Pretty Easy Painted Pumpkin

      I was lost in a strange town.  I love my little Amelia Island, so if I have to cross the bridge and there are more than half-a-dozen signal lights, I know I am in a big city.  And there I was, listening to the female voice with the British accent on my phone, trying to get me to my destination.  Together, we finally reached the craft store we sought, but not before my eyes glanced a front porch pumpkin with what looked to be the letter K painted on it.  Naturally, there was some thoughtless person close to my rear bumper, so I was unable to get details. I could have TRIED to go around the block. I didn't want to take the chance my phone battery would die and I would never see anyone I knew again. You see, I have zero sense of direction. 

      In any case,  this is my version of that painted pumpkin I made for my daughter's front porch.  While it could have been better, most things can always be better if you try again, she said it was good enough to display on her steps!  I am so proud.

Here's how:

-Buy a nice sized pumpkin, if you want it to be seen from the street.

-Pull out your acrylic paints and paint brushes, water-based for easy clean-up.

-Go to the internet and Google alphabet images.  You will find different fonts.  The one I chose  was a flowing script that didn't seem too difficult.

-I used a strong color for the base letter so it shows up against the orange of the pumpkin.  I added white on the right of each main stroke of the letter to appear somewhat like a shadow accent.

-Take the pointy end of the paintbrush to form a dotted sort of oval frame around your letter.  Add leaves or tendrils, whatever you like.  Glitter, too, if you have it handy. 

-By the way, your pumpkin will last much longer, maybe until Thanksgiving in late November, if you don't cut into it. 

HAPPY FALL! 

Apple Butter Recipe w/ Goodbye Lie Excerpt

I was raised to love apple butter, and I still do. Miss Ella Dunnigan is the mother of four in my historical Goodbye Lie Trilogy. With Fall coming, I thought making her apple butter recipe would be perfect.  Her version is easy and your whole house will be a delight with all those wonderful apple cinnamon smells.

Excerpt from Goodbye Lie concerning Apple Butter:      Turning to leave the barn Miss Ella asked, "How did you happen to come home so early today? It's just now five o'clock. Are things going well in the world of architecture?" Michael knows supper is always served at six, she thought, unless there's a potluck meal at church or some other social event. Then again, it could be his already bulging belly demands an earlier feeding.       "What's the use of being the boss, if I can't play a little hooky with my baby here?" His tone was short. This was certainly one of his hungry moods coming on.         "I'll see if I can't hurry up your dinner, Michael."      "What? You mean it'll be a while?"    "Yes, darling," she responded in as sarcastic a voice as his question deserved. "If you'd listen to your wife occasionally, you'd hear her say she has a few things to do besides following the timetable of her husband's stomach."      He reacted with a snort.      "Today, as substitute choir mistress, I was called upon to make last minute changes in this Sunday's schedule of hymns because Miss Bayer is out of town visiting her grandfather and Mrs. Lingenfelter is having her baby."      Her husband grumbled in disgust. Unable to stay cross with him for long, she offered, "If you'll give me ten minutes, I'll pull some cornbread from the oven and slather it with apple butter for you to nibble on. That should tide you over for a bit until I'm sure the soup is done."      "You know how I hate it if the beans are the least bit hard," he cautioned.      "We only hate the devil," Marie announced.     "Yes, baby girl. That's right. See there, Michael. It's true what they say about little pitchers having big ears and our little pitcher hears everything. Don't think she doesn't."      Michael replaced his grimace with a smile and kissed his youngest child on the cheek. MISS ELLA      Miss Ella shook her head at her sometimes moody, but very wonderful husband, thinking how lucky she was to have him. Back inside the aromatic kitchen, she checked the steeping jelly kettle of peaches, stirred the pot of salt pork and bean soup, and cleared a spot for the hot cornbread among the fresh radishes and onions. It had been such a peaceful afternoon. Too peaceful, she realized.       Where was Jack Patrick? Her only son, age eight, was usually so noisy she knew his whereabouts every minute. She left the kitchen, went down the long hall past the stairs, and entered the front parlor to find her mother, Hettie Eckert, known to all as Grammy. Grammy was swaying in her rocker, intently working on a braided rag rug, and there was Jack Patrick, sneaking up from behind, scissors in hand, about to cut the soft wild-hair wispies from his sainted grandmother's head!       "Jack Patrick!" yelped his mother.       Calmly placing the shears back in the sewing basket, he stated, "Mama, I hope lightning flies through the window and kills the cat. I'm innocent!"       She knew exactly how innocent he was. She allowed the boy to dash out the front door before he caught her laughing.

Apple Butter

You'll need:

• 4 cups unsweetened applesauce (made from cored apples that have been slowly cooked to reduce them to pulp or purchased applesauce)

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• Nutmeg to taste (use sparingly)

• Cloves to taste (use sparingly)                                                   

Combine the ingredients and bring them to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  

Spice to taste.

Serve on warm cornbread, muffies or bread.

Makes five cups.

Goodbye Lie series Purchase Info Here

Florida Fall & Goodbye Lie Diaries

Fernandina on Amelia Island
present day

4 o'clocks- A friend gave me the huge bulbs years ago and they smell delightful, too!

Jane Marie writes:
Mama Nature is wonderful in so many way.  One of them is her perennials.  You know, those plants that come up from bulbs or the ones that bloom every year. Yes, fertilizing, dead heading, cutting them back, etc., all the things gardeners should do will make for a bigger display of blossoms. But, for anyone who hasn't the time to bestow much TLC upon these garden gems, well, be grateful they don't need you very much.  The photos are proof of that since I can't be in my cottage garden as often as I'd like to be. 
 

seven  sisters roses


 

white mums from a pot that decorated the altar one
 Easter Sunday morning



yellow mums

Wild red Florida roses-very bug resistant,
and they bloom a couple of times a year.





miniature oleander bush

 


orange tree



pink mums


Gerbera daisy is an annual.  I looked it up,
 but our Florida winter has been mild enough that it survived. 
 I think this plant is at least 4 years old.

******

Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida
1880's

Aunt Noreen writes:
If you are trying to show off, Jane Marie, you are doing a masterful job of it.  It's not that you don't have some very lovely specimens, but it sounds as though you are neglecting your garden and depending upon the good Lord to make your flowers grow.  I'm sure He would appreciate you lending a hand and spending a few hours a week in your garden.  Don't be so lazy!

Aunt Noreen

The ladies in my orchid society realize how hard I work to produce the show-stoppers I do and so  I am proud to say I won second place for what I call my Emerald Eye.  The only reason I did not win first place was that Mrs. Wiseflicker tripped over a tree root when she was visiting her husband's grave and landed in a patch of poison ivy.  They judges felt sorry for her when she appeared in front of them with her hands, arms, left foot and right ear wrapped in bandages, balancing her orchid pot on her hip. The people who get their way by feigning illness ... I would never think of doing anything like that.  It's not in my nature.

Aunt Noreen is a featured player in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie series set in the 1880s.  She is less that popular within her family and even less in the small seaside town of Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida. 

Chuck Hall's One Man Show

Chuck and "the band"

Fall into more Fernandina fancy with my newly designed Blog, Blog, Blog in autumn colors!
 

And how better to start this season than with local celebrity and funny man, Chuck  Hall. Last night we attended Chuck's Old Time Family Hour held at our Amelia Community Theatre with donations going toward their beautiful new building. Well, I'll tell you a little secret. Mr. Chuck is way more talented than I thought. Yes, he's a wood carver and I knew he picked at the banjo but heck, folks, he is quite the lively all-around entertainer! The audience clapped and sang along, as Chuck strummed that banjo, belting out a dozen tunes from I've Been Workin' on the Railroad to You are My Sunshine to O Brother, Where Art Thou? - I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow. Accompanied by an electronic band, produced with the push of a button on a small contraption attached to the mike stand, Family Hour lasted a good ninety minutes and there was never a lull.

One of my favorite jokes he told was about the man who went to a revival meeting and the preacher asked him what his trouble was. The man said it was his hearing. Well, the preacher prayed over him mightily and then asked, "So how's your hearing now?"  The man answered, "I don't know. My hearing isn't until next Wednesday."  With material like that, you know we had a good time!

  Chuck "joking" around!

 

Thanks, Chuck.  American can use more good, clean, wholesome family entertainment like your show.  Keep it coming!

 

Chuck Hall and Bruce Malcolm AFTER the show. (The hour was up,

 so there was no time for Bruce and HIS railroad song.

That's why they call it a one man show, Brucey.)





Feels Like Fall

The kids are back in school.  The weather is just beginning to feel a tish cooler.  The beaches are practically desserted these days. The summer tourist bustle is over. The daylight hours are shrinking.  It sure feels like fall on Amelia Island!