“Jim, come quick. There’s a strange bird beneath the feeder.” Reluctantly putting down my morning paper, I went to the kitchen window and saw the blue bird feeding. “That’s just a bluebird,” I said. Then the bird turned and it was all blue, except for its scarlet tipped wings. Maybe an indigo bunting or a mountain bluebird? Nope, it was a blue grosbeak and alongside the … [Read more...]

  Trader Joe’s is an interesting grocery store, but I rarely go. First, Stonefield Shopping Center is a pain - difficult to get in and out of and screwy parking. I also get claustrophobia in Trader Joe’s as hundreds of customers squeeze into a not very large grocery store. But last week, Nancy and I went. A friend had given us a bottle of wine from Trader Joe’s called MoonX, a black … [Read more...]

  One-hundred and fifty dollars was our last Comcast cable bill – and we don’t get HBO, Showtime or Stars. The mortgage payment on my first house was just $107, so it grated me to see a bill like this. What particularly irked me was they recently dropped the ME/TV channel that we often watched for the old shows. Plus, Comcast was too cheap to sign on to the ACC Network,  so we couldn’t … [Read more...]

  On a recent visit to Sam’s Club, I ran across a product that’s worth mentioning. In this Corona madness we are now enduring, grocery supplies have been sporadic. Sometimes there’s hamburger,  sometimes there’s not. I’m not a great fan of frozen hamburgers and patties, but I figured it would do in a pinch if I needed ground beef. I saw a product called Chop House Chuck and Beef Brisket … [Read more...]

Late at Night while you’re sleeping, poison ivy comes a creeping all around-ound-ound-ound. Poison ivy, Lawd, will make you itch.   Thanks, Coasters, for that classic song reminding us of the evils of poison ivy, a plant so vile as to send shivers up the spines of those who are extremely allergic – like half of my family. Fortunately, when I accidently bump into the noxious plant, … [Read more...]

  When we arrived in Nags Head last week, one of my first trips was to Food Lion and the meat department. I was looking for my favorite sausage – Spencer’s – and they had some. Nancy and I ate it every day for breakfast and brought home an extra package. Spencer’s Sausage is made and processed in Eastern NC, in Washington, over near Greenville and East Carolina University. They make … [Read more...]

  V.B.R.O. Vacation rental by owner. We had never used this service before, but from now on, we won’t go anywhere without first checking into this by-owner web site. Our anniversary falls on March 3 and we always like to go  somewhere and get out of town, even just for a few days. For our 50th, we hopped aboard a Norwegian Cruise Liner and toured Hawaii, but that wasn’t in the cards … [Read more...]

I once had a bluebird feeder box. It was hand-crafted from pine wood and plexiglass. There were several small holes in the plexiglass where the bluebirds could enter and feed on meal worms, which they would be able to see through the clear glass. It worked like a charm until I made the mistake of putting a few sunflower hearts inside the feeder. When the squirrels discovered that there were … [Read more...]

  Spring’s a coming. Time to fire up the old charcoal or gas grill and toss some steaks on the grill. There was a time I considered the use of anything but a Webber Charcoal Grill as sacrilege, but you can’t deny the convenience of a gas grill. It fires up instantly and the flame is instantly adjustable. I must clarify the above statement. Sometimes it fires up instantly and … [Read more...]

  Emeril Lagasse was on TV on Super Bowl afternoon hawking his new Emeril Lagasse Power AirFryer. He cooked up a bunch of dishes that looked amazing. I have been interested in buying an air fryer. Sam’s Club and others have a number of them for sale. The thought of being able to fry foods (which I love) without all the grease and oil is most appealing. But do they really … [Read more...]