Goodbye, Daylight Savings. I’m going to miss you. The darkness always comes too early to suit me.
Category Archives: Home & Garden
Still Grilling
Thank God for Indian Summer. It got cold for a few days, which always gets the leaves to turn color. Then it gets warm again. So I can still grill my supper most nights. That’s what I love about the South. Almost never too cold and nasty to grill. Thos suckers up north have to deal with soups and stews in the winter. But down here we are still barbecuing and grilling steaks outside on the deck. Oh, snap!
Paper Delivery
The days of having a daily newspaper delivered to your door are numbered. I remember as a kid we had three newspapers delivered to our house every day. In the morning we had the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal delivered to a metal box on top of a metal fence post at the end of the driveway. Every morning my dad would call to our dog, Lucky, and walk down to the paper box and get the newspaper. He read them both over his morning cup of coffee and then the breakfast that my mom cooked for him.
In the afternoons we would get the Evening Star delivered to the house. The Star brought us up to date on all the news that had happened that day, missed by the early edition of the Washington Post, which had to go to press at midnight. The Star also carried a lot more of the local news. The Lions Club meetings, the high school football games and high school events, and speeches by the Mayor or other dignitaries.
I do miss those days. The cable news and the internet give us the daily and breaking news, but it just is not the same as reading the newspaper in the easy chair with a hot cup of coffee and Lucky sitting beside you.
Blueberries
As kids we were taken to several different places that let you “pick your own” fruits and vegetables. My parents would take us because we would save some money by picking your own, but also because it was a wholesome family activity that would keep us busy for sometimes hours at a time.
My parents believed that fresh picked not only tastes best but is healthiest for you, and I agree. We often went to a farm that grew strawberries and we would load up the freezer with fresh strawberries – my mom’s most favorite fruit in the world. We also picked other fruits and vegetables, and we patronized a lot of fresh fruit and vegetable stands that lined the Maryland highways, buying everything from fresh peaches to cantalopes to green beans to sweet corn.
When my children were young, we continued that tradition with them and they have picked many things from other’s gardens as well as our own. But our favorite has always been to pick blueberries. Not only is picking blueberries great family fun, but they freeze and keep well, and can be used in so many delicious things from the kitchen. There’s nothing like a stack of grandma’s fresh blueberry pancakes with melting real butter and warm blueberry syrup!
Life’s a Beach
My folks have a cottage on the water and we try to get over there at least once each summer to most importantly spend a weekend with them and also take advantage of the boating and water sports while there.
Having grown up on and around the water, I know how hard the elements can be on wood products and even some metals. Salt water and wind are very corrosive to furniture, decks, boats, etc. and there’s a good reason why the good quality boats use teak on their decks and trim. Teak is a dense, durable wood that can hold up to the elements for years and years. Teak does not require much care or maintenance, compared to other hardwoods. And it looks great.
I thought it would be nice to get my folks something for the cottage for their anniversary and I’m thinking a pair of teak chairs for the deck would be appreciated. Let’s hope my folks don’t read my blog before I have a chance to get them ordered and delivered to the cottage for their anniversary gift. I love surprising them!