Bird lovers everywhere will join in the 2013
Great Backyard Bird Count on February 15 – 18th

(Photo by Guy Livesay)

We love the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. It’s easy to participate and it helps the birds. You sign up on the website and agree to count birds for at least 15 minutes on at least one of the 4 days of the bird count, more if you want. Everyone is welcome. You don’t need to be an expert.  Sign up is easy and free.

We have always had birds here at Big Mill. When I was growing up, my father would tell me the name of each bird by the song it sang. Oh, how I wish I had that gift.

(This photo by Guy Livesay really shows how gorgeous Mrs. Cardinal is.
When I saw she was hopping & trying to reach the feeder, I put food on the ground for her)

A birding group of young people in Michigan — they call themselves the Michigan Bird Brains — will be counting birds entirely by ear. These students and their teacher are blind.

(Photo by Guy Livesay)

One spring morning a guest said to me, “This is not a complaint, but I have never before been awakened by the birds. I like it.”

For 4 days, starting February 15th, I will grab my North Carolina bird book, my camera and stare out my window – hoping I can recognize the wonderful birds here at Big Mill Bird & Breakfast. Yes, I feed them breakfast. And we are a Certified Bird Friendly Business.

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Remember the Mom and Pop restaurants that were in every town?

Well, we still have ‘em here in eastern North Carolina. Take a ride with me to find the best local food east of Raleigh. I’m delighted to premiere the latest Big Mill B&B video: Carolina Road Foods – Mom and Pop Diners.

We’ve featured the 10 “must see” spots for off-the-beaten path diners and dives throughout Eastern NC. We begin in Williamston and end up in Morehead City, stopping in some little towns that don’t even have a stoplight. Buckle up!

One thing you should know — you’ll have to ask a local where these restaurants are and when they are open. These cafes can have some seemingly odd hours to outsiders – but it all makes sense to any North Carolinian. Sunnyside Oyster Bar is open only in months with an “r” in them; Cypress Grill is only open four months a year – when the herring are running. So take notes and map your route to the best road food east of Raleigh, NC.

View Carolina Road Food in a larger map

Sunnyside Oyster Bar in Williamston – 3 miles north of Big Mill B&B
Cypress Grill in Jamesville -11 miles east of Big Mill B&B
Bunn’s Barbecue in WIndsor - 17 miles north of Big Mill B&B             
Bill’s Hot Dog Stand in Washington – 19 miles south of Big Mill B&B
Brenda’s Country Kitchen -19 miles northeast of Big Mill B&B
B’s Barbecue in Greenville – 29 miles west of Big Mill B&B
Skylight Inn in Ayden – 44 miles southwest of Big Mill B&B
Bum’s Barbecue in Ayden – 44 miles southwest of Big Mill B&B
Lovick’s Cafe in Kinston – 58 miles northwest of Big Mill B&B
El’s Drive-In in Morehead City – 88 miles southeast of Big Mill B&B

P.S. – Thanks to my nephew, Barney, for his amazing video editing and voiceover narration skills. What a gem.

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I love the pecan trees that my parents planted in 1922 -
and honey roasted pecans are just the best.

This year I picked up 6 bushels of pecans. Hurricane Sandy knocked them off the trees for me. I had the pecans cracked at Martin Supply and then I picked them out.  I usually sell some of my pecans, but this year I decided to keep them all for the Bed and Breakfast and friends.

These honey roasted nuts are crispy, sweet and a bit salty  – perfect for snacking and parties. And this recipe is so easy!

Honey Roasted Pecan Recipe

• 3 cups shelled pecans
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt plus extra for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spray a heavy, rimmed cookie sheet with cooking oil spray. Place pecans on cookie sheet in a single layer.

Bake pecans for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and put nuts in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add 3 Tablespoons honey and stir to coat pecans. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir again.

Spray cookie sheet again and put nuts on the sheet in single layer. Bake at 220-250 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring one time.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with a wee bit of salt. Separate any nuts that have clumped. Cool and store in air tight container. Nuts will keep fresh for at least a week.

Yield: 3 cups

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In another life, I had sheep in my yard. Remember the sixties?
Chloe, Maggie Belle & Yorick (photo by Peter Galuszka)

I didn’t have a lawn mower and I really did believe that the sheep would groom my yard. I needed the fleeces – I was working on my master’s degree in fibers – spinning and natural dyeing. 

I lived on the south side of the Pamlico River and keeping my sheep in the yard was difficult. Neighbors said they didn’t mind Maggie Belle and Yorick, but my guinea hens had to stay home. I had bees too.

I learned to spin wool, dye the yard with nuts and berries that I found and then I would weave my yarns into cloth.

The Martin County Arts Council is hosting a Fiber Arts Show at the Flatiron Building in Williamston; I will be spinnng for the opening on January 10. It has been a while since I did any spinning and this will be fun! I am happy to be spinning again and now I want to resurrect my bee hive.

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Christmas lights in Windsor – you can see the glow from half a mile away!

People come from everywhere to the small eastern North Carolina town of Windsor just to see these lights. Folks turn off their headlighs and drive slowly through the lighted arches, past elves and santas, angels and reindeer, cut-out critters and blow-up scenes – and lots of lights, up in the trees, on the scenes. It is almost too much to see at one time.

Some nights real elves are there, chatting with the folks. I talked to one, very nice chap.

It takes Herman and Therman, and sometimes Sherman three months to put up all the characters and scenes – it takes two months to take them down.

The Hoggard triplets began this loving project in 1997 as a tribute to Therman’s daughter. (Pictured above – Herman & Therman…or is it Therman & Herman?)

Herman does the painting of all the scenes; each year new decorations are added. They leave most of them up all year.  And their December electricity bill often tops $5,000 – they pay it gladly – there is a box for donations.

I have read  that this is one of the largest private Christmas light displays in the country – easy to believe with over 450,000 lights!

Starting the day after Thanksgiving, the magic of the lights begins – they will glow every night until New Year’s.

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DISTANCES FROM:

116 miles east of Raleigh, NC
90 miles south of Norfolk, VA
23 miles south of Edenton, NC
82 miles west of Manteo, NC (Outer Banks)
18 miles north of Big Mill Bed & Breakfast in Williamston, NC

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Event: 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. beginning the day after Thanksgiving through January 1st;  Phone:  252-794-4277 (Bertie County Chamber of Commerce)

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This Pumpkin Bread is quick, EASY and, oh, so tasty.

I really like this recipe for pumpkin bread, given to me by our innsitter Jeannie Simmons. I made just a few changes.

When we all ate from the land and did not import exotic foods, we ate what was fresh. So in the fall of the year and for Thanksgiving and Christmas we had lots of pumpkin dishes. My folks let me grow pumpkins in the corn patch.

I hope you’ll give this easy holiday recipe a try. I bet it becomes a new holiday baking tradition!

Pumpkin Coconut Bread from Big Mill B&B

2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cooked, unsweetened canned pumpkin (good brand)
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (see note for all-purpose flour) *
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shredded, sweetened coconut (reserve 1/4 cup for topping)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease four mini bread pans (5 3/4″ x 3″) using cooking spray with flour like Baker’s Secret.

Whisk eggs in large mixing bowl. Add oil, sugar and pumpkin. In another mixing bowl stir together the flour, cloves, cinnamon, salt and 1/2 cup of the coconut. Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir. Stir in the chopped pecans.

Pour batter into greased loaf pans, filling about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut. Bake for 25-35 minutes until lightly browned or until a straw inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks for five minutes. Remove bread from pans and continue to cool on wire rack.

* Note: If using all-purpose flour, add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.

Bread will keep fresh for several days if stored in plastic wrap.

I use canned pumpkin for my pumpkin bread. Pumpkins in our stores are bred to be round, pretty and orange. The old pale, apricot-colored pumpkins still grown in the North Carolina mountains are much better for cooking than the picture-perfect orange pumpkins.

There are many heirloom pumpkins that really taste great – and they come in many colors, so don’t think all pumpkins are created equal.

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Politics resurrect memories.
There was another election:  Richard Nixon in the 60s.

Pat Nixon, Ginny Tuttle (Chloe’s Mother-in-Law) & Richard Nixon in Atlanta during the Eisenhower campaign of the 50s

Back then, I had decided that if Nixon was re-elected, I was moving to Africa. Remember, this was the sixties.  I can’t remember where in Africa — either Ivory Coast or Liberia. Made sense to me at the time.

T.S. Applegate, physics professor, built a 96′ steel four-masted barkentine in a corn field in Lynchburg, Virginia. He then hauled it by truck to Belhaven, North Carolina and tied it to a dock.

I was working in Belhaven teaching weaving and spinning at a small art gallery, EEII’s Little Korners of the World, owned by a fabulous woman Effie Raye Bateman. So it was no problem for me to meet Mr. Applegate. He was an unusual man and so was his boat the W.J. Eckert.

The W.J. Eckert had barrels for hatches, fine for Mr. Applegate to descend, but he was really short. I had a rough go getting my legs to work in that narrow barrel opening.

We made our plans to sail – I had all my shots and so did Jackson, We arrived at the dock in Belhaven. I guess I wasn’t really ready to move to Africa — Nixon or no Nixon. So I bailed and Jackson sailed without me. Did I mention there were no through-the-hull fittings? That means no bathroom. We were expected to hang over the side of the boat.

Off I go back to our house in the woods on the Pamlico River. In just a few hours, Jackson showed up. Turns out, the boat sailed out into the Pamlico Sound and it would not come about. In other words, it was not maneuverable. Captain Jack comes from a long line of watermen, and that just wasn’t acceptable. So he flagged down a shrimper and came home.

Last I heard of the boat it was dismasted and hauled into Bermuda.

Isn’t it a miracle we made it through our youth alive?

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For couples who want  romantic seclusion for their wedding or vow renewal, the private, rustic setting of Big Mill Bed & Breakfast is perfect. No crowds. Just you, your mate and a few friends – if you want them.

No fuss, no stress – our team does it all for you with your guidance. Our photographer, Guy, takes the bride and groom around the farm, the lakes, the barns to get that perfect shot.  He might even use the old red truck.

If you want a different setting, we will travel – if you want to renew your vows on your boat, we will go. At your house or at the beach – our wedding officiant, Barney Conway, and photographer, Guy Livesay will join you there. Need a cake? We do that too.

We only do small, intimate ceremonies – we want your day to be an affair to remember.

(Video by Barney Conway & video photos by Guy Livesay)

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