I have been cooking and breaking eggs since about 1959 when I first started cooking breakfast. My Dad said at that time he would give me a ride to Greenbrier Military School for the 7:30 assembly if I would fix breakfast - always two eggs over easy. I suppose that I have prepared 10,000 eggs since then and I can now proclaim Murphy’s Law on cracking an egg. If you are cracking eggs to … [Read more...]

  Some would say that I am a practical joker. I like to play unexpected pranks, especially on my closest friends. For example. Wayne Haga, a CPA from Princeton, WV, was a long-time campmate of yours truly. For over 35 years, a group of us including Wayne have gone camping twice a year. Wayne was also a regular patron of the local Trout Unlimited Fund Raising Banquet which I … [Read more...]

  “And do you, Jim, promise to have and hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and do you promise to give up all your personal space for so long as you both shall live?” “I do.” And did I ever. While you gain a wonderful, lifetime partner in a marriage, you lose space. Your house or apartment is taken over completely. Walls where  you would normally hang a mounted … [Read more...]

  I fully expect to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the coming weeks. I wanted my readers at CvilleBuzz to be the first to know. I suppose I will accept the award, though there are probably others equally deserving. My discovery of a new state of matter is the reason for this honor. We were always told – throughout high school and even into college – that there are three … [Read more...]

  We packed a lot of action in our two day layover in Maui. We had not booked any of the cruise excursions because we didn’t know how long it would take us to recover from our trip. So about mid-morning the first day, we ventured from the ship and found a bus called Hula Hopper run by a few locals. We signed up for a tour on both days and truly got our money’s worth. Our first stop … [Read more...]

  It was the Fourth of July. Why not roast a pig? Never mind that I had never cooked a whole pig before nor did I even have a pig cooker, but I suggested the idea to my friend John Savides and he agreed. The problem with having friends like John is that they will agree to most anything. “Wanna go sky diving without a chute?” “Sure,” John would say. “Sounds like fun.” So I bought a … [Read more...]

  By Marilyn Norford   I don't like spiders and snakes. That’s pretty much my mantra, and that of most of my friends of the feminine persuasion. That being said, one of the most convenient features of my house is the laundry room. It is good-sized and in addition to housing a convenient, deep laundry sink and the obligatory washer and dryer, there are wonderful enclosed … [Read more...]

It was the summer of 1973 and we had made close friends with Donald and Janice Ramirez from church. We ate at each other’s house, went out to eat together and had kids about the same age. It was destined to be a great friendship. They had even asked us to watch over their house in Woodbrook while they spent a week with family back in New Orleans. “I’d be delighted to feed the fish and the cats … [Read more...]

  In this corner, we have the undisputed leader in sales of pancake mixes -  the one and only Aunt Jemima Original Pancake Mix, a 32-ounce box of pancake goodness. In the other corner, we have the contender - a box of Bisquick Mix. So, who’s the baddest pancake mix on the planet? On Sunday mornings, Nancy and I often splurge on breakfast. We’ll have bacon or sausage, cut up some … [Read more...]

Nancy and I are playing the “Bird Game.” Let me explain. During our marriage we have had cats, English Setters, beagles, mutts, rabbits, gerbils, fresh and saltwater aquarium fish, turtles, ferrets and frogs. A few years ago, we got our first birds. A friend of Nancy’s told her told about two love birds that had lost their original owner and were now confined to a basement in a room without … [Read more...]