When’s the last time you saw a kid on roller skates? We Boomers can’t imagine a childhood without a good pair of skates and a skate key near at hand. I believe my first roller skate encounter was as a 10-year-old in Beckley, WV. A group of school mates decided to head for the nearby skating rink and I signed up – but I was petrified. I wasn’t the most coordinated kid, but I slipped on a pair of … [Read more...]
My Dependable Leatherman Tool
At least ten times a day, I feel around in my pocket to make sure it’s there. If I don’t detect it, I panic. I simply cannot do without my constant companion, my Leatherman Tool. Since I was 6 years old, I have carried a pocket-knife, but about 40 years ago, I discovered the smallest Leatherman Tool, the Micra size. It takes up practically no room and fits easily into a front pocket. It’s so … [Read more...]
Cabbage Steaks
I was going back through some past CvilleBuzz issues and saw this recipe for Cabbage Steaks. Nancy Jackson, premiere Realtor in Saluda and Master Chef, had sent me the recipe as a means to use the extra part of a cabbage head you may have left over from a batch of cole slaw. I had totally forgotten about it but went out immediately and bought a fresh head for exactly this recipe. It’s a … [Read more...]
The Cheerful House Finch
I suppose my back yard is the Mecca of house finches. They are at my feeders throughout the day, every day, spring, summer and fall. Late this summer, I assume right after several families hatched, we had 30 or more finches at a time fighting for a spot on my sunflower heart feeder. The little rascals also love to take baths in our bubbling birdbath. They flit from the feeder to the bath … [Read more...]
Anaheim Peppers
This year I devoted a small row in my garden to peppers – and I really don’t like peppers, but Nancy likes to can some hot peppers for our kids and some stuffed door-knob peppers which I actually do like. So, I planted a couple of jalapeno pepper plants and 4 doorknob pepper plants, but one of them died. On a subsequent trip to the Corner Store Nursery in Ruckersvillle to pick up some seeds, I … [Read more...]
Low Maintenance Vinca
Nancy loves impatiens as a beautiful, border flower. She has grown them from seeds and bought them in containers. She has dug and re-dug them as the squirrels chipped away, she has cast thousands of gallons of water on them to keep them alive. She has seen deer sneak in and eat them to the ground. She is through with them. We now, and will always in the future, a much more … [Read more...]
Rhett’s: Better Than Ever
For 18 years, Rhett’s Bar and Grill was Charlottesville’s favorite seafood restaurant, but then suddenly lost their lease. Instead of relocating in Charlottesville, however, Rhett’s pulled up stakes and headed for a more business friendly atmosphere at Spring Creek in Louisa County. Now open, Rhett’s is getting rave reviews like never. Last Sunday, Sherman Shifflett and Ava Pippin chose Rhett’s … [Read more...]
Fishbites: Don’t Leave Home Without Them
I was headed to the Rappahannock River last September hoping to get into the spot – those big yellow bellies that show up each fall. For this, I needed bloodworms. As soon as I saw the first bait shop in West Point, I stopped. No bloodworms, they said. Nobody’s got them. Again and again, I stopped and there were indeed no bloodworms to be had. But on my last stop, a lady said she did … [Read more...]
Steak Knives and Other Freebies
We have a single steak knife in our kitchen that moved with me to Charlottesville when I set up my apartment in 1967. It’s not much of a knife, but it does have serrated edges, which I suppose makes it a steak knife. It sits alone, proudly among other very good steak knives. Even though it’s worthless except for maybe carving out a patty of warm butter, I can’t just toss it. It brings … [Read more...]
Uncle Bud’s Garden
Every summer, Mom shipped me off to Clemmons, NC to spend a week with my Brewer relatives. Several times, they put me on a Greyhound bus and shoved me off solo, sometimes seated next to a soldier on leave. I’d spend a couple nights with Aunt Lena, a night or two with my cousin, Bob, and several nights with my cousin Steve. Steve’s dad, Uncle Bud, had married my father’s sister, Aunt Mary. Mary and … [Read more...]
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