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.

Carthage Rehab, Food I Ate, What I Did Today

 So much has been going on. I wish I was disciplined enough to work through my tiredness and make daily entries. 

Acorn squash, seasoned and oven roasted. Later I'll fry it up with onions and Jalapeños.

The Better Half continues to recuperate from her broken femur and subsequent removal of blood clots in her lungs. Saturday, January 21, she was taken from SUNY Upstate Hospital to a rehab center in Carthage, NY. How that went is a story in itself.

This morning I roasted a couple of acorn squash in the oven to consume in a couple of days or so. I like to scoop the squash out of the tough skins and later fry it with chopped onions and Jalapeno Peppers.

I got my haircut at the Sportsman's Barbershop. $14.00 hair cut, very reasonable and a good cut. I alway give whoever cuts my hair a $6.00 tip. Worth it. I've been going there since I was in my 20's. 

I went to our Clay St apartment house where I'm using a vacant unit as  place to work. I'm staining & finishing a 12 foot pine railing to be wall mounted in the stairway of our Chaumont house. Again, this project is directly related to the broken femur.

This morning I ate a couple of avocados and a small frozen dinner that was courtesy of Aetna health insurance plan. 

This evenings repast. Shrimp, cocktail sauce, sliced avocado, Medjooli Dtes and Colby Jack cheese.

I visited the BH at the rehab center, getting there bout 4:00, leaving 7:30, home by 8:00.

Very hungry I finished the evening of with a Thomas Jefferson Ale from Yards Brewery. That was followed by a cup of chamomile tea and a plate of shrimp , cocktail sauce, sliced avocado, Colby Jack cheese and some Medjooli Dates. What a wonderful array of flavors and textures. 

Making Stubb's Potato Salad Today and Slip & Fall On Ice

 Got up at 6:00 this morning. It was was 5 degrees. High today was 22 degrees, sunny, little or no wind. 

Stubb's potato salad calls for eggs, red onion, diced dill pickles and potatoes

Today, Sunday January 15, I decided to make Stubb's potato salad. The recipe is from bar-b-q master CB "Stubb" Stubblefield. It appears in "The Stubb's Bar-B-Q Cookbook" published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Stubb's cookbook.

Mostly Russet potatoes  with a couple small Yukon Golds on the stove top.

Stubb's cookbook.

Stubb's cookbook.

After making the potato salad I brought some firewood in. The Better Half's pharmacist daughter B came ovr around 2:00 at which time I went into town for a couple of errands. I picked up a 12 foot pine handrail for our house that I will attach to the wall. This to aid the BH in climbing the stairs once her broken femur has healed enough to permit it. 

I then went to Dick's Sporting Goods store at the Salmon Run Mall to buy some Yaktrax ice cleats that stretch over your shoes. Getting a pair for both of us. Right outside the store entrance I stepped on some sheer, clear ice and fell flat on my ass. What a shock. It was most upsetting after all we have been through with the BH's fall back on Dec. 22nd. There was a group of 4 or 5 people watched me go down. They expressed concern but for the most part I was ok. I felt a little pain in my left wrist and a vague sensation in my knee. Really nothing I was concerned with. I notified a couple of store employees about my fall. Nothing formal s I was ok. Just wanted them to be aware of the ice. The store gave me 25% off my purchase of 2 pair Yaktrax. 

By the time I got home though, I noticed some pain in my left knee. Sort of an ache. It has intensified some this evening, but doesn't feel serious. It's odd to me that I landed on my ass, breaking my fall a little with my left arm / hand. I can't figure what could have caused the ache in my knee to appear. 

The potato salad, by the way, didn't turn out quite as good as it normally does. I think I used too many pickles and he onion was particularly strong. It's still mighty tasty, just not what I know it can be. Oh, normally I use only russet potatoes, but I was short anthem so I added some Yukon Gold's that I had on hand. Those potatoes affected the overall texture of the salad too which I didn't care for. So on a scale of 1 to 5 I give it 3.75. Usually I would give it a solid 5.

Morning Moon Photo, Christmas Tree Down, & Notes

 

Moon at 7:30am, Chaumont, NY, sonny a6600 camera, Minolta 200mm f2.8 auto focus lens.

We took our Christmas tree down today. I should say I took it down. The Better Half watched me as she has limited mobility with her broken leg. 

Photo of the moon at 7:30 this morning, Sunday January 8, 2023, as seen from our backyard, Chaumont, NY. Temperature this morning was 14 degrees. The coldest night & morning we have had in more than 2 weeks. Most days we have had temps in the 30's and low 40's. The wood stove has been doing a great job, limiting how much heating oil we have been using. Price of home heating oil has been above $5.00 a gallon, and I have heard as high as $6.75 a gallon. That is insane. It was $2.00 a gallon in 2020 when President Joe Biden took office.

etter Half gets better every day as she heals from the broken femur. She as her low points of despair and frustration each day, but that's to be expected. 

Siblings a A & S dropped n this evening for about an hour. They arrived from Arizona after a 4 day road trip. S has new job in Utica, NY, starting in a few days.

Breakfast this morning was Italian sausage, fried eggs & toast.

This evening we had a variety cheeses & crackers, variety of stuffed olives, Croghan Bologna, sliced carrots. 

Notes for Today

 My Celebrity Brother (Al) flew to Arizona this morning to meet sister S and drive with her back to New York, moving some of her belongings. She will be starting a new job in Utica. He came to our house in Chaumont where he left his car and I drove hime to Watertown airport. 

Cancelled my guitar lessons today because Better half is still settling in at home after leg surgery. 

Breakfast this morning was eggs, toasted Italian sausage with fried onions. 

WE finally opened our Christmas presents. Temperature today hit 37 degrees.

Day 13 wth broken femur. She is experiencing quite a bit of pain, mostly as the meds start wearing off before taking more. Getting around the house with the walker get steadily better. She's gaining confidence and strength.