Feeding and birdwatching is fun, but if you’re not careful, you can spend a small fortune in food and seeds. Americans spent about 5 billion last year. That’s a lot of sunflower seeds. Recently, I have been buying in bulk wherever I can. I buy Premium Birdseed at Sam’s, for example, at about $29 for 40 pounds of high-quality seed, but that blend does not have sunflower hearts or chips, which is … [Read more...]
Your Call is Important
Recorded voice on the telephone: “Your call is important to us. Please remain on the line until our next operator is available.” What they really mean is: “Actually, your call is not at all important to us, otherwise we would have had a live person on the phone to immediately assist you with whatever problem you are having with (pick one) newspaper subscriptions, Comcast, Credit Card … [Read more...]
Old Charlottesville Businesses
A Reueben Sandwich from Lord Hardwicke's It opened in 1970. It opened at a time when there weren’t that many restaurants in Charlottesville. There were no McDonald’s, no Hardy’s, no Burger Kings, no Domino’s. But Lord Hardwicke’s was now open, and our good friends, Joe and Theresa Davis, went with us to check it out. The place had an English theme. Their signature dish was Fish & … [Read more...]
Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms
I had boiled a pound of super jumbo shrimp, and we ate a few along with a huge seafood dinner, but 8 were leftover. We could have had them as an appetizer the next night, but I had other plans. I went for Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms, and they were terrific. I stopped by Sam’s, hoping for some of those giant portobellos they often carry, but they were out. I saw a carton of fairly large, white … [Read more...]
44 and Rising
The water temperature in the Chesapeake Bay is now 44, but rapidly rising. When it hits 50 degrees, things happen. In the meantime, speckled trout are becoming more aggressive and are no longer in danger from frigid waters. They’re biting and so are puppy drum and the cold-water-loving tautogs. To catch tautog, the flowing 3 baits are recommended. Crabs: Blue crabs, fiddler crabs, marsh … [Read more...]
Hoping for a Bologna Sandwich
The lunch bell rang, and the 4th grade kids reached beneath their desks to pull out their brown paper sacks and lunch boxes. Beneath the napkin, cookie, and apple, we all hoped for one thing. A bologna sandwich. A bologna sandwich was like a ribeye steak in a kid’s lunch box or bag. Sometimes, we had PP &J sammies and they were okay, but they couldn’t compare to a slice of bologna sandwich, … [Read more...]
Deltaville Tap and Raw Bar
Nancy and I were married on March 3. There are 2 problems with that date. First, when you go on anniversary trips anywhere near Virginia (including the SC and NC beaches) it is cold and most everything is shut down. Second, if you go on a cruise or to the tropics, you are joined by legions of college kids on spring break. So, never get married on March 3. But we did and found ourselves in … [Read more...]
My Clever Crows
I have 3 crows that regularly make the rounds in my back yard. That’s because they know they will usually find some goodies – like whole kernel corn - scattered about. And sometimes they find their favorite snacks - pieces of stale bread that I have tossed out for the birds. They will grab the bread before the corn, peanuts, or seeds. The first thing they do is fly to the pond or a … [Read more...]
Steak Bites and Mushrooms
I often go to the store with an incomplete grocery list. If I see something than catches my fancy, I’ll buy it and figure out the details later. Last week I was in Aldi’s and saw packages of Petite Sirloins on display. I had seen them before and was curious. They come three small steaks in a pack. I had no idea how I would fix them, but I tossed them in my grocery cart. When I got home, I did a … [Read more...]
A Bald Eagle: Close Up
We were at our favorite getaway cottage just off the Piankatank River when Nancy saw, “A big bird” “It keeps flying over,” she said. I went to inspect, and it was a bald eagle, and he flew to a tree not 20 feet from our porch. I have seen numerous eagles in my time, often on fishing trips to rivers or lakes, but I had never been this close to such a magnificent raptor. They are big, about … [Read more...]
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