I Visit Son Troy, Getting Closer To Christmas

Troy's place, Watson, NY

Yesterday, which was Sunday December 21, 2025, I drove out to Son Troy's hide away cabin in the woods in Watson, NY, (Lowville area).  Grandson Aiden was on hand too. It was a lovely afternoon and found great pleasure in their company. Aiden is a good looking, soft spoken interesting, young man. Chitmas is but a few days away and so I delivered a couple of token Christmas gifts with instructions not to open them until the 25th.  I headed back home bout 3:30, arriving there at 5:00 at which point I lit a charcoal fire and grilled some hoffman hot dogs. It was quite chilly, I'm going to say maybe only 20 degrees. 

Today awoke to a picturesque snow fallIt was pretty but didn't result in any serious accumulation. was spent doing domestic chores ( house cleaning). Picked up a bottle of pineapple flavored Jim Beam whiskey. Quite delicious. 

My iPhone app recorded 3,898 steps for yesterday. Today recorded 5,398 steps. 

Troy's place, Watson, NY

Troy's place, Watson, NY

Troy's place, Watson, NY

Troy's place, Watson, NY

Icy Trees Photo and an MRI

 

Icy covered trees on Chaumont Bay, NY, back on November11, 2025

The photos presented here were snapped by me on November 11, 2025 after a day or two of mild freezing rain. I was too busy or lazy to post them here that day.

Today is Friday December 19th. I accompanied the BH to an MRI appointment she had at 9:00 this morning. Nothing serious, (we think and hope), the mri was to take a look at her bile duct. During a recent ER visit to look for kidney stones the duct showed up in a scan. The doctor there thought it should be looked at in case it might be enalrged or something of that nature. We believe there's nothing to it. It looks like it does (we think) because she had her gall bladder removed a number of years ago. 

Weather today was windy, rainy (heavy at times) and 50 degrees. By late afternoon temp dropped to 30 degrees. 

Ice storm, Chaumont, NY, November 11, 2025

Ice storm, Chaumont, NY, November 11, 2025

Grilled Jerk Wings Todaay

 

A nice winter day for grilling wings in Chaumont. NY.

Got out of bed about7:00 this morning. The weather was cloudy, short period of very light snow. By the afternoon the Sun came out. Beth and Abby stopped by for a couple of hours. I made some guacamole this afternoon and then about 4:00 started a charcoal fire in the grill and cooked some Jamaican Jerked chicken wings.  High temp today was 30 degrees. Was down to16 degrees when I lit the charcoal. Currently at 11:00pm it is 8 degrees. Health app on the iPhone recorded 10,448 steps. A lot of those came from me shoveling the layer of snow off our walk and driveway. 

Backyard in state of disarray. Grilled wings in 14 degrees weather. It was quite pleasant.

Our 2025 Christmas Tree

Our 2025 Christmas Tree, before and after

 Monday, December 8, 2025 we got our Christmas tree. It was a sunny, cold day. The low temp overnight was 0 degrees, the high was 19.  We took a drive to Garden and Grove (formerly Hemlock Haven) in Sandy Creek to see what they had for trees. We immediately found one with a nice shape and size. Price was $65.00.  On way home we stopped for lunch at Nu Pier Restaurant on RT 3, Sackets Harbor. It has been there for a long time but we had never been there before. The establishment is somewhat small, food was good and looked to have a small but pleasant bar room off the dining room. The BH had a turkey club sandwich and french fries. I had an Italian sausage sandwich with macaroni salad and a Sierra Nevada IPA beer. We got home and set the tree up in the stand and waited until the next day to decorate it.

Interior view of Garden and Grove, Sandy Creek, NY

Exterior view of Garden and Grove, Sandy Creek, NY

Dining room of Nu Pier restaurant, Sackets Harbor, NY

Broke a Couple Favorite Bowls

This morning the Better Half was clearing the dishwasher and putting dishes away when a couple of our favorite bowls slipped out of her hands and broke on the counter. No one was injured but we were a little bummed out. These were nice, heavy duty bowls from Italy that we have had for many years. 

It snowed lightly most of the day with temperatures reaching a high of 34 and a low of 27 degrees. I shoveled the driveway and walk. My iPhone recorded I took 8,040 steps today. 

Broke a couple of favorite bowls todays.

Snowy Day Today and Sore Neck

Snow in Chaumont, NY today.

It snowed moderately to lightly most of the day today, accumulating about 5 inches by 3:30. A neighbor said it was supposed to stop by 7:00pm. We will see. Otherwise I laid low today having woke up with a sore neck and shoulder. I feel it's how I slept last night. The pain / discomfort has increased throughout the day. I was able to replace a fluorescent bulb in one of our  kitchen ceiling lights though. The photos here are just some quick snaps I took from our yard in Chaumont, NY

Snow in Chaumont, NY today.

Snow in Chaumont, NY today.

Snow in Chaumont, NY today.

Snow in Chaumont, NY today.

Cold Morning and Cooked A Turkey

 

Yesterday, (Friday) the 5th of December, It was 10 degrees at 7:00 am. Overnight the temperature went down to 1 degree. The previous day I thawed a 15 pound frozen turkey by immersing it in cold water, changing it every 30 minutes. 7 or 8 hours later it was thawed. I kept it in a cooler overnight in the back shed hoping it would remain safely cold until morning but not refreeze or partially refreeze. When I opened the cooler the temp was a safe 34.5 degrees. Perfect. We cooked the bird and had a nice dinner around 5:00pm. Oddly for me I never snapped a photo of the cooked turkey. I will say it was delicious. Earlier at 2:00pm  I met sisters Sue and Carol at Al's place in Calcium. The were returning from an overnight in Albany where the attended a live show with actor comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short. They said it was a great show.

Thawed turkey in a water bath, changing the cold water every half hour or so.

Kept thawed turkey overnight in the cooler where it remained at safe temperature of 34.5 degrees.

Guitar at Ives Hill Retirement Community

 

Me at Ives Hill Wednesday Dec3, 2025. Was unable to open
this photo in Photoshop so took a screen shot of it on my phone.

Awoke yesterday morning to sun and temperature of 16 degrees. Didn't accomplish a lot but played a guitar gig at Ives Hill Retirement Community from 4:00 to 5:00 which went over well with my audience. Good compliments afterward. Personally it wasn't one of my better presentations. I arrived early enough and set up in The Lodge. Ten minutes before show time I learned I was in the wrong building. I should have been in the building across the street. I quickly packed up, moved to other building, set up and got started less than 10 minutes late. HOWEVER, this mishap flustered me, threw me off my game. I got off to a rough start, fumbling a bit on the first pieces, gradually recovered and regained control of myself. The people there however, were very pleased, very enthusiastic. For myself, the weakest pieces were some Christmas songs I was sight reading, not having memorized them. Overall, I enjoyed it much.

Yesterdays high and low temps, Chaumont, NY

Porch Corner Post Installed

 Monday, December 1, 2025

New corner post in place on side porch.

Today I installed the new corner post on our side porch. Temperature never surpassed 30 degrees. For the most part it was sunny making outdoor work pleasant. This post is considerably smaller in girth than the one it replaces.  I constructed the post a number of days ago. Inclement weather had me painting it in the basement as I waited a fair day for installation. 

New side porch corner post in place.