Making Cole Slaw, Making A Mess

Making a mess, making cole slaw

Cloudy and overcast all day. Rain overnight last night. Been busy, once again neglecting this blog which really serves as a record or diary of things I do or go through. Very handy. Anyhow, my iPhone serves as a photo diary.  This afternoon I bought some chicken wings at Hannaford for $.99/ lb. Good buy. I coated them with a rub and then set about making a cole slaw with an oil and vinegar dressing. Makining that slaw makes a mess. But it's worth it. 

"Sunset on the Shore" Guitar Gig 2026

 

Me at the Harbor Hotel, Clayton, NY for the ARC annual event "Sunset on the Shore"

I had a wonderful evening last night (Saturday May 16th) playing at the Thousand Islands Hotel for the ARC Jefferson-St. Lawrence annual Sunset On The Shore event. A great time with good food, high quality silent auction items and more. Felt I did good job. Among the compliments I got was from a man who was really taken by Fernando Sor's Study No. 17 from Andre Segovia's book "20 Studies For The Guitar by Fernando Sor."He had never heard the piece before but was captivated by it.

Jerked Pork Chops and Red Stripe Beer

Hit 60 degrees here in Chaumont, NY today. Most of the day was cloudy, sun came out late afternoon. I grilled someJamaican jerked pork chops today accompanied with some Red Stripe beer. Put a new toilet seat on in downstairs bathroom. Mowed the backyard.  Overall a low key day. 

Cleaning the grill by fire. 

A Couple of Typical Breakfast Dishes of Mine

I have a wide range of foods / dishes that I eat for breakfast. These photos are two recent ones. The eggs are seasoned with a cajun spice blend and in back are a couple slices of liverwurst. This was on May 9th. The other is a plate with a whole large avacado, sliced, some Italian dry salami and some muenster and colby jack cheeses. Sometimes I go in streaks where I will eat oatmeal with raisons, walnuts, bananas, and maple syrup for days and days on end. In fact I once ate it almost every day for an entire year. Eggs are my second most common breakfast food. Another common breakfast is peanut butter on toast. I often make breakfast out of leftovers from dinner the night before. That's all I have today. Bon Apetit!

Ferns and Shadows Photo

The morning sun illuminating ferns at our home in Chaumont, NY

The morning sun illuminated ferns growing in our yard creating some nice shadows and textures prompting me to photograph them. I post two of the photos here.

Awoke to sunshine and 37 degrees this morning in Chaumont, NY. Remained sunny all day with high temperature of 58 degrees. Eric Jewett the wild animal pest control guy came and removed the one way bat exclusion valve. Trail cams have not shown any bats. 

The morning sun illuminating ferns at our home in Chaumont, NY

Iphone reports I've taken 4,070 steps today. 

Various minor purchases took me to Hobby Lobby, Lowe's, Hannaford Grocery,  and Michaels art supplies store. 

Current projects include working on side porch, practicing repertoire pieces for guitar gig  this Saturday and working on two upcoming photo exhibitions. One at Orion Gallery, Watertown, and the other at Yellow Barn Gallery in Hammond.

Apples, Jalapenos, and Red Cabinet: They Caught My Eye

What caught my eye this morning.

This morning as I was getting coffee I spotted the morning sun illuminating a bowl of apples and jalapeno peppers. Then I noticed the play of light and shadows on the red cabinet. There was something about it that was visually appealing to me. No kind of prizewinning images but it was there. I snapped it. That simple.

The Day In Pictures: Doctor, Guacamole, Yard Work

Waiting room at doctors office

Full day yesterday. I use my iphone as a visual diary, taking snapshots for reminders of what I have done. Maybe weeks, months, even years we might need to recall exactly what day we did a certain thing. Scrolling through the photos makes that easier. Anyhow, here are some snaps from yesterday. The Better Half had a doctor appointment in syracuse. Then we went to Lombardi's Imports on Butternut St where I got a Dino Sandwhich. Back in Watertown we went to Hannafords where we picked up 2 pork butts at 99 cents a pound (great buy), Kinney Drugstore to pick up prescription, got home and I did yardwork until 6:30. Also, brother Al came by and I took a passport photo for him. 

The Dino Sandwhich at Lombardi's Imports, Syracuse

Lombardi's Imports, Syracuse

Clearing out overgrowth and brush surrounding Oak tree in our yard.

Clearing out overgrowth and brush surrounding Oak tree in our yard.

Making guacamole

Hauled Away a Mattress, Been Busy, Tired,

My 2011 Kia Sedona van loaded with king size mattress and box springs.

I have been very busy lately which has been leaving me tired and lazy at the end of the day, thereby blowing off blog entries. 

Today my Celebrity Brother Al helped me haul a king size mattress  and two box springs to the Jefferson County Transfer Station. Was tough getting that giant mattress down the stairs and outside. Al managed to fold it in half and I wrapped duct tape around it. That compacted it enough that it fit in my Kia Sedona van. Paid $20.00 scale fee at the transfer station and was rid of it. We are purchasing a new, adjustable bed with controllers for each side. 

I'm Musician of the Month for April 2026

 

I am very honored that my peers in The Upstate Musicians selected me for Musician of the Month for April 2026. 

Chicken Dish Before and After Eating. It's What Caught My Eye

A wonderful chicken breast and cauliflower rice dish.

I am a chronic snap shooter. A few days ago we had dinner at step daughter B's house. She prepared this delicious chicken breast atop cauliflower rice. She did a great job. The food looked so good I was compelled to snap a photo of it. Then, when I was finished the empty plate and fork caught my eye so I snapped that too. 

Finished: Devoured a wonderful chicken breast and cauliflower rice dish.

April 3- Warm Day, Forgotten $600 Receipt, Bat on Camera

Yesterday, April 3, 2026, was finally a warm, mostly sunny day with temperature here in Chaumont, NY hitting 70 degrees. It has been a cold winter and a cold spring. Knowing that the night time temperature was going to be 40-50ish degrees I thought some bats may exit into the evening air from our attic. I had 2 trail cams set up. Both mounted on a ladder fairly. One close to the chimney entrance, the other one down low showing wider field of view. The lower camera with wider view captured 2 videos of bat, about 2 hours apart. The closer camera captured nothing. I have them set up again this evening. 

I came across one of my reporters notebooks from 2017 on this day too. Flipped through it quickly and stopped on a page that had a hand written receipt from someone named Francis V...?? Can't decipher the last name. It was dated October 21, 2017. It's for $600.00 and also say "1-Lot"

I have no recollection of this. No clue what it was for. 

I really can't make out the last name. Velvia, maybe? Don't know.

$600.00 receipt from Francis R V??? What did I buy?

Family Archive Photo: Brother Ron Pulls Car Engine 1987

Scanning negatives recently with a Plustek film scanner.  Pictures here were taken in June 1987. It's brother Ron and friend Tim "Gringo" Gonseth. They were swapping car engines at Ron's house on Mundy St., Watertown, NY