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.

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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.

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*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 ...