September 11, 2018 guitar gig at Clayton Yacht Club, Clayton NY

Had a wonderful evening last night playing guitar at a private birthday party. The event took place in the upper cub house of the Caytn YachtClub, Clayton NY. It is situated on th St. Lawrence Over. The upper club house is a rustic old cottage with green shutters. The party was hosted by ET. This is the 2nd time she has hired me for her birthday. Among the guests this evening was famed underwater photographer David Doubilet. evidently my playing made an impression upon him. It turns out that he isa guitar and banjo player. We had a nice chat afterward.

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photos by Gary Walts

The village of Clayton NY hosted their annual Christmas parade Saturday, December 1st. Local TV celebrity Mel Busler emcee'd the event. Below are some photos I snapped of the event.

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

TV celebrity Mel Busler, emcee of the Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

Clayton NY Christmas Parade 2018 photo by Gary Walts

The Day Before Thanksgiving, November 21, 2018 (Better Half Goes to the Hospital)

Our plan for Thanksgiving was to cook an early turkey dinner, eat it, then go visit her daughter's families. We would start by making some of the side dishes the day before. Here is how the day went. I got up and had coffee with some guitar practice for bit an hour. I gather some kindling wood and get the wood stove fired up. I worked for a bit on a jigsaw puzzle Copely House. Then I get a call from brother R. He needs to work on his truck, changing the water pump, and would not be able to feed our mother lunch. "Can you go up there?", he asked. Of course I can, but that wasn't part of my plan for the day. (I don't tell him that) The Better Half and I go to visit my mother at Hospice of Jefferson County. We get there at noon and find the staff fed Mom lunch a little early. No problem. We try to initiate some conversation and just sit with her for an hour or so.

Jig saw puzzle in progress at our home in Chaumont, NY. 

while waiting for the stove fire to get going strong. I was also eating bologna sandwich.  At 10:00 I have a guitar lesson with a 9 year old boy at the

My mother and The Better Half at Hospice of Jefferson County, Watertown, NY.  iPhone 6 photo by Gary Walts

On the way home we stop at Dollar General story for a couple items we had forgotten to get earlier in the week. One of those items were Klondike Bars, those really delicious chocolate covered ice cream squares. Now let me back up a bit. The Better Half has had some problems for the last couple weeks with diverticulitis, an infection in her colon. She has had problems eating because most foods irritate her and cause her discomfort. Ice cream has been quite agreeable with her. We each have a Klondike Bar. Then she begins making stuffing for Thanksgiving. However, she has started feeling uncomfortable. I should note that she had also taken some Milk of Magnesia. She's not sure what is causing the discomfort.As she wrks in the kitchen it gets worse so she lies down to relax a bit. I start make a Cole Slaw for tomorrow. Then a I cut in half some acorn squashes and slather them maple syrup, salt & pepper, pop them in the oven. Next, I put some sweet potatoes into a pot of boiling water. Soon the Better Half says she thinks we nee to go to the emergency room. She is getting a serious diverticulitis attack. So off we go. My sweet potatoes are only half cooked. I drain them. We leave. At the hospital she has a number of tests, and different things and before you know it, it's 1:00am. She will be admitted to the hospital. By the time I get home it is 2:00am and all I've had to eat was that bologna sandwich back in the morning. I take care f a few things in the kitchen and hit the sack. What a long day it turned into.

Halloween 2018

Well, we had nice Halloween at our home in Chaumont, NY. The weather lately has been cool and rainy. Last evening however was mild, and a little bit of rain. Temperature was about 53 degrees. Very pleasant for these parts. We had 107 trick or treaters. We keep tally every year. One year we had 134.It's always over 100.

Self portrait with a Dogfish Punkin Ale at our home n Chaumnt, NY.

I like to have a Halloween themed beer on hand for Halloween. Just to add a festive touch. Most of the pumpkin beers I try I find are mediocre. This year I picked u a 6 pack of Dogfish Punkin Ale. It was smooth and pretty good. Son in law D however took one sip and declared it horrible!  Our group was a bitt small this year. For food we had pizza, Croghan bologna, various cheeses, spinach artichoke dip, and a chili cheese dip.

september 28, 2018 Cleaned wood stove, PlutoTV,

Had a productive day today. Up at 6:30 and put in 2 hours of guitar practice. breakfast was a salami & Swiss cheese sandwich on rye bread with a sliced avocado. I then set about cleaning the flue pipe and chimney of the wood stove. In the course of that I discovered the chimney cap came loose and was ready to fall off. I cannot understand why that came loose unless it was from something the roofers did earlier this summer.  I have 32 foot fiber glass ladder I used to reach the top of the chimney. That ladder weighs 75 pounds and is bulky, clumsy to maneuver. It's a work out at this age just to get it in place. But what a terrific ladder! It's worth every penny I paid for it which was about $300.00 a number of years ago.
After that I resumed work on the front porch. That has been an ongoing project this summer. On this day I replaced a few pieces of decayed wood on the roof and patched it with some tin. A week from now I'll paint the roof and no one will ever know there had been a repair made. Anyway, the took me until 6:15pm. I cleaned up from that and went to the Crescent Restaurant in Chaumont with the Better Half. She had a burger with fries. I had a special they called cottage pie, a shepherd's pie variant. It was very good but rather small portion. She had a cranberry juice & vodka, I had couple of IPA beers.  The tab came to $35.00 and change.
When we got home I stumbled upon a 1995 movie title The Professional. It was on Roku's Pluto TV channel. It was not a great movie, but entertaining. Somewhat far fetched. a drug dealer, crooked cops, hit man flick with a lot of shoot 'em up going on.

Photos of 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY September 1, 2018

Here are some photos of 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY September 1, 2018. I had the honor of taking first place in the invited artists category.

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival, Clayton, NY

September 11, 2018 Guitar gig at Clayton Yacht Club, Clayton NY

Had a wonderful evening last night playing guitar at a private birthday party. The event took place in the upper club house of the Clayton YachtClub, Clayton NY. It is situated on th St. Lawrence Over. The upper club house is a rustic old cottage with green shutters. The party was hosted by ET. This is the 2nd time she has hired me for her birthday. Among the guests this evening was famed underwater photographer David Doubilet. evidently my playing made an impression upon him. It turns out that he is a guitar and banjo player. We had a nice chat afterward. For the most part my confidence level was high and I did a good job playing my repertoire. ET and her guests were pleased.

I win 100 Bucks in Clayton Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival 2018

I was one of the invited artists for the 2018 Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival in Clayton, NY. The event was sponsored by the Depauville Library. I happily won first place and received the $100.00 cash prize.

My first prize in the invited artists division, 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival in Clayton, NY.  Gary Walts September 1, 2018

My sidewalk chalk art that won first place in the 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival in Clayton, NY.  Gary Walts September 1, 2018

My sidewalk chalk art that won first place in the 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival in Clayton, NY.  Gary Walts September 1, 2018 

Detil of my sidewalk chalk art that won first place in the 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival in Clayton, NY.  Gary Walts September 1, 2018

My sidewalk chalk art that won first place in the 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival in Clayton, NY.  Gary Walts September 1, 2018

Instagram filters version of my sidewalk chalk art.  Gary Walts September 1, 2018

Reading Charles Darwin's first book, Voyages of the Beagle

I downloaded from Project Gutenburg Charles Darwin's first published book, The Voyages of the Beagle. What a fantastic read. It's a daily journal he kept of his travels around the world studying natural history. He reports on the geography of the lands, the people and natives he meets, and much about animals and plants encountered, as well as the climate. He was about 28 years old.

I only knew his name associated with the Theory of Evolution. Well this journal was made many years before that. This man was an adventurer, not by choice but simply by the fact he was exposed to conditions that were adventurous. The two couldn't be seperated. The year is 1838. The lands he explore are all done on horseback. He travels with other companions and in the company of Guachos (cowboys).
In Argentina his explorations were always under threat of attack by various Indian tribes that were revolting against the settlement of their land by foreigners. He recounts many Indian raids on Argentine ranches where everyone was killed. He talks of crossing a 400 mile desert in Argentina on horseback. How the Gauchos would catch wild game and their skills as horsemen.

The following passage is from his time exploring the Falkland Islands:

“From the quantity of rain which had fallen, the surface of the whole country was swampy. I suppose my horse fell at least a dozen times, and sometimes the whole six horses were floundering in the mud together. All the little streams are bordered by soft peat, which makes it very difficult for the horses to leap them without falling. To complete our discomforts we were obliged to cross the head of a creek of the sea, in which the water was as high as our horses' backs; and the little waves, owing to the violence of the wind, broke over us, and made us very wet and cold. ”

Excerpt From: Charles Darwin. “The Voyage of the Beagle.” iBooks. 

I came to this book after reading President Teddy Roosevelt's book Through the Brazilian Wilderness. That book is also a journal that Roosevelt during an expedition into the Amazon Basin Brazilian jungle with his son Kermit. Somewhere Roosevelt mentions that Darwin's book Voyage of the Beagle was among his favorite books. So, on Roosevelt's suggestion I found the book. I am not finished with it, but t's so good I had to report on it.

I have allergic reaction to a bee or wasp sting

I am an outdoors kind of guy. Every couple of years I can count on getting stung by some sort of wasp, bee, or yellow jacket. When I get stung I experience a burning sensation that only lasts for 10-15 minutes. That's it. After that it's as if I were never stung. Well not so this year. A month ago I was dressed in  shorts and boots without socks  while mowing the yard. I passed the mower over a nest of ground bees or hornets. Well, they got riled up and I think I got 3 stings, 2 for sure, just above the boot line on my lower leg. The stinging & burning was more pronounced than I usually experience.  The burning sensation didn't got away for many hours and when it did t was replaced with intense itching and a lot of redness. About week later all was fine.

This is a photo I snapped a few years ago of a hornet that stung me while I was driving down the road. He must have come in a window & got lodged between the drivers seat & my back.

Another week pass by and this time I  pulling weeds in the garden and lo & behold, there was another nest of in ground bees. Sure enough I got stung on the calf of my right leg. Well, just as before this was burning and itching and seemed more intense than the earlier stings.
Maybe less than 2 weeks go by and I am sitting peacefully in a chair when out of nowhere I feel a sting in my right shoulder, close to the arm pit. Well, my reaction to that sting was far more severe. My arm became inflamed from the shoulder to the wrist, red and hot. The next day it began to itch intensely and blisters formed on the skin. So I went urgent care. They prescribed some prednisone and after 3 days the itch was almost all gone. It turns out that the effects of bee stings is cumulative, each successive sting build upon the previous stings thereby manifesting in more intense reaction. I am now guarding against any more bee encounters for this season. I would hate to see how I react to one more!

Avocados, Peach Pie & Croghan Bologna for breakfast

Two of my favorite foods are avocados and Croghan bologna. Add some peach pie and I had a great breakfast. The pie was made by my sister S. She used peaches picked at an orchard in Pennsylvania. (On a recent visit she brought us a peck of those peaches.)

Breakfast of this champion consisted of  Peach Pie, Croghan Bologna (Jalapeño& cheddar cheese version) and sliced avocado. 

The recipe for the pie came from the Peach Truck Kitchen web site. Croghan bologna is a local, northern New York delicacy. It has been made in Croghan NY since 1888. However, the bologna in this photo is their NEW version. It is the exact same recipe as the original but has Jalapeños & cheddar cheese added to it. It's delicious.  Avocados are avocados. You like them or you don't. I buy mine from Sam's Club. Generally there are 5 or sometimes 6 in a bag for about $5.00.

We used a premade crust for the pie and lost track the time while it was in the oven so it overcooked & burned the edge of the crust. BUT, it was still great. I urge everyone to try the recipe.

Rhodes Greenhouse a camp fire and Moon photo made with Sony a6000

We had a nice day in northern New York. It was sunny and mild. After working on a project in the garage the Better Half nd I took a drive to Rhodes Greenhouses in Henderson, NY. They have an abundance of plants for home and garden. Over the years I have frequented various garden / greenhouse centers in the north country. Rhodes' plants always seem to be superior to me. They are lush and robust. Why they seem better to me than their competitors I can't really say.

Rhodes Greenhouses in Henderson, NY. Their vegetable and flower plants are lush and robust. They have a large selection too. iPhone 6 photo by Gary Walts

From there we went up to visit my mother t the Hospice care facility in Watertown. We spent the evening with  her daughter H's family in Brownville. We sat around a fire in their backyard, drank a couple of beers and had a most pleasant time. 

Video is a slowmotion clip of the campfire.

When we arrived back home about 11:00pm I snapped a quick sot of the moon over our house. I used a Sony a6000 camera with a Minolta 300mm f4 AF lens.

Moon photo shot with Sony a6000 and a Minolta 300mm f4 AF lens.   photo by Gary Walts