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

Pileated Woodpecker In Our Yard Today

This pileated woodpecker was in our yard for about half an hour today. Snapped the photo with a 500mm f8 Minolta lens on a Sony a6600 camera. Weather was 25 degrees, overcast and gloomy. Difficult getting a good photo of the bird without scaring it off.  We met my brothers Al & Ron, and sister Suzy for lunch at Jeb's Restaurant in Lowville. About an hours drive from our Chaumont house given the sloppy, winter road conditions. Son Troy and his girlfriend and couple others happened to be there too. 

Pileated Woodpecker at our Chaumont, NY home. 

Snowy Day, I Shovel Driveway, Chaumont, NY

 

Initial path shoveled in snow in our driveway.

It was a blustery, snow day here in Chaumont, NY today. High temperature was 21. I spent about two hours shoveling our sidewalk and driveway. It was windy and cold but I enjoyed being out in the crisp fresh air. My right shoulder has been bothering me much lately with a chronic pain. Shoveling snow however didn't aggravate it. 

Self portrait at end of our driveway, neighbor Jim's house is behind me. 

2 hours after I began our driveway is cleared of snow. 

Squirrel Chewing Our Wooden Fence

 Thursday, June 16: I discover a squirrel chewing up the wood fence in our backyard.

Squirrel chewing up our fence. 

It was just after dark and I heard a peculiar sound coming from our back yard. Sounded like wood snapping or banging with a scraping noise. I get a flashlight and discover a squirrel busy knawing away on our fence. A huge amount of it chewed up. The squirrel seemed fixated  what he was doing and didn't try to run from me or anything. I got quite close and he wouldn't budge. Its after dark and squirrels are supposed to be in bed. Why is this one so active? This was all very creepy. Well I snapped his picture and posted it on Facebook that night.  The next morning a Facebook viewer asked if the animal was stuck. WOW! That never occurred to me. A second look at the photo and sure enough, looks like he got stuck between the boards and was chewing his was free. I checked the fence that morning and the critter was not there.

Squirrel chewing up our fence. 

I Play Guitar at Billy Patterson Gala

Friday June 7 I played guitar at the Billy Patterson Gala.The event was held at the Copley House in Chaumont, NY.  Billy was a well known resident of Chaumont, NY having worked at the local grocery store and at The Blue Heron restaurant in the village. He also lived in an apartment at the Copley house. Billy died too young, a cancer victim. It was a nice event. Played guitar outdoors in the garden. It was windy and cool, 60 to 64 degrees. Met some good people, had some great food.

Total Solar Eclipse Photos in Chaumont, NY.

 

Total solar eclipse in Chaumont, NY. photo by Gary Walts.
Sony a6000 camera and Minolta 500mm f8 mirror lens.

Yesterday, April 8, 2024 we experienced a total solar eclipse here in Northern NY. Personally I and a few family members witnessed it from our backyard in the village of Chaumont.

We grilled some smoked sausages, had some salt potatoes and Cole slaw. We had a nice wood fire going in the fire cauldron and lit some tiki torches to add a little ambience to the transition from light to darkness. 

One f the most notable things that happened was a large number of mosquitos swarming about  when the darkness came on. There was also a distinct rapid drop in the temperature. It dropped from almost 60 degrees down to 52 degrees. 

For the most part the sky remained clear throughout. A small amount of clouds were about, but the view remained good. We had a wonderful and memorable day. We were all quite amazed by the experience. 

View looking toward my neighbors place during the eclipse, Chaumont, NY 2024

Smoked sausages on the grill. Cheddar bacon and cheddar jalapeño flavored. 

This is a composite of two photos. I'm not sure I really like it it or
did it quite well enough.

Eclipse day food. Smoked sausage sandwiches, oil and vinegar based Cole slaw, and salt potatoes.

We got a fire going well before it got dark. (This is a fire cauldron created by artists Will Salisbury and Greg Lago, two good friends who are no longer with us. I miss them.)

Family members view the eclipse in Chaumont, NY

Family members view the eclipse in Chaumont, NY

Family members view the eclipse in Chaumont, NY

Family members view the eclipse in Chaumont, NY

Family members view the eclipse in Chaumont, NY

Family members view the eclipse in Chaumont, NY

New Door on Franklin St and a Bat In Our House June 1, 2023

This entry is from a draft I saved back on August 10, 2023. The events took place on May 31 and June 1, 2023. 

Bat on a glue board captured I our home in Chaumont, NY.

 Yesterday I spent most of the day installing a new back entrance door on our lower rental unit at 807 Franklin St, Watertown, NY.  I began about 10:00, had some unexpected assistance by Rick Seymour (my daughter's ex). He saved me hours of work. It was about 80+ degrees. That evening I grilled some hotdogs and the Better Half made a delicious macaroni salad. 

It was good day. I went to bed about 11:00. Three hours later (2:00am) the Better Half woke me and said there was a bat roosting on the bathroom door. WOW! This is the 3rd bat in our house in course of 7 or 8 years. I slammed the bathroom door shut, sealed it up with tape and forgot about it util today.

With bat locked in bathroom I went back to Franklin St house and did some finish work on new door install. At 1:00 picked up a grocery order at Hannaford's. At 3:00 I went upstairs to check on the bat. The animal was roosting on a mirror. I walked up to it with a glue board (designed to catch rat & mice) stuck it on him and it was successfully trapped. 

Live Trapped Two Squirrels

 I recently trapped and released two squirrels at our home in Chaumont, NY. The great squirrel I got on December 4, 2023. The red squirrel I caught yesterday, February 23, 2024. I released each one near my celebrity brother's home in Calcium. Squirrels have been a big nuisance here in Chaumont over the years. Occasionally I use a Have A Heart live animal trap. to try and get some away from our house.

Grey squirrel in live animal trap, December 4, 2023

                       

My celebrity brother Al checks out a red squirrel I caught yesterday, Feb 22, 2024

Ice Fishing Sunset Photo, Chaumont NY

 I snapped this ice fishing sunset a couple weeks ago, Feb. 4 to be exact. It's Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario. Lens was a Minolta AF 500mm f8 mirror ( catadioptric) lens. Sony a6600 camera.

Lens was a Minolta AF 500mm f8 mirror ( catadioptric) lens. Sony a6600 camera.

Today I took care of some business related to our apartments. Had some confusion & mixup with tenet electric bill and ours fora vacant apartment. Then I I did some work there patching holes from a wiring job I did as well as replacing some soffit on the front porch.

Winter Dog Walker Photo & a Guitar Gig

 We got some snow yesterday (Saturday). I was toying around with black and white camera setting on my iPhone 6s, looking through living room window, through the blinds, spotted this person walking a dog. Snap, snap, snap. I would like to have done better with it, but I like it. 

Person walking a dog past our house in Chaumont, NY.

I snapped this photo in the morning. In the afternoon I had a guitar gig at Orion Art Gallery, Alexandria Bay, near the thousand islands bridge. It was 2:00-4:00 and went well. Used my Guild guitar and battery powered amp. 

I forgot to have someone snap a photo of me playing. 

Cement Face With Snow Cap; Cabbage and Sausage

 Photo presented here was taken on Thursday, January 18, 2024. It is a cement face that I created some time last year I believe. It hangs on the fence at our Chaumont house. It is wearing a cap of snow. 

Cement face wearing a snow cap, Chaumont, NY

Today is Monday the 22nd. Got up at 6:30 AM. did some guitar practice. Made a Dutch Baby for breakfast. It looked like it was burnt, but was OK. 

We took our Christmas Tree down today. 

We went to the grocery store in Clayton. 

For dinner I made some cabbage with bacon and Johnsonville cheddar smoked sausages.

This evenings dinner:  Johnsonville cheddar smokes sausages with cabbage 

New Sidewalk at Chaumont House: Photos

TCR Construction, a Father & son duo set to work on replacing our sidewalk. 

Here are some photos of a new sidewalk being done at our house in Chaumont, NY.  The work is being done by TCR: Taylor Construction & Remodel. I found them from one of their business cards o a bulletin bard at a local grocery store. I had contacted 3 or 4 other builder/contractors to no avail. They either don't call back or are already booked up. I had one guy that was supposed to do it last summer but he got too busy. TCR called me back right away after leaving them a voicemail. A week after I hired them the guy from last summer called and said he was ready to do it. Too late. I and my brothers could have done the job, but I have more projects to do than I can keep up with. 

The sidewalk when we bought our house 30 years ago was made in 1926. We hoped it would make 100 years, but it was too bad to wait any longer.

New sidewalk construction at our house in Chaumont, NY.

New sidewalk construction at our house in Chaumont, NY.

New sidewalk construction at our house in Chaumont, NY.

New sidewalk construction at our house in Chaumont, NY.

New sidewalk construction at our house in Chaumont, NY.

New sidewalk construction at our house in Chaumont, NY.

New sidewalk construction at our house in Chaumont, NY.

Vibrant Cardinal Photo

Cardinal, Chaumont, NY, snapped with Sony a6600 with a Minolta 500mm f8 AF lens.
photo copyright Gary Walts 2023

Yesterday I snapped this photo of a Cardinal in our backyard. Those birds are around our house all Winter so it wasn't an unusual sighting. What struck me this bird seed to be particularly vibrant colored. However, there was some unusual light filtering through the trees and brush, coming from behind the bird. Lighting. It's what makes a photograph. Camera was a Sony a6600 with a Minolta 500mm f8 AF lens.  

Notes For Today: Snow, Fried Squash, Film Festival more...

 

View from our front porch this morning. Our 2011 Kia Sorento.

It was snowing and 19 degrees this morning. Later in the day it was in the low 30's. For breakfast I had some acorn squash fried up with onions & jalapeño peppers, fried eggs and toast. Quite yummy & satisfying.

Acorn squash fried with chopped onions & jalapeño peppers. Part of this mornings breakfast.

Went to Lowe's and got some hardware to mount the stair railing in our Chaumont house. I think I'll get that job done tomorrow. Went to State St Hardware and bought some screws for the hardware because I think the ones that came with are going to be too short for the job. 

I shoveled the sidewalk at Clay St apartment house. 

Clay St sidewalk after I shoveled the snow. 

After the snow job on Clay I went to Carthage Re-hab center to hang out with the Better half. She is progressing well. May be coming home this Wednesday, February 1st.

At 6:30 I was in Watertown at the Empire Square Restaurant for the 2023 SnowTown Film Festival opening reception. Had a Goose Island IPA beer. I won a film festival T-shirt in a trivia contest for the correct answer to "What was the name of the sequel to the original Frankenstein movie. Answer: The Bride of Frankenstein.

At 7:35 I get text from BH that the staff at re-hab didn't give her the evening dose of blood thinner Eloquis. She was alarmed and nurse said it wasn't on her chart to have it!. Well she has had ir twice a day in there since she was admitted last Saturday. I drove back to Carthage to assist in getting that straightened out. Fortunately she had her discharge papers from SUNY Upstate with her and got the issue resolved with the night nurse. By the time I got there all was fine. BUT, it was upsetting for both of us to say the least. I left there at 8:45 and home about 9:30.