Knife sharpening is not one of my skills. My Daddy could sharpen knives. About once a month, he’d go to the kitchen sink, get out his worn-down whetstone with a red handle and methodically sharpen each knife in our kitchen drawer to a scalpel-grade edge. If you reached in the knife drawer and weren’t paying attention, you’d come out with a handful of blood. He could sharpen knives. I can’t - … [Read more...]

  I shop at Harris Teeter on occasion, but not regularly. It’s not as convenient for me, and the prices seem higher. But I went there last week to check out their seafood. They often have great Argentine Shrimp and fresh flounder. The flounder looked good, so I bought it, then saw some breakfast sausage in their custom meat counter and bought a pound. Over in their hamburger display I … [Read more...]

  Just five years ago, even if it snowed, I got my morning paper. My long-time friend and neighbor, Bob Branch, made the paper rounds. He had a Jeep and delivered the Daily Progress and Richmond Times Dispatch come rain or shine. Ten-inches of snow? It made no difference, Bob came. Likewise, my Trash Service – Time Disposal. They even came on Christmas Day if it fell on a Monday. But no … [Read more...]

I had an I-Phone picture that I wanted to turn into a framed gift for Christmas. Some people can do this themselves, but not me. I can barely take pictures with my phone. I sometimes take pictures of my own eyeball and very few want prints of that. I understand that there are a jillion on-line place for making prints from digital photos, but I had a better plan. I called my longtime friend, Alan … [Read more...]

  I love to go to the grocery store. I think it’s a birth defect of some sort – probably in the birth canal too long, but I really enjoy pushing a cart up and down the aisles of Kroger’s, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or any store that sells groceries. I cannot fathom having someone pick out my groceries for me, and having to wait outside in one of those designated spots for pick-up … [Read more...]

  Gayle’s Market has closed. A month ago, I passed by their store on Spotswood Trail in Penn Laird, just outside of Harrisonburg, and they looked closed. We travelled that way again last Sunday and they are indeed closed. I was crushed. For years, as I drove back and forth from Mossy Creek to fish, I would take advantage of every opportunity to stop in and pick up a couple country ham … [Read more...]

  Buying a cantaloupe or honeydew melon these days is like playing Russian Roulette. You might get a good one and you might not. It’s impossible to know until you slice the thing. My experience is that you’ll get about half that are decent and half that aren’t. I’ve always insisted I’d pay more for a sure thing. Wandering through Sam’s the other day, I came across a rare find. A … [Read more...]

  Our endeavor to track down the best hamburgers in Charlottesville takes us to a relatively new restaurant in town – Cook Out. They opened in 2012 in Charlottesville at the site of the old Long John Silver’s on Emmett Street and the long lines in their drive through lanes is a testament to their excellent food. Cook Out was founded in 1989 by Morris Reaves in Greensboro, NC. The … [Read more...]

  I don’t like to go to Downtown Charlottesville. It’s no longer Historic Charlottesville, it is now Politically Correct Charlottesville. I go only if the Charlottesville Band or a good show is playing at the Paramount.  And it’s too bad, because one of Charlottesville’s best burger restaurants is on the Downtown Mall, and that’s Citizen Burger Bar. We ate there not long ago, and their … [Read more...]

I use a service called Mail Chimp to handle the subscription list to Cville Buzz. The service is responsible for mailing an electronic copy to anyone who subscribes, and unless the subscriber cancels, he or she is supposed to get CvilleBuzz every Friday morning. Supposed to, that is. Sometimes Mail Chimp has a bad hair day and drops a subscriber for no particular  reason. The subscriber then … [Read more...]