odds ’n’ ends

RICHMOND, Va:

It was supposed to be a nine-hour drive from New Jersey to North Carolina, one that Barbara Briley had made many times before. But something went awry during the Christmas road trip, and the 71-year-old and her young great-granddaughter spent days stranded in wooded area of rural Virginia before a passer-by spotted them and called for help.

Barbara and 5-year-old La’Myra Briley were recovering Thursday after the ordeal, authorities and relatives said. The two were found a day earlier in Dinwiddie County, south of Richmond, after days of searching.

They were near their vehicle, which was stuck on private property about a mile from a paved road, Virginia State Police said.

Barbara Briley was unconscious and was flown to VCU Medical Center in Richmond where she was in listed in serious condition Wednesday, according to police. La’Myra was reported to be alert and unhurt, and police said she received a medical evaluation before being reunited with a family member.

On Thursday, Ginger Bittle, a niece of Barbara Briley, said the two were doing fine. She said it was her understanding that they both remained at the hospital.

Hospital spokesman Brian McNeill said he didn’t have any information to provide.

The Brileys left from Mays Landing, New Jersey, on Christmas Eve headed for Morven, North Carolina, but they never arrived. Evidence points to Briley having pulled off a dirt road into the woods and driving over a small tree, getting stuck when she tried to back up, police said. It appeared the Brileys had been there for “several days” but they had snacks and drinks to get by.

GRANT, ALABAMA:

The carnage of broken wings and dead canaries that arrived in an Alabama woman’s mail have been replaced by the cheerful chirps of brand new birds — live ones.

The US Postal Service says it paid for seven new canaries plus the postage needed to send them to Rhonda King, who operates a hair salon in Grant, Alabama.

King was crestfallen earlier this month when she received a half-dozen dead canaries in a package marked with tire tracks.

Nothing can bring back the canaries from that first mangled package, whose lives were snuffed out somewhere between Texas and Alabama.

But King said she received the new birds Thursday and they’re “picture perfect.” King adds that she’s pleased with the Postal Service for taking responsibility and making things right. (AP)