“Hey mom, what’s an arachnid?” “I’m busy icing this cake. Get an encyclopedia and look it up.” And we did. Boomers, that is. Those of us fortunate to have a set of encyclopedias in our homes looked it up. If not, we went to the school library the next day. Printed encyclopedias have largely gone the way of passenger pigeons. Old sets now languish on E-bay. Good Will stores refuse them. After … [Read more...]
Hard to Swallow
(Our smallmouth had a 9-inch trout in its stomach) If you live long enough, you’ll see some strange things. One of the strangest things I’ve seen in the outdoors happened about 25 years ago on the Jackson River in the upper Hidden Valley area. I had been invited on a shocking expedition with the Game Department. For several years, I had urged the state to make the … [Read more...]
Fabulous Lighting Accessories
By Nancy B This is a cartoon I’ve had on my desk since 2010, and it always makes me laugh. I have referred to lighting as the jewelry of the home so when I saw this cartoon, I had to clip it. At Nancy B’s we do offer “fabulous accessories” such as lamps and mirrors, and some are included in our end-of-year sale. We have some displays which have been reduced at least 60%. You can just … [Read more...]
A Pathway to the Birds
It broke my heart last week to see the birds that I normally feed in my back yard do without. I simply could not get out in the yard because of the ice. It was as slick as glass, and I couldn’t risk a broken arm or leg trying to slide my way out to the feeders and bird bath. And I couldn’t get to the shed where I store my seed. I did step out on the back deck and tossed some bird seed and nuts … [Read more...]
Squirrely Happenings
A squirrelly thing happened to my daughter, Angelin, during last week’s snowstorm. She was waiting for a business appointment in Lexington, NC and saw a squirrel scampering across a yard with a white baseball-sized something in his mouth. The squirrel ran up a tall tree and put the item in a cavity in the tree. Ten minutes later, the squirrel came down the tree, picked up another ball of white, … [Read more...]
Perfect Fried Chicken
You can fry chicken – or anything for that matter – in a typical non-stick pan. But if you want only the best fried chicken – it’s got to be in an iron skillet. The thick iron keeps the heat at a constant temperature, unlike thinner metals which can get too hot or cool too quickly. The old cast iron skillet prevents that. Just gradually increase the temp until it’s medium hot, then fry, baby, … [Read more...]
Life On the Amazon
My hunting pants had met their match in a spirited contest with a blackberry thicket on the last day of rabbit season. There was big tear across the right front leg and a 12-inch rip in the back seat. Unfortunately, the rip in the seat had nothing to do with the blackberry thicket, but more to do with too many blackberry pie servings throughout the year. I not only tore my hunting pants, but I … [Read more...]
A Trout on a Fly
Soon after I had settled in as a Virginian, I discovered a magical place called The Sport Shop. It was a small, sporting goods shop in Barracks Road Shopping Center run by one of the greatest fishermen ever to complete a roll cast. It was Chuck Kraft’s Sport Shop, specializing in fly fishing. I had done some fly fishing in my younger days. In fact, I got my first fly rod and caught a half dozen … [Read more...]
Fat Back and Bacon Grease
After my father was declared Missing in Action during World War II, my mother brought her infant son home from the hospital to live with my grandmother, Mama Ida, her sister Pearl, my mom’s sister Jodi and Uncle Sidney, Mama Ida’s brother. I suppose we would have been considered poor, but everybody pitched in and somehow, we got by. Growing up, I remember that every dinner began with a slab of … [Read more...]
“Apple Pines”
When my some Jimmie was a little fellow, he called pineapples “apple pines”. He also called roosters “doodle-o’s” and he referred to fish as “sous”. To this day, I often call fish “sous” and barnyard fowls “doodle-o’s” - and I still refer to pineapples as “apple pines”. Your children’s cute words never go away. The point of all this is that I have concluded that pineapples are far and away the … [Read more...]
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