Besides poking around in grocery stores, looking for bargains and ideas, I enjoy rummaging through the racks at consignment stores – not the junky ones who sell goodwill hand-me-downs and leftover printed tee shirts from company promotions, but nice stores with quality, stylish clothing. One of our favorite such stores (Nancy likes to rummage as well) is the Hall Tree in Richmond. I have several … [Read more...]
Finches Unlimited
I believe my back yard holds more finches per square foot than any other piece of real estate in the world. It’s like a Finches Unlimited back there. I have both gold finches and house finches, but I’ve never seen a genuine purple finch at my feeders. I guess they don’t have room. We always hang a thistle feeder or two and the finches love those, but what they hammer from first light till … [Read more...]
Ready Fore Golf
“Did anybody bring sunscreen?” “I have a blister on my heel, who has a band aid? “Boy, that hot dog was messy. Sure would like a hand wipe.” “Damned mosquito nailed me. Anybody have and insect sting medicine?” “My back is acting up again! Got any Ibuprofen?” “These gnats are awful. Bug repellent, anyone?” Most of us carry golf balls and tees in our bags, not a miniature … [Read more...]
The State Fair
Another in a series of growing up in Lewisburg, WV in the 1950’s, a great town and a great time to be young. It didn’t take long after we moved to Lewisburg to discover that a huge event took place just outside of town. In Fairlea, a small burg between Lewisburg and Ronceverte, West Virginia staged their annual state fair in late August and it was well worth the price of admission. … [Read more...]
Pretty Good Hot Dog Chili
We hosted a Dawg-A-Rama last week, inviting a few of our die-hard hot dog friends to a back yard cookout and we served Nathans, Hebrew Nationals and Oscar Meyer dogs with all the fix in’s - including homemade coleslaw, onions, pickles, relish, mustard, catsup, jalapenos, cheese and, of course, chili. I decided to make up a batch of home-made chili and experimented along the way, tasting as I … [Read more...]
Stop Those Squirrels!
We have not had a deer in our yard this year (extreme hard knocking on wood), but we have had plenty of squirrels. Squirrels can inflict almost as much damage to a garden and plants as deer and nothing seems to stop them - except a product from Messinas called Squirrel Stopper. This stuff really works. We had some beautiful red tomatoes ripening on the vines on our patio and the very day we … [Read more...]
Capt’n Franks
We’re planning a late September getaway to the Outer Banks and one of our first stops will be at Capt’n Franks. Yep! Hot Dogs. Franks. Weenies. Tube Steaks - and at Capt’n Franks, they are especially good. Capt’n Franks is located in Kitty Hawk around milepost 4.5 on Croatan Highway. They have inside and outside seating, but we always grab one of the picnic benches outdoors and feast there on … [Read more...]
Froggy Went ‘A Courting
All is now right with the world. We have a frog in our lily pond. It doesn’t take much to please some people and when I come home from work, get out of my Jeep and see a tiny frog perched atop a lily pad, I’m a happy camper. I don’t know what it is about frogs, but I enjoy having them around. We have an above-the-ground pond - I think it was once an old whiskey vat that holds maybe 60 or 70 … [Read more...]
Virginia Saltwater
By T.H. Spangler The weather hasn’t been exactly cooperative and rainy, breezy conditions continue to slow fishing activity. However, there are plenty of fish around. Boats trolling the oceanfront have been catching limits of Spanish mackerel. There are also plenty of cobia, but they have been hard to spot in choppy, overcast conditions. Chumming was the most effective method last week. A … [Read more...]
Be Careful!
Heavy rains this week have not only made fishing on the rivers practically impossible, they have also created dangerous conditions on lakes, having washed lots of debris from upstream. Logs may be lurking in your favorite lake, just beneath the surface. So be extremely careful this weekend if you venture out and – for sure – wear a life jacket no matter how well you can swim. The … [Read more...]
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