Nervous Nellie Stories

Nervous Nellie is the protagonist in a 9-part quest tale written and illustrated by Peter Beerits. That's one story, literally: the written word on pages illustrated with color drawings. But what about the story behind the business---how did it come to be named Nervous Nellie's? Who is Nellie? Why is she nervous? The truth is that Peter just made up the name because it was more fun than, say, Island Jam Company. No one is nervous, there was no Nellie. Though once the moniker was manifest, a character to animate it was the next obvious step for a quirky artist like Peter. And that led to a logo of Nellie, wielding a wooden spoon, chasing Razzie (a raspberry with legs). I think the story on that will come out in Episode 9--the finale of The Nervous Nellie Story, "The Song of the Thrush."


Meanwhile, making jam, chutney and armalade has been the core of our business here on Deer Isle--since 1986. And Peter has been making sculptures--for here and "to go"--for almost as many years (he had to replace himself in the kitchen first...). Our several acre property still shows traces of the small island farmstead it was 100 years ago: gnarly apple trees, tiny weathered barn, vintage car lacy with rust, sinking into the forest duff. Now the woods are enlivened with dozens of whimsical sculptures (including that rusty hulk), a small shop and tea room, a studio and the artist's version of a living history museum: Red's Lounge (juke joint), Hardy's General Store, the Grail Castle, and the Silver Dollar (western saloon) now under construction.

Many thousands of people visit here each year: to partake of the free jam samples, to wander through the woods and meadow looking at sculptures, to play in the sandbox under the old apple tree, to step into the kitchen and take a whiff of the latest batch, to savor a homemade scone and jam with a mug of hot tea. As travel writer Laura Purdom put it, " Nervous Nellie's was another of my favorite places--part open-air gallery, part jam kitchen, part playground. It's very cool." The jam is an easy story. Peter's sculptures aren't so simple. With rough materials and simple lines he conveys whimsy, benevolence, power, compassion or profound grief. Some images make you laugh out loud, some are spooky and haunting. One recent visitor said she'd felt she fallen into Middle Earth. Another, on the heels of a trip to Europe said, " I've just been to the Louvre, and this is better!" An acquaintance, widowed this winter, said that her husband, bedridden and tethered to oxygen, had said several times he wished he was at Nervous Nellie's having a scone with his grandchildren.

It seems that Nervous Nellie's is a place with storybook qualities: an idealized summer place (an island!), colorful, surprising, populated with characters, and visited by people from all over the world. Please send me an e-mail with your own Nervous Nellie stories and watch this blog for more about life on Deer Isle, island food, quirky Maine and a morsel or two about how Nervous Nellie's has added flavor to someone's life.

Anne