What a difference between now and last June. Earlier in the summer, birds were going nuts, chasing away real and imagined enemies, feeding and guarding the chicks and fighting for position at the feeders. Now, it’s quiet and peaceful and many birds have moved on. I heard a robin yesterday, but didn’t see him. They have largely migrated, but they’ll be back with the first extended fall … [Read more...]
A Trip to Liberty Mills Farm
Last week I wrote about the corn maze at Liberty Mills Farm, the largest in the nation at 32 acres. Last weekend, on a beautiful September day, Nancy and I decided to take a Sunday afternoon drive out to the sprawling farm near Somerset, but we decided in advance that we would let others do the corn-maze thing. Liberty has three mazes, the big one takes two hours (if you’re lucky), the middle … [Read more...]
Pole Bean Beans
I had neglected my garden, having gone to Urbanna for an extended weekend. Last Saturday, Nancy was off and saw some pole beans on my vines. It turns out there were lots of pole beans and she picked two pecks – at least I think they were pecks. They were large baskets, and the two combined equaled maybe a half bushel in all. It was a bunch of beans, I know that. We sat down and proceeded … [Read more...]
Creamy Garlic Chicken Breasts
A regular Father’s Day or birthday present to me from my children is a gift box from Omaha Steaks. Afterall, there is no need to worry about sizes or colors or will I use it. Who won’t use stuff from Omaha Steaks? I have found, though, that the boxes often contain maybe only two steaks. and lots of. other foods - like gourmet hot dogs and burgers, fancy stuffed potatoes, deluxe … [Read more...]
Black-Eyed Susans, Standing Proud
From the Middle Neck of Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley and throughout Central Virginia, black-eyed Susans are standing tall and proud – and beautiful. I have never seen such displays of radiant yellow. The friendly wildflowers are simply stunning his year. It amazes me all that grows beside the roads, along the interstates and back roads. The little strips of dirt between the … [Read more...]
Re-imagining Residential Lighting
By Nancy B I’ve been hearing this word, “re-imagining”, lately and I don’t believe I have ever used it in a sentence. So I looked up the meaning: to imagine anew, to rethink, new concepts were just a few definitions. In the Furniture, Lighting Decor magazine I receive, there was an interesting article about this very thing. The article was stating our relationship with our homes has … [Read more...]
Once There Were Blues
Once there were blues. Bluefish. The tigers of the ocean. Virginians waited for the news each April, that bluefish had entered the Chesapeake Bay, then it was game on. If you had a boat, you hitched it to the trailer and headed for the coast. If you didn’t have a boat, you pooled your resources with 4 or 5 buddies and took a charter out of Reedville or Lewisetta or Coles Point and went … [Read more...]
Beckley, West Virginia
I was still 4 when we were transferred to Beckley, WV. Daddy worked in an office with two other FBI agents. His territory covered 4 counties and he often was gone for several days at a time, often to the home office in Pittsburg. As I would come to learn, a lot of the work that Special Agents for the FBI did was investigative. If a woman from one of his counties applied for a Federal job in … [Read more...]
Saved By The Fishbites
We were on our way to Urbanna and hopefully a few days of good fishing. I have been hearing great reports on spot fishing and spot are among my favorite fish to deep-fry. As soon as we hit West Point, I saw a sign for blood worms, the bait of choice among spot fishermen and I quickly pulled in. “Sorry,” the lady said. “We are out of bloodworms and supplies have been spotty. Nobody has them. I … [Read more...]
One-Pan Spatchcock Chicken
My son Jimmie ran across a recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen that he thought well worth sharing. “I fixed this the other night and it was damned good,” he said. “The only thing I did differently was to brine the chicken for 4 hours (should have been longer) but it turned out GREAT - crispy skin, juicy meat perfectly done and the veggies were just as good. Cutting large carrots into 1 … [Read more...]
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