LIDL: Items

February 14, 2025September 14, 2025 bgibson135

I don’t shop at LIDL very often, but I was in today to buy Smoked Oysters. They have a good price on cans of these. But today as I was looking down several isles, I came across other items that I purchased: Hatfield Pre-Sliced Ham, NIXE Smoked Oysters, raw carrots, fresh raspberries and fresh blackberries. *Actually, I now shop at LIDL and Aldi’s quite often.

As I was standing at the register to check out, a manager was working on something at the register, the clerk that would wait on me was standing back watching what was going on.

There was a woman standing behind me and at some point she struck up a conversation, asking me if the smoked oysters were for my Valentine. I told her I didn’t have a Valentine and that they were for me.

I noted that she had a couple of large Avocados (not an innuendo about her breast, but the big green ones, not Haas), and a couple of other items. I asked her if she liked hummus, and she responded, “yes.” I told her that I like the smoked oysters with my hummus. She thought about going back to get some smoked oysters for herself, but then thought otherwise because of the line of other customers behind her.

Before I went shopping, I had been writing about wanting to buy the Hatfield Ham again to see if the flavor made a difference in my “Bill McMuffin.” But, I wasn’t even thinking about looking to see if LIDL sold this brand of ham. The only grocery chain that I knew did sell Hatfield, was Harris Teeter. And, I also still had some unfrozen ham in my fridge and the remainder of that ham in my freezer, so it wasn’t actually time to buy more ham. Still, I am at an age where if “it” doesn’t please me, I had better make a change quickly, to something that does.

[NOTE]: Well, I tried another “Bill McMuffin” with the Hatfield Ham I bought yesterday. I did like the ham better than what I’ve been using, but this time I think I should only microwave 1 egg, and not 2 and use only one slice of cheese, split between the two halves of muffin.[end NOTE]

I saw some fresh raspberries and nearby fresh blackberries, both at what seemed to be a good price. I’ve been pureeing these fruits to eat with my Greek Gods Plain Yogurt. I was also thinking that I would have to go somewhere else to buy carrots, but then I saw a bag of large carrots (2 lbs.). The carrots were large, not the bag.

Just before I went to the register, I picked up a couple of cans of the NIXE Smoked Oysters.

Soft Apricots – Alesto
- These were the softest dried apricots I’ve ever eaten. I bought a second bag, but haven’t been eating them very often.
Camembert Cheese
Carrots (good price on 2 lbs. package & good looking carrots.
Fruit (fresh Blackberries/Raspberries)
- Earlier in the season they had very good prices on blackberries & raspberries.
Green Beans
Hatfield Pre-Sliced Ham
- I enjoyed this fresh ham. It made delicious Bill McMuffins, but I seem to recall looking at the calories/fat/sodium and haven’t bought any since. *I originally bought this on sale at HT, but then couldn’t get it again there and then saw it at LIDL.
Hillshire Farms Beef Polska Kielbasa (Walmart also)
Milk 2% (cheap)
- They had fantastic milk prices earlier in the year, but have gone up, but still a good price.
Smoked Oysters
- Both LIDL and Aldi’s have good prices on smoked oysters, but I’ve sort of not been wanting them lately.

This is now the LIDL in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

You know what still worries me? I looked pretty intently at the woman’s items she had placed on the conveyor belt behind me. I can visualize the two large green avocados, and there was something above those, and there was something below them, but I can’t visualize anything but those two avocados, which I think I almost touched, or at least reached out in pointing to them during our short conversation.

The above, “forgetting something” just reminded me of a time long ago, when I was attending college at UNC-Chapel Hill. One Saturday, during the fall, there was a football game at Kenan Stadium. I think we were playing Duke. In fact, it was my Freshman Year (1972), because I went to the game with a small group of people that included my roommate (Keith Smith) and his fiance, and I think her brother and seems like there may have been one more person, ah, maybe “Stick” Mann who was our next door dorm mate, and maybe even Stick’s date. Yes, if it wasn’t Stick Mann, then there was an incident later, after the game where I met Stick Mann’s father in the hall way, and was introduced. As I recall, from my drunken stupor, Mr. Mann had short (military style) white hair. Seems like I was so drunk that as Stick and his dad were down near his room door, and me & someone else were about mid hall, where there was a drinking fountain, I actually said something about his dad looking like an “onion head.” I didn’t mean anything derogatory, but I was extremely drunk and was just relating my first impression.

At the game, someone had brought a bottle of Tanqueray Gin, and it was being passed around. I was so drunk by the time it got to me that I poured a small Dixie cup full of straight gin, and then because we had no more mixer, I asked for a Peppermint Lifesaver and dropped it in the cup, suggesting that now I wasn’t going to have to drink it straight.

There were also some people seated behind us and there was a woman that reminded me of Marlo Thomas, which, as drunk as I was, I had to tell her this at some point.

Eventually, before the game was over, the “brother-in-law-to-be” had to walk me back to my dorm from the stadium. At some point, I woke up on my dorm bed, with a small bit of “puke” on my pillow and a “dog chewed” Frisbee in my hand. I was still very, very, very drunk and I had no idea from where I had gotten the wrecked Frisbee. And, even though this was only late afternoon, and I would drink nothing else the rest of the day, when I did finally go to bed, much later at night, I was still really, really drunk.

So the next morning, I have this severely chewed plastic Frisbee and I don’t know where it came from. Not a clue. There are dog teeth marks on every part of this toy. Now, I didn’t recall how I got back from the football game to my dorm room. Someone may have told me that the “brother in law to be” had walked me back, but I had no remembrance of the journey. That is until several years later, and suddenly I had an image of the courtyard in front of “Connor” dorm, which was about three dorms down the street from my dorm, “Aycock.” *I shared a dorm room with Keith Smith, Room 318, I think. Third floor, second from the end, toward the street. This dorm was later (many years later) renamed, since “Charles B. Aycock,” former Governor of the Great State of North Carolina was a racist. I guess if someone could convince President Trump, he could find another person with the last name of “Aycock” that the dorm name could be changed back to, like Fort Bragg – Fort Liberty – Fort Bragg, but not the same Bragg. How stupid!

I then recalled that there were bunches of people spread across the courtyard and that there were several dogs all chasing and playing with “the” Frisbee. That is where all of those teeth marks came from, and I must have wrestled the Frisbee from one of the dogs and brought it back to my dorm room. So, the incident was a complete blank for at least a couple of years, but eventually I did recall enough to know where the Frisbee came from, and how it had become so damaged.

Courtyard in front of Connor Dorm. During my time at Carolina, there were fewer trees along the street.

pu’er tea

February 13, 2025February 16, 2026 bgibson135

It was at Dobra Teas in Asheville, North Carolina that I first experienced pu’er tea. I don’t think I actually tried the tea at Dobra, but bought some and tried it later when I was back in Fayetteville. In fact, I can almost visualize the setting in which I first drank some pu’er. I was sitting on my couch and had brewed some hot tea. It is a rude awakening when you first taste pu’er, especially if you have been used to drinking black tea (Luzianne, Lipton, Nestea or Tetley) most of your life. One thought is that the flavor is similar to that of drinking water that has been flavored with a dirty gym sock. It tastes nothing like black tea. But, I do like it sweet and with a little cream which may not be how most of the World enjoys their pu’er.

*That sort of reminds me of the Sassafrass tea I liked to drink as a child. Mom & I might find a Sassafrass bush or plant on the old family farm. You would cut off a woody root and take it back, brush off the dirt, and steep the root in hot water. You would end up with a rich pinkish colored drink that tasted good with cream & sugar.

But fairly quickly, I came to recognize the unique flavor of pu’er, and I could like it as I had black or orange pekoe teas.

And, I do love tea. I have drank Bigelow’s “Constant Comment” and “Earl Grey” tea since about 1985 when a friend & his wife introduced these to me, when I went over to their house after Church. This was Rick & Linda Bell. Rick had been a Marine Corps Air pilot and after retiring, a few years later, became a Baptist pastor.

I’ve written elsewhere about “falling in love with” “Raspberry Royale” tea, also by Bigelow. I came across this while on a brief vacation, and I had stayed at a Quality Inn in Lynchburg, Virginia and the next morning took a tea bag packet of “Raspberry Royale” and made my first cup in my motel room before checking out. Loved it hot. Loved it cold. Bought a box of it when back home, and even bought a 6 box case of it from Amazon and gave them out as Christmas presents one year. *Recently I’ve found that Wegman’s in Raleigh carries the Bigelow “Raspberry Royale” tea.

This was the Quality Inn in Lynchbugh, Virginia that I have stayed at, at least twice. I brought a Raspberry Royale tea bag with me on one visit to celebrate where I had first tried this tea. I didn’t drink the first in the breakfast area, but took the tea bag back to my room and brewed it there.

I’ve tried various flavored teas through the years. I think I first bought Rooibos (red bush) tea from Whole Foods in Raleigh. At the time, they sold this tea from a large copper colored container. You scooped out the tea you wanted and put it in a plastic zip bag. Sometime later, they stopped selling Rooibos, but I found what I currently drink, as a box of Rooibos tea bags at Harris Teeter in Fayetteville.

Sometime in the last couple of years, I tried Taylor’s Scottish Breakfast tea. I hated it when I tried the first cup at home. I would call it a “heavy” flavored tea. But, I gave it a second, and even a third try, and surprisingly by the third try, I actually liked the flavor and then started drinking it fairly regularly.

Early this morning, and when I say “early” I mean about 3 am, I thought about having some hot tea, and this time I wanted to try something that I hadn’t had in a long while. I saw a packet of “Assam” tea, which I had bought at a organic food store in Greensboro, North Carolina last year.

I first tried “Assam Brahmaputra” at Dobra Teas in Asheville several years ago. They brought a cup and small tea pot to my table. They didn’t bring any sugar or sweetener, or cream or creamer, so I tried the hot tea. It was good. I managed to drink the whole pot without either creamer or sweetener. At home, I googled about this tea and found that Assam was a region in northern India which butted up against the “tea region” of China, and Bramaputra was the River going through that region. Not sure, but you probably have to be a local in that region to know when you are in India or China. If you’re on the border, they might point to two mountains that both have tea growing on them, and one mountain is in China and one is in India. “Assam” was the type of tea.

I think I recall that pu’er tea is a fermented tea and that it actually changes with age, but doesn’t get stale or go bad. And because of this, this type of tea has been used as money. The disk of pu’er tea that you see at the top of this posting, might be collectable to use when money runs short. The tea is tightly compacted into the disk shape, but there is also a version of pu’er that is loose and is sort of rolled into little curly cue balls.

*The ritual of drinking this tea is to first pour hot water over the tea, and then drain that first pour off. Then you pour more hot water on the tea and this you let steep, and then drink. The ritual may partly be because the tea is so compacted, that the first water loosens the tea so that it can steep fully. But, at that I’m just guessing.

Even though I started talking about tea, I also like a few brands of coffee. Actually, I currently like the “Breakfast Blend” (ground) by Starbucks which is sold at Walmart.

But, during the Covid Epidemic, I could no longer buy my favorite coffee from Harris Teeter. It was a flavored coffee (whole bean), but I don’t recall what flavor. *I just came across an image of the Harris Teeter coffee that I liked, “Hazelnut Creme.” They stopped serving coffees from the pull down handled containers. It took me a while to find another coffee that I liked.

So during Covid, I ran out of my favorite, and I looked in my cubboard and found a bag of Cracker Barrel Coffee (ground). I tried some and it was pretty good coffee. The next day I tried some more of the Cracker Barrel Coffee and it was good again. It took me until the third day and when the Cracker Barrel Coffee was good again that I realized that, “I hate the coffee at the Cracker Barrel Restaurants.” I hated the restaurant coffee so badly that I came to always order their hot tea. But this was good coffee. I think it was a Christmas present from a friend. I finished this coffee just before Covid restrictions let up.

At the end of Covid restrictions, I went out for a hair cut, and to buy another bag of Cracker Barrel Coffee. The bag color had changed, and unfortunately, so had the flavor. The new coffee wasn’t anything to write home about. So, I had to go on a search for a new favorite coffee.

It was about $9 a bag, and I tried about four different brands before finding what I liked.

I’ve never had a really expensive coffee maker, usually just the low end makers with a glass pot but I would “foot the bill” for a reusable gold plated metal filter. But, the last cheap coffee maker I bought was a Black & Decker, and it didn’t last but a few months before it stopped heating. I ended up buying a larger glass pot after the smaller one also went “kaput.” And, I decided I didn’t need to buy another coffee maker. I would heat my water in a regular pot on the stove and then pour it through the filter by hand. Worked fine and I have done this process for a couple of years.

I just remembered, “I hate the unsweet tea at Smithfields Chicken -n- BBQ Restaurants. It reminds me of the taste that a drink might have, with cigarette ashes mixed with water. But, their sweet tea tastes great. It has lots of sugar. I have repeatedly told workers at different Smithfields that their unsweet tea “sucks.” This is something that has to be intentional by the owner(s). You can’t suck this badly without hearing about it, and then doing nothing about correcting the problem.

So, last night I ordered some more “Indian Long Pepper” from Amazon. The odd thing about this order is how long it is going to take for it to be delivered. Today is Thursday, February 13th, but the pepper isn’t supposed to be delivered before April 7th. Damn, that’s almost two months. *I don’t think I have enough of the Long Pepper to last two months, but I do have regular mixed (white, black & red) pepper which will suffice.

When Tombstones Were Made of Zinc

February 1, 2025February 16, 2025 bgibson135

Years ago when I was heavy into my family’s genealogical research, I came to recognize a special type of tombstone, or rather tombstones that were made of a special material, zinc. I viewed an online presentation that said zinc monuments started a bout 1870 and dwindled in popularity in the early 1900s. I’ve seen online postings that seem to suggest that headstones made of zinc are fragile, but I haven’t seen evidence of this. What I have seen is that zinc headstones have extra sharp detail. At first I thought these gravestones were poured concrete, but found that it was zinc. I’m not sure of the process, but it does appear to have been a poured process. *The molten zinc was poured into molds (wax/sand) and therefore are hollow. The above stone appears to have a front and a back that was either glued together or put in a mold and the seam between the two halves (front & back) is obvious. If you are walking about an old cemetery, the color of the zinc headstones is readily apparent. They are a lighter gray color than marble gray stones.

Zoom in and note the crispness of the embossed lettering & icons, and that there are also debossed items all on the same face.

The Ellis, McIntyre and Morse grave markers are in Mount Lebanon Chapel Cemetery next to Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, North Carolina.

The New Copper NIckel

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

January 26, 2025March 1, 2025 bgibson135

Eva Green as Miss Peregrine.

I’m re-watching the movie, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” and there was just a moment in the cave where one of the characters explains to the other about the phone he is carrying in his pocket. She is from a time where there were no cell phones, and probably few “land lines” either. Still, their interchange made me reach over and take my cell phone. I want to write about the several changes from when I was a boy until now. Things like telephones, televisions, computers, etc. I will be leaving a much different world than the one I entered a little more than 71 years ago.

Personal Computer

THEN –

When I started college at UNC-Chapel Hill (“Carolina”) in 1972 there were no “personal” computers. I had a portable typewriter. I think it was a Smith-Corona, in a carrying case, with a handle. I would type up my papers on this typewriter. I think I used correction tape for mistakes.

I knew how to type because my mother who had been a “Clerk Typist” with the Civil Service, mostly aboard the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base (and some at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia), made sure that I took typing, both in high school (at Swansboro) and at least one summer at a local business school in Portsmouth, where she was working at the time. I got up close to 60 words per minute without mistakes. I don’t recall if I was the only boy taking typing in high school, but there were fewer of us (males) in the class. And years later, when I poked my head in my old classroom, it was amazing how small the room seemed, to have probably had about 30 typewriters and that many students, with a teacher. **Later knowing how to type would be a useful skill when personal computers started to become part of our society.

The other piece of technology that I had was a brand new Texas Instruments “hand held” calculator. I do recall that it cost $99 and it was the beige color, as shown here. It would do the four basic functions, but I don’t recall if it even had the (%) percent capability. I don’t think it did. You could spell things by typing numbers and then turning the calculator upside down. I think “77345” spelled “SHELL.” You’ve got to understand that the numbers were shown in a simplified format, of horizontals & verticals, not like those shown above in a stylized format.

I had this calculator stolen by some slick Chapel Hill operators. They wanted to “party” back at our dorm room, and offered to buy the case of beer for me & my roommate. I didn’t go back to the room with them, but the next day, the only thing I had left was the charging cord for the calculator. LGN was the mullato that took it. Rather than admit my stupidity to my mother, as she would have to “foot the bill” for another one, I combined the order of a cheaper Bowmar calculator, in with Christmas presents, and got the money from her. I told her about it later.

NOW –

I am typing this blog posting on my Samsung Chromebook, and it just automatically corrected my mis-typed word “tpying.” I’m using the Chromebook because about a week ago I accidentally spilled some liquid into my Windows Laptop. The laptop was beside my easy chair, and the liquid just splashed out, and over into the computer. A freak occurrence, but it killed it immediately. I had bought the Chromebook as a backup Web connection so that if something did ever happen to my Windows machine, I would be able to order a new one on Amazon. I haven’t done that yet, but I’m still able to do almost all the things on the Chromebook that were being done from my Windows laptop.

[ADDENDUM 03/01/25]: I actually did not think I would ever be doing this again. I am editing this posting on my HP Windows Laptop. The one that died about five weeks ago, when I accidentally spilled my drink into it. Recall that the laptop didn’t work immediately after the spill. And, I tried it the next morning, and I think I even waited a few days, and it still did not work. That is when I “wrote that machine off,” never expecting it to live again. I didn’t throw it away, and I didn’t buy a new Windows system, but kept working from my Chromebook. I had left the HP laptop unplugged all this time. So, today I took the dead laptop and plugged it back into it’s power supply, and momentarily I realized that the opening Windows background (I believe it is the covered bridge across the river in Firenza.) was showing flawlessly on the screen. Sure enough I was able to enter my login pin and the Windows laptop was working once again. I’ve since updated the McAfee virus software and even played a game or two on it.

I guess the spill was still liquid when I first tried turning on the HP laptop and was shorting out the system so that it wouldn’t start. By giving it some time to thoroughly dry out, it was able to restart successfully. [end]

THEN –

The personal computer has grown by leaps & bounds, since it first started being used by the public in the early 1980s. The early computer monitors were monochrome (one color), not color, and either green or yellow letters/numbers were shown on a dark background. I recall using a computer in 1984 that had a 10 MB Winchester hard drive. The hard drive was separate from the computer and was about the same size. Now you can get a “thumb drive” that is more than 1 TB.

Below are two screen captures from one of my YouTube videos that I took in 1984 when I was working & living at S.I.F.A.T. between Lineville & Wedowee, Alabama. The videos were originally recorded with a VHS camera and years later I converted the VHS tape to digital and then uploaded the digital files to YouTube. First of my YouTube S.I.F.A.T. videos.

In 1975/6 I took my first computer course, and learned how to program in “Basic” and in “Fortran 4.” Fortran has since gone through many iterations, but still exists. IF, THEN and FOR, NEXT statements were at the heart of Basic programming. IF this happens, THEN do this. Do this function FOR however long, and repeat the function when each NEXT appears. ECHO sent the results to the teletype or the computer monitor.

One time, I played a joke on a fellow student, who was from Columbia, South America. I think he was from a wealthy family, his dad being a diplomat or some such. The student missed an early class where we had learned the basic skill of ECHOing a statement out to the printer. So, I created a very simple program and all it did was ECHO the following statement: “Hello Patricio!” His name was Patricio. Well when he came to me to see what he had missed in class, I led him to the teletype and said put in the program name. When he pressed the Enter Key, the program ran and typed “Hello Patricio!” That was all it did, but you should have seen the look of wonder that came across his face when he thought that the computer actually knew his name. I couldn’t help from laughing, and then had to reveal my prank to him.

NOW –

Unless you have need of a more powerful, quicker system, such as for gaming or creating graphics or videos, a laptop is fine for most people. I am a PC person and although I’ve used Apple computers & Ipads in the past, it never “caught on” for me.

Cell Phone

THEN –

I just realized that we didn’t have a telephone in our home when I lived in the “old home place” on the corner of Hwy. 24 and Queens Creek Road. There was a telephone booth across the street at the far corner of the country store. This would change when my mother and I moved up to Hubert to live with her sister, Carrie Kellum, whom we called “Sis” or “Aunt Sis.” The move would have occurred when I was in either 7th or 8th Grade.

Aunt Sis had a telephone, and it was a “party” or shared land line. I’m not sure how it worked specifically, but more than one household shared the same phone line. This meant that only one “party” could use their phone at a time, and it was possible to pick up your phone and hear another household having a conversation. *I do recall doing this at least once.

When mom and I lived together in Jacksonville, North Carolina (at 204 Johnson Blvd.) we had one phone, and it was on the wall in our kitchen. Mom died in December of 1980.

When I hurt my leg, playing tennis, I still only had the phone on the kitchen wall, so I had to hop from the bathroom, after showering, to call my friend.

NOW –

I didn’t get a cellphone when they first came out, and they were pretty well established before I got my first, which I don’t recall what it was. But now I have a nice Samsung Galaxy S23+ from which I constantly monitor my world and make informed plans because the Internet is available except in extremely isolated parts of the world. At least my world. I was able to pull up a streaming webcam view of me when I was down on the Washington, North Carolina waterfront a few days ago. There was about a 30 seconds delay in the video, but it was live. Before going down to Washington, I checked to see if the Library Book Sale was still a go, and I checked if Down on Main Street Restaurant would be open.

Several months ago I was walking out of Publix and saw a woman carrying a green step stool, made of heavy duty plastic, with a handle. I stopped and asked her about it. It was both a step stool, and a carrying case for her tools. “Step stool” meant you could both use it as a step, or stand on it to reach items above you, or you could sit on it to do work while sitting. But as a carrying case you could put cleaning supplies & cloths, or carpentry tools like screwdrivers and wrenches in it. She told me how much she had paid for it and that it had lasted about 10 years and she was completely happy with it. She provided me with an intimate product endorsement, on the spot. I thanked her and walked to my car.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, I pulled up a step-stool-carrying case like the one she had, on the Amazon web site, and ordered it. I think it was about $56. I ordered this item, almost immediately, while sitting in my car, from the Internet on my phone. I didn’t have to drive home first. I didn’t have to get a Sears catalog and order it and have it delivered to my home a week to 10 days later. I probably had the step stool within three days. And, it is a wonderful unit. I’ve put things, like tools, in it. I’ve sat on it while cleaning the floor boards, and I’ve stood on it while changing a light bulb.

I created a simple Google Spreadsheet to use when I go shopping for groceries. This exists “in the Cloud,” so anywhere I have Internet access, I’ve got access to this spreadsheet. I’ve created broad categories such as: BREAD, MEAT, SPICES, VEGETABLES, & KITCHEN and then can place items like “Asparagus,” “Broccoli,” “Cabbage,” “Onion,” etc. beneath the correct category. I check the items I need to buy either on my Windows Laptop, or Chromebook or even from from Android phone, and then un-check them as I buy them at the various groceries I visit each day. Grocery shopping when I was growing up was either every two weeks, or maybe once a week on Saturdays. Now, I might visit 2 or 3 groceries a day buying those special items from each chain: Wegman’s White American Cheese, Publix Sourdough English Muffins, and/or Greek Gods Yogurt from Harris Teeter.

Cable TV

THEN –

I’ve told the story about how I would get up early (6am) on Saturday mornings to watch “Sunrise Theater” on WRAL TV5. Sunrise Theater included two horror/sci-fi movies, back to back, each Saturday morning. You’ve got to recall that there was no “all on – 24/7” TV. All channels would go off at 12 midnight, and only show a “test pattern” with a high pitched tone until 6 am the next morning.

We had four TV stations, but could not get a good signal from WNCT TV9 (CBS) out of Greenville, NC. There was WWAY TV3 (ABC) and WECT TV6 (NBC) in Wilmington, WNBE (later changed to WCTI TV12 – ABC) in New Bern, and WITN TV7 (NBC) out of Washington, North Carolina.

The last TV show I might watch on Friday night was “Championship Wrestling from Florida” with Gordon Solie, the host. As his sign off he would say, “This is Gordon Solie saying ‘So long from the Sunshine State.'” I recall “Argentine Apollo” who was a wrestler, dressed in tight white shorts and who did various acrobatic flips, even from the top of the ring ropes down onto his opponents.

Because we couldn’t get the CBS station, I missed out on shows like “Gunsmoke” and “The Howdy Doody Show.,” after school. But, there were plenty of other ABC & NBC television shows, and cartoons on Saturday mornings “Jonny Quest,” and weekdays “Yogi Bear,” “The Jetsons,” “The Flintstones,” and “Huckleberry Hound.” Was “Captain Kangaroo” on weekday mornings? I didn’t grow up on “Sesame Street,” but was aware of it later. Sports shows on Saturdays like ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom,” and on Sunday nights, “The Wonderful World of Disney” movie. I saw all of these TV shows in Black & White. It may have been as late as 1970 before I got a color TV. I do recall the Zenith portable TV (b&w) that had a carrying handle on top, but was still a heavy unit. I liked the Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (which I may not have seen as a boy) but also liked “Get Smart” and “Combat.” As a teen I would have watched “American Bandstand” with Dick Clark, and also “Soul Train” with Don Cornelius. All were adding to the mix.

NOW –

“Hello Patricio!” I think that a few years ago I actually recalled his name, Patricio Morillo, and found that he had gone into banking. And just now, I see his face online and a “Happy Retirement” sign next to it. Patricio’s LinkedIn Page.

I now talk to my TV via my Fire Stick and say, “Alexa, what time is it” or “Alexa, turn on the TV” and she responds (it’s a female voice I hear) with the current time, or “Okay,” and turns the TV on, or pauses the program or various other commands. And sometimes, but not every time, she will actually thank me, for my courteous “Thank you,” with a “You’re welcome, Bill, have a nice day.” Yeah, I could see becoming attached to an interactive computer interface. AI responses are becoming much more organic, and to have a computer generated human-like face on my personal “AI” would be great. I could see spending hours in deep conversations with my AI exploring the World and my environment with his/her assistance.

Another Trip to Washington, North Carolina? Hopefully.

January 22, 2025April 27, 2025 bgibson135

I’m hoping to travel to “Little” Washington on Friday, but am wondering if the restaurant, “Down on Main Street,” will be open for lunch then, and/if the Friends of the Brown Library will still be having their Book Sale. *I see from the Friend’s Facebook page that they are suggesting Wednesday (today) be a snow day, and for volunteers to show up on Thursday, so it looks like a go for now.

We had a “big” snow last night which has been reported worse east of I95 and on the North Carolina coast. It doesn’t look that bad out my front door. There is snow on the ground and on the cars, but my sidewalk is mostly clear, with a little salt from before the snow.

I enjoyed my trip to Washington, North Carolina last year (the 19th of January, 2024). I had determined that both the Wilmington, North Carolina and Washington, North Carolina libraries were both having a book sale on January 19th. This was the day after my birthday. Actually, the day after mine and Mary Ann’s birthday, which we normally celebrate together. I was born on her 16th birthday, January 18th, 1954.

I asked Mary Ann if I could stay overnight on our birthday so that I would already be down on the coast. Still, it was about an hour, each way. First I drove down to Wilmington and bought several Michael Connelly novels (Harry Bosch), and then drove back up Hwy. 17 back through Jacksonville, and on to Washington, North Carolina to the Friends of Brown Library Book Sale at the Washington Civic Center. I wrote about this visit here. After the Book Sale, I drove over to Down on Main Street Restaurant for lunch and enjoyed another Shrimp Po’Boy & fried okra.

I found a Washington, North Carolina waterfront web cam sponsored by WITN TV7. I can’t find an easy link or embed code for this web cam view so here is a link to the WITN web cam page. The Washington web cam view is a LIVE Stream, and usually there is some traffic crossing the old Hwy. 17 bridge, so that you can tell you are looking at a video and not just a still picture. I will be able to see how much snow has disappeared by Friday morning.

I really have no books this year that I want to buy at the book sale. I have read all of the Harry Bosch novels and now regret that a little, because I’ve ran the gamut of the Bosch character. I am thinking that I may try to find some books that either Ray & Jacqueline’s children might enjoy, or Ashlyn Mitchell might be able to get some artistic ideas from. *I did leave a few books with Mary Ann on Saturday that I hoped Ray’s children might enjoy: 2 pictorial books about the Titanic & 1 pictorial book about George Armstrong Custer, and a set of 3 books about either Ireland or Scotland in the 1,300s. I’m not sure if they were fiction or based on historical facts, but the covers of the books reminded me of knighthood.

Surprised I found these, on Amazon.
This seems to be historical fiction about Robert the Bruce, of Scottish fame & lore.
Author: N. Gemini Sasson

I plan on going down to Washington, North Carolina tomorrow, but drove up to Raleigh today to go to Wegman’s. I like their sliced White American Cheese. But, I also stopped in to Whole Foods first and bought a couple of links of Chroizo sausage. I talked to the butcher girl who said she and her husband wanted to open their own butcher shop. I told her about Golden Hex and suggested she go there for ideas on exotic sausages. She said their Andouille sausage didn’t sell well so they quit making it. I told her that I liked the spiciness in my lentil soup.

While in Wegman’s I saw the black woman at the Service Desk and went over and asked if she was the one who had the daughter that thought her “labor” was induced by drinking Raspberry tea (or maybe some other Raspberry item). She was, but had not tried the tea yet. That’s been weeks, so maybe not much hope in getting a convert to love Bigelow’s Raspberry Royale tea like I do.

So, I’m in my car and pull up the Washington, North Carolina waterfront web cam. It played perfectly in real time, and even when I went into the grocery store. Whatever web cam and Internet connection they are using is working great. “Angel” I think. I do see that the camera angle adjusts slightly from day to night. At night you see further away over the Hwy. 17 bridge and during the day the bridge seems to be closer, but you don’t see much above it.

I did stop at the Harnett County Library on the way up to Raleigh and bought two large books. They were priced @$2 but I left a $5 for a little extra donation. One book was on Salvadore Dali and the other was on historical Russia. Funny, the Harnett County Library is also having a book sale tomorrow, but I’m only planning to visit the Friends of Brown Library Book Sale. I’ve already got my large gray book bag, or shopping bag that I use when buying a lot of books.

Well, it was a pretty good trip today. Instead of ordering the shrimp sandwich on a Kaiser roll, I ordered it on toasted Sourdough. The sourdough bread was good, but I think next time I’ll go back to the Kaiser Roll. Too much bread for the sandwich. Too few shrimp. I had the coleslaw on the sandwich, and not on the side. The fried okra were delicious. Comes with a small container of Cocktail Sauce.

I got to Washington, North Carolina about noon on Friday, and went directly to the Book Sale for the Friends of Brown Library. I found an open parking spot directly in front of the Washington Civic Center Exit door. The sidewalk still had salt on it, and there was slush in the street gutters.

I actually went to the book sale twice. Once, before I went to lunch, and then once afterwards. I had my large grey tote bag that holds a heavy amount of books. On my second visit, the books were so heavy that I left the bag at the exit door and then brought my car back and found a parking spot almost at the exit. I hope to show you images of all of the books that I bought today. I think I paid a total of $35 and donated an additional $5. Sounds like a lot, but the hardbacks (no matter how large & heavy were only @$2 and the paperbacks were 50 cents each. I brought the largest & heaviest one ,in with me when I got back home, and it might just be the largest book I’ve ever owned. $2 for a book that easily could be resold for $30 or $40, and that person would think they were getting a bargain, and they would be getting a bargain.

I did not buy any books for my own personal reading. I looked at a few biographies, but didn’t see any that piqued my interest. I did buy a number of Art books, and a few history books. The art books are for Ashlyn and the other books are for Ray’s kids. Not sure if they will be interested, but when I was a child, I think I would have been interested in a few of them: General Custer, the Titanic, WWII & it’s airplanes, and Sienna, Italy. *A few years ago I went to the Titanic Exhibit at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Great Book of World War II Airplanes (1996, Crescent Books, pp. 632)

The cover of the above book is solid silver, on the front & back (no writing or pictures), but the spine has the book title & publisher. I paid $2 for this book. It is heavy, very heavy, and it has a great number of large fold-out pages, with colorfully illustrated drawings of various aircraft of World War II, and pages of detailed writings and illustrations.

Baron Von Richtoffen & His Bright Red Fokker.

*When I was a boy there were three things that piqued my interest: Ivanhoe & the Knights of the Round Table; WWI Bi-Planes, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker/Baron von Richtofen, his bright red Fokker & the Blue Max; and hell if I can recall the third thing of interest, but when I do, I’ll write it down here. But, I can see a boy becoming engrossed in the above book and spending hours looking at the illustrations, reading the details, and probably buying and building several model airplane kits… and painting them.

***USS Nantucket (Monitor Class Civil War Battleship)***

I’m thinking that my third interest as a boy was the Monitor and the Merrimac. Civil War Era battleships. But I never really had a concept of how large the Monitor was as a boy. I thought of her as perhaps being a little bigger than a row boat, but in reality she was a large vessel capable of carrying about 85 crewmen.

As a boy, I built a version of the Monitor and the Merrimac out of balsa wood. My Monitor was shaped like a canoe with a flat deck and a round gun turret. Nothing like the real thing. Kinston has the Ironclad CSS Neuse, or her hull, on display.

The USS Nantucket, shown above, was a Monitor Class battleship. Built low to the water, and subject to sinking easily in rough seas, a dangerous vessel to be assigned to. George L. Morton, a distant relative living down in Wilmington, North Carolina for a while would command the above ship during the Spanish-American War but it would never make it to Cuba before the short war ended. The joke among the crewmen was that “they killed more Spaniards in front of the Orton Hotel (downtown Wilmington hotel) that they did from the decks of the Nantucket. In other words their verbal braggadocio of what they would do as they stood in front of the Orton Hotel far exceeded any actual combat victories. *As I recall they were afraid of firing their large cannon because the large oak beam that held it in place had been cracked at some point and they were afraid that if they fired the cannon, the recoil might push the gun turret off the ship.

The Spanish-American War ended abruptly and the officers & crew of the Nantucket returned to Wilmington on the train. They had been on maneuvers around Hilton Head and Beaufort, South Carolina but never headed further south. The vessel had a “rapid fire” machine gun (probably not called a machine gun at the time) and it’s my belief that one of these was procured from the Nantucket and used in the Wilmington Race Riot later that year, 1898. It was mounted on a horse drawn cart and hauled about town and used to kill “darkies.”

*I do recall that the actor/comedian Bob Cummings, had a TV show, and every so often he would play a relative of his (maybe his character’s grandfather) that had been a WWI pilot. I always perked up when this character came on, dressed in his old pilot’s headgear.

Oh, the web cam view of the Washington, North Carolina waterfront has about a 30 seconds lag time. This camera and/or it’s Internet connection is excellent. It streams fluidly showing automobiles both on the waterfront and crossing the old Hwy. 17 bridge without “skipping a beat.” In fact, this web cam view is the only one of about 10 different web cams that is LIVE. The rest are stills that update periodically. And the stream played fluidly both on my Chromebook at home and while I was in my car on my Android phone.

I took the short route to Washington, but took the scenic route back, and stopped once, in Snow Hill, to buy a pint of whole milk at the Piggly Wiggly. This was the same Piggly Wiggly that I had bought really good pork chops one time.

The scenic route from Little Washington comes near but not actually by “Voice of America.” I considered this the “Cold War Era” propaganda tool by the United States. There were large radio towers spread across a large field and American propaganda was streamed 24/7 across the Atlantic Ocean and across Europe to the Communist countries. I just recently came across YouTube videos of the Voice of America towers being demolished in 2016. I went over there before that time and did see them. There was a home in the area that I think had an underground component, but when I went looking for it via the Google Street View, I couldn’t find it.

Then stopped again in Newton Grove at the Pharmacy to eat a Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream on a regular cone. One scoop of ice cream on a regular cone is still just $2. Nothing for tax, or tax included. *Harris Teeter carries the “Roadrunner Raspberry” ice cream, which is the same name as the Hershey’s version. I have yet to buy any since the Newton Grove Pharmacy stopped selling it a couple of years ago.

Of note, both going and returning, when I neared Greenville & Washington, NC, there was a whole lot of untouched snow still left in the fields and the yards. There is something almost melancholy about snow going undisturbed by laughing & playing children with red noses. As I recall, the snow was still on the ground down near the coast, but as I returned to the Fayetteville area, it was mostly gone from the ground.

There was only the Pizza Hut & Taco Bell in one corner.

January 21, 2025January 21, 2025 bgibson135

When I first arrived in Fayetteville to work, 1995, I lived in Heather Ridge Apartments on Ramsey Street. In the mornings as I traveled down Ramsey Street on my way to work, I would pass a Pizza Hut and next to it was a Taco Bell. They were in one corner of a large wooded area and the woods came almost up to the drive around next to the buildings.

I don’t recall when, but at some point this large area of woods was cut down and the Walmart was built with a large parking area in front of it. In my mind it is as if the Walmart has always been where it is currently located, but that’s not the case.

It hasn’t been that many years ago that the I295 Extension was built from I295 on its way to the southeastern side of Fayetteville. It now takes about twenty minutes to travel the 18 miles on the Extension. There is another Walmart over there.

When they first cleared the thickly wooded area near the location where the Ramsey Street overpass would be located I recall that there was a small house or hut that must have been in the middle of these woods. It had been isolated and now it was starkly in the middle of an open field.

Lillington, NC: IGA

January 13, 2025October 8, 2025 bgibson135

I drop into the IGA in Lillington, North Carolina, every so often, when I am passing through. Actually, I have to make a slight detour because I am normally going between Fayetteville and Raleigh on Hwy. 401, and this IGA is on Hwy. 421. If I was going to/from Sanford, or to/from Raven Rock State Park, then I would be on Hwy. 421, but there are also lots of winding country roads along the way.

One of my early reasons for stopping into this IGA was that they carried the cheap cans of Polar Smoked Oysters. But, that was when those cans were either a dollar or $1.25 each. They no longer carry those.

My last visit, I bought some Bright Leaf Bacon, which is often the cheapest bacon sold at various stores, but I find it consistently good bacon. I think it was only $4.99 per package (1 lb.) and I bought a couple. *And remember, “a couple” means “two,” like in “two makes a couple.”

If I haven’t visited this grocery in a while, I might forget how impressed I can be with the look & feel of their “green grocer” section. The fresh vegetables section.

They have other food, including a BBQ chicken wing counter nearby, but the IGA in Erwin has a better selection of wings.

I saw they had a large selection of dried beans & peas. I took pictures and fed them through ChatGPT for the following table:

Type	Brand	Price ($)
Baby Lima Beans	Best Choice	2.28
Black Beans	Best Choice	1.48
Blackeye Peas	IGA	1.98
Cranberry Beans	Super Star	1.84
Field Peas	Super Star	1.28
Great Northern Beans	Best Choice	1.96
Great Northern Beans	IGA	3.25
Great Northern Beans	Super Star	3.18
Green Baby Lima Beans	Super Star	2.73
Large Lima Beans	Best Choice	2.48
Large Lima Beans	Dixie Lily	2.75
Lentils	Super Star / Best Choice	1.30
Mixed Beans	Best Choice	1.58
Navy Beans	Best Choice / IGA	1.39
Pearled Barley (Quick)	Quaker	2.85
Pinto Beans	HamBeens (Artificial Ham Flavor)	2.98
Pinto Beans	IGA	1.18
Pinto Beans	Super Star	2.18
Red Kidney Beans	Super Star	3.20
Yelloweye Peas	Super Star	3.20
15 Bean Soup Mix	HamBeens	3.19

Someone takes special care in displaying all the items in this section. The other thing I noted during this visit was that the actual quality of the produce seemed to be better. But this comment is from someone that noticed when, a few years ago, Food Lion started selling smaller colored sweet bell peppers at the same price they had been selling larger ones, $1.49. And WalMart sells them at that same price. I’m not sure how much the larger bell peppers would have cost. Maybe $2@.

I’ve written about this type of change-up at the grocers regarding the size of yogurt containers (many years ago) and Spaghetti Sauce Starters (e.g. Hunts, DelMonte, Rao). The small yogurt containers may have held 6 oz. of yogurt and then they were resized to about 4.5 oz. Hunts & DelMonte sold their starter sauces at $1 per can, but then one of them started selling a slightly smaller can at the same price.

Oh, and RAO was never part of that because they were selling their glass jar of starter sauce at $9. But, they do have a better starter sauce, and I justified buying that by only using a half jar of Rao’s for making my spaghetti sauce at home.

For years, I made spaghetti sauce at least once a month, but having gotten more serious about my Blood Glucose Levels & A1C, I have severely cut back on the number of times I have pasta, and much smaller portions also.

NOTE [10/08/25]: I’ve recently been fixing a small side dish of medium pasta shells (50 shells per serving) with a little RAO’s Marinara Sauce. Oh, and I cool the pasta before reheating, in order to produce some “resistant starch.” It may only be about 7% RS3, but every little bit helps. [end NOTE]

I liked starting with a starter sauce and adding a can of diced roasted garlic tomatoes. Dicing up some onion and yellow or red bell peppers and adding some ground beef and or maybe Italian sausage. And because Italian sausage has fennel seeds, I add more fennel seeds. Garlic powder, red pepper flakes, some sweetener, and S&P. For years I added a small can of mushroom pieces, but that has fallen out of flavor favor.

“A couple” means “two,” like in “two makes a couple.” A few years ago I was travelling down in Florida and stopped at a Hardees Restaurant. A young man asked me for my order and I said, “I would like a couple of hamburgers.” His reply confused me, “And will that be two or three,” as he quizzically looked back at me. I didn’t say anything and he brought me two hamburgers. How could someone not know that “a couple” meant “two?” But then a few years later I was ordering “a couple of eggs” for breakfast at Famous Toastery in Southern Pines, North Carolina. My young waitress then asked me, “Will that be two or three eggs.” If I had asked for “a few” eggs, I might understand the follow-up question, but once again “a couple means two.” But, she never got that message and others had the same misunderstanding. And when I was at Famous Toastery ordering breakfast, I would have to stop and instead of asking for “a couple of eggs,” I would change the way I ordered and say, “I would like two eggs.”

Famous Toastery went out of business in Southern Pines. I think that was during the Covid Epidemic.

Grave of a Governor of North Carolina.

January 10, 2025January 16, 2025 bgibson135

Hickory Hill Cemetery

Through the years, when I was growing up, and mom and I would pass this place, she would usually mention that Governor Lindsay Russell, a distant relative, was buried up on the hill. I don’t ever recall us actually stopping to visit his grave. That would occur many years later, probably long after mom had died. Mom died in December of 1981.

I don’t recall when I first drove up on the hill and walked around Governor Russell’s gravesite. His wife is also buried there. There was an ornate wrought iron fence & gate surrounding their graves. But as I visited at later times, I would note that someone had removed much of the wrought iron. I remember, and have a picture somewhere, of a closeup of the wrought iron gate. I noted that there was a dog’s head as part of the gate.

Palo Alto Plantation – Swansboro-Belgrade Road, Onslow County, North Carolina

After Daniel Russell’s mother died, he came to live with his maternal grandfather at Palo Alto Plantation. I seem to recall reading that he had his own pony that he rode around the plantation. He had a black nanny and that was one reason for his attention to slaves. I think he also attended a military academy.

Years ago, probably at least 20 years, I became interested in my family’s genealogy. I then came across a posting online (early Web) that said there were images of David Ward Sanders & his wife, Alice Mitchell. They were the owners of Palo Alto Plantation, and Daniel Russell’s grandparents. I ended up spending $10 for each TIF image, which I sent to Tennessee to the Daughters of the American Revolution, and they mailed two CDs back to me. They had taken photos of two large oil paintings of the Sanders, and these were part of a publication of famous persons.

When he was running for Governor, the News and Observer Newspaper published several “racist” cartoons of Russell, one in which he had long claw like fingers.

Governor Russell was a Republican governor, who was sandwiched between two Democratic governors. He wrote that when he and his wife arrived at the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh, it had been left in a mess with empty alcohol bottles thrown about. He made a resolution to leave the Mansion is a better condition for his successor, which he did. Charles B. Aycock was Russell’s successor, and they had a much better relationship than Republicans and Democrats do currently. I think they focused upon both being lawyers and the things they had in common. *I stayed in Aycock dorm when I attended UNC-Chapel Hill. Years later the name “Aycock” would be removed from this dorm due to Aycock’s racist activities.

After becoming Governor, he was returning to the Wilmington, North Carolina area in order to place his vote. It was revealed to him that some of the “Maxton Red Shirts,” planned to kidnap him from the train he was riding, and perhaps do even worse. But, Governor Russell outwitted these “hooligans,” and exited the train at one stop earlier than he had planned and the Red Shirts were left wondering where he was.

NOTE: I think it is a shame that this Governor’s resting place is so neglected. *The image of Daniel Lindsay Russell shown above is from family photos and is probably before he became the Governor, and while he was practicing law in Wilmington.

One of my earliest Christmas memories is of going up to a store at Palo Alto. Mom bought me a Tonka Cement Mixer toy from the store and I got it as a present for that Christmas. No, I don’t recall which Christmas it was, but that is the earliest toy I recall that I know was a Christmas present.

We would usually have Egg Nog, probably from Maola Milk Company, and a real Christmas tree. We would watch “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” on TV.

*I also recall the story that Burl Ives once stopped his boat in Swansboro while travelling the Intracoastal Waterway, maybe to gas it up, but he was impolite, and the people he was impolite to, did not appreciate his impoliteness.

The images below remind me of Christmases I celebrated as a child.

Blue Ocean Market

January 4, 2025January 20, 2025 bgibson135

I knew Guy Fieri had ties to North Carolina, and that he was a “good guy,” but I didn’t expect to feel this good about him until this morning. I happened to start watching his 2nd Family Reunion which occurred at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, but I haven’t checked to see how long ago. And not too far into this show, he became “family.” Not related by blood, but related by the love and memories of a special place.

It didn’t take long before he was reminiscing about his trips to Morehead City and how excited it made him feel when he saw the name “Morehead City” on a sign. I might not get that excited about seeing the name “Morehead City,” but I know those warm, homey feelings that I get when I think of all the good times my mother & I had down that way.

We would visit the old Civil War fort, “Fort Macon,” and I would be allowed to roam those grounds by myself. This was before certain areas of the Fort were restricted to the public, because they were dangerous. Pitch black rooms and corners, and uneven broken & worn floor bricks. No electric lights in those dank, dark rooms. Looking through the small gun port holes across the muddy moat. This was long before several rooms were renovated with wooden plank floors, the windows encased in plastic, and air conditioning added. But still long after the Civil War ended.

The reunion group visited Guy’s grandparent’s old house. Someone else owns it now, but Guy had a picture from years ago, and I know where the house is located because you go near or past it, if you are either going over the bridge to Atlantic Beach from the Morehead City side, or heading on to the business district of Morehead City and on over the bridge, and the new bridge to Beaufort. “Bow”fort is North Carolina, and “Bew”fert is South Carolina.

I love ice cream. How about visiting “El’s” Drive-In for a banana split? So many years ago, it seems like it was a Sunday afternoon and mom and I might have just come from Fort Macon. We stopped at “El’s” and I ordered a Banana Split, but it seems by the time I started to eat the split, I must have had a hamburger or hotdog because I was already full.

I see that the first reunion was in 2012 so the second must have been in 2022, a couple of years ago now. Morgan is buried in California.

the Candi Queen – candy apples
Blue Ocean Market

I went down to Jacksonville/Hubert on Saturday, January 18, 2025 to celebrate Mary Ann’s & my birthday. I was born on her 16th birthday, so she is now 87 years old and I am 71. Amazing!

After breakfast at Helen’s Kitchen and a quick stop by the Onslow County Library on Doris Avenue, I headed up to New Bern with the intention of going on to Minnesott Beach and taking the ferry across to Cherry Branch. I have done this numerous times and it is a short (maybe 20 minutes total, one way) trip. But this time, as I approached New Bern, I decided instead of making the ferry trip, I would head down to Morehead City and drive by Guy Fieri’s grandparent’s home, near the Atlantic Beach bridge.

As I drove through Havelock, I looked over at the abandoned Lidl Grocery building. It’s claim to fame is that I once bought a gallon of milk more cheaply than the jar of dill pickles I purchased at the same time. I think the pickles cost $1.37.

I think eventually they will complete a Havelock By-Pass for US Hwy. 70.That might cut from 15 to 20 minutes off the trip between New Bern and Morehead City. *I just checked Google Maps and sure enough the new by-pass is under construction. I am not sure how long ago the aerial view was made, but many of the overpass bridges were already built, just very little pavement laid.

As I neared the off ramp to the Atlantic Beach bridge, I knew the street I wanted to turn on was probably the last street before the ramp, and it was. The possibility was always that I might pass the right street and have to do a U-Turn, but I didn’t. There it was, just to my left as I turned and slowed down. There was a bunch of “stuff” around the house. Sure enough the street next to the Waterway was a dead end as it neared the bridge on ramp.

Carrots with Hummus

December 31, 2024June 5, 2025 bgibson135

Diabetic Friendly Snacks (from a YouTube video)

Carrots w/ Hummus
Celery Sticks / Peanut Butter
Cucumber Slices

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

I saw this breakfast meal in a list of diabetic friendly alternatives. I liked the looks of it, and I had just bought some Romaine lettuce hearts a few days ago, and I knew I had an avocado that was very ripe already. As I read through the ingredient list there was nothing that I would need to substitute or leave out completely. Jalapeno, I had bought several bright red ones yesterday at Compare. The eggs came from Aldi’s because they had a very good price on them . Sweet onion and grape tomatoes (I like the Campari tomatoes.).

I put a little olive oil in my small Guy Fieri frying pan and turned the heat on low on a small top electric burner. Doing without meat is usually not pleasant, but I’ve got to say that this breakfast was delicious and I would definitely like to have it repeatedly. I still like bacon for breakfast, but this was delicious. I think the little bit of jalapeno, with a bite of sweet onion, and then some avocado, and a bit of lettuce and some scrambled egg all worked well together.

This was a Woman’s Day recipe for “Mexican Scrambled Eggs” from 2015.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes
Avocado
Onion
Jalapeno (diced)
Cilantro (diced)
Lime Juice
S&P
Eggs (scrambled)
Olive Oil
Romaine Lettuce (chopped)

06/05/25 pic shown above: Without the Romaine Lettuce (because I didn’t have any), cilantro (because I forgot it) or the lime juice (forgot that too).

Spiffing Up Canned Collard Greens

I had bought a cheap can of Great Value Collard Greens from Walmart the other day in anticipation of fixing some for New Years’ Day. Since it is just myself that I am cooking for, there is no need for me to buy a large bunch of fresh collards, chop them up and cook them down.

I googled for ways to “spiff up” ( my words, not the search words I used ) canned collards. One suggestion was to add a little Toasted Sesame Oil. I like the flavor of TSO, but didn’t try that this time. I have put TSO on steamed cabbage and steamed cauliflower, and it does change their flavors positively.

I still had a shallot that I had bought at Whole Foods last week. I diced the shallot in a small dice. I had a small Russet Potato, that I peeled and diced in a small dice, and

I used two slices of bacon that I put in the bottom of a small pot on my stove top. I added a little bacon grease, some garlic powder, Splenda sweetener, and some S&P. I just wanted the bacon to begin to become tender and the shallot to sweeten with a little heat.

I added a little GV Chicken Broth to the bacon and potatoes and cooked the potatoes until they started to get tender. I then added about half the Collard Greens to the pot and continued to cook.

For the quickness that I used to prepare the ingredients and cook them, this side dish worked very well.

For New Years Day dinner, I heated up some chicken gizzards that I had prepared a few days ago. I had fixed some black eyed peas early this morning to make up for those I had ruined a few days ago by burning them on the stove. They were still edible, but a little scorch just sets everything to “wrong.” But this mornings’ peas were delicious. And with the gizzards and peas I had the spiffed up collard greens. It all worked well together.

For lunch today I had some pork chop, pickled beets, red cabbage slaw and butterbeans (that I had fixed early this morning at the same time I was cooking the black eyed peas). That meal was “okay,” but it didn’t quite float my boat. And breakfast this morning wasn’t quite as good as it was yesterday. Not sure if the avocado wasn’t quite ripe enough, or what. One note is that both mornings the scrambled eggs looked grayish. Not sure why.

CHICKEN GIZZARDS:

Bacon grease
Onion
Celery
Chicken broth
Chicken gizzards
Dulse
Marjoram
Savory
Thyme
S&P
Butter

I think the Savory might be the one ingredient that makes all the rest work. They are all necessary. Not sure if thyme or marjoram are essentials, but they don’t seem to hurt either.

I listed the ingredients in the order that I think they should be added to the pot. The bacon grease flavors the onion & celery and when they become translucent, then either the gizzards or the chicken broth should go it pretty close to each other.