My Mother Making Donuts in 1987

 

My mother, Margaret Joan Walts, in 1987 making donuts at her home in Calcium, NY

I took this photo of my mother, Margaret J Walts, making donuts in 1987. While looking for negatives of other photos I came upon hers. I hadn't seen them in ages and ages. Most likely not since I processed and filed them away in 1987. I certainly never printed any of them. There are other pix in the shoot, of course, but this one captured it all. Her pose, the light, the kitchen. My mother made donuts as far back as I can remember. As a toddler she made donuts. They were famous in the family and among our friends and aquaintences. The donuts were a staple in our household for many years. She made large batches at a time.  Older country folks called them fried cakes. Everyone agreed they were excellent. 

Lunch On The Roof At The Strand

 

Thursday, June 11, 2026 I played guitar on the roof top of the old Strand theater in Watertown, NY. Thanks to the vision of local musician Joe Foy it is now a premier venue of entertainment in the downtown district. Thursdays feature a Lunch On The Roof program sponsored by HarmoNNY and the NNY Community Foundatin. 2 hours of live music. Bring a lunch from home or take out from your favorite restaurant. Bring it up on the roof. Enjoy. Following are some shots I took to give you an idea of what the place is like. 

To my surprise and delight my grandson Aiden and a couple of his friends showed up. Aiden took the photos of me presented here. 

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 

NY Governor George Pataki at Jefferson County Fair

Gov. Pataki & Sen. Wright at Jefferson County Fair 2001. photo copyright Gary Walts 2001

I've been going through my archives and scanning negatives. The picture here was taken in 2001. It's NY Governor George Pataki and NY Senator James Wright during a visit to the Jefferson County Fair. The family in the picture is Heather & Dave Shipps with their son Jake. I feel it's a classic picture of American politics.

Nice Day Today With a Grandson

Ice bubbles caught my eye today.

I had a most wonderful day today hanging out with grandson Stone. We met at Garland City Brewery in Watertown at noon. Had lunch and a great conversation about Artificial Intelligence (AI). He had his laptop and was able to demonstrate facets of what he was talking about. He is very excited about the potentials and ramifications of it. I was enlightened. His understanding of it is impressive. After lunch we drove out to son Troy's cabin in Lowville area. More good conversation and reminiscing. 

The ice bubbles caught my eye at Troy's place. I didn't work the subject in my usual way so feel I could have made better images. 

Troy's cabin in Watson, NY, near Lowville.

3,402 steps today. 32 degrees today.

Winter Lingers, Painting, Phone Wire Repaired (Again)

 

The TDS Telecom guy, Kevin, replaced severed phone line at our Chaumont house.

Yesterday it was 5 degrees when I got up. We had some sunshine and daWhile he was ,y was nice. The TDS Telecom repairman showed up about 12:30 and replaced the downed phone wire. While he was doing that I was painting the small pantry area in our house. It's the space between our kitchen and bathroom. During all of that I continued to scan some of my black n white negatives, mostly pix of the Labrie Farm Family from 1986 and 1998. 

1986 photo from the Family Farm Series. One of many I scanned,
prepping for photo exhibit in July.

Robin in Snow, Phone Wire Down Again

 

Robin in our oak tree adorned with snow.

Yesterday was very windy, warm temps reaching almost 70 degrees. The wind took down a large, decayed tree limb which snapped my land line telephone wire. The same wire that was taken down a month ago by ice sliding off the roof. The first time the wire remained intact, just lost it's support and fell to the ground coming apart at a splice point. Yesterday the wire was severed in two.

Snow covers tree limb that severed telephone line .

This morning we awoke to 20 degrees, a few inches of snow and more wind. As I was shoveling the driveway I spotted a Robin sitting amid snow covered branches in the oak tree. Now, I have seen plenty of photos of Cardinals and snowy branches, but never a Robin. There was some nice sunlight too. The snow is both beautiful and a nuisance. 

Today was also St. Patricks Day and so we cooked some corned beef and cabbage for dinner. That was most excellent.

PHOTOS: Smoked Pork Ribs, Scanning B n W Negatives

Not a pretty time of year here, but great for grilling n smoking.

Sunday March 15, 2026. I awoke at 4:00am, laid in bed 45 minutes then decided to read for a bit. Reading very often will put me back to sleep. This morning it didn't. FYI I am reading the journals of Lewis and Clark's expedition through the Louisiana Purchase. It's a free download at Project Gutenburg. 

So I got up at 6:00. The day started out windy, grey and cold, 22 degrees when I got up. I scanned some more negatives for upcoming photo exhibition. By the afternoon the sun was out and temp had risen to 49 degrees. Perfect for being outdoors and smoking some St Louis style pork ribs.  The ribs came out great after about 4 1/2 hours in the smoker.

Snow Today, Bat Guy Visit, Scanning Negatives

 

Began to snow at 4:00pm here in Chaumont, NY today.

Woke up this morning to 21 degrees outside. But it was reasonably pleasant. Eric the bat control guy came over about 9:00 and began sealing up some holes and gaps around the house. Just what he could get at without a ladder. He used some sort of clear sealant that's paintable when cured. He applied it with an electric caulking gun. I've never seen one in use before. It works great. May have to get one. 

I've had a trail cam mounted on a ladder pointed at the one way bat tube he installed by the chimney. March 9 at 8:11pm the camera picked up a bat. It was 50 degrees so I guess that was warm enough for the creature to venture outdoors. last video clip was at 8:14. No other activity before or after. Had the camera set up for a few days. 

Otherwise I have lately been scanning some of my black n white negatives from the 1980's. Preparing for a photo exhibit at Ava Smith Memorial Yellow Barn Gallery in Hammond, NY. 

`Bat approaching exclusion tube, keeps the creature from reentering the building.