Snow Sculptures and Cold Weather

 

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

This afternoon I snapped a few photos of snow scultors working at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY.  The temperature was in single or negative digits. Not sure. Overnight the temperature went down to 31 below zero. At this writing at 10:00pm it is now 19 degrees in Chaumont. No matter what, It was cold work outdoors today. 

This day is also the 4th day that the Better Half has been home from the Carthage Rehabilitation Center. She is doing very well. Now all to sleep on her side, either side, which is a major improvement. However, doing so makes her broken leg quite sore. At least it's bearable and we see progress, light at the end of the tunnel. 

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

Snow sculpturing at Thompson Park, Watertown, NY, a Snowtown Festival event.

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.

 

I Don't Want To Be Sick In The Hospital For Christmas

The Better Half with great grand daughter Winona, at 4:42, Adams, NY.
About a half hour later she would be sprawled on the ground with a broken femur.

 "I Don't Want To Be In The Hospital For Christmas". 

That was the mantra I heard from the Better Half, beginning probably some time around Halloween and leading up to Christmas. Her side of the family was to be here Christmas Day for dinner. 

The mantra came because a few years ago she spent 10 days in hospital over Thanksgiving. This year she was 4 days in the hospital a week or so before Thanksgiving. Her problem has to do with diverticulosis. An attack occurred and sidelined her for a couple weeks. She was able eat dinner without too much difficulty.

After that she was concerned with rise in cover and flu cases. Between that and the diverticulosis she couldn't help herself but to keep reminding me, "I Don't Want To Be Sick In The Hospital For Christmas". 

What could go wrong? Well, on Thursday, December 22 as we were leaving grandson J's apartment in Adams, NY she slipped on some hard packed snow & ice. She broke her right femur. Snapped in two pieces. It was scary and horrific. 

A misty rain began to fall. There was an approaching blizzard set to begin overnight. A once in a generation HUGE storm they said. 

Adams ambulance service was only a few blocks away, BUT, they were out of service. Had to send ambulance from Guilfoyle in Watertown. She was in pain, we both were scared, praying it wasn't a broken hip. J brought out 3 blankets. We wrapped them about her as she sat on the snow. She had me lean into her for support. 

This began at about 5:00pm. 13 minutes later she asked me to call 911 again. We were told the ambulance was on it's way. A few minutes later some firemen showed up to offer what they could in way of reassurance and comfort. Soon we heard sirens in the distance. The sound grew louder and louder and then they were there. It took about 25 minutes. 

The crew was excellent. The Better Half was scared but alert and listened intently to everything the EMT's had to say. She is a good soldier and follows orders, trusting in those she should. 

At 6:31 she arrived at the Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, NY. 

The emergency department nurses, doctors, technicians and support staff did all of the things they do and at 5:00am she was settled into a room to await surgery. That would take place later that morning at 10:30. The head doctor of the team that patched her up was Dr. Dave Leu a trauma surgeon. 

The Better Half arrives at Samaritan Medical Center at 6:31pm
with a broken femur, December 22nd. 

I Shovel Sidewalk Through Snowbank ; Day 7 of Broken Femur

Shoveling driveway at 807 Franklin St, Watertown, NY.  Working slow but steady I was finished a little less than an hour & half.

It is Wednesday December 28, 2022. The snow has finally stopped. There is a thaw coming. 50 degrees before the week in through. It is the 7th day of the Better Half being in the hospital recovering from a broken femur. She received some lovely flowers from my sisters today. The flowers should have arrives a few days ago but delivery stalled for those days because of the blizzard. This was first chance I had to shovel the snow on my daughter S' sidewalk. A plow truck cleared her driveway yesterday ad in the course of it created a huge snowbank that I had to shovel through. I started at 10:43 and never thought to snap a starting photo until 10:54, so the digging had already commenced. I finished at 12:09. That's about an hour and a half. I worked slowly and methodically. I chopped and crumbled the hard packed snow with a steel coal shovel. I then scooped up the resulting piles with a plastic snow shovel. My goal was to bare the sidewalk so the mailman could get from the driveway to the mailbox on her front porch. 

Shoveling driveway at 807 Franklin St, Watertown, NY.  Working slow but steady I was finished a little less than an hour & half.

Shoveling driveway at 807 Franklin St, Watertown, NY.  Working slow but steady I was finished a little less than an hour & half.

Shoveling driveway at 807 Franklin St, Watertown, NY.  Working slow but steady I was finished a little less than an hour & half.

Shoveling driveway at 807 Franklin St, Watertown, NY.  Working slow but steady I was finished a little less than an hour & half.

Christmas Eve at My Daughter's 2022

Christmas decor at daughter S' place. in Watertown, NY 2022

 

I spent Christmas Eve away from the Better Half this year, well, I should say not exactly. I saw her some of the day visiting her in the hospital where she was recovering from surgery to repair her right femur bone. On Thursday, December 23 she slipped on some snow and ice as we were leaving our grandson's house in Adams, NY.  By the time she was settled in the hospital a severe lake effect snow storm began and I was unable to go home. So for the next few day I was staying with my daughter S. More about that in another post.

Anyhow, it turned out to be nice spending more time with her than I have in a long time. Maybe ever. I really like how she decorated her place for Christmas. Christmas Eve morning she made great breakfast of eggs, home fries, bacon and toast. I had to shovel a great deal of snow to get out of the driveway. Hospital visiting hours begin at noon, so I was there at that time. Visiting hours end at 8:00 pm at which time I left. So I actually spent 8 hours with the Better Half.  Upon returning to S' house I had to shovel the driveway again as the snow hd been falling and blowing about relentlessly. After that I had a tasty beer, a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. S had to work overnight, but she works from home so she wasn't far away. I slept a good 10 hours that night. It was much needed.

Christmas decor at S' house. She is an artist but doesn't know it or believe it if I tell her.

Christmas decor at S' house. She is an artist but doesn't know it or believe it if I tell her.

Eggs and home fries. Missing in this photo was the toast and bacon. Superbly cooked It was like I was in a classic diner. 

My daughter S whipping up a great Christmas Eve breakfast. 

My daughters driveway looking toward Franklin St about 9:00pm after I shoveled it.

Finished the evening with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that I had sitting outside while I shoveled snow.

PHOTOS: Horse Creek with Ice & Snow, Tree Shadow On Wall

 

Bubbles flow pst snow & ice on Horse Creek in Chaumont, NY. Viewed looking down from bridge. Photo copyright Gary Walts 2022

Here are a couple of photos I snapped yesterday, December 14, 2022, during a walk to the bank from our house. It was cold and sunny outside. Temperature in low 20's. I used a Sony a6000 camera with an 18-105 zoom lens. Camera was set to black & white mode.

What caught my eye while walking to the bank. Shadow of tree on a wall, Main St., Chaumont, NY. . Photo copyright Gary Walts 2022

Cold Morning today & Kia Van Brakes Repaired.

My 2011 Kia van at home after picking up our xmas tree. The next morning I got in it and a rear brake line blew right there in the driveway. 

Awoke to 2 degrees below zero at 6:00am here in Chaumont, NY. Todays high temp was 21. It was sunny too. D & S repaired blown brake lines only 2011 Kia Sedona today. Parts & labor came to $210.00. I had triple AAA tow the van from my house to the D&S garage on Friday the 9th. I was fortunate that the brakes failed in my driveway. The previous day I drove it to get our Christmas tree. I'm thankful it didn't happen then. 

St. Mary's Church Christmas Concert, Clayton, NY photos

 

Program cover for Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

Yesterday (Sunday, December 11, 2022) my Celebrity Brother and I attended the first annual Christmas Concert  St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. It started at 4:00pm. It was most excellent. All of the participants performed very well. The following are some photos I snapped of the show. I took the pictures with a Sony a6600 camera with a Minolta 200mm f2.8 AF lens. I also snapped a couple with my iPhone. When the show was over about 5:30 we went to O'Brien's bar for a beer. We each had a 16oz Lagunitas IPA. That's a good brew. The 2 beers cost $16.00. Add a $4.00 tip and a 20 dollar bill disappears. The weather this day cold, high temp in the 20's, light snow, no more than a couple inches, kind of lousy driving. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY. 

2922 Christmas Concert  at St. Mary's Church, Clayton, NY.