Animal Tracks on Snowy Driveway and Sidewalk

 

Animal tracks on new fallen snow in our driveway and sidewalk.

Our driveway and sidewalk were covered with animal tracks in the snow this morning.I discovered them as I was taking the trash to the curb for Wednesday pickup. Animal activity is not unusual here. There appeared to be deer prints and cat prints as well as other critters. The cat could be one of the neighbors animals or a feral cat. We had gotten a thin layer of new snow overnight that recorded the imprints. 

The Better Half had an appointment today with podiatrist to look at a very sore toe. This doctor removed  the toe nail from it last June. He feels the toe has a sore related to poor blood circulation. So we will be investigating that. 

This evening I went to an art talk at Fibbonacci Gallery in Watertown. The speaker was local art collector Carl McLaughlin.

Animal tracks on new fallen snow in our driveway and sidewalk.

Animal tracks on new fallen snow in our driveway and sidewalk.

Animal tracks on new fallen snow in our driveway and sidewalk.

Animal tracks on new fallen snow in our driveway and sidewalk.

Animal tracks on new fallen snow in our driveway and sidewalk.

Moon Rise, View From Roof, Ice Dam

Sunday February 1, 2026 

Moon rising behind a house on Washington St., Chaumont, NY  photo copyright Gary Walts 

 

Moon rises at 5:40 behind a house a few doors down from me on Washington St., Chaumont, NY. Dave S. called me and said there was a nice moon rising, I should check it out. So I did. This was after a pleasant day of sunshine that found me shoveling snow and carefully chopping away at an ice dam tht formed on an almost flat section of our roof. It's a metal roof and very slippery. Beneath the heavy snow there was water, perfectly liquidy. It dawned upon me that I should have removed this snow a couple of times during the days it was accumulating. I snapped a view of a neighbors yard while I was up there. 

Today, Feb 2nd, awoke to see the temperature went to 13 below zero overnight. 

My neighbors yard as seen from my roof.

I think the high temp yesterday was 9 degrees. iPhone claims I walked 5,883 steps yesterday. today at 2:40 afternoon phone shows Ive taken 2,230 steps. 

Snow Photos From January 28, 2026

 

Yesterday I awoke to 10 degrees below zero and sunshine. It was very pretty but I was too lazy to bother going out early to take the wonderful winter pictures I know were out there, away from home. But the sun didn't last long. It clouded up and we got more snow. Quite a lot. I ended up shoveling a great deal again. The Better Half had a 2:00 doctor appointment in Watertown. Her original appointment was for Monday but the snow was so bad she rescheduled it for yesterday. But that didn't help. The driving was somewhat dicy. At times poor visability because of wind and heavy snowfall. But we made it. I walked 7,455 steps. Anyhow, here are some photos from around our yard in Chaumont, NY.

20 Below Zero Winter Morning

 

View from our kitchen window this morning. Neighbor Jim's house, 20 degrees below zero.

There has been  severe winter weather warnings all across the country the past couple of days. ere in the North Country we have had quite a bit of snow. Now we have gotten into some cold weather. Started going down below zero last evening, awoke this morning to 20 below zero. All day the sun was shining. I went out about 1-4:30 doing some errands in Watertown. No wind and pleasant, just cold. Walked 4,597 steps today. 

Warming up fast (ha, ha). 20 to eight and temp was up to minus 12.

Snow Photos Again Today

 

Awoke to more new snow here in Chaumont this morning. We had new snow yesterday too but I never got around to posting any of them. This morning's snow was about 15 inches deep. Temp was 19 degrees when I went out to shovel at 8:30 this morning. I did a thorough jib clearing our driveway and sidewalks. All told I was out there for 2 and half hours. Grandson JJ happened to be driving a delivery truck by our house this morning which was a fun, brief meeting. iPhone shows I walked 7,123 steps. 

Grandson JJ on the job took him by our house in Chaumont, NY

New Years Eve Chaumont NY

Wintery weather on New Years Eve in Chaumont, NY. 

New Years Eve at our house in Chaumont, NY. We didn't do a lot which is the norm for us. After having a green Christmas it was windy, cold, snowy day here. The high temp was about 25 degrees, the low temp ws 9. In the early evening I made a spinach artichoke dip and had some TGI Friday's potato skins. Watched the ball drop in Times Square at midnight. 

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

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.

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.

Christmas Lights Up Today

It was perfect day for stringing up Christmas lights.

It was a beautiful day here in Chaumont, NY. Sunny, pleasant, had a high temp of 43 degrees. I strung up some outdoor Christmas lights on our front porch.   In the afternoon I visited Orion Art Gallery in Watertown for about an hour and a half. Picked up a pizza at Art's Jug at 4:00 and was back home befor 5:00. All in all a nice day.

Street lights cast shadows of tree branches on the outside of our house.

Halloween 2025 Steve Hunt Creations

 Halloween, Friday October 31, 2025

Steve Hunt house, Main St, Chaumont, NY, Halloween 2025

My neighbor down the street from me, Steve Hunt, has been creating some interesting sculptures. The photos I present here are of his home decorated for Halloween. 

As for us, we had our usual array of Jacko' Lantern string lights and inflatable. Nothing too elaborate. 

Halloween itself was rainy, windy and temperature in the high 40's. This put a damper on number of trick or treaters, even though the rain subsided for most of the evening. Last year we had 163 trick or treaters, a record number. This year we had 75. We bought 4 boxes of full size candy bars totaling 138 pieces. Bought at Sam's Club for about $150.00 Heather & Dave and their sons and girlfriends came over. Had some food and couple of beers. 

Steve Hunt house, Main St, Chaumont, NY, Halloween 2025

Steve Hunt house, Main St, Chaumont, NY, Halloween 2025

Steve Hunt house, Main St, Chaumont, NY, Halloween 2025

Steve Hunt house, Main St, Chaumont, NY, Halloween 2025

PHOTOS: Re-building Chaumont House Side Porch

Completed framing deck yesterday, August 13.

I am presenting here some photos of  the side porch re-build project at our Chaumont House. The photos were snapped various days beginning August 1st through August 13th. Yesterday (the 13th) I completed framing up the floor joists. I was replacing old rotted wood with new pressure treated lumber. The job was a pain as I tried to tie new wood into remnants of the original. It's not an example of my finest work by any means. It's solid as Sears was in their early years. Next I will make tongue and groove deck boards to same dimensions as the originals. The weather during this project has been mid 80's to low 90 degree temperatures with high humidity. Slow, sweaty work. 

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025

Side porch repair, Chaumont, NY August 2025