Monday, April 12, 2010

From the Frying Pan to the Fire


This delightful old shed lives down Shadow, which is on the way to New Point and Bavon, except not really on the way, you have to veer off the main road just a bit, but then eventually you reconnect to the main road so maybe this is sort of on the way to New Point and Bavon, and who's tired of this never-ending sentence besides me?

Speaking of being tired, as I write this Sunday evening tired doesn't even come close to describing the way I feel. Perhaps it had to do with the 5:30 a.m. alarm on Saturday to prepare for the Farmers Market, which included bending over in a daffodil field in cold, wet conditions that rendered every one of my fingers numb and useless, which was the exact same condition of my coffee-less brain.

After surviving the Farmers Market, delivering children to and from places, delivering parents to and from places, serving as middle man in a parental dispute that included, "Why the BLEEEEEP! can't he cut that BLEEP! BLEEP! wood some other time? Everything has to revolve around his schedule and that BLEEEEP!ing wood," I arrived home in time for a very quick break before heading over to Sandpiper Reef restaurant to work as a bouncer until 2:00 the following morning.

Why in the world would Chesapeake Bay Woman pretend to be serving as the gatekeeper to a restaurant/bar when her only real restaurant/hospitality experience involved waitressing at a pizza parlor in college, where she served a woman a salad with mushrooms after the woman explicitly said she was allergic to them? Read on.

Remember my post on Blue Collar Joes, home of the most delectable doughnuts ever created? Blue Collar Joes is owned by the brother of Sandpiper Reef's owner (aka Anonymous Hallieford Resident in the comments).

Imagine the horror of discovering that Brother Blue Collar's house burned to the ground last week. He was inside working on a hot water heater (I believe) and somehow or another it exploded and set the place on fire. Luckily someone found him in time and pulled him to safety. He's in the hospital but doing OK-- as much as someone can be OK after they've lost their home and everything they own. Everything.

Sandpiper Reef was hosting a very popular local band Saturday night, but Anonymous Hallieford Resident needed to be with her brother in a hospital on the other side of the state. She needed help.

Happy to assist, I found myself standing at the door with Bay Man carding toddlers young people eager to hear the band while Mathews Mark was busy tending to the goings on inside.

More on these escapades later, but for now a few key things:

1. Please leave some words of encouragement to the Maker of the World's Best Doughnuts in today's comments or on the Blue Collar Joes Facebook page.

2. Please also encourage the Maker of the World's Best Doughnuts to buy a home in Mathews County and open up a doughnut shop here. The old Fleets restaurant is currently vacant...

3. Dear Blue Collar Joe, You have a group of people here in Mathews who are very eager to help you in any way possible. Tell us what you need and consider it done. Same to you, Anonymous Hallieford Resident, except if I'm going to be at the door again, please provide me with some extra strong reading glasses to decipher the microscopic text on the Virginia state driver's licenses
.

4. These doughnuts belong in Mathews County.

14 comments:

nativedevil said...

CBW,
Did you realize that Blue Collar Joe's is only 20 minutes from my house? I missed your earlier articles about them. I will go tomorrow after my dr. appts and purchase some in YOUR honor. I also joined their FB page.
I would love to see them come to Mathews

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness! What a weekend of tragedies. The least of which is you being a bouncer.

My prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery to Blue Collar Joe. We have to add that donut shop to our list of places to visit during Blogfest.

I wanted to laugh about the parental brawl, but this isn't the time...just tell your mom we need to plan a cruise when I get there. Just a bit of R & R.....and plenty of time for the other parental unit to chop away. :)

The picking daffodils must have been a blast from your past!

Meg McCormick said...

Oh, no! It was really nice of y'all to help out on Saturday. I bet it was fun, even. I'm going right over to his facebook page. What a bummer.

Mrs F with 4 said...

I admit I saw 'frying pan' and 'fire' and instantly thought 'YAY! CBW has found a way to delectably prepare fiddler crabs ready for Blogfest'!


But no, it was something just horrible. I echo Grandma J's wishes for a speedy recovery, from physical injuries, and consolation where possible, from friends and family for the emotional damage.

Picking daffodils in the pre-dawn freeziness - brought back memories (and not nice ones) of the years spent doing exactly the same with Brussel's Sprouts. Or Devil's Cabbages, as I prefer to think of them. I could not gag one down if there was a pot of gold as a reward.

Mental P Mama said...

Oh no! So glad he is alive! And he definitely needs to move to Mathews and open a doughnut shop. Before July 15. Thank you very much. And the visual of you and Bay Man working the door is quite an entertaining one;)

Pueblo girl said...

Poor man, what a terrible thing to happen. All my best wishes for a speedy recovery and setting up of a new business nearer to your home.

Caution/Lisa said...

Could you hear anything after your bouncer session? Did you get to wrestle anyone out the door?

Daryl said...

You are the best friend ever .. but damn I cant find Blue Collar Joe on FB!

abb said...

Oh dear! This is terrible. Sending positive thoughts toward ALL of you!

Meg McCormick said...

I looked up Blue Collar Joe and had to add as a friend - it's not a fan page, it's set up like any individual. I WAS able to send a direct message though. And they accepted my friend request right away.

Occasional Kate said...

Ha! I'll have to tell my brother that his shed is famous!

A donut shop in Mathews would be fabulous and if Blue Collar Joe's (or anyone really) ever wants to make a go of it, I know everyone in my family would certainly be regulars! But that's only because we don't have a BLEEPing wood stove to fight over, LOL!!!

Speedy recovery wishes to AHR's brother, and pats on the back for you CBW for stepping in when she needed a friend. :-)

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

ND-I knew he was close to you but didn't realize only 20 minutes close. I received a FRESH batch of doughnuts tonight, delivered by his sister, and OH MY GOODNESS the blueberry one with cream cheese frosting is out of this world. So is the coconut cream one, as well as every single other one in the box. He would make a *killing* in Mathews.

GJ-You have every right to laugh at the parental dispute. If only you could have witnessed it first hand...

Meg-Thank you for visiting him on Facebook.

Mrs.F. - As always your comment makes me laugh and laugh. Devil's cabbages is wicked-funny. But perhaps you've not had them cooked properly? We love brussel sprouts here, and while I can certainly see the nasty factor, I believe if you cook them until they're soft and give a hefty dose of butter, salt and a sprinkle of lemon, they're quite good. In any case, I'll be sure to keep them off the menu when you come to visit and you must come to visit.

MPM-It was really quite a miraculous story. That the house burned down to the ground and he came out as he did (not without lung problems but escaping major burns) is incredible. I wholeheartedly endorse your motion to have a fully functioning branch of his doughnut operation here by July 15.

PG-Thank you so much, his sister is reading all of this.

CF-I could write a book on that bouncer session. I could hear only because I was outside (there's a screened porch in between the band and where I was). I didn't wrestle anyone to the floor but I did have to give the evil eye a few times to some young whippersnappers who thought they were going to leave with beer in hand (a huge no-can-do) or leave and not pay to re-enter. I give a pretty good evil eye - it worked.

Daryl-Hopefully you've found it. I'm not on Facebook much, if ever, to know how exactly to get to the page.

TSA-Thank you.

Meg-Thanks for that clarification.

Kate-that is too funny that this is your brother's shed. It was gorgeous the morning I saw it. I took several shots and this was the best of the bunch given that the sun was coming up and I was facing it. It has so much charm and character, it's really beautiful. You must know a friend of mine from high school if you have ties to Shadow. I graduated with a Tammy W. from that way. Love her to pieces.

foolery said...

Found him on Facebook and sent a message. What a horrible, scary accident.

Also? I think a day trip to Blue Collar Joe's will be in order when the Foolery Family come to Virginia this summer. It's only 248 miles from Mathews -- a mere 4 hours 43 minutes. That's like driving to Fresno, for us, but there's nothing in Fresno worth going to Fresno for. Certainly not DONUTS.

Best wishes to the Blue Collar family. : )

Country Girl said...

Everything revolves around the wood for the stove. And that would drive me crazy, too.

And I am so sorry to hear of your friend, Blue Collar Joe. Thank God he got out alive.

I think it's wonderful of you to help. But man, you must have been draggin' come Sunday night . . .

xoxo

These donuts look divine.