Seven below zero Christmas Day in Chaumont N.Y.

7 below zero on this 2013 Christmas morning in Chaumont, NY. This photo snapped with iPhone a couple hours ago. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ice storm 2013 in northern NY

The photos presented of the 2013 Ice Storm in northern NY were all snapped at or close to my home in the village of Chaumont. I was one of the lucky ones who never lost electric service. I did, however, lose my cable TV because a tree limb landed on that particular wire tearing it from the utility pole. The service remains out on this Christmas Eve. It is my understanding that there are still many thousands without electricity. That will make for a memorable Christmas for those folks. Most of the photos are self explanatory. Tree damage in my front and back yard. A Maple tree in the back split, half falling on a portion of the backyard fence. There is a tall Pine in the backyard that lost a lot of limbs. A view from the front porch. A street scene or two. These photos were all snapped Saturday and Sunday.

The following is an e-mail I sent to my bosses at SMG letting them know how I was faring in the ice. With a driving ban in place and the possibilty of more ice and damge to my home I wanted to give them a heads up in case I was unable to work for them the next day:

Well, I have numerous tree limbs down and one of them severed my tv cable. I am one of the lucky ones whose power has not been lost. However, there is a no driving ban In effect. I spent good portion of today cutting tree limbs from my phone wires and some large branches weighing down the power line to my house. It was a dicey operation as I was worried the power line might break any time. About an hour ago the rain resumed and its below 30 degrees. If this continues I may wake up to some real trouble in the morning. I don't think my power lines to the house can take much more. Gary
Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 22, 2013, at 10:39 AM

IPhone photo of my mother snapped about 45 minutes ago. The Better Half & I stopped in for a short visit after attending Indian River Middle School Christmas concert. The Family Violinist plays in the school orchestra. That's why we were there.

Cold as Hell at our house

Just got home from Syracuse. It is 12:30am and it is 6 degrees below zero here in Chaumont N.Y.

I snapped this photo this morning when the temperature was 1 below zero.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas play in Rochester NY

Where in the World am I? I am at Jim's Restaurant on East Main St in Rochester NY where I snapped this photo. The Better Half & I are with her daughter #2 and her family. We are in Rochester to watch a play version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Cold and snowy lately

Been quite cold for the past week. Just got home at 1:00 am and it is 1 degree below zero. Yikes! I snapped the photo presented here yesterday in Watertown. Took it with the iPhone.

2013 Clayton Christmas Parade

The 51st annual Clayton Christmas Parade, 2013

I present here a selection of photos from the Clayton Christmas Parade.

Friday night I photographed two basketball games, had some software issues while editing the photos and ended up getting home and to bed late: 2:00AM. Yikes! Anyhow, I slept lousy and got up yesterday  at 8:30. Not enough sleep. I went into town and did my guitar lessons. Then in the evening we went to the Christmas Parade in Clayton. This was the village's 51st annual Xmas parade. The Better Half's number one daughter and her family met us there. It was really cold with a strong wind blowing in off the river. (the St. Lawrence).
The parade began about 6:15. We got into the village about 5:00 so as to get some street parking on the parade route. That way if we got too cold we could get into the car for a warm up. We met up at Coyote Moon Winery store on Riverside Drive where we passed the time drinking a bottle of their wine until the parade started.. While we did that the kids went down the street to get some  kid friendly beverages. It all worked out well, we got really cold, watched some of the parade from the KIA van, then watched the fireworks from a vantage point outside the van on Riverside Drive.

The evening finished off with fireworks over the business district in Clayton. 

Snowman and snow scene

Snowman in my neighbors yard, Chaumont, N.Y.                                                                             Gary Walts photo

Went Christmas shopping yesterday with the Better Half and in the course of it picked up our Christmas tree. I'll put up photos of that later. In the mean time the snowy tree in the field was taken in Calcium, NY at the Gracy farm. The snowman is in the front yard of one of my neighbors here in Chaumont.

Snowy tree in a field at the Gracy farm in Calcium, N.Y.                                                Gary Walts photo

Photo from Black Friday

I snapped this photo in Syracuse on Black Friday. The city held their Christmas tree lighting celebration downtown so there was plenty happening.
I got up this morning to find our oil furnace quit working during the night. I called service guy who will be here sometime tomorrow. Fortunately we have a wood stove so we will be ok. I played guitar for a couple of hours today at a craft Shia/sale at the state office building. The event is a. Annual fund raiser for the Watertown Urban Mission. That went really well. From there I went to Parish and made a portrait of a family for a Sean Kirst story. Sean is a writer for the Post-Standard. Just got back home at midnight. Will hit the sack here in a few more minutes.

It's a cold Black Friday 2013

Today is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It is a cold one here in northern NY. The temperature in Chaumont was a mere 8 degrees. That's chilly baby. I am working later today for The Post-Standard and syracuse.com. I will be covering events in Armory Square in Syracuse. I snapped a photo from the downstairs bathroom this morning. The dark mass on the left is an out of focus Maple tree. The wall at the right is the back shed that is need of painting. The morning Sun illuminates a section of the backyard fence. There is also some frost formations on the storm window.

A frosty window here in Chaumont on this Black Friday morning. View of the backyard from the downstairs bathroom. 

If I had shot this photo with the Nikon D300 or D7000 I could have used a small apertutre and increased the depth of field so that the frost pattern on the storm window would be sharp.

Tom and Jerry time at The Crystal Restaurant in Watertown, N.Y.

View of my neighbors house as seen from my front porch through the snow covered Lilac bushes. This is what we woke up to this morning. It certainly sets a festive tone for Thanksgiving and approaching Christmas.

One sure sign of the holiday season is when the Crystal Restaurant in Watertown, NY, starts serving Tom and Jerry's. It's a great, tasty holiday drink. People stop in just to have a couple at the bar. Today I went there with my Celebrity Brother and brother R the Builder. As you can see by the photos there was some snow today. It mostly came last night. It is the heavy, wet, slushy type of snow.

Tom & Jerry drinks served up at the Crystal Restauran in Watertown, NY. photo by Gary Walts

The  Crystal Restaurant sign, downtown Watertown. The restaurant is a landmark in the city and has changed little for many years. 

Go here for a Tom & Jerry recipe
Go here to learn more about this Christmas Cocktail

Snowy Winter weather coming

A dusting of snow on the welcome mat outside our back door in Chaumont, NY.        iPhone photo by Gary Walts

There's supposed to be some foul Winter weather arriving here in northern NY. So far in the village of Chaumont we have had little snow. The recent night time temps have been 10 or 12 degrees. We had a wee bit of snow last night, just enough to put a dusting on the welcome mat outside our back door.

View from my kitchen window

View from my kitchen window this morning. The van is my 2005 Dodge Caravan that I just got back from the body shop w few days ago. 

I snapped this view of the side yard  from a kitchen window this morning. It was a mere 11 degrees. The Better Half and I went to the Duckstop Diner here in Chaumont for breakfast. She had an omelet and home fries. I had two eggs, home fries and ham. We each had coffee too. It was delicious. The staff there are very friendly. The bill came to $21.44
I am not feeling terribly ambitious today. I will bring some firewood in. One of my vans has a flat tire. Why it went flat I have no idea. I should tend to that today. I also have a new storm window that I need to install at our Franklin St. house. It is for the lower bathroom. I really should get that chore done today too.

I Make Pickled Eggs

Fresh eggs from step daughter B's chickens. Some of the eggs in the photo have a bluish tinge, that is from the light and the iPhone camera. They are actually all of a brown hue.

Pickled eggs ready for the fridge. Can't wait to try them in a few days.

I made some pickled eggs this morning before going off to do guitar lessons. My step daughter B, The Pharmacist, got some chickens earlier this year and they have recently begun laying eggs. So I got a couple dozen from her, nice and fresh. I boiled the eggs for 11 minutes. Shelled them and placed them in jars, packing them alternately with sliced onions and slices of a large Jalapeno pepper. The brine is 1 & 1/2 cups of water, 3 cups of vinegar, 4 teaspoons of salt, 3 teaspoons of dried Dill, 3 teaspoons of whole Mustard seed, about 6 garlic cloves cut in half, 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper, all placed in a pot and boiled for a few minutes. I then ladled it into the two jars of eggs. I will let them stay in the refrigerator for 3 days before I try them. A week or so will probably make them even better.

Leatherstocking Cluster Fall Dog Show

Leatherstocking Cluster Fall Dog Show      gary walts photo

This week end featured the Leatherstocking Cluster Fall Dog Show at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. I went there Friday and made pictures for The Post-Standard and syracuse.com I present a couple of those photos here with a link to the photo gallery at syracuse.com.

click here for Photos from Leatherstocking Cluster Fall Dog Show

Leatherstocking Cluster Fall Dog Show      gary walts photo

The Asasination of Jesse James and other things

I am finishing up the day at 11:15 pm watching the move The Asasination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford. I am watching it on the Sundance channel. It is an excellent movie, very moody, beautiful cinematography, great cting by Brad Pit as Jesse James. Earlier today it was sunny and about 60 degrees. Fantastic weather. I had guitar lessons at Musicology in Watertown. The young violinist in the family also comes in for a music lesson. He is progessing right along. Developing quite good sight reading skill. Mostly today we concentrated on rhythm using a metronome and working on a section of a piece for his music class at school. After his lesson he stepped outside the store and try busking for tips, played for about an hour.

60 degrees in northern NY today was perfect for The Violinist to perform outside Musicology in Watertown.

11-12-13 Wedding

It has been chilly here in northern NY lately. Yesterday it was 20 degrees when I got up. This morning was warmer, 38 degrees.
Tuesday evening I went to Auburn, NY to cover a story about a couple who got married that day. It was Nov. 12, 2013, or, 11-12-13.

You can read the story at syracuse.com  Couple gets married on 11-12-13 in Auburn, NY.

Rapper Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at the Carrier Dome

Last night I went to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse and photographed Macklemore and Ryand Lewis conceret.

You can see more of my photos and read a review of the show at:
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis