Having too much time on your hands is not a good thing. For example. I had ordered 5,000 meal worms for my bluebirds and they came in a vented box with a bunch of cardboard to separate the layers. I inspected the contents, and all looked well, except…. How do you know if they really sent you 5,000 mealworms? If they only packed 4,900 that would be a 2 percent shortage and if some fiendish worm … [Read more...]
Sour Cream Cubed Steaks
It just so happened that on the same day I bought a package of cubed steaks, I saw a recipe for Sour Cream Cubed Steaks. I gave it a bit of a whirl even though I came up with my own version. But the Sour Cream Gravy is what caught my eye. Cubed steaks are always asty. How can they miss being round steak pounded into oblivion and round steaks are always flavorful? But they can get dry and tough. … [Read more...]
Signs of Our Times
(Almost) Gold Finches
After being a drab olive for six months, my male goldfinches are beginning to put on the Ritz, molting into a new suit of bright gold feathers. I always thought the birds’ feathers changed colors, but they don’t. Many birds grow new and entirely differently colored feathers. The goldfinch is the only one in its family to undergo a complete, not a partial molt. Even the females get a touch of … [Read more...]
Phlox Beauties
How do spell beauty? P-h-l-o-x. Phlox, not flox. Phlox may be hard to spell, but they sure are pretty, and they are easy to grow. I remember when I first moved to Charlottesville, I made many trips to Sugar Hollow to engage the trout in the Moorman’s River with assorted flies. I also vividly remember that in early April, lawns all along Garth Road and Sugar Hollow Road were teeming with … [Read more...]
Dodging The Grackle Bullet
I am trying to dodge the grackle bullet without starving my regular songbirds and – knock on wood – I think I am succeeding. I have talked with other birders, and most don’t seem to have a big problem with grackles. By big problem, I mean 50 and 60 at a time, decimating the feeders. That’s a genuine problem when they take down a $5 peanut suet bar in one day and empty a tray of sunflower hearts … [Read more...]
It’s Scottsville for Big Catfish
For years, Scottsville has been receiving lots of attention from fishermen, most particularly smallmouth bass fishermen. But another species has popped up on the Scottsville fishing radar screen. Catfish. Big catfish. In years past, serious catfish anglers in Virginia –assuming they didn’t travel down to Santee Cooper in South Carolina – have been prowling the waters of such … [Read more...]
Tuna Salad Anyone?
The Giant Bluefin Tuna continue to crush baits and baitfish (like 15-pound bluefish) in the blue water off the Outer Banks. The vast schools of yellowfins are due to arrive any day. Inshore, the trout and striper bites remain strong. The northern beaches are giving up dogfish (these are good to eat, by the way), skates (not good to eat), blow toads (very, very good to eat) and black drum … [Read more...]
Clean Your Plate
Last week, I bought a can of sauerkraut to go with our St. Patties Day corned beef. As I opened the can, it reminded me that once upon a time I hated sauerkraut along with a number of other foods. I was a picky eater. But Daddy George, who came into my life when I was 4, had a strict rule. “You must eat everything on your plate.” I didn’t have to eat a lot of sauerkraut, but I had to try … [Read more...]
A Visit to DMV
I am a charter member of the Charlottesville Procrastinator’s Club. We meet next Thursday, but possibly Friday. We’ll see. Anyway, I am an expert at putting things off till the last minute which drives my wife, Nancy, nuts. Last December, and don’t tell my fellow Procrastinators this, I got my registration renewal from DMV and rather than filing it away in my Get Around Tuit box, I did the … [Read more...]
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