"J" is for "Jacquelin Wells" aka "Julie Bishop"

Bonjour from Campagne Maison

Jacqueline Wells aka Julie Bishop

My mother named me Jacquelin after a childhood friend and I became a Wells when I married. This post is about another.

Jacqueline Wells was born Jacqueline Brown to a wealthy Denver banker/oilman on August 30, 1914. She moved to Los Angeles after her parents divorce and debuted onscreen at the age of 9. She soon became a busy child actress, working alongside Mary Pickford and Clara Bow, during the silent era under the screen name of Jacqueline Wells.

Jacqueline and Buster Crabbe in "Tarzan the Fearless"

Jacqueline took 4 years off from film work in her teens, during which time she attended school and took dancing lessons. She returned to the screen in the 30's appearing in a number of Hal Roach comedy shorts. In 1940, Jacqueline signed a contract with Warner Brothers, and made 84 movies under a name change to Julie Bishop. During that time she worked opposite Buster Crabbe, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Roy Rogers, Laurel and Hardy and my favorites, Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne. In the 1950's, she co-starred with Bob Cummings in the TV series, "My Hero" and also starred as Allison McKenzie in "Return to Peyton Place".

Jacqueline retired from the screen in 1957. Among her many lifetime accomplishments, Jacqueline was a licensed private pilot and a painter. She entertained soldiers at the Hollywood Canteen during WWII and was named one of the 10 Best Dressed Women in Los Angeles. She died from pneumonia on her 87th birthday, August 30, 2001.

******Side note: Jacqueline is the mother of actress Pamela Shoop-Sweeny, whose marriage to Father Terrance Sweeney, a Jesuit Priest in the Roman Catholic Church for 24 years, led to their autobiography, "What God Hath Joined". The book records their trials and triumphs as the first Priest to marry publicly--a self-described "modern day "THE THORNBIRDS" only with a happy ending!

I am linking up with Jenny at Alphabe-Thursday. Grab her button on my sidebar and head on over to her place to read all the other "J" 's for today!

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit. We love having company.

Au revoir,

http://www.almovie.com/

http://www.erbzine.com/

http://www.altfg.com/

http://www.wikipedia.com/

Marla's Celebration

Bonjour from Campagne Maison

Marla's Always Nesting Giveaway

In celebration of her 200th follower, Marla is hosting a give-away party with a $25.00 TJ MAXX gift card! Please go over to her place http://alwaysnesting.blogspot.com to read the entry rules. Hurry up, the party ends on March 21st!

Marla has REpurposed some pillows. I know you're going to absolutely love what she has done. She is Always Nesting....

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit today. We love having company.

Au revoir,

"I" is for "ICE"

Bonjour from Campagne Maison

ICE is formed when liquid water is cooled below 32 degrees F and appears in nature as snowflakes, hail, icicles, glaciers and polar ice caps.

Have you ever had to "test the ice"?

or skated on thin ice?

Here's a joke in case you ever have to "break the ice"...

What sits on the bottom of the ICE cold Arctic Ocean and shakes?

( A nervous wreck )

Did you know that it would be possible to start a fire with ice if it was carved into a lens shape and then used to focus the sun's rays onto kindling?

Food for thought: If it was ZERO degrees yesterday, and it is twice as cold today, just how cold is it?

I am linking with Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday. Please grab her button on my sidebar and head on over there and read all the other "I" words for today.

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit. We love having company!

Au revoir,

"Idus Martias"

Bonjour from Campagne Maison

MARS

Roman Calendar: March 15th

A Roman festive day dedicated to the god, MARS, on which a military parade was usually held.

"Beware, the Ides of March"... a phrase best known for its inclusion by Shakespeare in his play, "Julius Caesar", when a seer warned Caesar to be on his guard against great peril on the Ides of March. On his way to the Theater of Pompey, Caesar caught a glance of the seer and joked..."well the Ides of March have come..", to which the seer replied, "Aye, they have come but they are not gone".

Caesar met his death that day, March 15, 44 BC ,when he was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate.

Symbol for MARS

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit today. We love having company!

Au revoir,

"H" is for "Howdy Doody"

Bonjour from Campagne Maison

Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody

Say kids...what time is it?

It's Howdy Doody time,

It's Howdy Doody time,

Bob Smith and Howdy Do

Say Howdy Do to you

Let's give a rousing cheer

'Cause Howdy Doody's here

It's time to start the show

So kids let's go!

All you kids out there in "Peanut Gallery" can sing along....

Howdy Doody was a freckle-faced boy marionette, operated by 11 strings. His face donned 48 freckles--one for each state of the Union. His original voice was that of "Buffalo Bob" Smith.

Residing in the town of "Doodyville", other puppets on the show included Howdy's sister, "Heidi Doody", "Mayor Phineas T. Blaster", "Dilly Dally", "Princess Summerfall Winterspring" (who was later brought to life by actress Judy Tyler) and "Fub-a-Dub" who was a mixture of 8 different animals. The human population included "Clarabell the Clown", originally played by Bob Keeshan, who later became "Captain Kangaroo". Bob also played "Chief Thunderbird, the original "Kowabunga" man!

The show was created by E. Roger Muir and aired in the United States from 1947-1960 on NBC television station. The original "Howdy Doody" resides at Detroit Institue of Arts, but other duplicates, "Double Doody" and "Photo Doody" were made. " Double Doody" was used as a stand-in on stage and now resides at the Smithsonian. "Photo Doody" was used for personal appearances, photos, parades, and the famed NBC test pattern. He was sold to a private collector in 1997 for $ 113,000.

On September 24, 1960, the show ended with "Clarabell's Big Surprise", when "Clarabell" revealed to everyone that she could talk. With a tear in her eye, as the credits rolled, she said "Goodbye kids".

http://www.wikipedia.com/

I am linking this post to Jenny's Alphabe-Thursd ay. Please click the button to her link that is located on my sidebar and head on over there to read more fabulous "H" posts.

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit today. We love having company!

Au revoir,

I love...BUT... I hate

Bonjour from Campagne Maison

I received my Summer 2010 issue of my all time favorite magazine, Romantic Country, this week. I just love Fifi O'Neal and her eye for style! I love Flea Market finds, I love chippy paint, I love vintage pieces, I love collections, I love salvaged architectural items, I love old and imperfection, I love understated romantic decor. I am a self described "Shabby Chic, Old World, Hollywood Regency, Parisian inspired Junkie" ---HOWEVER---

zoom in for a close-up....

there is something about this new "wrinkled" look that distracts my eye and drives me bananas!! The cover of the magazine is full of all the things that I love BUT, the "wrinkles" in that tablecloth throw me for a loop!

and...this slipcover....

All I can think about is the "tongue lashing" that I would receive if my Mama came over to my house and saw "un-ironed" linens. I grew up in the day of "STARCHING and IRONING". She taught me at an early age--back when stiff doilies were the rage and it was a sin to sleep on a pillow case that wasn't ironed!! My, my, my, the times-- they are 'a changing!

I know. It is weired. I am weird. You ask yourself, now how can a person who loves all the crazy mixture of mis-matched "stuff" that I love, HATE "wrinkles".....

(Maybe it's an omen, maybe it is a subconscious effort to drown out the inevitable--you know...the crow's feet--the neck--the buttocks--the thighs...oh well, that's just a thought)!

Tell me...what is YOUR take on this "wrinkle" thing? Please tell me that it isn't just ME!!

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit today. We love having company!

Au revoir,

"G" is for Guillotine/Gillentine

Bonjour from Campagne Maison

"The Tale of Two Names"

My grandfather and grandmother, John and Hassie Gillentine and children, circa @ 1920

My father, Voy Rivers Gillentine, standing, second from the right end

Gillentine: The Gillentines were Christ-loving people and were dedicated French Catholics when they lived in that country during the French Revolution. At the rebirth of the beheading apparatus, promoted by a well-respected physician, Dr. Joseph Guillotine, things didn't go too well for the family name, so off to England they went! There they became followers of the Church of England and brought their religious beliefs with them, when in the 17th century they landed in King William County, VA.

In Virginia they remained true to their Anglican faith, and when George Washington called for arms to free the colonies from all enemies, the only Guillotine eligible to go, wouldn't. He was/is called the family draft-dodger!! (Hey, we all have skeletons in our closets!!) As time went along, and I assume out of embarrassment of that association, the French spelling of the family name Guillotine was changed to the English spelling of Gillentine, of which it is known today.

Dr. Joseph Ignance Guillotine

1738-1821

Guillotine: A common misconception associated with Dr. Joseph Guillotine was that he was responsible for the creation of the guillotine. BUT, history dates back to the use of a beheading or decapitation design introduced on January 4, 1307 in Merton, Ireland. In the 1400's, the "Halifax Gibbet" was used with a record of the last execution by use of the machine in 1648 in Halifax, England. In 1564, "The Maiden", which was fashioned after the "Halifax Gibbet" was used in Scotland.

Dr. Guillotine was President of The Chamber of the Province in 1775, founder of the French Academy of Medicine, and Deputy to the French Assembly in 1789. On October 11, 1789, Dr. Guillotine submitted a proposal to the Assembly debate on the Penal Code, recommending "that death, without the accompaniment of torture, and by means of decapitation, should become the sole and standard punishment in France". A fellow physician, Antoine Louis, took the first practical steps towards the creation of the guillotine in France, in keeping with Dr. Guillotine's proposal. It was called "Louison" or "Louisette", but the press preferred to call it the "guillotine" as the sound of that word "had a nicer ring" to it. It is estimated that over 40,000 people died under "Madame Guillotine". I was surprised to see that it's last official use was on September 10, 1977 in Marseilles, France. I thought it became obsolete after the French Revolution!

This is a "G"ory "G"eneology of our family name, but none-the-less, I've always felt a connection to my French heritage. I am of the 28th "G"eneration of the family recorded in the exodus of England to VA. I am certain that as a physician, Dr. Guillotine felt that this method of death was perhaps the most humane. The compassionate gene still remains prominent in the "G"illentine bloodline today. Sadly, although he did not invent it, Dr. Guillotine's name will forever be attached to it. During the Revolution, the guillotine was used only on people with a noble status, all others were drawn and quartered by a horse, burned at the stake, or beheaded with a sword. I shudder to think about the device and pray that it is never used again!

I am participating with Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday. You can click on her blog button located on my side bar. Please head (no pun intended) on over there and read all the other great "G" words for today.

I am also linking this post back to Amy at http://keepingupwiththeshultzfamily.blogspot.com/

Thank you Amy for the invitation to join in your for "FAMILY FRIDAYS" today!

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit today. We love having company.

Au revoir,

http://www.wikipedia.com/

www.freemasonry.com

"Voices from the Past" by Faye Witt Moreland (family historian and author)