The Great Spangled Fritillary has been a frequent visitor these last few days to the butterfly bush growing beside the cabin, and they should be joined within days by the migrating Monarchs who’ll be making their annual trek through the North Carolina mountains, a journey that peaks for us in September or early October. I’ll … Read more
The first hummingbird of spring visited my deck on Thursday, two days ago, and today, Saturday, April 11, I finally got a photo of one. The visitor I got a blurry photo of traveled to Cherokee County, North Carolina, from Central America. Like most of his fellow travelers, he is a ruby-throated hummingbird — the … Read more
I’d already replaced the rear sights on my other Colt revolvers, and the other day I finally got around to the baby of the bunch — my .22 caliber King Cobra. Look carefully at the photo of the pistol on a pillow in my truck bed and focus downrange. You’ll see a tiny target between … Read more
The picnic table was here when I moved in more than seven years back, and the summer and winters had taken their toll. So, finally, after years of putting it off, I spent a day sanding at an old man’s pace while Hazel kept watch and looked on. Rot had eaten its way up one … Read more
It’s a start. For the past couple of days I’ve been hauling rocks from wherever I could find them to my fire pit alongside the swamp. It’s a work in progress. A rich source for the stones has been the stream that runs along part of my western boundary before spilling through a culvert that … Read more