every body has a good wolf and a bad wolf inside a them. And these wolves is always afightin'. When some one of us asked who won the fight, Walkin' Wise said it's the one ya feed.  That was about my favorite story a his.



        Peeper, a featured player in
    Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie Trilogy,
 offers advice and elixir-fixers
 and if you don't agree with her,
 well--ask Aunt Noreen what happens...
 


June 2, 2013

Year of Living Graciously- June

Wash and press the clothes of your old teddy or dolly then dress them. If you have no clothes, find a scrap piece of felt or fabric. Cut out a triangle for a shawl and rectangle for a skirt.  Secure with old brooches.  If your stuffed friend is a boy, make him a paper hat and use a ribbon for a string tie. Proudly display for all to see and/or cuddle at bedtime. Who says you're ever too old to play with dolls?