Halloween Happy plus Goodbye Lie Diaries- Peeper

My friend, Shirlene Reeves,  is a wonderful baker and made this Apple Stack Cake for a birthday party.  She found the recipe in Southern Living online.  Six pounds of apples and six layers later, half a wedge of one layer was enough of a taste for me to enjoy this delightfully delicious Halloween creation.  Click on the link below to make your own stack cake. http://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/tempting-apple-dessert-recipes/apple-stack-cake

 

 

And we can't leave out Abby, our Gracious Jane Marie mascot, modeling her Halloween pumpkin costume.  She thinks she's the cutest pumpkin in the patch.  I tend to agree with her!

 

*****

1880s
Fernandina, Florida

Grandmother Peeper writes: We're havin' a Halloween party at

Dunnigan Manor this year.  The youngins  is just about finished amakin' their costumes.  Breelan's is a tall pointy hat with a floatie veil pasted ta the top. She'll be a princess.  Carolena  fashioned some pretend wire glasses, will pin up her mess a hair and carry a pile a books.  Likin' ta read, as she does, she will be a librarian.  Miss Ella made little Marie a bunny mask ta wear with her pink apron and Jack Patrick wants ta be a ax murderer.  He asked ta borrow Clover's hatchet and cover the head of it with my strawberry jelly fer blood,

but his father, Michael, says he's not allowed ta waste the jelly. 

Miss Ella sent out invitations asayin' there will be a fortune teller at the party. That will be me.  I'll tell everybody  their future will be bright.  Well, everybody but Aunt Noreena. We always have ta include her since she's right next door and would come over, invitation or not, like she always does. I'll make her fortune sound so awful, she won't sleep for the next month and a half. 

When the people come, we'll have only frightening jack-o-lanterns ta light the way ta the opened front door, leading them into the dark welcome hall.  Michael will be dressed as a ghost, wearing a white sheet.  He'll reach out his hand covered with wet salt. That will give them a start.  Clover is gonna make loud scary sounds from behind the talkin' tree ta get folks in the mood, too.  We'll hang apples from the porch ceiling,  sos they can try and bite them with no hands. Breelan is gonna tell ghost stories after we all eat, we'll play cornhole toss and--Well, I don't want ta give away all our surprises but it will be a night they'll be atalkin' about until next Halloween!  All our Dunnigan parties is like that, ya know.  If it's worth doing, says Michael, it's worth doin' ta excess.   

 Happy Halloween!  

 

 

Grandmother Peeper is a featured character in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie Trilogy.  Everybody loves her but Aunt Noreen.  That's got to tell you something ...



 

Frank Sinatra's Undertow

UNDERTOW - I am often asked how I come up with the name of my novels.  Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow easily found me.  I wanted a word that meant overwhelming, all consuming, no escaping.  The result was undertow.  While that might have been sufficient, I thought it needed a softening, a sort of beckoning, an allure to it. Velvet was the description of my undertow. One final touch was needed for location, Amelia Island, and there you have it.  Velvet Undertow is the perfect title for this historic romance/suspense book because there are so many types of undertows throughout the pages ...

Here is another use of  undertow.
"All Or Nothing At All"
sung by Frank Sinatra, 1943
with the Harry James Orchestra
music by Arthur Altman
lyrics by Jack Lawrence

This wonderful song is the first professional recording by Frank Sinatra and it could be, in part, one of the theme songs to my book. Take a listen here:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7klm1GS3v8 -

 

Lyrics below:

All or nothing at all,
Half a love never appealed to me.
If your heart never could yield to me,
Then I'd rather, rather have nothin' at all.

All or nothing at all,
If it's love, there is no in-between.
Why begin then cry for something that might have been?
No, I'd rather have nothin' at all.

Oh, please don't bring your lips so close to my cheek.
Don't smile or I'll be lost beyond recall.
The kiss in your eyes, the touch of your hand makes me weak,
And my heart may grow dizzy and fall.

And if I fell under the spell of your call,
I would be caught in the undertow.
And so you see, I've got to say no, no.
All or nothin' at all.

[instrumental]

All or nothin' at all!

1 2 3 !

My own treasured friends,

These are the things that clog my mind:

As I sit here contemplating the glycemic index of beetroot and kidney beans, it came to me that I had just emailed my daughter telling her to buy fertilizer for her roses with a high number in the middle. I’m talking about the three numbers on the front of fertilizer bags that indicate the strength of the root, flower and leaf boosting power of the product. Then I thought of just how many numbers are involved in our lives. We have numbers for:

Driver’s license
Tag number
Social Security
Credit cards
Birthdays
Anniversaries
Ages
Bank statements
Check writing
Prices of food, clothing
Mortgage/rent payment
Phone numbers- cell, landline home, work
Regular priced items
Sale items
Population
Temperature, indoors and outdoors
Chill factor
Heat index
Smog level
Percentage chance of rain
Height of the seas
Above sea level
Calories
TV stations
Radio stations
Speed limits
Fines
Sales Tax
Eye Sight
Blood pressure
Cholesterol
Height
Body temperature
Body mass
Tire pressure
Air pressure
Fat content
Data
Postage
Voltage
Wattage
Address
Zip code
Fractions of cups for recipes
Electricity- 110 or 220
Water temperature for bathing, swimming, clothes washing
PH factor
Physical Weight
Clocks, watches, timers
Word count for term paper, thesis, short story or novel
Number of stanzas in a poem
Number of verses in a song
Number of stars on the USA flag
Number of states in the USA
Rosary bead count
Fever
Cost per ounce of food on package
Postal charge per weight
Number of guests at a party/reception
Hotel room number
Depth of water in pool
Inches of rain
Counting music
Counting dance steps
Time of a show or movie
Bus, train, airplane schedule
Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, geometry, algebra, Calculus
Chemistry
Statistics
House numbers
Street numbers
Zip codes
Shoe, dress, pants and shirt sizes
Ring, hat, glove sizes
Bust, bra, waist, hip, inseam
Envelope sizes- #10, etc.
Records- old fashioned 45 or 33 for the old timers out there
TV channels
Radio stations
Hymn numbers in the hymnal
How many members on a team for the different sports
Winning/record times or points in sports
Number of presidents in the USA
Number of senators/congressmen
Feet in a mile, inches in a foot, etc.
Cups in a pint, quart, gallon
Ounces in a cup, pint, quart, gallon
Keys on a piano
Days in a month, hours in a day, minutes in an hour, seconds in a minute
Current stamp price
Stock market
401K ups and downs
Price of a gallon of gas
Mileage on a tank of gas
Pages and chapters in a book
Mileage to and from somewhere
Frequent flier miles
Miles per gallon of gas
Cell minutes
Library book due date
Baby’s birth weight and length
Child’s height and weight
Child’s grade in school
Child’s report card/percentile ranking in school
GPA
ETC, ETC, ETC (Thank you The King and I)
And I don't do numbers, I do words!

PS  If I repeated any above, it's a test and you passed!

Pirate Mysteries from Capt Fancy Patch

Captain Fancy Patch displays his hat and fancy patch

“Avast ye! Tis Captain Fancy Patch of the Rosey Freckle addressin’ all this day.  For ye landlubbers, I will explain a few mysteries about us pirates. Aw, now don’t let me name nor the name of me ship be foolin’ ya.  We are a gentle crew, it’s true, yet powerful mean should we be called upon to defend whatever we decide to defend.  

And why me eye patch?  Many do ask. A fine thing it be, considering the less than happy reason I wear it.  Me best wench, Jane Marie, decorated it special, and it be the prettiest patch on all the high seas.  Now, while many a pirate has lost his eye, there are many more who still have two good orbs, like Keg McBrewster and Darty Hoisterman.  Why would they have need of a patch then?  Aw, to improve their night vision, matey.  Ya see, keepin’ one eye covered in the light of day, makes for better spyin’ when havin’ to enter a dark cave or go below decks on the enemy ship. The eyesight has already adjusted itself to the blackness and, therefore, with your blade ready, no foe can come out of the darkness, unseen.  A cagey pirate is ready at all times!

Pirates and earrings go together. Have ye ever wondered why? The tellin’ of it is fascinatin’ for there be many a reason.  One is that piercing a lobe with a pin makes a man more virile, or so they say.  The Chinese acupuncture point to improve eyesight is in the very same place.

Now a pirate guards his earring with his life because it is made of the finest gold or silver, if he be a pirate of any worth.  His town of origin is oft times engraved on the ring so those buryin’ him know  where to send the body once he's sailed his last.  The earring is sold and the cash used to pay the cost of shipping his carcass and performing a service, should it be his custom.

One more thing I’ll share with ye and that is we pirates can be seen with a wad of wax hanging from our earrings.  The purpose being to plug our ears with the stuff when we fire our big guns aboard ship, so we don’t blow out our hearin' whilst we’re blastin' a hole in our attacker’s aft!       

Until my next communiqué, I’m off for some grog and boiled cackle fruit (eggs, me bukos)!  And remember, if ye done a thing, fess up.  Your friends will admire ye and your enemies will discover they can't use your sins against ye."

Captain Fancy Patch

Amelia Island, Florida, home port

Captain Fancy Patch has a cameo role in Amelia Island's Mark of a Man.  He also reads a bedtime story video called The Great Amelia Island Sniff Off  here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owujwL7dEng

 Source: Remy Melina, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer   |   March 08, 2011

Bananas!

While recently visiting a friend on the north Florida mainland, remember, we live on Amelia Island, I spied what looked to be a bunch of bananas.  I moved a little closer for a better look-see. By jingo, that was exactly what they were.  She hadn't noticed her bananas yet because the plant had never produced such before this time.  Well, for  this Yankee from Pennsylvania, it was a very exotic thing to see.  And the huge pink blossom at the top of that plant reminded me a tiny bit of the Bird of Paradise flower.  I wonder how they will taste, once they've ripened.
 
For more info on growing bananas, check out the two sites below: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/cut-flower-banana-plant-55800.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQuvLrxv65A - Greg the Gardener

Origin of The Goodbye Lie Series

I am often asked how the idea of The Goodbye Lie story began.  I answer it this way:

"Island living has given rise to my writing.  The characters in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie series find me as I walk the same beach as they, starting more than one hundred years earlier. The ocean wind carries their whispers past my ear and, from those whispers, I capture their tales of love and hardship, and hilarity and triumph. A citizen of their same town of Fernandina, I stroll the same roads with still-standing Victorian homes, watch the same waves and endure the same weather as my fictional friends. They have joined my family and, through my novels, they want to be part of your family, too."  - Jane Marie 

Spiced Tea / Goodbye Lie Diaries-Miss Ella

spiced tea warming in slow cooker

I hadn't made Spiced Tea in a decade.  With fall in the north Florida air, the thought of it made me wonder if the eleven other girls at my bunko party would like it.  Boy howdy, did they ever!  Half of them asked for the recipe!  The scent filled the house, making it all the cozier.  Hot or cooled, it is simply lovely and easy to make.  There is sugar in it, so keep that in mind, and make it a treat for the whole family on those rainy or snowy days. 

 

You’ll need:

 

2 cups of Tang

3/4 cup decaf instant tea with lemon

1 cup sugar or more to taste

1 1/2 teaspoon cloves

 

Mix all the above ingredients with a spoon or shake well in a container with a tight lid.  Spoon 1 tablespoon into a pretty teacup and fill the cup with hot water.  Serve with cookies or biscuits.  It may be served hot, at room temperature or chilled, but first heat the mixture and stir to dissolve the Tang and sugar and meld the flavors.

 

You can make several servings at once and keep your spiced tea warm in the slow cooker.  I used 8 tablespoons and 8 cups of water.  The ladies ladled refills as they went from table to table between bunko rounds!  There is plenty of powder mixture left to last me fall.                             

                                                             - Jane Marie

***

1880s

Fernandina, Florida

 

Miss Ella

Miss Ella writes:  We serve a similar spiced tea on our Aqua Verde ships. We call it Sweet Orange Tea.  Our chefs make vast amounts as you might imagine for all our passengers, so at the house our recipe is simple.  One teabag, a good squeeze of an orange, a sprinkle of sugar and a dash of cloves.  We don’t measure this exactly and there seems no way to make it incorrectly, unless you forget to add the sugar.  What is this decaf instant tea of which you write?  Instant tea?  My, my, how everything  happens so quickly in your time.  I wonder if I could get used to life zipping by so fast.  Then again, perhaps you accomplish more in a day than we do.  By the way, we, too, often serve the spice tea at our bunko gatherings, just because it is so delightful.  

Miss Ella is the  matriarch of the Dunnigan family in The Goodbye Lie historical romance series set on Amelia Island, Florida in the 1800s.  She oversees what is served on the family's passenger line, which travels from Fernandina, Florida south to Miami and north to New England.

Angels on Duty

I had a good scare recently.  Happily, the angels were on guard and alert because I’m here to tell about it.  I was strolling down the sidewalk one morning, appreciating the clear blue of the cloudless sky and thinking I just might take a picture of it for this blog.  I also thought how a photo of a solid blue rectangle in a posting might seem a little whacked, unless you are familiar with my quest to see and show things in a positive, pretty and often peculiar way, whenever I can.

 

It was then I heard a crash and a scraping.  My head snapped around, taking with it my glance.  And what I saw was enough to chill my soul.  A car had left the road and jumped onto the very sidewalk where I was walking!  The crash I heard was the front bumper hitting the curb and the scraping was the walkway abrading that bumper.  And this happened less than 20 feet from me!

 

In short order, the driver backed up, and more scraping was heard, as he disengaged from the walkway.  On the street again, he proceeded to drive past me at a reasonable speed, like any law-abiding citizen.  The thing was, I clearly saw him still talking on his cell phone, not having paused a moment at the near-tragedy. While I don’t like a lot of bureaucracy, I am certainly in favor of a countrywide hands-free law.  In this instance, those ten digits God gave us are meant to steer the car,  not text, dial phones, answer emails, apply make-up, etc.

 

The bottom line is I am thrilled to be among the living and grateful my guardian angel and his were keeping watch over us both.

Peeper's Pickles- Goodbye Lie Diaries

from Miss Ella's

 Fernandina Flavors Cooking Collection

 
Matriarch Ella Dunnigan concocts, creates, gathers and is responsible for foods served on the fictional Dunnigan family Aqua Verdi Passenger Line ships in the 1880s.  A little bit of make believe  plus a whole lot of real good taste result in these delightful dishes still served in modern times.  (For your convenience, recipes are generally written in today's amounts and measurements.)

Peeper

Fernandina on Amelia Island
1880s

Peeper writes:

Howdy. I'm Grandmother Peeper, star of Jane Marie Malcolm's storybooks called The Goodbye Lie. My fave-rite friends call me Peeper. I do most a the cookin' round Dunnigan Manor.  I have ta make extree bee-cause old Aunt Noreen comes awalkin' cross the field ta eat my food since she can't stand swallowin' her own. 

I like ta eat from my garden and make these here pickles.  I'm glad ta be asharin' them through Jane Marie's magic e-lectronics.  I don't know how 'zactly it works, but I don't need ta know everythin'.

 Peeper's Zucchini Pickles

 

1 pound zucchini, washed with the ends cut off.  Slice 'em pretty thick, about 1/4 inch

3 cups a vinegar, white or cider

1 cup white sugar

lemon - squeeze out a tablespoonful

salt ta taste

 

Cook in a pan on the stove, givin' it a stir so it don't burn none.  It's done when the sugar is all dissolved.  Put the zucchini slices in a clean jars and pour the sugar juice overtop.

 Keep on ice fer 'bout a month.

 

You can likewise use yellow squash or cucumber slices, if you're awantin' ta

 

 

 

Doggie Workout Video

Amelia Island's Abby, our talking, singing, joke-telling Chihuahua, is at it again.  Now she has her own exercise video.  You see, it all began when she put on the workout suit I made her from an old sweat sock.  Yes folks, with a no sewing and a few snips of the scissors, you can create a new outfit for your small doggie, too. 


Abby in her sweatband made from the sock cuff





Abby speed digging beneath her dog towel while wearing her sweat sock exercise togs





May we suggest that you and your dog take a look-see and a listen to Abby's workout video  below with the hope it will inspire your lumpy, porky puppy AND you to get up and MOVE. Even if it is  just one extra wag of your tails, to Abby's way of thinking, that qualifies as exercise. 

 

In case you don't speak Chihuahua, here are the lyrics to her workout ditty:

 

Hello everybody!  It's time to exercise!

And a one and a bark and a sniff and poop.

And a two and a bark and eat and poop.

And  three and a bark and run and poop.

One and two and poop, poop, poop!

Now, don't you feel better?

 

***

 



Use these instruction to make your dog a sock sweater: 

How-To: Make a Dog Sweater from a Sock | MAKE by Phillip Torrone.

Thank you, Phillip.

 

***

 

(Abby I is our current Abby's ancestor. Given as a birthday gift in the 1880s to Aunt Noreen, a major player in my Goodbye Lie series of novels, Abby I lives out back of Duffy Place with Justice, Noreen's hired hand.  Since Aunt Noreen dislikes everything about dogs, from their fur to their smell, Abby I is fat and happy with Justice.  Abby I makes a cameo appearance in Amelia Island's Mark of a Man, the third novel in my trilogy. -jmm)





Mark of a Man Excerpt + Aunt Noreen's Potpourri Recipe

Amelia Island's Mark of a Man is the upcoming novel in my historical suspense/romance Goodbye Lie series.  Set in 1898 on Amelia Island, Florida, Aunt Noreen and her daughter, Nora, are having a lovely time at the John Philip Sousa concert, which unexpectedly is presented in Fernandina, the small town on the island. Yes, a lovely time, that is,  until Aunt Noreen starts her stuff. 

Excerpt:

   Casually standing and stifling a yawn, Noreen added, "By the way, daughter, I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but did you speak to Austin about his pigs and their smell?"
   Nora sprang to her feet.
   "I am aware your father gave him permission to corral his animals out back of your house, but the odor …  You know how I hate to complain …"
   Nora was proud of herself for not choking since her mother was the queen of queens when it came to belly aching.
   "And I've been so patient in not saying much about it, yet I must alert you to the disagreeable situation. Since Clabe brought Abby home, I can't seem to catch my breath in my own house. Why else would I relegate that dog to live with Justice in his cabin most of the time?  I admit, she has made me smile once or twice when she's not tearing up the newspaper or tracking sand inside or leaving her fur on my rugs, but she smells like the animal she is. My tender constitution requires open windows as weather permits to keep the house fresh. When the wind blows, it blows Abby's odor out and then it is quickly replaced by all that pig stink. There are times Duffy Place smells as bad inside as it does out! Oh, how I dread rainy days like today or cold days when we have to button up everything and that nasty odor gets trapped indoors.  Should Mr. Sousa smell it, I would die of embarrassment on the spot! On the spot! By way of a natural perfume, I have instructed Winnie that she is to steam apples, cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange peels at the first sign of a cloud."
   Unable to keep her patience, Nora sniped back at her mother, ever the hypochondriac. "Tender constitution?" 
   Remembering her daughter was still young and had yet to appreciate the depth of her physical and mental suffering over the years, Noreen said, "We will save the discussion about me for later. Now we are talking about your husband's offensive pig farming occupation.  How you can stand to be touched by a man in such a line of work?"
   "How dare you. How dare you!" Nora spit in anger and none-too softly. "Austin is a fine, honest, loving husband to me. You knew when we married he was a pig farmer and a volunteer fireman. I don't ever hear you saying a prayer for his safety when it comes to risking his life to save others or their homes. All you do is carry on and find the negative in everything. When you and father suggested we build our house behind Duffy Place like Breelan and Carolena did behind Dunnigan Manor when they wed, it was explained how Austin's animals needed to be close by for him to care for them. We built on the back of your property, as far from your house as possible with the pigpens behind that. We could have just as easily gotten a piece of land somewhere else, but you insisted we stay near to you.  You assured us you'd have no problem with this. Besides, Austin keeps the pens in pristine condition. Like most of your problems, this one is all in your head. The only foul smell in your house is when you burn the beans! And my husband bathes twice a day, if you must know!"
   Noreen crossed her arms over her ample bosom, tightened her lips and tried to close off her hearing, as was her usual when she was admonished.
   "You pretend that if you preface your comments with an 'I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but--,'  it takes away the sting in what you say.  You know it doesn't! Who made you Lord High Executioner anyhow, dear mother?"

Aunt Noreen's Potpourri Recipe

quarter  2 apples

3 to 6 cinnamon sticks broken in half 

small handful of cloves

peel of 2 to 3 oranges- chopped into 1 inch pieces

water to cover

Simmer above ingredients, uncovered, to refresh and deodorize your home.



Trivia

An Almost True Story

Hubby Bruce and I went to a local restaurant and stayed for the weekly trivia game.  We’d heard about it and, heck, you can win free food.  Since we like their pizza, why not have an extra large, thin crust, double cheese with mushrooms on half and pepperoni and green pepper on the other half, on them?  Oh, may I mention we are pretty good at trivia?  It’s been a while since we’ve played Trivial Pursuit, a game from the 1980s, but when we did, we beat the socks off our kids. 

 

Once the rules were explained, mainly no cell phones allowed with which to google the answers and no shouting them out, we chose a name for our two-person team.  Being the well educated sophisticates that we are, we cleverly decided upon Team Malcolm.  (In case you don’t know, Malcolm is our last name.)

 

We began.  The first question: How many days are in a fortnight?  I jumped on that one, writing down the number 14.  Correct, of course.  Then I got Joint Chiefs of Staff right and Bruce got Pulp Fiction. It went downhill at lightning speed from there. 

 

After ten minutes, we were doing so poorly that when they asked five questions about television theme songs from the '90s, I hollered, “We didn’t even own a TV back then!”  Not true, but I was hoping for a little sympathy at our wretched showing.  When none was forthcoming, we left at half-time having learned a couple of lessons.  #1.  Just because I beat a radio DJ out of a pizza twenty-one years ago by stumping him with Bruce’s question:  What was Li’l Abner’s legitimate day job?  Answer:  He was a mattress tester for the Stunned Ox Mattress Factory.  Yes, just because I won that one, doesn’t mean we know quite everything.  #2.  Never assign your real last name to your team because Amelia Island, where we live, is a small place and word spreads quickly of any humiliation.  Examples of such: So far this morning, the mailman asked me if I know what color the sky is and a store clerk asked me how many toes are on a human being’s left foot.  While I’m pretty sure the sky is blue, I’m thinking the toe thing might be a trick question.  Is that with our without webs?  Do webbed toes count as one or two toes?  Hmm.  I’m still thinking about this one over …

 

Beach Warning

When you are at the beach, it is always a good idea to know what the different color warning flags mean. The International Lifesaving Federation has determined these colors define the surf conditions and hazards in the water.

 

a weekend at Main Beach in Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

- note yellow flag on lifeguard chair

 

 sign posted on lifeguard chair explains the meaning of each of the different colored flags

 

 Rip currents are a serious danger to swimmers but can be survived by swimming parallel to shore. Read the sign above for details.

 

Lightning Alert

When there is lightning within two miles of our Main Beach area, a fifteen second alarm sounds and a strobe flashes, warning that a storm is headed our way and will arrive anytime from eight to sixteen minutes. Everyone is to clear the ocean and the beach.  After the bad weather passes through, you will hear three five-second  blasts of the horn indicating it is safe to return to the beach.

 

Remember it's safety first when it comes to the all-powerful

Mr. Ocean, as we like to call the great Atlantic. 

24 Hour Salad - Miss Ella's

24 Hour Salad from Miss Ella's  Fernandina Flavors Cooking Collection

 
Matriarch Ella Dunnigan concocts, creates and is responsible for foods served on the fictional Dunnigan family Aqua Verdi Passenger Line ships in the 1880s.  A little bit of make believe  plus a whole lot of real good taste result in this delightful salad still made in modern times.  (For your convenience, recipes are generally written in today's amounts and measurements.)

Layer ingredients in order and DO NOT MIX :

• 1 head of lettuce torn (or 16 ounce bag of prepared lettuce)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 chopped celery (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (optional)
• One 8 ounce can of sliced water chestnuts (optional) 
• One 10 ounce box of frozen peas

Combine and spread over peas:

• 2 tablespoons sugar     
• 1 cup mayonnaise (lite is optional)

Sprinkle the mayo mixture with Parmesan cheese to taste.

Garnish: 

• 1 boiled egg, sliced (optional)     
• Radish roses or slices (optional)
• Bacon bits (optional)

Cover and refrigerate or keep on ice over night.

(Reprinted and tweaked from graciousjanemarie.com)

Lavender Stick - Goodbye Lie excerpt



  lavender stick before dog attack

I like history and many of its gentile customs. One of those customs is the making and gifting of a lavender stick. The lavender stick or wand in the photo was given to me many years ago by a friend.  Handmade, it has always been one of my treasures.  In spite of it now being half chewed, it still is.  You see, Abby, our singing, joke-telling, talking Chihuahua got hold of it,  leaving her chopper marks behind. (Do a search on this blog for Abby or scroll down through past posts to find out about her.) I caught her in the act of destruction as she proudly trotted it about the house.  Happily, I was able to retrieve it.  Bent but not completely broken, it is visually less than its former self.  Additionally, the sweet lavender scent has been replaced by the pungent odor of doggie tonsils.  Oh well.  I still have the picture.

 

I made mention of a lavender stick as a gift to Breelan Dunnigan in my Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie historical novel.  Here is a short excerpt from that novel:

     With every meeting, Breelan discovered Trip to be more attractive. When they weren't together, he sent a daily messenger with suitable gifts, all of which were to be carried, eaten or looked upon. Aware of the proprieties, Trip understood that a gift to be worn was too personal and certainly too improper to accept. One day the present was butterscotch candy. On another, an envelope of lily-of-the-valley seeds was accompanied by a note saying he didn't know if the warmer weather in Fernandina was conducive for this particular specie's growth, but it might be fun to give the seeds a try. Then, it was the sheet music to Vanishing Moments. He'd penned along the margin:

We danced to this song the night we met.

                     A time remembered, I shan't ere forget.

      Later, a scented lavender stick tied with pastel ribbons was discovered on the porch. Finally, Trip surprised Breelan with a charcoal drawing of them both, side-by-side on a swing. He wrote how he'd described her beauty to the artist. The resulting resemblance was remarkable!

     The most exhilarating event of all was the ride in a hot air balloon. Two days before they were to set sail for Fernandina, Trip turned his back to Nora and Will and the man in charge of controlling the basket in which they all flew, and took Breelan's hand. Up there in the blue of a cloudless New York City sky, he said, "What I'm about to disclose may shock you."

Discover how to make your own lavender stick by clicking on the link below.  Thank you, Fairegarden. http://fairegarden.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/how-to-make-lavender-wands



Grammy Camp - Catty Shack

Lions and tigers and leopards, oh my! 

I like to think of myself as being in touch.  I don't know how I missed it, but missed it I did.  I'm talking about Catty Shack Wildlife Sanctuary in Jacksonville, not far from Amelia Island, Florida. It's been around for over 25 years and I only recently found out about it!

According to our tour guide, the tour was included in the price of entry, there are currently 45 animals living there. Sadly, the animals come from situations where they have been mistreated, illegally owned or in too small cages. Whatever the reason, once a cat enters this happy
place, it is welcomed and cared for there the rest of its life.

 
 
 

Open to the public on the weekends, we took granddaughter Ava on a Sunday afternoon in July during her stay at our house aka Grammy Camp.  Man alive, was it ever hot for us, but not for those cats. We arrived to find mostly tigers, also lions, cougars, leopards and even arctic foxes, almost all asleep in their huge wire fence enclosures. That was until about 2 pm when all the cats came alive, seemingly for no particular reason. Then in a carefully choreographed dance of unlocking and opening gates, the cats knew the drill, and momentarily wandered into their holding spaces. It was then we saw the head keeper driving around in his jeep, placing treats for them on cement slabs inside their cages. The huge kitties instinctively understood it was time for their snacks and when directed back into their homes, they were excited to munch on large paper red, white, and blue balls filled with chicken parts.  As it was explained, they don't eat the paper. They remove the chicken, gobble it down and play with the smashed and torn balls.  There is no fighting because there are enough balls to go around.  

 

Oh, did I mention we watched as several of the tigers enjoyed a cooling splash-about and swim in pools inside their enclosures.

 

In a perfect world, these wonderful creatures would be living free.  It is clear the folks running the Catty Shack love their animals and treat them as the treasures they are.

 

For more information visit www.cattyshack.org or call 904 757-3603.