Only an Uncle Could Love

In a moment of temporary rage fueled by Oreo cookies, our four year old nephew called my husband, Bruce, Uncle Stupid Head. The endearing handle stuck.  Our niece followed it up some years later with a tender tribute to her wacked uncle.  See what you think. Click below to watch her video on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdSXhPLjcbY

On This Memorial Day...

God bless America and 

ALL

 who protect us. 

Sunny days in America!

THANK YOU!

Goodbye Lie Diaries - More Peeperisms

1880s
Fernandina, Florida

Grandmother Peeper* writes: 

If'n the sky is blue and the sea, too, the sun will glow but moonlight says no.

Eat a green apple and your blood will stay sweet.

Pick a flower in the rain and your sister will git married within the year.

***
2012
Fernandina Beach, Florida

Jane Marie writes:

Dearest Peeper,

You never fail to amaze me with your unconventional wisdom. Oh behalf of all YOUR fans, please continue to enlighten us!

*Grandmother Peeper is part of the Dunnigan family of Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida from my fictional historical Goodbye Lie series- jmm

And the Key Goes To...

     I have company coming soon.  I should be cleaning.  No sense peaking too soon, me thinks, lest I just have to clean another day.  I did, however, put little piles of stuff away, like the stack of photo CDs and the remains of miscellaneous items, stands, signs, etc., from the Shrimp Fest the first weekend of the month. Oh, and the important papers that belong in their safe place. That's when the garage door broke.

     Our remedy? Bruce and I decided to use our front door keys. Yup.  That sounds like a great plan until you see my key ring.  Bruce had locked his inside the house and we were forced to rely upon mine.  Refer to the photo below. The large bracelet of keys and discount store tags - "That's mine," she says proudly.  I take it everywhere and love it because it fits over my right hand and, to my astonishment, my left hand, too, and I never lose it! Well, that's the good news.  The not so good news is that it takes three keys to open our front door.  Time and salt air have caused us to replace the locks and at different times, thus resulting in three different door locks. Since we usually get into the house by way of the now broken garage door, there I was, in the rain, trying out every one of the keys on my ring in the locks on the door. You might wonder why I have so many keys on my huge ring. Once upon a time I needed them.  As I got more over the years, I neglected to toss the old and now I am unsure of which goes to what. I'm afraid to throw any away because I will need one or the other immediately when I do. You know it's true.

     Happily we have Next Door Maggie, our wonderful neighbor who has keys to our Stately Martha Manor. (We live with Martha Bear®, a stuffed ursine, and the cats and dogs in Stately Martha Manor .www.MarthaBear.com. She tells all about it in her free family-friendly teddy bear short stories. #7 is my favorite- The Great Amelia Island Sniff-Off.) So Next Door Maggie loaned our own keys to us for entrance and then immediately retrieved them because she is a responsible human being.  Once inside, I gathered all the keys hanging on the handmade wooden key with hooks.  May I say, not enough hooks because keys are double and triple stacked on those hooks.  Again, refer to the photo below and see some of the keys.  Mix and match, match and mix- it took the better part of an hour to figure out that I, indeed, had all three front door keys on key bracelet, after all!  I also discovered a few keys to our daughter's house who claims she gives us her front door key every time she we visit her.  She's right! I could continue but you might be feeling the same way Bruce was when he said, "Let me out of this loony bin-- I have to go have more keys made." (His purpose was to have a couple extra full sets of front door keys.  He's too organized.) Of course, this last loony bin crack came about when he was looking  for the Red Box movie to return it.  Having located on the gramophone by the front door, he said, "I found it."  Then he said to me, "Once I find something, you don't need to keep looking for it."  I'll have to remember that part. 

 

Jean Ribault Park

My husband, Bruce, and I attended the renaming of the anchor (brick pattern in the sidewalk) pocket park on Centre St. in downtown Fernandina Beach, Florida on May 19, 2012. To honor the French landing here 450 years ago, it will now be known as the Jean Rabault Pocket Park.  Bruce was instrumental in getting the two small parks installed on vacant lots between historic buildings on the "main drag" of our seaside town, turning something ugly into something useful as well as pretty.

official plaque

Mayor Arlene Filkoff of Fernandina Beach, FL & former mayor Bruce Malcolm

in front of the pretty banner hanging between two palm trees in the pocket park

Mayor Malcolm at original pocket park dedication in 2008

Keep It Alive

I was reading an article about the best ways to organize your recipes. Everything from using a binder to a recipe box to a computer program was suggested.  Then there was categorizing by personal preference, color coding, scanning and even laminating.  Was anything forgotten?  You betcha.  How about a handwritten recipe?  I have mentioned this before on our website, www.GraciousJaneMarie.com at http://www.greenlightwrite.com/weddingshower.htm when I recommended giving a bride-to-be a cookbook compiled of handwritten recipes from family and friends.  And when I heard that they are talking about no longer teaching cursive/handwriting in school in the future, well--America, we have to keep this art alive for future generations. To that end, hand write (don't print)  recipes, notes, shopping lists, whatever you can and teach at least one child how to write. If we don't do this, how will kids read old love letters in the attic or names in the family bible or... You get the idea. Now go out there and have a recipe exchange, so long as you write, not type them!


a treasured handwritten recipe from our Aunt JR

It's All About Mom Today!

Everybody has one because you can't get into this life without one- a mom, of course. So to mark this high occasion, I have written a poem.  Well, call it what you like, but I hope to get an at-a-boy or two for my efforts. 

Here is one of my rejected poems:

There once was a lady named Mom.

She liked to watch soaps.

She's the bomb!

She knows all the stars,

Who hit all the bars.

But she'd rather gnaw on a cob.

Here is the keeper: 

A mother is special, that's true.

She should be happy, not blue.

So do all you can and give her a hand.

If you're lucky, she might cook you stew!

Wahoo!

Me thinks my standards could be higher...

Whatev- as my friend says.  Happy Happy Mother's Day  to all.  Try to hide for a few moments peace and you know we'll find you to say, "Thanks, Mom!"

Hugs and Blisses from The Kids, all of us!

What Do You See?

I carry my camera everywhere, just in case... This was one of those just in case moments. I saw the wood grain on this old door and had to snap it for you. How many different visions will your imagination allow you to see?  I make out a frog, an owl and two alien lovers touching foreheads. Your turn! 

Other Side of the Shrimp Fest



For years we've attended the annual Shrimp Festival in  Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida. We've walked the streets lined with  10x10 white tents housing the handcrafted wares of all kinds of artists. Over time the festival has spread to the side streets, allowing more vendors with antiques plus fun for the whole family. But one thing stays the same.  The heat. Man oh man, is it hot! What else is to be expected though because we're in the deep South after all. So this year, I was not buying but selling- selling my historic novels, Secret Pebbles, Born to Burp bibs, painted glass, painted cards, magic pirate and princess keys, tic-tac-toes games, and on and on.  Bottom line- No matter which side of the counter you're one, a trip to the Amelia Island's Shrimp Festival is not to be missed.  See you next year- OH, and did I mention they have shrimp to eat?

   

French Schooners Visit Amelia Island

We had a treat recently in touring Etoile, one of two French schooners visiting Amelia Island. Built in 1932 along with Belle Poule, these ships have trained naval officers since first they sailed. While on board, I saw four words spelled out in brass letters and those words are universal to sailors worldwide.

Valeur- Valor

Discipline - Discipline

Honneur- Honor

Patrie - Homeland

                                   

PS  The good-looking French crew was a bonus for the ladies, I must say!

Year of Living Graciously - May

Go to bed at a decent hour!

Beer & Ham Quiche

I made up this yummy beer & ham quiche and I don't even drink beer! I got the idea from a cheese, beer and garlic fondue I made on New Year's Eve.  Add eggs and put in a pie shell and there you have it.  The beer gives it a sort of yummy yeasty taste. Enjoy!

You'll need:

1 ready to bake pie crust-not deep dish (pricked all over with a fork to prevent bubbling of the crust and baked for 10 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit )
2 eggs
3 tablespoons beer
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 oz. can mushroom pieces, drained
1/4 cup chopped ham

Mix all the ingredients, adding the mushrooms last, and pour into baked pie shell.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until set and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool slightly and serve. This recipe is easily doubled.

PS  Ham or mushrooms are optional but use one or the other for texture and added flavor.  Since I had both on hand, I used both.   -jmm

Another Lucy Moment- You Might, Too

If I would only stop telling on myself, you'd never know.  This one, however, is a good one.  Okay, we were at the store, looking for a new laptop for me.  Mine is years old and so well used, as you might imagine, there is a worn spot on my enter key and I've had to replace the electric cord twice. ( Once the cord was caught in the footrest of the easy chair and I cut it in two when I closed it. Beware!)  As I surveyed all the possibilities of the different computers, I asked the young salesman who was assisting me, "Is that DY brand good?  I've never heard of it."  He stared at me like I had noodles for hair.  It was then I realized I was looking at this particular laptop upside down.  It wasn't DY.  It was HP!  Now I asked you, does it not look like DY to you, too?  Thank you.  I rest my case- silly as it is.

Simplify...

One of my paintings went to a good home today.  A wife wanted it for her husband who was ill.  She said the colors were happy and the word "Simplify" on the canvas was what she had come to realize was important in life. I am honored.

Goodbye Lie Diaries- Peeperisms

1880s
Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Grandmother Peeper writes: 
Before I meet my Maker, I wanna pass on some a what my kin calls Peeperisms.  They're things I'm athinkin' are inerestin' and if'n theys not writ down, they they might get forgot. Some I heard over the years, some I make up. It makes no nevermind. They's all fun.

Did you know that white cats are oft deaf?

If you hang a boot upside down, the weather will change.

Don't never drink milk and eat fish together or else your shirt will wrinkle.

Happy Easter!

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

Year of Living Graciously - April

Mix and match all the decorative pillows from around your house and see how easily you can change the look of your rooms.

Bird Watching

While driving into Jacksonville in north Florida, Bruce spotted this huge bird's nest atop the signal light on a drawbridge!  On the way home, we stopped the car, walked to the bridge and waited.  These are the shots I got of the osprey bird and her nest. What a treat for us to see!  Enjoy!



Taking a break from nesting and/or scouting for fish?



Coming in for a landing



Touch down



Mama and Daddy in the nest together!



The Dragon Within

I blame my artsy-fartsy ways, please excuse the less than gracious expression, partly on being left-handed, but mostly on good genes. Therefore to my mind, unusual objects are often just waiting to be uncovered, discovered or turned into items of beauty. What follows is about one such object. While I used to have a very green thumb, and still probably do if I take the time, fertilize and water, lately I've lost a few plants. I don't even remember what type of plant this was when it was green and growing above the soil. As I was cleaning up a corner of our courtyard garden, I pulled forth a dead tangle of roots. Most folks would probably have trashed this dried out nasty. There was something about it that reminded me of driftwood so after shaking off all the sandy dirt, I took a closer look and discovered the dragon within. Some copper, purple and pink paint to highlight the body and tail and a bit of silver for the head and there you have her.  I have named her Drageena and she currently is the centerpiece on the round table in our screen porch. She seems happy there.  It's always nice to make new friends.   

Now Here is a Flower Bed!

We attended the Sacred Harp/Shape Note sing (http://graciousjanemarie.blogspot.com/2012/03/shape-note-sing-on-st-patricks-day.html)  recently and I had to take a photo of this "flower bed" outside the Hoboken, Georgia Elementary School cafeteria. Isn't this a cute idea? 

 

Shape Note Sing on St. Patrick's Day

Try as I might, I often have techno operator errors.  Yesterday was one of those times.  I cleverly had a blog post ready and scheduled to go online automatically for St. Patrick's Day because I knew we would be in Hoboken, Georgia at the annual Sacred Harp/Shape Note Sing and not near a computer. Apparently, it never went up because, although I had the time and date correct for auto posting, I had it in draft mood instead of post mode--or something like that.  Bottom line- Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day.

However, March 17th was a special day for us because we attended the Shape Note Sing.  My husband, Bruce, discovered it and each year we try and attend. I have written before about the beauty of this primitive form of four part a capella harmony.  Click here to read my article.:  http://www.greenlightwrite.com/shapenote.htm. 

VisitYou Tube and see the two part video about David Lee, the leader and champion of this grand and gracious sacred music at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVqhRAoLQpc&feature=channel.  A big thank you to  Water Tower films and their You Tube videos, which put you right there in Hoboken with us!



David Lee leading a hymn inside the "hollow square."
Note the hands of several singers keeping time with an up/down, left/right repeated pattern.



Our Sacred Harp Song book-There is revised edition available. 

Note the circles, triangles, squares and diamond shaped notes

Doggie Don't

We had a family of Yorkshire Terriers, a mommy, daddy and baby. They were with us for a very long time until old age took them.  We have often mentioned this odd little fact about them to other people with dogs and once we point it out, they study their own pets. And yes, by jingo, their critters do the same thing. What am I referring to? A dog will often yawn when you tell him "don't."  It's his way of protesting without biting your arm off! Now go and study your dog.

Making the Mark - Novel Discovery

Today, as everyday, I was editing Mark of a Man, #3 in my historic suspense/romance series set on Amelia Island, Florida. I was sorting out the four children- Lana, Ellen, Aggie and Nugget. I was checking to make sure the right child was calling the right parent mama or daddy. It struck me suddenly how I have three little girls who can grow up to become three young ladies in a future novel, like Breelan, Carolena and Nora in the current Goodbye Lie series! With a 4th novel, Sand and Sin, in rough draft manuscript form and ten Martha Bear™ short stories written but not edited, a blog to update, merchandise to make and market, book signings and shows to attend, finalizing Mark of a Man for publication, plus all the new ideas swirling in my head and living an every day wonderful existence with my family, I should live so long to create a fifth novel starring the next generation of my fictional girls. It could happen...

P.S. Don't you love the name Nugget for a little boy? Someone I know has a grandson named that and I just had to use. His family can't wait to read Mark of a Man for that reason alone. So, sorry Mac. You're now known as Nugget!

Welcome Home

This is a happy ending to the horrible story of my dear, dear friend Bonnie who lost her home and all it's contents in the May 22, 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado. I could put links up to You Tube or articles about the devastating storm, but I want to focus on survival.  Bonnie has seen hard times, like so many other people, yet none so hard as this ordeal.  She could have crumbled, and perhaps did a bit in private. Yet after the shock of it all, I am not surprised by her strength. She did what needed to be done, and that was to keep her family together. With the help of her wonderful husband by her side, plenty of caring friends supporting her and her unshakable faith in God, today she has crossed the threshold of her newly built home.  In my book, she is the stuff heroines are made of...  Welcome home, Bonnie!

Bonnie unlocking her new front door and stepping into the brilliant future.

March- Year of Living Graciously

Don't just tap your foot, get up and dance!

Goodbye Lie Diaries- Miss Ella

Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

1880s

Miss Ella writes:  The mighty wind is  bending the trees and stripping the petals from the last of my camellias today. Very sad to see them go but they are being replaced by budding azaleas. I do hope the wind lies down or they, too, will be nothing more than sticks with leaves.




***

Jane Marie writes:  It has been a windy day in our time, too, Miss Ella.  It's not nearly as strong as your bluster because I still have a camellia blossom or two left.   Oh, something new to me.  You know how the wild palmettos grow so thick and close to the ground here? My friend trimmed them up and now look at them. Very pretty and no hiding place for critters!  See photos below.



camellia



trimmed wild palmettos

Seal the Deal / GBL Diary Entry

I have always loved the idea and look of sealing wax on a letter. It was at the Olustee Reenactment Festival (see Olustee blog below dated Feb. 20, 2012), in one of many of their sutler stores where old fashioned merchandise is sold, that I saw the stamps and wax. So, I splurged and got both a J and an M stamps for Jane Marie. In this day and time when hand written letters are becoming rare, it may seem an odd thing, but not in my world. Now, to whom shall I send a snail mail letter?  Ah, my dear friend Bonnie or the grandparents or an aunt or... Perhaps I'll need more sealing wax after all. That makes me happy!  

Practice #1

Practice #2

***

The Goodbye Lie Diaries 
Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida
1880s 

Miss Ella Dunnigan

Miss Ella writes: Oh, I am so pleased to hear such delights for you and necessities for us like sealing wax are still available and still in use by people who treasure tradition.  May it ever be so.

 

Battle of Olustee Photos

We were recent spectators at the 148th Anniversary Reenactment Battle of Olustee near Lake City, Florida.  Go back in time to February 1864 as you look at a few of the pictures I snapped.  Attending any reenactment battle makes a wonderful educational family event.  For more information on the history of Olustee, visit http://battleofolustee.org/. 

Alana Bishop poses while shopping at the one of many tent shops set up in Sutler's Row.

Confederate band plays antique instruments during Sunday morning period church service.

Yankees headed toward their camp.



Family tent living.



Washing up after lunch.



Gentlemen soldiers



a gathering of ladies- note little girl playing with hoop



proud posing





During the reenactment battle.

After the battle...

Another Lucy Moment- To Dehumidify or Not to Dehumidfy

Growing up in Pennsylvania, we had a basement that was always damp. To correct that, our father got a dehumidifier.  From an early age, I remember a hose running from the dehumidifier directly to a floor drain.  It has always been thus...until I moved away from home when all things humid left my thoughts... until I lived in Florida these last thirty years. Sure, my husband Bruce would always warn me, "If we don't keep the air conditioning on, our shoes will turn green." With that statement, he proved he is the obvious scientist in the house.  Well, I got to thinking. This often results in a decision that leads us on some sort of adventure...and so it goes like this:

"We need a dehumidifier," I declared.

"If you just leave the thermostat alone, the air conditioning will keep the house dried out just fine."

Naturally, I didn't believe him. So since I have the art of pestering aka nagging perfected plus a $15 coupon I found in the paper for the local hardware store, we bought a dehumidifier for our master bedroom and bath, which I might mention is at the back of the house and closed off from the cat who... well that's another tale. Okay, so we got the machine home, out of the box, removed all the tape holding its pieces-parts together, opened the instruction booklet, decided there were too many instructions to bother with, except it did say to let it run for twenty-four hours before you push the buttons, and plugged her in.  She purred like the kitten who was banned from the room.

We closed the bedroom door, the dehumidifier humming along, ate dinner and enjoyed the rest of our evening. I like white noise to sleep and drown out any activity, including the cat's and the bing-bong of the major grandfather clock in the parlor. To that end, I happily anticipated our machine would lull me to sleep.  When I entered the bedroom, I immediately noticed the room was warm.  It was so warm, in fact, I didn't turn on our electric blanket controls although it was near to freezing this particular night. (Bruce was still watching a movie in the parlor so I bundled him up in his hooded sweatshirt and covered him with a blanket.  I cranked his heated back massager pad to high and there he sat, snug as a sausage in a snowsuit sitting on a stove burner.  He's used to this sort of treatment because I like to keep the house cool in the winter.  Well, he calls it cold but I don't like the way the furnace dries out one's sinus cavities in the winter.  It can't be good for you.)

Back to the bedroom. It was so warm in there, I even turned the furnace off at the thermostat.  I marvelled how the dehumidifier would not only prevent mold in the house but it would lower our heating bills since it appeared to be a heater, too. Just before I snuggled under the warm covers, in the warm room, I applied my lip gloss as I always do each night.  I can report I slept like that baby we all hear about--for about forty-five minutes.  When I awoke, I realized my throat was dry and thought of all the money we would save what with the high cost of Kleenex for I wondered if I would ever again have to blow my nose.  My head felt so dry, I anticipate my brain exploding into flames by spontaneous combustion if I sneezed. And my lips were so dry, I tasted blood.  (Actually, that part isn't true but it sounds dramatic, don't cha think? Besides, they were/are really dry!) 

It was about that time Bruce came to bed. He also noticed the room was unusually warm. "Let's open the bedroom door and let in some cold air from the rest of the house."  The cool of the comfortably humid air was refreshing and I tried to get back to sleep but ...Well, that's why I'm up in the middle of the night writing this particular blog.  I think the only way I will get back to sleep is from pure exhaustion.  After I type this, I can check my research for Mark of  Man, (my next historical novel), make some clay wings for my fairy, design a leprechaun trap and paint fifty shamrock Secret Pebbles.  That should tire me out, me thinks. 

In the mean time, I recalled Bruce's words- remember he hasn't been in the bedroom long enough to feel his head turn to tinder. I expect he'll be joining in my creative clay sculpting activities any moment.  He said, "Tomorrow, I'll read the directions.  That's always a good place to start."  I told you he was a smart guy.

Now I'm wondering how to counter the powerful drying effects of the dehumidifier.  We could buy a vaporizer.  We could take turns showering and bathing hourly to make certain there was plenty of steam in the room or we could get a machine that is smaller for clearly this monster was intended to dry out a tobacco barn, not our little cozy cottage.  Lesson learned- When buying a new, untried appliance, always save your receipt and, in this case, have plenty of lip gloss handy so you can properly apply it with a caulking gun because you'll surely need it!  

Valentine Images

Valentine's Day to me includes the romance of style. I'm sharing photos of an antique and delicate over-dress given to me by a friend who thought I would appreciate it. And appreciate it I certainly do. It is very thin and meant to be worn "over" a full length frock, probably white.While it is clearly machine made, the detail is overwhelming and inspired by what once was fancy handwork. I have added a pink satin ribbon tied with loose love knots in the dangling tails. A pink rosette on the bow, it is on a pink satin hanger, which compliments this treasured garment.

May we forever find romance in the beauty around us... 

sleeve

pin tucks (delicate seams)

cut work

embroidery