Goodbye Lie Diaries - Peeper- Smoking Bishop Recipe

Excerpt from The Goodbye Lie:      Leona was at the piano playing Auld Lang Syne. Aunt Noreen and Peeper passed steaming mugs of Smoking Bishop and the scent of the spiced wine filled the room. A toast was raised and cups clinked. 1883 had begun. PAPERBACK AND EBOOK HERE: http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Marie-Malcolm/e/B002ZFSBKE       In Drinking with Dickens by Cedric Dickens, who was the great-grandson of Charles Dickens,  I discovered Smoking Bishop was Victorian hot spiced port wine.  Besides the Bishop, there were other clerical drinks in those times:  Archbishop-claret, Cardinal-champagne and Pope-burgundy.        We served Smoking Bishop at a holiday party and got a chuckle out of seeing one of our guests tip the pot to get the last drop - and we’d made a double batch!  There are variations of Smoking Bishop, but this is the recipe we used.       As with all alcoholic drinks, moderation is key.       Enjoy,      Jane Marie

Smoking Bishop Recipe- a GBL Fave

You’ll need: 

• 4 whole washed, unpeeled oranges
• 2 tablespoons whole cloves
• 1 bottle dry red wine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks.
• 1 bottle port wine (red wine and port wine combined should equal 4 to 5 quarts)
• 5 to 6 quart slow cooker or large pot for stovetop cooking

Stick the whole cloves into the oranges.  Poke the oranges several times with a fork so the juice will seep out while cooking.  Place the oranges in the pot. 

Add  the red wine, sugar and cinnamon sticks.

Cover and cook on low or simmer for 3 1/2 hours.  Add the bottle of port. 

DO NOT BOIL at any time.  

Heat the mixture for another half hour to warm the port. 

Serve warm straight from the pot.

Garnish with extra orange slices or wedges and individual cinnamon sticks, if desired. 

Serves 10.  This recipe is easily doubled.

*******  

The Goodbye Lie Diaries:
1880s
Fernandina, Florida

Grandmother

Peeper

Peeper writes:     Yes, Miss Jane,  I did pass cups a Smokin' Bishop around Dunnigan Manor with Noreena. I never want ta do a thing with her.  I only dun it 'acause  Santee Claus hadn't yet come and I wanted me a pair a new shoelaces, so I had ta be nice.  Miss Ella got me the shoes ta go with 'um, but I didn't ask.

                      Happy New Year All!

 Reprinted from our original

GraciousJaneMarie.com website

Merry Christ Christmas

     Many years ago, I learned a rub-out painting technique. You fill a section of the canvas with solid paint then use Q-tips to slowly remove the paint and develop your picture.  Mine is painted on a wooden board and encircled by a straw wreath. To me, the babe in the manger with the chipmunk, lamb, redbird, bunny and donkey looking on, is sweet beyond measure.  I hope it reminds you of the love radiating from the Christ Child into all the world.  Merry Christmas everyone.     
                                                         - Jane Marie

2017 Annual Christmas Letter

Somebody else's Christmas Cactus

     Here is another of our annual appalling          

appealing family Christmas letters.  Hope your year was filled with events and quotes as great as ours!

 

Mother tried out for the community theater production of Little Mermaid.  She will play the coveted role of seaweed.

 

Auntie instructed Son to put up the trellis for the wedding ceremony.  He readily agreed, adding, "What’s a trellis?"

 

Uncle asked, "Who was the last one to brush?"  “Brush what?” came the reply in unison. That happened in May.

 

Father warned: "Don't go in there.  He's got The Crud and he'll take us all down with him."

 

The doorbell rang. "Who ordered this kind of pizza?  I hate mushrooms so I ain't paying.  Granny, it’s for you."

 

"Who wants a white Russian?"  “I don't, but I'll take a furry Frenchman."

 

Uncle Tree-tree talks into the TV clicker and replaces the batteries when he can't change the channels. It keeps him busy and away from the garbage can.

  

It rained so hard the apple pie was good.

 

Father cut the grass and his toe nails, in that order. 

 

Cousin Skin bought a ticket and wore a sneaker.

 

The pool was not cleaned this year.

 

“Anybody got any TUMS?”

 

A feather was on the sidewalk.

 

Ants carried off the cat food.

 

Mother sewed on a button then removed the blood stains with her spit.

 

Brother got a new one.

 

The cat coughed up a pickle.

 

The timer on the sprinkler got reset.

 

The oven burned the chicken. 

 

The repairman made two trips to plug in the toaster.  He wears a uniform and is Father's nephew.

 

Friday's newspaper was thinner than the bacon.

 

Sometimes we didn’t dry the dishes.

 

The stairs still need watering.

 

The chimney smells funny.

 

Merry Christmas
from all the crew and characters at
Gracious Jane Marie and
Amelia Island Novels Blog

Quick Beef Stroganoff

     I heard somewhere, "It is better to wear out than rust out."  And I agree, but our lives do often seem hectic and we may forget a thing or two. (That's why there are sticky notes in my world. )

     One thing we must remember to do is feed the family- like they would let us forget?  So, I am always on the look-out for quick and easy recipes that are delicious.  This Beef Stroganoff has been around our house for a couple of decades. Give it a try! 

Quick Beef Stroganoff

Brown and drain any grease:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• Garlic powder to taste
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely (optional)
• Flat noodles or pasta            

Add, stirring over medium heat until hot clear through:

• 1 can “healthy” mushroom soup (regular is fine, too)
• 1 cup regular, non-fat or light sour cream
• 1 three ounce can of mushrooms, drained (or larger can if you love mushrooms) - fresh mushrooms taste even better, but should be added with the onion so they can be cooked through
• 2 tablespoons ketchup           
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Serve over flat noodles or pasta.

P.S.  This recipe was first posted on my Gracious Jane Marie website a long while ago.  It's so good, I thought you might like seeing it again or discovering it for the first time.

Enjoy!
            Jane Marie

The Goodbye Lies - Peeper-Perfect Purity Almost

Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida 
Present Day

   Jane Marie writes:   My friend, Johanna Eversole, showed me this photo of a Great Egret she'd taken here on Amelia Island, Florida and let me share it with you. She and her son occasionally cast a net for shrimp.  This beautiful birdie, she kindly calls Freddie the Freeloader, watches for them and accepts any of the tidbits they offer. Not only is this creature pure and perfect, but smart. 

Here is a link for more info. 

***

Fernandina, Florida                                         

Late 1800s

     Grandmother Peeper writes:  I seen one a them birds aflyin' the other day.  I admit to it.  It was a pretty thing, but sure as a croakin' frog can wake the dead at night, them egrets fly high up and let loose, if ya understand my meanin', and it always lands on the clean clothes ahangin' on the line.  That's the way of it.

The Goodbye Lie Diaries- What are they?
     Through the magic of electronics, the characters in my Goodbye Lie Series set on Amelia Island can talk to me from the late 1800s and I to them.  It makes for some interesting conversations.- Jane Marie

Carnival Cruise Anniversary

     My husband, Bruce, and I recently celebrated our anniversary and decided to go on a cruise. Can you say An Affair to Remember?  (See complete movie here on YouTube.) -That wonderful Cary Grant movie with several scenes set onboard a cruise ship ... I didn't want to drive to a distant port of departure because we'd have to drive home that same distance, tired and worn, from said cruise.  Happily, we have a terminal nearly in our back yard.  Actually, it's little more than half an hour south from Amelia Island, in Jacksonville, Florida. We also had the luxury of being dropped off and picked up by sweet friends. Very lucky us.  So, we hopped on board and off we sailed! 

Elation's stern passing under
Jacksonville, Florida's
Dames Point Bridge upon departure. 

     We took a 5 day sail on Carnival's Elation to the Bahamas.  It was just great. The food, the service, the maintenance,  the near-Broadway style shows, my favorite part, were all wonderful. Oh, plus 24 hours of pizza, ice cream and room service. Sigh ... Talk about pampered

Yes, Virginia, the Caribbean water is that blue.

just a cool interior shot

    

Nassau, Bahamas   

Darling towel animals greeted
us each night on our bed.

We won!  We won!!!

This little birdie fought the wind and
rode on the flagpole for miles. 
What a view he had!

smooth sailing all the way

Remember I wrote the ship was well

maintained? This greased pulley

impressed me and made me feel safe.

a full moon, too

so romantic

Jane Marie, Bruce and Queen Victoria 

And to all, a good night ...

PS - Have I mentioned, my next novel,

Amelia Island's Sand and Sin, takes place, in part, aboard a cruise ship? - Jane Marie

Goodbye Lie Diaries - Carolena Decorates with Jewelry

Late 1800s
 Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Carolena Dunnigan writes:  I heard  word my sister, Breelan, wrote to you, Jane Marie, sharing her perfume tip. I can't have my baby sister show me up, so this is my idea. ( See Breelan's tip here. )
     Instead of leaving my bracelets and necklaces tucked away in my drawer or jewelry box , I decorate my room with them.  I drape my favorite necklaces on lampshades and hang my bracelets from the pulls on my chest of drawers. 
     I am forever changing them out for new pieces as I wear them. And they look different when the candles are lit compared to the the light of day.
     Jane Marie, thank you for trying my style of decorating and taking photos to share with your friends.  I don't want to brag, but little creative touches of all types add to my interior designs for our family's Aqua Verdi Passenger Line grand ships and yachts.  Business is brisk, so I must dash.  Daddy promised I would have my sketches to the gentleman from Boston completed and in the post to him by week's end.

shade by night decorated with butterfly necklace

bracelets on drawer pulls

                      necklace on lamp by day

same necklace, shade turned at an angle, by night

Carolena Dunnigan is the
 featured player in
 Amelia Island 's Velvet  Undertow.

                            Carolena Dunnigan

Click here for Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow  eBooks and paperbacks.  Set on Amelia Island, Florida in 1889, Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow will twist, turn and torture you with Carolena's passion for her family, her art and her lovers, all from her deep and dawning creative soul.

-Necklaces handmade by Jane Marie's sister, Nancy Kamp

-Bracelets handmade by Jane Marie's granddaughter, Ava, Nancy Kamp and Jane Marie 

Bless This House by Perry Como

Please take a moment during this special time of giving thanks and listen to Bless This House

by Perry Como. Written in 1927, the melody is gentle then  powerful and the words leave you counting your many blessings.

Thank you to YouTube, as always.

Goodbye Lie Diaries - Breelan's Hidden Perfume Tip

Jane Marie's recreation of Breelan's perfume bottle hidey-hole 

Late 1800s
Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Breelan writes: I do not have a care if my perfume gives Aunt Noreen the sneezes.  During the day I will often wear a sweet scent. At night, spice is my preference. When I feel the need for instant refreshment and I don't want climb the stairs to my room or haven't the time, I will splash a few drops on the nape of my neck from one of the perfume bottles hidden about the house. Inside the china cabinet,  amongst the books on the shelf and in the pantry, I have several scattered about.  I was afraid my mother, Miss Ella, or Grandmother Peeper might object, having to dust around the bottles, but they understand the importance of always smelling delightful. And I know for a fact, they, too, spritz a scent on their wrists or necks.

**************

Breelan Dunnigan is the heroine in The Goodbye Lie, the first novel in the series by the same name.  Available in e-book and paperback, the stories are set on Amelia Island in north Florida in the late 1800s.

Italian Cluck

     It is meet, right and proper to give credit where it is due. I saw a similar recipe to what I like to call my Italian Cluck on Facebook, but now I can't find it. As usual, if you know who posted it, please contact me at graciousjanemarie@yahoo.com and I will post their name and thank them.
     So, from memory, I put the ingredients together, with little measuring, and the result was so good,  Bruce and I polished it off in two days. (I always hope there are leftovers I can freeze for a quick meal, but not this time.)

You'll need:
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (your favorite brand)
6 ounces or so of shredded Italian cheese (in the bag)
Basil ( I used dry because I had no fresh.)
6 large chicken finger sized parts of the breast, rinsed
1/2 cup or so Italian breadcrumbs
6 or so ounces of shredded Parmesan cheese (in the bag)

     In an 8 inch by 8 inch glass dish sprayed with non-stick coating, pour the entire jar of sauce in the bottom and spread evenly.  Sprinkle all the shredded Italian cheese next.  Sprinkle some basil.   Lay the chicken pieces on top.  Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in a separate bowl then sprinkle on top of the chicken.  Bake 1 1/2 hours at 375 degrees with a layer of foil laid loosely across the dish to keep the breadcrumbs and cheese from getting too brown.  Serve with spaghetti noodles, if desired, but we only had a salad to save on carbs. This serves 4 singles, can easily be doubled and is good enough for company!

                        Enjoy,  Jane Marie

Perfect Two-Some aka Details, Details, I Love the Details

     I recently attended our Writers by the Sea meeting in Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida.  A lot of effort goes into organizing the membership and coming up with programs, etc.  Thank you to Nadine Vaughan D'Ardenne, the leader of this wonderful pack of creative folks. 
     We had two interesting speakers. Our local award-winning poet, Nola Perez, shared her rich story and how it impacted her poems. The second speaker was Linda Hart Green, retired from Christian ministry  and an artist on and off through the years. She and three partners have opened The Shady Ladies Art Studios and Gallery. Located on 8th Street in Fern, as our family calls the town, the name of the shop was inspired by the huge oak tree out front. 
     One thing stood out to me as I listened to Linda.  My words, not hers:  Artists and writers are the eyes for the world.  As I thought about this, I realized I am and always have been an observer.  I could not have written my Goodbye Lie series of novels and had this blog for five years without being observant.  Here is what I mean. 
     I was going through some photos I had taken and found this wonderfully sweet picture of the two "lizzies" on the heads of the cherub statue in my front flower bed at Stately Martha Manor.*  Now some out there may just have passed by and never noticed the lizards, let alone take a picture of them.  It's that old stop and smell the roses thing.  I'm all about that.  To this day, our granddaughter, Ava, and I will see a picture or look upon a swatch of patterned material and search for as many different colors, shapes, identifiable images, etc., as we can. 
     I love details.  When my husband, Bruce, and I watch an old recorded movie, I will rewind it to see the costuming or reread the closed caption to make sure I heard it correctly in the first place, if I didn't quite understand the dialogue.  Or in  musicals, I love them with closed caption.  You can read the lyrics of what the chorus is singing. 
    As for these four legged little guys on the statue heads, note they aren't looking at each other. Perhaps they had a spat over who ate the biggest gnat, yet because they are resting on those cement angels, it makes me think of a  couple committed to each other for life.  Maybe the angels beneath their tiny feet are their way of being blessed by God.  All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all.   
     So, I beg you, slow down every once in a while, pick an object of some sort and just plain examine it to see how it's put together.  In the meantime,  I will continue to observe and share in my writings what I discover.  May what I see and write about in this blog and my novels, bring you wonder, entertainment, drama, mystery, romance and peace.

*************************************** 

*We used to call our home Stately Malcolm Manor.  Yes, it's a direct rip-off of Batman's Stately Wayne Manor.  When Martha Bear entered our lives and hearts, she quickly took over. Everybody knows we live in Martha Bear's house. -jmm

The Goodbye Lie - Mini-Excerpt

The Goodbye Lie series- CLICK HERE for

E-books and Paperbacks

1882 - Amelia Island, Florida

      She stood in the pounding breakers, her heavy wet skirts slapping her legs. With agony beyond endurance, she howled into the night. The insatiable ocean gulped away at her despondency, swallowing all sounds, leaving only its own. At that moment, she hated ...

Spokes-dog Goes Undercover

Abby is the spokes-dog for Gracious Jane Marie, our family owned business promoting the silly, the patriotic and Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie series, a whole lot. She is aka The Abster, Abbykins and Stinkhead.  She loves role playing and this day she is pretending she's a spy, going undercover(s). Clever doggie, that one! 

Mix and Match Crust-less Quiche plus Goodbye Lie Diaries - Marie

Crust-less Quiche

     I am forever trying to save calories.  I figure the more calories I save when I make a dish, the more of it I can eat.  To that end,  here is my Mix and Match Crust-less Quiche recipe.  It's easy and you can serve it warm or cold.

You'll Need:

6 eggs
3/4 cup milk (non-fat optional)
8 ounces non-fat cottage cheese
8 ounces 2% cheddar sharp cheese

Mix and match any of the following, adding in just before baking:
1 small can of chopped mild green chilies
Chopped bacon
Garlic powder
Tuna
Tomatoes, seeded
Pepperoni, nuked a few seconds on a paper towel to remove the grease, then crumbled
Ground beef, lean, browned and drained
Chicken, cooked and chopped
Ham, chopped
Turkey, chopped
Green onions, chopped
Black olives, chopped
Green olives, chopped

For a thinner quiche, pour mixture into a 9 inch x 13 inch pan first treated with non-stick cooking spray. For a thicker quiche, use an 8 inch x 8 inch pan.  You can also use muffin cups.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 or 35 minutes, generally, checking a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Reduce the muffin cups by at least 10 minutes.  Oven temperatures vary, so don't over-bake.  Serve with a tossed or fruit salad.  Yummo!
                             Enjoy!                                                  -Jane Marie

*********

Late 1800s

Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Marie writes:  Jane Marie, you know how I love to

Marie Dunnigan

eat.  Why it is one of God's pure pleasures, isn't it?  I am always on a quest to find easy to make recipes because I would much rather be looking for shark's teeth or flirting with boys. However, I understand the need for a woman to be as capable in the kitchen as she is in the bedroom.  Please don't tell Mama or Aunt Noreen or Peeper I said that. They'd skin me and hang my hide from the barn door if'n they heard such an admission. 

  The Goodbye Lie series

E-books and paperbacks available HERE

     Well, this egg dish sounds wonderful since I can add whatever I want.  Have you tried it with a few seasoned bread crumbs?  Yes, the bread may defeat the purpose of those low-fat ingredients you recommend, but it sounds quite delicious to me.  I bet Peeper will have some ideas of her own to goose up the flavor.  She always has her way of doing things and that makes her about the best cook in the county, next to our mother, Miss Ella. 

      May the reminder of your day be another adventure, as I hope mine will be. Now that I think on it, mayhap my quest for adventure is higher on my happy list than food. My stars, what a realization that is to me.

Marie is the youngest sibling in  historical romance novel, Amelia Island's Mark of a Man, part of the Goodbye Lie series set on Amelia Island, Florida in the late 1800s.  She is free spirited, opinionated and cherished by her family and a particular young man with whom she is acquainted ... 

Another "Lucy" Moment- Where Are My ...?

     I confess.  I have always and am always misplacing two things.  Beginning in childhood,  I remember

asking my mother, "Where are my shoes?"  That continued into adulthood.  Now I ask my husband, "Where are my shoes?" plus "Where are my glasses?"  I wear cheaters/readers, whatever you may call them.

     One day I was alone in the house, scurrying about, as I usually do.  I don't walk.  Why?  I can't say for sure, but one advantage is you burn calories, another is you get to where you're going faster and, thereby, can accomplish more things. Win, win, right? 

     So there I am, asking Abby, the spokesdog for this blog and my writing companion,  and myself, mostly myself, "Where are my glasses."  I always keep a spare pair in every room, or try to.  I often manage to find several in a pile.  Case in point ... When I happened to pass a mirror, I caught a near blinding reflection of something glinting off the sun.  I figured out it was the four pairs of glasses I had hanging on the neck of the sweatshirt I was wearing. I had to laugh as this one.  I took a selfie to prove what a dumb bunny I can be. (Refer to the picture above.)  

     Hey, perhaps we can spin this to read how my powers of concentration are so great, I don't know everything I do while I'm doing it.  Naw.  That can't be right because I am a great multi-tasker.  Just ask me. 

    Save yourselves, my dear readers. Your hostess here is silly, screwie and leaning hard toward being nuts.  But as I tell people, it's happy in my world and that of our  fictitious and beloved Dunnigan family on Amelia Island in the late 1800s. It must be happy in yours, too, because you're right here with us. Happy is a better thing.  Let's keep it that way!

LIttle Free Library in Fernandina

      I decided to go on a quest to see if Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida had any of those free mini-libraries I have read about.  You know, where you borrow a book and leave a book?  Well, I am delighted to report, after some investigation on Facebook and Google, etc.,  I visited two out of the seven listed in our town. One is near the gazebo in the Amelia Park development off Citrona and one is located at 103 S. 18th Street.  Each has a bit of a design difference, but all are charming, if for no other reason than because they contain books.  Note the blue bird-knob on the front of the Little Library in the picture at the top of this post.
     To find the Little Free Library in your area, go to https://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/, scroll down to just above the image of the map and insert your zip code in the search box.  Once found, add and/or borrow a book.  If you can't find a library box in your town,  get a call out on social media or your book clubs or library or all of the above and build one or more.  Talk about your small town America.  It's a "better thing,"  as our Martha Bear says.

Martha Bear taking a break from her duties as spokesbear for Gracious Jane Marie

Fernandina Shocker

      May I recount a recent incident for you? Permission or not, I shall. There I am signing my historical romance books, aka, The Goodbye Lie series in e-book and paperback, on Centre Street in our charming downtown Fernandina, Amelia Island. Perched on the deck outside Sea Jade's old Florida souvenir shop, I am introducing my novels to new friends.  This is much fun for me and I hope for them as well. But wait, something tears our attention away from the topic of great literature. What is it that we spy across the street? Oh, cheese and crackers, where are binoculars when we need them? It looks to be some sort of partially clothed pointy faced creature, its appendages  bare.  Bold as I am, I volunteer to chance impact with the automobiles barreling toward me at 15 mph or whatever the excessive speed limit is that the law has set.  Do remember, those tourists can have feet of lead. A rowdy bunch, they even sip water directly from bottles.  What would Aunt Noreen think of such crass behavior? 
     Upon arrival on the sunny side of the street, I, once described as the prattling princess, am left speechless. My discovery is less than life threatening, dare I admit? Yes, I dare. My discovery is, well, comical for it is merely a pig playing a trombone. Good times.
    

The Pig aka Eric Wheeler of the Fernandina High School Band

Aunt Noreen is a sometimes less than beloved player in The Goodbye Lie series set in Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida in the late 1800s.

Double-Duty Curtain - The Goodbye Lie Diaries - Miss Ella

One woman's shower curtain

is another woman's parlor curtain!

     My daughter, Barbra, is a good cook and has wonderful taste. Oh, she decorates beautifully, too. 😉 Well, the first time I saw her shower curtain, the one in the photo, I fell in love with it. When she was ready for something new, I snatched it up. The embroidered flowers and delicate feel are perfect for our parlor.  Hanging from a tension rod, I gathered it in the center with a pink satin ribbon and attached a bejeweled butterfly ornament on the bow.   It's so me!      

                             -Jane Marie, present day

********

The Goodbye Lie Diaries

Late 1880s

Fernandina, Amelia Island, Florida

Miss Ella writes: That curtain is lovely. It's very feminine.  I can imagine its gentle undulations against our bedroom window.  Michael is

Miss Ella

impartial to such things and would not appreciate it, but Breelan, Carolena and Marie and Grammy and Peeper would.

     And I appreciate that you have found a second purpose for it. Now that the war is over and we are all nearly rebuilt and recovered, as much as one can be after such a horror, some are less than appreciative with their possessions and are almost wasteful with them. That is a shameful thing I am forever preaching to my family to avoid. Everything has value.  Often, the more worn items are, the more love has been poured upon them. So may you ever enjoy your curtain. 

     I am curious as to what you will do with it once you take it down.  Perhaps a table covering or piano shawl or doll clothes? So many possibilities, aren't there?

******
Miss Ella Dunnigan is matriarch and mother of Breelan, Carolena, Marie and Jack Patrick.  A good and Godly woman, she is respected by friends and beloved by family.

What Is It? - Goodbye Lie Diaries - Carolena

     What on earth, or off the earth for that matter, could this be?  An underwater scene from an animated horror movie?  Perhaps the landscape of a death star?  While you guess, read an entry in our Goodbye Lie Diaries from Carolena, the heroine from Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow, part of The Goodbye Lie series set in the late 1800s in north Florida in the tiny city of Fernandina.

Late 1880s

Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Carolena

     Carolena writes: For anyone who does not know, I am the interior designer for our family's Aqua Verde Passenger Line and Shipyards. Let me clarify.  I draw the plans and add the colors and materials and oversee the creation of our ships and private yachts.  Before discovering my affinity for this,  I feared my career choices were relegated to  teacher, nurse or shop girl. Since I love to draw, always have, I found myself suggesting the silks and brocades, the style of column and layout of cabins and staircases to the men working for our company.  To my happy surprise, they were more than willing to take my suggestions, appreciating my apparent eye for a vision of the finished product.  

     With regard to your picture, Jane Marie, I can only guess it comes from a dark mind, seeking hope, what with the lighter, welcoming shading on the upper left. Is this your imagining of what could be mysterious black ice cycles?  

Present time

Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida
     Jane Marie writes: Perhaps you are correct in thinking you might not be suited for teaching or nursing. Aren't we glad there are others who are.
     With my dark mind, I can see your black ice cycles, Carolena. (I am smiling.) I must say I have enjoyed the variety of comments I've received so far as to what this picture could be. And yes, this is my creation, but only because of a combination of nature and a program we have in our time to alter photographs.  It's generally referred to as photo shop. 

     So what was my original photograph?  It was a shadow of landscape against a white door.  I noticed this shadow, thought it was pretty in its simplicity and took a picture of it.  Then I applied the photo shop program to disguise it and try and fool folks. I can be a little minx, you know. 
     See the original shadow photo below.