Street Music, LL Bean Pop Up Shop, Downtown Watertown (Photos)

Me playing outside Holy Smokes Barbecue, Watertown, NY 

The weather here in the North Country was spectacular for this late in October. Sunny, breezy, 70 degrees. I had a small outdoor guitar gig in downtown Watertown today. The LL Bean company opened a pop up shop for the weekend. Other downtown merchants set up outdoor booths and there was live street music. I played a one hour set outside the Holy Smokes Barbecue.  I love the reflection in the window behind me in the above photo. 

Outdoor shopping at LL Bean popup shop, Watertown, NY

It was great weather and a festive atmosphere Saturday, Oct 22, in Watertown, NY

It was great weather and a festive atmosphere Saturday, Oct 22, in Watertown, NY

It was great weather and a festive atmosphere Saturday, Oct 22, in Watertown, NY

It was great weather and a festive atmosphere Saturday, Oct 22, in Watertown, NY

It was great weather and a festive atmosphere Saturday, Oct 22, in Watertown, NY

The LL Bean boot truck in Watertown, NY Saturday, Oct 22, 2022

Macro Photos: Rain Drops Leaf

Rain drops on a leaf, Chaumont, NY Sonny a6000 Camera, Minolta 50mm f2.8 lens.

It rained overnight here in Chaumont, NY leaving some nice raindrops on the leaves in our yard. I can't help myself but to try photographing them. I used a Sony a6000 camera with a Minolta 50mm f2.8 lens. Hand held. The photo presented heroes number 52 out of 68 total.

The sun is out today. A guy from Bartlett's heating, Adams, is in the basement cleaning & tuning our oil burning furnace. 

Later I'm going to Fibinacci Art Gallery in Watertown for an event from 5-7:00

Our furnace cleaning and tune up came tp $206. 28

Bill for oil furnace cleaning and tune up. 

Painting Porch Floor & Price of Gas

 

Gas price at Valero in Watertown on Monday, October 10, 2022

The price of gas on Monday, October 10th at the Valero station on Arsenal St, Watertown, was $3.29 a gallon for the 87 octane. The other fuels were, obviously, more expensive. This Valero station, by the way, is the lowest price for gas in this region. In our village of Chaumont it is $3.85 / gallon. Ridiculous.

Price of home heating oil that we ordered the same day was $4.29 a gallon. These prices are outrageous. 

Otherwise it was another beautiful fall day here with sun and high temp of 67 in Chaumont. I spent about three hours sanding and painting half of the front porch floor of our Clay St. apartment house. Wise to do it while the apartment is vacant. I am hoping for one more nice day or too sometime soon so I can paint the other half. When I got back home to Chaumont I mowed the lawn. This evening we watched Survivor on CBS.

Porch floor at apartment #1, Clay St. after sanding & cleaning it prior to painting.

The porch floor after one coat of Valspar paint. I'm hoping for another nice day to apply a 2nd coat before the snow flies. 

Flowers Doing Well, No Frost Here Yet

  

Flowers purchased back in the Spring are still doing nicely here in October. I snapped this shot this morning.

All of the flowers and plants we bought in Spring are still doing well in October. Very often by now we have had a frost that kills them off. It was a lovely day here in Northern NY, sunny and some gentle wind. I spent the bulk of my day at our Clay St. apartment house in Watertown. Cleaning a vacant unit. It will be ready for rent soon. About all I have left to do is replace the bedroom carpet. I have thoroughly cleaned the kitchen, appliances, and bathroom. I have been there a total of three days, about 5 hours each. 

Halloween Decorations 2022

 

Jack o lantern string lights adorn the front porch of our hame in Chaumont, NY 

Yesterday we put up some Halloween decorations at our home in Chaumont, NY, mostly on the front porch. It was a really nice day for it, over 60 degrees, sunny. 

Window covering, Halloween 2022, Chaumont, NY

Fall themed scarecrow art was created by The Better Half. 

Halloween string lights on our front porch, 2022

Halloween string lights on our front porch, 2022

Halloween string lights on our front porch, 2022

Backyard Wildlife - A Chickadee on My Hand

Lately I have been trying to coax chickadees to take sunflower seed from my hand. I patiently stand by the bird feeder, seed in hand, and wait. Today I finally got a usable photograph of one of the birds. Other attempts resulted in blurry or out of focus images. I also have had a Nuthatch and a Goldfinch land on my hand and take seed. While this goes on a Cardinal, Blue Jay, and some sort of woodpecker have been watching the chickadees while perched 5 or 6 feet away. It will be interesting to see if they become bold enough to land on my hand. 

A Chickadee picking sunflower seeds from my hand.  photo copyright Gary Walts 2022

On anther note, the weather was very pleasant today, breezy, sunny, temperature in low 60's. I have been painting a section of the house exterior today. Great working weather. There is a frost warning for tonight.