I had never eaten a morel until my old friend Carl Oakes asked if I wanted a few. Not wanting to offend, I said, “Sure,” but I had no idea what they were or what to do with the strange looking spores. Later I found out that morels, wild mushrooms, were mountain delicacies and highly desirable. On several occasions since then, I have taken to the hills and picked them myself. Morels, though, can … [Read more...]
Be Aware of The Alpha-Gal Tick
By Emily Strother In 2019, I contracted a red meat allergy–known as alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) or allergy—from a tick bite I got while hunting turkeys that spring. As a gal who enjoys hunting and experimenting with wild game in the kitchen, realizing that I could no longer consume venison or other mammal meat was a hard pill to swallow. Besides a fried piece of deer tenderloin over the … [Read more...]
Red Bellied Woodpeckers
Looks like we’ll have a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers nesting in a cavity of an old white maple in the back of our yard. I saw them swoop that way this morning and there are lots of hollow places in that old tree from which to choose a nesting site. Many people confuse the Red-bellied Woodpecker with the less common Red-headed Woodpeckers. Red-bellied Woodpeckers do have red heads, but not … [Read more...]
Lenten Rose in Bloom
On Feb. 1 our Lenten Rose patch was in bloom. What a beautiful, wonderful plant. Several years ago, Nancy was trying to figure out what to do with the root-studded and mostly shady space beneath our old maple tree in the back yard. She planted a few hostas and they did well, but she wanted some color and could find few colorful plants that could bloom without a lot of sun. My son, … [Read more...]
Let Sleeping Bears Lie
This is the time of year when the Game Department advises us that if we are out and about in February and run across a bear sleeping in a den to leave it alone. Really? I figured if I saw one, I’d climb down and harass him or her and then see if I could run fast enough to escape. Au contraire, I would absolutely leave a bear alone if I saw it in a hole in the ground, beneath an old … [Read more...]
A Bumper Crop of Pine Cones
There were once 4 large pine trees behind our fence line. There are now two, but last fall they literally rained down pine cones. We have lived in our house for 50 years and I have never seen so many pine cones. There were hundreds of cones in our yard and ten times that many directly beneath the huge trees. I played golf at Greene Hills last week and noticed that the fairways and the … [Read more...]
Oh, Deer!
It’s hard to drive 5 miles without seeing a crumpled up, dead deer along the side of the road. That’s because we are in peak season - the deer are in rut. Bucks are chasing does and they run across roads after the enticing females and worry about cars and trucks later. Some say to watch out for deer in the headlights, but I say just watch out. Recent studies say that Virginia is now the 11th … [Read more...]
A Return to Mossy Creek
My daughter, Laura, has a big-time case of fly-fishing fever. My oldest daughter, Angelin, loves to dunk squid in saltwater and my son, Jimmie, enjoys tormenting largemouth bass with a buzz bait, but Laura is drawn to the gurgling creeks and the trout lurking within. Creeks like Mossy Creek in Augusta County. Mossy Creek is hallowed ground for Virginia fly fishermen. It was here that I landed … [Read more...]
Soapy Water
One drawback to a vacation stay on the Middle Peninsula is dealing with the water. First, it tastes bad – it sorta’ smells. It most definitely alters the taste of coffee, and you really have to be thirsty to drink a glass straight from the tap. The second problem is taking a bath. If you hop in the shower and put soap on your hair or body, it stays there. The water does not rinse away the … [Read more...]
Hot Sauce for Birdseed
Bird lovers: Brace yourself for an amazing product. This is a real game changer in the war against squirrels. The mortal enemy of every bird lover, that group which spends millions of dollars each year on bird seed, is the lowly squirrel. Squirrels will find a way to steal the seed from its intended beneficiaries; they will gnaw through expensive feeders, and they will foul even the … [Read more...]
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