Old Woody's Boomer Page

Sour Orange Festival

2012-02-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

Down here in Lakeport, Florida they have trees growing, they are Sour Orange Trees, they been here forever, theres not many left as they were replaced by the sweeter Orange Trees, so every year they have their "Sour Orange Festival"

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There were a lot of people here today, there were vendors, booths for food, displays and also interesting things to see and "SOUR ORANGE PIE" !!!

I enjoyed this ole girl that came down from Kentucky on all 4 cylinders !!!

There was Bluegrass, Gospel and we got to watch some very good cloggers !

There were also the younger youth that were learning to clog and they were delightful to watch and cheer on.

We could have had chicken on a stick, or sausage, french fries, or other foods but we went for the main event, we had the special "Bar-B-Q " Ribs, coleslaw, fried potatoes and hush puppies and sweet tea, all very good.

We were a well fed happy Couple !!

After eating we went and got our slice of "Sour Orange Pie", I had never had it before and was expecting something sour, wrong, this was a very delicious, smooth, creamy texture p[ie and if they had not sold out I would have bought a pie to take home. All in all it was a great day !!

Sugar Cane

2012-02-08T19:59:00.001-05:00

Well, we decided to attend the Ortona Sugar Cane Festival, it is a demonstration of the sugar Cane Harvest and Processing, it was well worth attending. There was Bluegrass, clogging, food and crafts.

The sugar cane grown in fields and gets very tall, the outside leaves are brown and dry, to remove this surplus they burn the sugar cane field and remove it so that it does not clog the machines that process it/

I am standing in front of a 1904 Golden Crusher they used to squeeze the liquid out of the sugar cane, when this liquid come out it is very reddish brown and sweet.

This site is an Indian Burial Site, there are mounds that were built where the ortona indians were buried but people dug up the sites, removed the pottery, jewlery and items of value before fences were installed and it was protected, Anna Mae and I are standing on a wooden walk way that goes over the top of a burial mound.

Anna Mae is standing at the base of a burial mound, directly behind her behind the trees and scrub brush there was a BlueGrass Band, Cloggers, and the served either Chicken or Pork Lunches which were delicious. These are the sugar canes after they are burnt and cut, the white color is not ripe but the red color is ready and had liquid in it and tastes sweet. All in all it was a great time, we were near the Caloosahatchee River in Ortona. The place does not look like much but you drive back into near the river and you will see hugh Boats, Sail Boats, Scooners, Beautiful Houses and a Yacht Basin on the River, there is some Big, Big Bucks in this area hidden from view back in the woods.

Never forget our Veterans!!

Cooking fish and Burgers

2012-02-04T16:47:00.002-05:00

Well, we have stayed busy traveling around this place, finding things we have missed, fishing and mostly eating, the other night I cooked us some "Salmon" I bought a Cedar Plank at Wally World, soaked it overnight in some salty water, got a nice piece of Salmon at the fish store and came home and prepared to cook salmon for the first time.

I washed the salmon, dried it off, rubbed it with brown sugar, sprinkled it with Onion and Garlic Powder, some bay seasoning and some Creole Seasoning and then rubbed the cedar plank with Olive Oil and placed the salmon skin side down on the board, ***You have to cut a piece of aluminum foil just a little smaller than the cedar board so that when the cedar plank starts to burn and smoke you lift it up and sit it on the aluminum foil. The heat actually goes thru the cedar plank into the fish cooking it.

Sounds like a lot of work but when the Salmon was done it was served on a bed of long grain brown rice and greem beans and it was delicious .

The next meal was down at Oakie-Tanie Park on the Kissimmee River, we went down early and fished for Catfish, thantook a break and cooked our lunch, we had some nice fresh hamburg, made burgers, I built a nice charcoal fire, opened a can of Bush Beans, and set the burgers and beans on the grill when it got hot.

We added Lays Potatoe chips and enjoyed a nice meal !!

The only thing biting were Catfish, we didn't get any bass or Specs, fishing has been poorly along the river, hopefully after the next full moon it will get better.

Wild Hogs

2012-01-29T20:20:00.002-05:00

We took a ride out of the city and came upon this site, someone had just hit a couple of wild hogs, I stopped and snapped a few pictures, The first hog by the road was a young one.

This is the little one in the road.

This is the big one down in the ditch, it will not be there long as the alligators and vultures will take care of rather quickly. This hog was a couple hundred pounds.

One has to watch for these porkers while traveling around down here.

2012-01-25T21:18:00.002-05:00

Well, the weather has been great, almost 80 and hot and sunny, the fishing has not been great, Bass and Specs are not that interested in grabbing onto thye hook.

Anna Mae is sitting on the Indian Parrie Canal, in the back ground you can see the smoke from the bruning of the sugar cane field, right behind the smoke is the Seminole Indian Casino and reservation. No luck on any fish.

This Geeko better find a new place to call home because when I get ready to use the Gas Grill it is going to get very warm in his "house" !

We changed locations and this is the overpass from Okeechobee County into Glades County on the Kissimmee River, we were lucky as we saw 3 great big "Otters" frolic and play right in front of us which is probably why there were no fish here either!!

Well, sooner or later a fish had to come by and I was half asleep sitting on the dock when this little scrappy largemouth bass came by and put up a good fight, after his picture and a notch in his tail so if I catch him again I know we were friends I put him back in the canal, they hyave to be 18 inches to keep down here.

Hope everyone is doing OK, I am gonna catch some fish because Jimmy from Jimmy's Journal gave me the location of a very secret spot that should prove interesting .

Let us not forget our Veterans !

Frog Legs and Gator Tail

2012-01-22T15:25:00.003-05:00

Breakfast was 2 large Honey Bell Oranges and 1 Ruby Red Grapefruit fresh squeezed for Breakfast and it is delicious, I cannot have Grapefruit Juice the Doctors say because of some of my medications so only have it now and then for a treat and man oh man was iot good.

We took a ride up north and went to an Alligator Tail and Frog Leg festival, it was in Fellsmere.

When we got there the place was packed, they were 5 police cars blocking and directing traffic into and around areas and parking was limited so they had a shuttle service, also they were about 200 biker's there and they were having a Carnival also with Rides, games of chance and they had a stage set up with bands playing and a huge tent for eating.

Thehe was all types of food from chicken to corn dogs to tacos but we drove up for the main feast which is a Frog Leg and Alligator Tail meal, it is $14 dollars a piece for this meal which as you can see below was, Frog Legs, Gator Meat, Grits with butter, Cabbage Salad, Hush Puppies, it was a lot of dam good food and well worth the price.

When they handed you your styrofoam container they told you to hold it with 2 hands because it was not only hot but it was heavy !!

This meal was great.

On the way home we stopped at the Fort Drum Wild Life area and got a picture of this old Gator, Anna Mae and i both agreed this old timer was at least 10 and maybe 12 feet long.

You have to look to the left of the post and the Gator in almost in the center of the photo.

DON'T FORGET, REMEMBER THE VET!

Cattle Drive

2012-01-16T11:53:00.000-05:00

I hope every one is staying warm, it's kind of cool down here in Florida but still warmer than New York, we went to for a drive yesterday and were very lucky to come upon a real life "Cattle Drive"', I grew up on a farm and rode horses, "Plow Horses" and during my Police career I did have a chance to ride in a mounted patrol in Rochester, have been to a few rodeos and always want4ed to be a "Cowboy". Yesterday we say real cowboys and a cowgirl!!

We came upon 3 Sheriff's cars stopping traffic on the 2 lane just outside the village of Okeechobee and there was one Deputy on a Horse. This area is between a residential area.

While the other riders wer moving and rounding up the cattle, about 100 to 150 of them the one cowboy rode up fast and opened a gate without getting off the horse.

With the Cowboys behind and beside them these critters were moving fast to head for the opening following the one being led in front by a cowboy who had roped one to lead the others.

The last of the "Herd" crosses the highway into the other pasture. What a nice show.

The "Cowboys" and "Cowgirl" gather to discuss the drive afterwards. This was really something to see in real life and not on television. I did notice most of the cowboys didn't use their reins to guide the horses but either leaned the way they wanted to go or the horse just automatically went after one of the cattle when it broke away from the group.

Let us not forget and remember our Vets!!

Enjoying Ourselves

2012-01-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

I have to put this picture on that was sent to me in regards to being in the Navy and learning to "March" I was on a Frigate and there was not much room for "Marching" !!!

Thanks for the Picture "Chief" !!

It does bring back "Memories" !!

Things are going fairly well here for us Sno-Birds, 2 visitors that showed up this morning were 2 Sand Hill Cranes, they stopped by and I got the chance to feed them some snacks as they wandered thru the driveway heading out back to the canal.

The other birds we get daily are what I refer to as Florida Chickens, they come thru every morning, noon and night pecking away at the ground, fun to watch !!

The other interesting bird we have is we have an Osprey that likes the tree right next the house, he sits there with his fish snack he either scooped up out of the canal or sits on the ground and pulls apart one of the large doves he snatches. He has an awsome cry and is neither afraid of me as I walk out under thye brfanch he claimed and just looks down at me and screams and goes on eating or just sitting there sunning himself.

Well, its 9:30pm and almost time for bed, I called up to New York and they still do not have much snow, just a couple of inches but the frost is in the ground about 10 to 12 inches, this is because there is no snow cover to insulate the ground, this could be bad later as this is an easy way to have your water lines freeze and bust.

Dont Forget, Rember our Vets!

Fine Florida Fishing

2012-01-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

Well, a nice day in Okeechobee Florida, spent most of it Fishing in the canal in the back yard, This first picture is of the Catfish I hooked, he was a good scrapper and almost lost him but the line held.

I caught the catfish, a pumkin seed, a redear and 2 shell crackers which was a nice way to relax and get some sun.

This is "Pete" the Grey Heron, he shows up everytime I go to the dock to go fishing in hopes I will toss him a fresh fish.

I usually let most of the fish go I catch after I get their picture, this way someone else gets a chance to catch them, however I do keep specs and bass and catfish if I get a mess of them Here in this photp I am putting the fish back into the canal!

Another Beautiful day here in Okeechobee Florida looking to the west watching the sunset.

Lets not forget our Veterans !

SOUTH BOUND

2012-01-05T20:26:00.000-05:00

We left New York in November and traveled around and ended up in Nashville, Below is a picture of me " On Stage" at the Old Ryman Theater, home of the " Grand Ole Opry " and I picked and played ON STAGE where so many of my favorite country simgers performed, what an awsome feeling this was and such a humbling experience to stand where such greats did for years.

We ended up in Sarasoto Florida for Christman visiting relatives before heading to Okeechobee Florida.

We went to the Beach at Siesta Key to watch a beautiful sunset.

Anna Mae decorating our Christmas Tree we brought with us from New York, we set it up at her mothers where we spent christmas.

I was doing OK but needed a little emergency tune-up so ended up in Raulerson Hospital for a few days, I did lose almost 20 pounds but am gaining it back.

This is where we are hanging our hats for a couple months while playing "Sno-Birds" !

We are doing some yard work, sprucing up and planting some flowers and a couple tomato plants to keep us busy !!

Thankfully I still can catch fish !!!

NEVER FORGET, REMEMBER THE VET !!!

Nashville Grand Old Opera

2011-11-19T20:10:00.007-05:00

Well, we have traveled south and ended up in Nashville, what a place, we have been here a few days and are enjoying the sights.

Anna Mae and I on Stage at the Grand Old Opera at the Old Ryman Theater.

This is some of the many displays we looked at.

Howdy Partner!!!

My Nashville Sweetheart !

Operyland USA ! ! !

Looks like 2 Country Music Stars!!!

Back Stage at the Ryman!!

My Grand appearance on state where I sang and played "I saw the Light" !!

We had a wonderfultime in Nashville and this area but its time to head further South. Hope everyone is doing OK and getting ready for the Winter.

Never Forget, Remember the Vets !!!

Fall is here

2011-09-28T20:52:00.004-04:00

Well, fall is coming to Northern New York, we are lucky as we are still staying up in the 70's for temps and some sunny days, we were supposed to get rain for the last 2 days but it didn't come, instead it was warm, shorts and t-shirt weather.
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We have been doing pretty good, Anna Mae had her tests, cat scans, CT scans and others and has had some medications changed, her back is not all that great but then again neither is mine, we make a good pair !
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Well I see by the TV ads we are gearing up for another election, I am so sick of Politicians, most of them either Democrat or Republican are full of crap and self centered!!
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Well it looks like winter is coming, this picture was taked several years ago, it was in February, it was just a MILD -24 BELOW ZERO, I had on my rabbitt fur cap, long johns, insulated flannel lined pants, insulated top, wool shirt, LL Bean Jacket and thermal heated gloves.
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This is a far cry from the Picture above, I have been going out and doing some Treasure Hunting, I check out areas where people were a long time ago, like old rural schools, churchs, play grounds and cemetaries, it's fun and you find all sorts of things.
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Jonathan was home from Portland for a nice visit, him and Anna Mae are standing in front of our Morning Glory which did really well this summer.
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This is the Morning Glory in bloom, in the afternoon when it is out of the sun the flowers close up.
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This is one of the nicer blooms from the Morning Glory, If it had a place to climb it would have made it to probalby 10 feet tall, they don't like you to too much outside here for some reason but I do have a corner to use and the garden was great this summer.
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While out and about we came across this fence post and cut off utility pole dressed up way out on some back road.
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The soft maples are shedding at a fast clip right now as you can see, this is our view from our living room.
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This is our Soldiers and Sailors Monument Park, this area is one of the prettiest in the Village of Carthage for color on the fall leaves.
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Glad everyone is doing OK, Glad to see Ken is Home, Janc and Sherry are Home, Johnny is OK and BRB is OK, Jimmy is still crooning in Florida and the others are all right.
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. Let us not forget our Servicemen and Women and Veterans, Past and Present.
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Another Season

2011-09-12T20:34:00.006-04:00

Well, the Geese are starting to head south as we can hear them psaa overhead, the leaves are turning brown, yellow, red and fall to the ground, the days are3 getting shorter and we turn the page to a new season. We are supposed to have a FROST on thursday this week.
We just celebrated our 22nd Wedding Anniversary, this was on Sept. 2nd.
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I want to wish Jack and Sherry a happy 55th and understand they are going on a cruise. I got a new laptop fopr the traveling and wwas going thru some old photos to transfer, I put most of the ones from the old puter on Data Sticks so as not to take up so much room but there are some I like to look aqt now and then.
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The above picture is of my 60th Birthday taken with my Honey in Key West on my 60th Birthday.
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The above picture is of our close friends marty and Penny and one of our all day Euchre Games.
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In 1981 I was fishing the Chesapeke Bay and would have had a Record Sea Trout except while reeling it in something ate the back half off. Fish this size no longer exist in the bay as they were over fished.
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This is My Legionnaire of the Year Award from the American Legion.
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This is one of my favorites, my Northern Pike caught up in the Adirondack Mountains.
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This was one of my finer moments when I was given my "Sailor of the Month" at Naval Station New Orleans.
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In this picture I looked like a little Boy.
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This was one of my first Guitars I had, wish today I had it back, $$$$$$$ !
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Hard to believe but I really was a "Little Boy" !
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I was lucky to have this picture taken, it is a picture of me as a baby and my Mothers Mother, My Great Grandmother.

Well I hope this will post, for some reason my posts to my blog do not go thru, after I hit publish they go and I cannot find them so somewhere there out there!!

If you cxan read this hope your cruise is a Great One Jack and Sher.

Keep up the Singing Jimmy, Take care everyone.

Done forget our Veterans.

New Puter

2011-07-18T21:47:00.002-04:00

Well it looks like the "Old Dell Dimension 4400" crapped out, have not been able to get to many sites, email or other places, I finally unhooked it after getting the dreaded "WHITE SCREEN" and then nothing but balckness, I have hooked up the Lap Top I bought for traveling amd will see if I cam get this to working, it is different but will see.

I could not even leave comments on posts soill see what is happening here.
wish me luck !!!

Still around

2011-06-10T23:32:00.004-04:00

were getting lots and lots of rainy cold damp weather, then it turned HOT, really hot and dry, first the farmers could not get into the fields to plow and then they dried out enough so they could.

Anna Mae is stillgetting the i njections in her lower back for pain relief and has had 6 shots on each side of her lower spine, that was 2 weeks ageo, she just had another set of 6 shots injected into the spine with some relief, she goes in 2 weeks and this time they will inject a material *(Liquid) that is 80 degrees warm, it will coat the areas where the pain originates, (Hopefully). I know the shots hurt her and they are black and blue because I see them when I take off the Banfages!

We are going camp[ing!!!! We have always had a place on Lake Bonaparte, we were there for 25 years and we are eager to get back into some camping so we dug out the tent and gear, heading out monday for 3 days in the woods.

I have started back playing the guitar and trying to pick back up on the Banjo, I am still having some trouble after the stroke with co-ordination but the guys I played with tonight didn't have a prob;lem with me not being able to finish some songs because I either got too tired or a little conmfused.

It was a great night, we played up in Philadelphia at the methodist church for a group tonight and it was well received.

Please keep our Service men and women in your prayers.

Glad to see the "SHIPS LOG" back out on the road, and also Jimmy;s "AREA 51" is very busy also.

Is spring coming,

2011-04-09T20:34:00.005-04:00

I hope spring is coming, we still have mised our weekly fishing trip for 2 weeks now and hope we get going on this, Well, we hadf a nice day today, it was warm and sunny, got up into the 60's so we went outside and worked in a little corner of the building weeding, digging and re-planting the Iris and the Hens and Chickens and believe me they were root bound. . . . . My Honey, Anna Mae re-planted what we dug up, they don't do much here for delicate work but we were lucky and had permission to work in this area. . . .

Hope this sign is not going to prove to be true !

Well, hope everyone is anxious for spring, bet Jack and Sher are glad their back in warmer climate.

.Jimmy can send me up some of that Florida heat he is getting now, but can not complain, Okeechobee is nice and I found the local Coffee Bar where all the badges and hired guns hang out !!!

DONT FORGET OUR VETERANS !

COLD Spring

2011-04-04T15:18:00.003-04:00

I am sick of waiting for the Ice to go out so I had Anna Mae get a picture of me, I am cutting out a strip in the creek where I can drop a line and hopefully catch a trout, I have lost some weight since getting home as it is a struggle in the cold ! . . . This picture below is just before we left Florida taken over at Post St. Lucie, I don't think anyone noticed that I forgot my trunks and went in with my Tidy-Whiteys on ! . .

Well, April in going to be busy catching up on Doctors appointments, dentist, and ENT, hopefully will start getting warm soon !

COME ON SPRING !!! . Let keep our service men and women in our prayers, now that we are involved in another conflict with a nut job !!!

We are home !!!

2011-04-02T23:45:00.002-04:00

We are home from Florida, It was nice all winter, BUT we are back to the Frozen Tundra's of the North Country !

ON THE ROAD

2011-01-15T19:16:00.002-05:00

WE ARE ON THE ROAD !

Sunday Morning at 5AM we are on our way to Florida!

Still Alive

2010-12-26T16:06:00.002-05:00

Well, It has been a rough December, I went into the Hospital on December 3rd for heavy anti biotics for my Diverticulitis. While there my Honey Anna Mae went into Watertown and had her first shot into the spine for pain relief.
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Then on December 7th I was rushed by Ambulance to Crouse Hospital in Syracuse for emergency surgery, the day was windy, snowing and Interstate 81 was 1 lane traffic, the normal 1 1/2 hour ride took almost 2 hours. The roads were so bad my wife had to stay in Carthage and drive down the next day.
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They had to thicken my blood so I was taken off blood thinners for a couple days then I was prepped, and my surgery took place at 10 PM on December 9th. Surgery took 2 1/2 hours, I was in recovery for 2 hours and back in my room at 3AM and was I ever in PAIN.
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They removed over a foot of my large colon and reconnected it, I spent some time in bed hoooked to a cathater and finally was let up still in agony but unhooked and started to try to walk which was a trip!!!
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Released from Hospital, made it home, lots of bed rest, sore and tired. Take short walks inside in the Halls, doing better, Hope everyone is having a great Christmas Holiday.

WINTER

2010-11-26T19:46:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving was good, this is me and the Grandson in his "Man Cave"!

Well it's been a while since I posted. Today is our first major SNOW STORM, we are going to get some snow, but let it come.

Other than some major medical problems for me and some serious back problems for my Honey we are doing great. We really have no complaints, life is good as it can be, we are lucky, we have each other and yes, God is Good!!

Thanksgiving was good, we spent it with the Daughter and Grandson and ate well and enjoyed the afternoon, we came home and settled in and relaxed, problem is there is no snacks but that is OK for me as I am on a tight balance of what I can and cannot eat.

I am doing OK and waiting for surgery to correct this problem and it will happen either by being planned or emergency surgery. One way or the other it will get done.

My Honey, anna mae has to have shots in the lower back to relieve her pain, hopefully they will have these 2 shots will be done first part of December.

We are waiting to see where Florida comes into the picture this year but plans call for leaving in January.

Hope everyone is doing OK, and hope you all had a great thanksgiving and that you had a lot to be thankful for.

It's WET

2010-10-26T13:26:00.005-04:00

Well, it has been wet, lots of rain and the leaves have almost all changed colors to dull reds and yellows, We are both doing somewhat better and so it was time for a "ROAD TRIP"!!! We went up onto Tug Hill Plateau to the Wind Turbine Farm, we were there when the first started installing these huge turbines, right now there are 225 up there.
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It was a Beautiful day, cool and crisp, clouds mixed with sunshine and a nice day for a ride which we buth needed,

*(click on any photo to enlarge)

This picture above is of a few of the many Wind Turbines up here These wind mills were turning but they are slow enuff to be able to get a picture of them as they turn slow..
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Of the 225 + Wind Mills we drove around there were only 3 that were not turning, above picture shows a Crew from UTAH setting up one of the bigest Cranes I have ever seen to access the turbine blades, they would not let us drive down near where they were working, they were nice about it as they didn't want anyone to get hurt.

* click on any photo to enlarge

Above shows how big these wind turbines are compared to the houses and barns they are near, each land owner or farmer who is lucky enough to get a wind turbine on his property get from what I have been told about $9,000.00 a year, One farmer has 9 of these on his property!

We took coffee and crackers with us and drove past this apple tree loaded with apples and the ground was covered, the deer will have a feast on these.

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*click to enlarge

Standing in front of one of these Turbines the Blades are about 20 feet over my head, when the blades make their circle they make a swoosh sound, it was cold and spitting snow when this picture was taked.

We were able to get close to the turbines as most of the chains across the roads are down for the corn harvest, the first towere had an 8 foot high fence, with razor wire on top and a padlocked gate, but they found out that most people left them alone or got killed, the doors to gain entry are heavy steel, have double locking systems, they are pretty secure and there is not way yo reach the props unless you had a ladder.

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We went into the low lands and most of the leaves are gone from the trees, here it was spitting snow and it was cold.

As you can see there is a lot of standing water, the "Old Saying" is.. When the Swamps fill up with water it can snow anytime! It was snowing of and all day but it was a nice 4 hours spent driving thru meadows and back roads looking at the towers.

Another apple tree full of some delicious apples!!!

This picture is of a young Amish Girl and a team of horses, she is towing a manure spreader, Out of respect I did not take a close up as they do not like their pictures taken, right behind her came 6 or more young boys in black suits, white shirts. carring white plastic lunch pails, all walking home from the old one room school house, We waved and went on our way.

Above is a picture of a small buck out cleaning up some corn left in the corn field
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In the circle in the above picture is a heron, he is fishing in a Meadow runoff due to so much water and the ground being saturated.

This is what the corn fields look like with all the standing water in them, some farmers were lucky and got some of their silage and also some corn in before it got too wet.

We have a severe storm posted for high winds, power outages and rain for next couple of days, they are getting it out in the mid west.

Oh yes, we have a new "Grandson", Zach Ferris married our Granddaughter Shannon Marie Wood, she is now in South Dakota at Minot Air Forse base learning how to be a Miliotary Wife.

Hoping this finds you all well and settled in, it looks like winter is coming, hunting season has started, I am trying to get Doctoring done so can get out of here for the winter.

Don't forget our Veterans!!!

Waiting for Rain

2010-09-29T18:46:00.009-04:00

1,960 People a day have a "Stroke"!!!!!

GUESS WHAT THESE ARE???

GIVE UP???

We have been enjoying some beautiful weather, warm, a couple days of cooler temps, today we wore pants instead of shorts as it is cooling down, Deer Season is open now for Bow-Hunters, We have been watching the Weather Channel and watching this storm that is in Florida and heading our way, we have a severe "FLOOD WARNING" posted for tomorrow *(Thursday) and expecting heavy rains and wind, Florida is getting pounded with rain and its working its way up the coast.

Remember the old saying" Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight, Red Sky in Morning, Sailor Take Warning, well tonight we had the sky looking like it was on FIRE!!!!

What a spectacular sunset, we were sitting inside and when we looked outside it looked eerie outside, so we grabbed the camera and out we went to check it out before supper!!

*(Click on any picture for larger image)

We went outside to catch these pictures of what looks like the sky being on fire!

The Flag looked awesome in the Spectacular Colorful Sunset!!
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We sat on a garden and used time lapse to catch a picture of us in such a beautiful sunset!
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Well I cooked us a nice dinner tonight, started with a can of Alaskan Salmon, milk, eggs, bay seasoning, butter, garlic, onions, and crackers.

Mix everything in a big bowl and use Olive Oil and Salt heated up in large skillet.

Make small and large patties out of the Salmon Mixture and place them in very hot Oil so they sear fast on each side, this keeps the salmon moist.

5 nice Salmon Patties cooking fast so now I turn down the Heat and flip them!

The Salmon is almost done, I removed from the heat and placed some green Onions on top, replaced the cover and put them back on the stove to simmer for a while, I put fresh fruit cups on the table with bread and Butter.

Dinner is served and if I say so myself, they were delicious and there was enough for a lunch the next day!!!

Above is our American Legion Honor Guard and Firing Squad marching in a Local Home Town event, Our Color Guard is very active and it is 2 Husband and Wives who go all over to represent our Legion Post.

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Don't forget our service men and women serving our Country!

Fall is Here

2010-09-19T16:57:00.005-04:00

Well, it is almost Fall, September 23rd is the first day of Autumn and fast approachoing. We got up early this morning and headed out about 8AM for the Maple Syrup Museum in Croghan for an all you can eat Pancake and Sausage, apple sause, orange juise and coffee breakfast, we got there and were seated right away and treated to stacks of pancakes, bowls of sausage, and was it ever good!!

The ride up was nice, the farmers are cutting their corn fields, lots of tractors and trucks out on the road hauling corn silage.

On the way home we did see some turkey in the fields and lots of canadian geese in the harvested corn fields.

The wild Grapes are very abundent this year, we used to pick them as kids and can remember how they used to turn your hands purple and nothing would wash it off except time.

The Berries above are plentiful and I cannot remember their name, all I know is you cannot eat them, AND the Birds do'nt eat them!
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We walked the fence line here and cleaned out the Blue Bird Boxes for winter and My Honey helped!

The Grapes were abundent, these are the Grape Leaves you pick when they are young and green to use to make Mishi.

Fall is coming, up the street you can see the leaves turning color.

It was a beautiful day for a walk!! I am a very lucky man, I seldom have to use the walker or cane anymore when walking on uneven ground, but I use it when I have to, it beats falling!

This is Monument Park in Carthage, this area is where the leaves on the soft maples and the Red Maple change adn is always a popular spot for pictures when fall starts coming in.

For a better idea click on the above picture to see this process of cutting and splitting and handling fire wood, up here a "Face Cord" of fire wood is 4 feet high, 8 feet long and 12 to 14 inches long, right now a cord of hardwood fire wood sells for about $50.00 and that is not delivered. The tow motor puts the log on the saw and splitter where its cut, split, goes to a conveyor and to a wood pile, most firewood is delivered in dump trucks. The above picture is one pile, there was also 2 more piles of logs bigger than the one shown aboev.

Above is just one of the many, many corn fields here being cut for either silage for feed or corn for ethanol.

Don't forget our Veterans!!!

Making Progress

2010-09-16T18:46:00.006-04:00

We're Cooking today!!!

It is raining "Cats and Dogs" out right now and it is cool, both inside and outside, SO, it's a good day to do a little cooking to warm up the house!!

. I went to the Barbershop today and finally got my hair cut as it was a little shabby, I was going to try to drive today but let my honey get us there and back.

This morning we filled the bird feeders, then went for a ride, the farmers are cutting corn, the corn fields are full of big "Canadian Geese" heading south already.

Well for supper we decided to make some Lebanese Mishie.

I started out putting a kettle of nwater on the stove while Anna Mae cut the core on a big cabbage, the cabbage goes in the boiling water and you peel each leaf off so it can cool, I got out the knife and carefully cut up the lamb and separated it off the bones and trimmed the fat, the smaller the pieces of lamb the better the Mishie!

After the cabbage boils off and you have the leaves cooling, the lamb, uncooked rice, tomatoe sause, tomatoe paste, some Onion, Garlic, all spice and some Na-Na go in the bowl and are mixed up and then you take a cabbage leaf and put a lump of meat/rice on it and roll it up into a roll, the bones from the lamb are put in the bottom of the pot and as you roll a leaf with stuffing you place them in the pot on top of the bones.

before you use the cabbage leaf you cut the thick spine off from it so it rolls easy and makes a better mishie roll, you are supposed to use wild "Grape Leaves" when you make the Mishie but these can get pretty bitter if you don't pick them early, so we use cabbage.

The rolls are stacked in a pot ontop of the lamb bones, then you take a can of Tomatoes, crush them and cover all the rolls and put them on to boil for the afternoon, the house warms up and smells delicious as the Mishie cooks.

Finally, Dinner is ready, Stuffed Cabbage leaves which is an old Lebanese dish, Marook or flat bread and tossed salad with sweet vadalia onion sause. DELICIOUS!!!

As always let us not forget our past and current veterans!!!

Vacation Time

2010-09-09T18:49:00.009-04:00

We made it "On the Road " and headed out for Old Orchard Beach Maine on Friday September 3 to catch "Hurricane Earl" come in, we couldn't make it to North Carolina and this was our first road trip to see how I would do following the stroke, We started off at 5AM Friday, I drove thru till daylight and started to get dizzy and had a bad headache SO Anna Mae took over the driving, It was hot Friday, almost 90 and the car was Hot and we have found out that the Humidity really bothers my breathing and causes some devastating headaches weird feelings.
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Well we drove and stopped and drove and stopped and we finally made it to Maine at 4PM, 11 hours on the road, I drove off and on as much as I could but "My Honey did the most of it on the way over. We got to Maine an it was about 90 degrees, hot, humid and sunny, we checked into the Sandpiper Motel where we have stayed many times before and it was time for me to lay down for much needed rest and my honey was tired also.
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We stopped for a Break and rest as often as we could!
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The Mountains were beautiful and we could see a lon, long ways!
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There were many places I wished I had brought the Fish Pole!!!!!

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The rest areas were nice and well maintained and we stopped a lot!
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We rested above after arriving in Old Orchard Beach Maine and I was beat and almost sick. We did check out where the Hospital was in case I needed it.

Above there was almost noone on the Beach before Hurricane Earl came in, it was beautiful but there was no one around.

This picture is out of order as this shows how much beach there was after the Hurricane.

Coffee on the Beach watching the high rolling surf come in after Earl went by.

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Anna Mae on the Beach, as you can see there was noone there but us waiting for the Hurricane!

.The Motel has a nice Patio and grilling area and seating overlooking the Beach.

This was the Beach after the Hurricane the next morning, I don't know where all these eople came from all at once.

COFFEE TIME!!!!!!!

Dinner Time above, Flounder, Shrimp, Scallops, Oysters, Crab and it was fantastic, as a matter of fact we got a free desert as it was out 21st wedding anniversary on September 2nd and our waitress was a sweet heart, I took a lot of my dinner home as I could not eat it all!!

.I was relaxing so much I went to sleep, the tylenol and codene I took for the headache and shaking also helped.

Anna Mae on the Pier down town in Old Orchard Beach, it was hot, humid and breezy and the surf was high from the Hurricane.

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AND FINALLY!!!!

LOBSTA, We went for Lobsta and it was great, everyone was running a special with 2 -1 1/4 pound "Lobsters" from anywhere from $15.95 to $19.95 for 2 beauties!!!

I had to eat him or he would have pinched me, I also ate his brother, his cousin, his nephew and uncle and brother in law and let me tell you they were good.

.If you notice, there is Only Lobster's and Butter on the table!!!! We don't get all that other stuff when we go out for lobster except some sweet tea to wash it down.

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The trip was fun BUT the ride home was rough for me, I had to stop driving several times, couldn't adjust to the movement around those winding hills and curves and we were safer letting Anna Mae drive. The trip home was thru Ft. Ticondoroga coming out of Vermont so my Honey could stop and visit her sister and we could spent the night at the "Green Acers" Motel, we could not make the trip back home in one day like we made it over.

Don't Forget our Service Men and Women or our past Veterans and Remember 911!

On the Road

2010-09-01T19:46:00.006-04:00

Well, Thursday the 2nd is our 21st Wedding Annv. We started out with having a huge dinner at our friends, Marty & Penny Grau's, we sat around the pool, talked, Man it was hot, everyone got into the pool but me, after this stroke cold water is very hard to adjust too among other things.
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Marty and I have been friends for over 20 years, he is one of the few remaining close friends I have. We played cards and Penny and I won 2 out of 3!!! Then it was time to cook!!
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We had Bratworst & steak on the grill, potatoes and salad and oven bread for dinner and it was delicious.
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We look a little different than we did 21 years ago!

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Would you look at that head of hair!!

Well, tomorrow we will pack the car and Friday morning we are "On the Road" and headed for Maine, we want to see Huricane Earl come up the coast line of maine, an we want to be there, Maines coast line is not like the south, it's not flat sandy beaches, Maine has ROCK LEDGES that waves like to crash and explode on!!

We were in Maine for Hurricane Juan a few years back and enjoyed the storm. We are also going to hit a few Lobster Shacks while there and enjoy ourselves.

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I am feeling pretty good except for the headaches and my balance is not all that good, my teeth bother me and my left side sometimes has a mind of it's own but I am a very lucky man, God was good and is good!!
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I think I might even drive the car after we get started on the trip!!!
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. Don't forget our service men and women serving their country!!!!!!
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On the Road

2010-08-21T20:15:00.005-04:00

We took our trip to Syracuse to the Stroke Center to do my first follow up visit after my stroke. I was not impressed with the Doctor, he was more concerned with my cholesterol than my questions of why I had a headache every day, why my left side always felt like it was asleep, why my left eye hurt, why I was having trouble with swollowing, WELL, after listening to him I do not think I will be traveling back down there to see him again, I will be going to a different Neuroligist, and I am going to start getting out and doing things I want to do!!
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Monday I go back to Syracuse to see the Surgeon to see if I can have surgery for my Diverticulitus.

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Well, we made it back out on the road again, we took our weekly "Fishing Trip". We drove up into Lewis County, took an old back dirt road and drove up to the head waters of Whetstone Gulf, nice ride, road a little rough as it is dirt and crushed stone.

We arrived in the morning and fished above the dam, the dam holds back water to an elevation of about 25 feet, and covers a large area of the Tug Hill Plateau, We enjoyed the morning sunshine and saw lots of wildlife.

I did fairly well walking about and even managed to move around without my cane for a while.

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Below is the backed up flow behind the dam and it was a picture perfect day.

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We enjoyed the morning sunshine and each others company, too bad the fish did not like us this morning as they were hiding!!
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Honey had to put on another night crawler after getting a bite.
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I am just sitting, fishing is a Jerk on one end of a string waiting for a Jerk on the other end of the string to jerk, nothing wanted to take the bait on my hook today!
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I hope Jack does not forget Toto when he leaves Kansas!!!!!!!.

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Well, with the "Draw Down" of troops in Iraq it is important we keep the 50,000 men and women left there in our prayers until they also can get out of there.

Picnic

2010-08-14T17:35:00.006-04:00

As I am starting to feel better we went to a "Cook-Out" up in the Adirondack Mountains, it was a 1 & 1/2 hour ride but we stoipped so I could strech my legs and My Honey could also take some pressure off her back, The Cook-Out was being put on by my Cousin and her Husband, Barry and Linda Payment from Rochester, New York, they have a camp on Little Wolf Lake in the Adironcacks. All we had to bring was our selves.
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The above picture is the Pig being cooked, there was also Snacks, Hot Dogs, Hamburgs, Chicken, Baked Beans, Salt Potatoes and Sweet Corn and all the sodas, coffe and drinks wanted!
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When the Pig was done the chef made a nice chopped pulled pork with Bar B Q Sause which was very good but nothing like the pulled pork you get down in North Carolina!!!
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I had to be careful with my diet so I picked at some nice pork and a few potatoes, NO CORN as I didn't want to screw up the Diverticulitus which has stayed calm.
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The above picture is Barry, we went to school togeather and had not seen each other in a long long time and we figured it up it was a very long, long time Barry travels a lot and has flown all over the world the lucky bugger.
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The Pavillion was brand new and nice and we filled it, I only knew a few people but all were friendly and we enjoyed ourselves.

The above picture is my Cousin Nancy on the left, and Linda on my right, I have seen Nancy at Funerals and family wakes but had not seen Linda in *43 Years. We had a lot of catching up to do.

Above is Barry and my 1st cousin Linda, we had a great time right up until I had to take a header when my cane went down in the soft sand and I took a header. It was nice to get out of the house and go some where, this Stroke really sucks!!!

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Let us not forget our Service men and Women!

I'm Still Kicking

2010-07-30T15:52:00.006-04:00

Well, I am still kicking but not really, I have had a headache since JUNE 16 the day of my stroke, My left side is asleep and tingles and the stupid muscles do weird things all on their own.

The site above has been a great help trying to understand what happened and what to expect, I don't like what they tell me but am learning to accept what it is, it is!!
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My left eye aches all the time but my pressure is 18 which is below 20 and this is good says the eye Doctor.
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It feels like I am always chewing on a piece of Aluminum Foil in my mouth and my taste buds don't taste much but I choke easily!!
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I have to go have a Swolling and Throat check because I choke a lot after the stroke and the surgery scars from the Carotid Artery by-pass.
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I am now able to go up and down stairs but slowly, I have a cane now and do not use the 4 wheeled walker, I am able to walk backwards, I speak very clearly but slowly, I don't forget too many words and if I do, who cares!!! I have to use SPELL CHECK!!!
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I still drool a little on the left side corner of my mouth, I wanted to eat a Hirshey kiss and let it melt in my mouth and when I drooled a little I would tell people it was Chewing tobacco but my Honey does not think that is funny, Hell, I think everything is funny, it's either think its all funny or spend a lot of time crying over spilt milk.
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Well, I am done bitching about all my aches and pains, I am really doing good, I am very, very lucky and I am gaining every day but some days there are set backs!! but God is Good!!!
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I have been checking JACK an SHERS "ROAD TRIP" and see they are up in the Great Lakes area enjoying themselves. KEEP IT UP YOU 2!!

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I am now able to get into the kitchen a little, Today I am making soup, fresh green beans from our little garden, onions, red potatoes, and a little bacon fat and 2 nice slices of ham and butter, garlic and cooked in whole milk and before we eat I will add fresh heavy creme to thicken it up. Like I said, "I AM A LUCKY MAN"!

My Honey, Anna Mae is taking a well deserved break, even with all her aches and pains, bad back and leg she takes exceptional care of me for which I am very thankful, God is Good, all the time!!!
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Anna Mae takes care of scheduling me for my weekly doctors appointments, setting up my physical therapy, making appointments for my upcoming surgery for Bowel Restructure, and setting up my tests to see how the Old Ticker is doing and If I need a tune up!! and she makes sure I do my daily exercises for Stroke Rehabilitation.

It has been very hot, I can not take all this heat after the stroke and have to stay out of the sun when its hot, we were in the 90's and humid and hazy. BUT we got a storm this week, it was a good one, lots of thunder and lightning and a torrential downpour and was great to watch.

I wanted to take off all my clothes and hobble around out in the beautiful cooling rain but Anna Mae said "NO"!

Don't forget our Veteran's, Past and Present!

Summer Time

2010-07-10T13:57:00.006-04:00

Summer is settled in, Hot, Humid and Sunny. Temps up in the low 90's! I am now able to get to the garden and am enjoying being able to water the garden, Walking on un-even ground is a real treat but I go slow. I am regaining my strength on the left side, I can now walk for a distance without the walker but my Honey is right behind me with it for when I get tired which is often.
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I am doing Physical Therapy and Friday I did manage to walk up 5 stairs and back down 2 times and am being told I am making progress.
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The Diverticulitis is still there, this is my last day on the heavy anti biotics and now have to be really be careful with the diet to avoid a flare up.
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This morning was not so great, I spent most of it in bed, left side very weak, A Stroke is a weird thing, not only does it cause problems emotionally an physically but it also has weird things that go on like I now have teeth ache although all my teeth are free of defects and cavities they ache on the left side and front.
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My left ear that has the drainage tube is sore, nothing is wrong with it, it just is sore and also sitting too long causes problems but then walking too much causes more problems.
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Hopefully a lot of the dizziness is being caused by the heavy anti biotics I am taking for the diverticulitis.
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Not much else going on here, it was nice to have it rain yesterday and cool it down for a few hours but the temperature has gone back up to 85.
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Lettuce, radishes, Beans, Onions, tomato's are coming up nicely.
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Above is the gardens we have here, there are several others scattered about.
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Above is my Nurse, friend, wife, companion, best friend and My Honey.
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Don't forget our service men and women!!

2010-07-05T14:36:00.004-04:00

Summer is here, it is finally HOT, we are having a heat wave, like up in the high 80's and low 90's, some people like it, some don't, but some people like the 25 below zero temps we get in winter and some don't, our place has an Air Conditioner and fans which are running full bore right now and it is confortable.

Well, I hope everyone had a Great 4th of July week-end! Here at the Old Folk's Home we planned a "Cook-Out"! At last months meeting we discussed some events for summer and some people wanted a cook out so we planned one, then we decided we would do something different and we had Pork Steak and Mild Sausage added to the Hot Dogs and Hamburgs .
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So that no one had to cook we ordered Baked Beans, Potato and Macaroni Salads, rolls and some of the ladies made cupcakes, cakes and tasty deserts. I think this was one of our biggest attended events because we had 37 people here.
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We also had a big pot of Red Peppers and Onions for the sausage.

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Mark made sure I got out the door to get to the "Cooking Area" so I could watch them cook.

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Mark cooked Sausage, Bill cooked Hot Dogs and Hamburgs and the both of them cooked The Nice cuts of Pork Steak we got from Eddie Bolivers Meat Market in Croghan, It is hard to sit and watch so I pushed my walker right in the middle and helped flip a few burgers and pork steaks but that old Sun beat me back into the shadows.

The weather was beautiful, the temps got all the way up into the high 80's and we were lucky because we had a nice breeze blowing and that made is easier sitting in the shade Waiting for food!!

Meat is almost done!

Food was cooked to perfection and My Honey said it was delicious, My main job was to supervise the cooks to make sure it wasn't overcooked. It is hard to sit and watch and I did get up and flip a few pork steaks and burgers but it was rough.

Everyone enjoyed the feast except ME, I had some cottage cheese, pudding and graham crackers, I am currently on heavy anti biotics because my "Diverticulitis" has flared up again, because of the stroke I cannot have surgery as I am a high-risk at this time and have to wait a while, It sure has been an interesting summer so far.

I can not get to upset over these health problems because there are people far worse off than I am and besides, I am not the one in control of what is going on, some one else is driving the boat and I am merely along for the ride.

Let us hope and pray for some type of fix to this problem in the Gulf of Mexico.

Let us also remember to keep our service men and women in our thoughts and prayers and hopefully we can bring them all home soon.

Update

2010-06-26T11:45:00.003-04:00

FIRST, thank you for all the Thoughts and Prayers.

Yes there is Power in Prayer.

I am having a hard time coming to grasp this situation, I am weak on the left side, I get tired walking any distance, I cannot tie my shoes, I cry alot, I carry tissues because I drool, I type with one hand, my left hand feels like a club, My left leg is weak, my left side of my face is always asleep, I can not drive, my left arm is about 20 pounds heavier than it was. I am not happy BUT I AM LUCKY!! GOD IS GOOD!!!

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The area below my right ear is where they placed the stent, I had prior surgery there and in April when this artery was checked it was OK, at the hospital it was over 80% plugged which caused the stroke, it plugged in 2 months time.
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They went thru the artery into the brain and opened up the arteries that were also restricted of blood flow, found the area of the blood clot on the right side of the brain, It was awful, far worse than the 7 stents they placed in my heart prior to this.

To reach my brain and neck area they went into my artery in the groin area, this was very uncomfortable, dam near killed my I thought but I am still here.
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I got to watch this placement of the stent in my neck and the cleaning out of the arteries on TV next to my table, I am home, I CAN WALK, SPEAK, SEE, I start Rehab programs Monday the 26, I have to get into this program as I still have to have the surgery to restructure the bowel as soon as I can, my diet is still light soft foods but I don't have to have someone feed me. Surgery will probably not happen for a couple months which is probably September, than rest again for 4 to 6 weeks which makes it Mid November, Than hopefully it will be off to Florida for the winter.

Sounds like a lot but I have to be positive as all I am doing now is sitting and thinkin which is no fun at all.

So, once again, thank you for your thoughts and prayers, GOD IS GOOD!

Also keep our men and women in Uniform in your prayers!

Garden Time

2010-06-13T20:15:00.005-04:00

Well, it finally got warm enough for us to plant our raised bed Garden. It was in-between bouts of stomach pain and lightheaded.

I went slow and we planted radishes, lettuce, beans, and tomayoes and some flowers, it was a nice day and sunny and warm.

I am not up to eating a full meal yet, still on Tomato Soup, Grits, Pudding, Jello, Water, Apple sauce but am making progress. Still have not gotten a call from the specialist who is going to do my surgery.

Nice dirt in the garden, my Honey putting some beans and Onions, beautiful day to work in the dirt.

I am planting tomato's and we transplanted the Hen's and Chicken's into containers as they like to spread. I am felling somewhat better, I have still not gained back the 25 pounds I lost but am sure when I feel better it will find it's way back.

Hope all are doing well.

Don't forget our Veterans.!

HOSPITAL VACATION

2010-06-02T10:33:00.006-04:00

Well, things were going so good with our weekly fishing trips, picnic and touring of the North Country I thought that I should mess it all up and take a "Vacation", I went into the emergency room at 10AM Monday, I had acute Diverticulitis. I spent Memorial Day Weekend in Hospital
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I was admitted to the hospital, it should have been a simple stay but we found out that I am now allergic to the Pain Killer "Demerol", after my shot for pain, I had chest pain, could not breathe, swallow or talk and this caused a lot of excitement in the ER as they all hustled to get me back on track, after being admitted I spent my time eating jello, cottage cheese, pudding and Baby Food in very small portions, I went in weighing about 257 pounds and when released I was down to 236 pounds and this was not a good way to loose weight.
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Me and my "BIG MEAL" of milk, jello, pudding, apple juice, ice creme.

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I was pretty sick for a few days, the above picture is me and Mike Hart, Mike drove up from Appling, Georgia to visit and make sure if I died he would have had the chance to say good bye!!! The other reason he came up was to see how weak and fragile I was so he could beat me up! Mike and I grew up and went to High School together and have kept in contact for years, Mike is an Air Force Veteran who served proudly and someone I call an old friend!
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It was not a "Great Vacation" even if I got ICE CREME every morning, noon and night time with my lunch. Oh well, I came home after 10 days in the hospital and am doing OK but still on a very restricted diet until after they can find a surgeon who will do a Bowel Resection on my large intestine to stop this from happening again. I am a "High Risk" patient due to heart and circulation problems so it should be interesting to see where I end up for surgery.
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I missed Memorial Day Parade, speeches and going to the Grave Sites and Monuments this year which was sad as I always make these events.

Hope everyone is doing OK!

Don't Forget our "Veterans"!!!!

Back Again

2010-05-21T20:47:00.006-04:00

Well, it didn't warm up much up here so we headed SOUTH!!! We went to Myrtle Beach, SC and spent a few days at the Beach, relaxed, ate lots of food, toured Brookgreen Gardens, some local attractions, spent time on the Fishing Pier where we were luck enough to stand next to several men as they brought in a very large Blat Tip Shark, it only took them about 45 minutes to get it in but it was exciting to actually be able to touch this awesome creature, it went well over 50 pounds, The Temp at the Beach was just 93, *(HOT).

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We left the Beach and went down to see all the Motorcycles and people as we were right in the middle of "BIKE WEEK" and they were hundreds and hundreds of Motorcycles around in all shapes and sizes, and the people too!

We left Myrtle Beach and headed down into South Carolina to Bentonville, then over and up to Lynchburg and worked our way up North.
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We were off the beaten path and ran into these 2 "Rebels" encamped with some others up on a mountain somewhere on one of the Battlefields but can't remember where, but they were very friendly to this Old Yankee, even offered us coffee and the chance to look over their shootin irons.
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I think this picture above is out of order as this is Gettysburg where we walked our fanny's off.
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We found this Hallowed Ground off some back road in North Carolina.
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The picture above was taken I think over in Lynchburg, it was a huge Cemetery and very solemn place.

I took way too many pictures from North and South Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania of the Battlefields and Monuments and am still awestruck at the Magnitude of Human Life lost.

Well, we got back home and settled in and are starting our weekly fishing trips once a week thru summer.

Today's trip was over to Lake Ontario and then the St. Lawrence River, we went to Chaumont, Clayton, Mud Bay, Fishers Landing, Depauville and Dablon Point and had fun catching and releasing fish all day, above is one of my Honey's Trophies.
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Not to be out done I landed one of these huge babies also BUT Honey caught more than I did.
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In the above picture over my shoulder is a huge "Freighter" coming down the river heading for some port to take on a load of stuff for shipment to some country we support.
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The picture above is that of a "ROUND EYED GOBIE", they are not native to the river, they were released some time ago in the Bilge water of an Ocean Going Freighter and now are out of control in the river, they eat the eggs of the bass, trout and sport fish in the river, I caught about 5 of them in about 5 minutes, State Law requires that if you catch one of these you DO NOT put it back in the water, they don't get that big, about 5 to 6 inches long and the best part is the Seagulls love them so I caught some more and fed them to the sea gulls.

We took a Break and had a nice lunch, fished some more, then headed for home AFTER we stopped for "Ice Creme". All in all a Great Day for us.

Hope everyone is doing OK, HOPE JACK IS NOT WORKING TOO HARD!

As we move towards "Memorial Day" let us not forget our Veterans, and those serving our country.
MAY THEY BE SAFE!!!!!!!

VACATION

2010-05-02T16:53:00.002-04:00

Today was nice, it warmed up to the 70's, and cloudy, supposed to get some rain, I played in Church today for the Praise Music, we got home and sytarted packing for VACATION!

We heading down to the Carolina's and Virginia for a while to enjoy ourselves.

We will be leaving Monday Morning right after My Honey gets the books done and payroll done.

Hope everyone is doing great!!

SNOW

2010-04-29T23:09:00.007-04:00

We have been busy with the both of us running to the Doctors, but we are still going, It has been nice here for awhile, we have managed to get outside and do some fishing, and a little traveling, AND Monday May 3rd we leave for MYRTLE BEACH for a couple of weeks to try and find some sun and relaxation, we have been running to the Funeral Homes, Hospitals and hopefully things quiet down here because we are getting out of Dodge for awhile.

We traveled up to Cranberry Lake to try our luck but nothing hitting yet, and we had on pants and a flannel shirt!

This is the Oswegatchie River looking up towards the Adirondack Mountains and it was a pretty day for riding the back roads.

We stopped way up in Belfort and tried our luck here but zip ah dee doo dah, No Fish!!

We did find a nice spot for a late lunch, the black flies were just starting to hatch but they stayed away from us and it was a nice sunny day about 65, sunny and nice out!
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this week Mother Nature reminded us thet we live in Northern New York and the weather can change, we got a SNOW STORM, we had some schools closed, a few traffic accidents and people went from MOWING THEIR LAWNS TO GETTING OUT THE SNOW BLOWERS.

Thankfully it warmed back up and the snow is almost gone again.

One thing about New York weather, if you don't like it today, just wait because it will change tomorrow!!

HOPEFULLY NEXT WEEK WE WILL BE IN MYRTLE BEACH!!

HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING WELL!

NEVER FORGET OUR PAST AND PRESENT VETERANS!!!

SUMMER

2010-04-20T19:29:00.004-04:00

Well, I think summer is almost here, It was 72 today, sunny and warm IN THE SUN! We have done some scouting around and found that the water is low enough for us to start our weekly fishing excursions, Today we headed out of the county and went up into Lewis County and tried the West Branch of the Oswegatchie River on State Land, we got a few bites but no luck, we moved on and went to New Bremen and tried it there and could see the trout BUT could NOT get them to bite, tried worms, lures, spinners but they just were not hungry.

We stopped and had a nice lunch and coffee, and had a nice ride back home, 1 thing I noticed is there are not many visable Wild Turkeys around for some reason, Turkey Season starts here May 1st and it don't look good.

Well, hope everyonw is doing OK!

Above is my Honey on the Bridge over the Oswegatchie River which is usually a hot spot for Trout but NOT TODAY!

Let us not forget our Veterans!!!

Staying Busy

2010-04-14T18:28:00.006-04:00

I have been trying to stay busy after getting over this cold/flu/bug/disease/ thing ah mah gingy I have had that blocked my sinus, plugged my lungs and made me cough up toenails, and am doing pretty good at getting rested up.

I have an appointment with my Cardio Surgeon, My Heart Doctor and my Urologist all in a row so should be checked out pretty good from head to toe.

I was rested up enough to go out and play with the "Friends of God" and we did Angels Inn Nursing Home and also went to the Jefferson County Home for the Aged on Sunday and played and sang our little hearts out and we enjoyed ourselves and the residents also enjoyed them selves joining in on the singing and toe tapping and clapping.

It always makes me feel good when we play for these "Young-Uns" in these places, it is also sad to see some of these people who were once healthy, happy give-em-hell types who are now tied into wheelchairs, unable to walk, some who just sit and stare with no emotion, others who sit with colors and a coloring book and the others who will join in and sing and clap and laugh, it is funny how life treats us in the end and how we all end up different than others, BUT, that is just life, nobody said it was going to be fair!!

Karl who is the other Member of the group that is so kind to let me play is off, he had to have Carpal Tunnel Surgery on his left hand and can't play for a while, but this is Dennis and Roger I played with.

From the Angels Inn above we moved on to the Jefferson County Home for the aged.

I had to take a break, I was running out of Oxygen and tired so Walt Joined in and took over on my new Guitar for me for awhile. He thought if he didn't bring his guitar he could sit back and relax but I am glad he was there.

I did manage to tune up the new Banjo and try a little picking and grinning, the t-shirt is from the group Fred and the Eds who are a very good band from watertown. I worked with Fred as a fellow Policeman who also is a very good guitar player.

At the end we always close with "Amazing Grace" and I managed to get enough oxygen back to finish out singing with the gang to close out the day.

Let us not forget our service men and women both from the past and the present!

Computers

2010-04-10T22:09:00.004-04:00

I had a friend give me a couple of Computer Towers to putter around on, I am trying to make 1 out of 2 so I opened them up and got to the guts of the machines.

I have no idea of what I am really doing but it has kept me entertained for several days unhooking wires, changing things around and scaring my honey because me and electrical things do not get along.

Besides, it is still cold outside can't go fishing yet as the water is still high and fast and temps are only in 40's and 50's when you go outside.

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While inside I found this little guy wandering around, I thing he is my "Virus Protection" that guards me input and looks for things!

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I got a little deeper into the computer and found this couple wandering around, she was friendly and waved but he was holding his hand out I think looking for money to finish helping me put these things back togeather.

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Well, I got done puttering around, put them back togeather and after all that work, moving things around, changing wires and connectore and all sorts of things I sit down and. YUP, you guessed it, neither computer would work!!

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Oh well, tomorrow I will join the "Friends of God" and will pack up the guitars and head out to play at a "Senior Citizen" place called "Angels Inn" in Watertown where we have played before and then we will go play at the Old Folks Home at the County Building.

Remember to keep the Coal Miner's Families in your thoughts and Prayers as they deal with the current tradegy.

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Hope everyone is doing well, and don't forget our Veterans.

What did you say?

2010-04-04T12:59:00.004-04:00

HOPING EVERYONE HAS A BLESSED EASTER!

We have been busy running to the Hospitals and then to the Funeral Homes again, First we had to go to my wifes Uncle Bob Greenwood who passed away, then we had to go for Her Uncle James Astafan. Both good honest upright men who lived full long lives.

Well, we have been staying busy, at least my Honey has been busy taking care of me, I came down with a very serious Chest Cold, Lung Infection and Sinus Infection and Ear Infection, I spent 6 days in bed, 1 day at the Doctor for some anti-biotics and 1 day at Ear, Nose and Throat, (ENT) as I could not hear, I used it to my advantage like not hearing honey tell me to "take out the trash" of "Turn the TV down", ENT set me up for a surgical procedure which I have had done 3 times before where they have to drain the infection from behind my ear drum.

There is not much they can do to help with the pain of inserting the tube thru the ear drum except to tell you to "HANG ON"!! The pain is tremendous as they puncture the ear drum and then insert the drainage tube but well worth the relief it brings, the only problem now is everything is too "LOUD"!

My left ear was plugged solid, I have some scar tissue on it from the previous 3 tubes, the Doctor was a very nice man, Dr. Hillerman, he added me to his schedule to do the procedure and did not me wait a MONTH before he could get me in which I am thankful for, Dr. Hillerman placed the last tube, # 3 in my ear which lasted 10 months before it fell out, The first tube and second tubes each lasted over a year before they fell out.

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The above picture is the drainage tube put in my left ear, the white area around the plastic drainage tube is Scar Tissue which is from the 3 previous tubes.
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The Tubes they insert last abut a year if you are lucky and keep them dry, use an ear plug when showering and do not go swimming and get the ear wet that has the plug in it, but its great to hear again.

On this Day we are thankful for everything we have been allowed to have, let us not forget our men and women in uniform serving.

Winter's Back

2010-03-23T21:23:00.003-04:00

Well, We started to get spring weather for awhile, but it has turned colder!!

I had to go to the Doctor this morning, unable to breathe, bad cough, didn't sleep much, stuffed up, so 10 days of heavy anti-biotics, nose sprays, lots more pills!!

Not much going on up here except April 1st it opening day of Trout Season!!

I have supported my sister Janice and her family and we have buried my Brother in Law Kenny in the Family Cemetary.

This is the Hum-Drum season, too cold to go outside and do much, just warm enough to go outside without a coat and catch a COLD!!

I see from reading your blogs everyone is busy and seems to be doing OK!!

Don't forget our Veterans!!

Sad

2010-03-13T21:39:00.003-05:00

Well, we're starting to show sign's of Spring, snow is melting, there is lots of mud where there was snow, the Canadian geese are back BUT still have not see 1 Robin yet!

The Sugar Bush's are boiling sap for Maple Syrup and the Deer River and Black River are now Ice Free and running, there was NOT a lot of SNOW so there should not be a lot of severe flooding.

Down State they are getting hammered with Rain and Wind but up here in the Northern Wastelands it is calm and quiet, maybe a little rain this coming week.

I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters all living, My oldest Sister, Janice's Husband, Kenny is in the Hospital, pretty rough shape, not doing good, we have kept him on the prayer chain and he is not recovering well, he is now on heavy drugs for pain, we are skipping church tomorrow, my sister called and said things did not look very good.

We are heading out in the morning for the drive up to the Hospital in hopes of seeing him before he goes on to meet the maker. This has been real hard and rough on my sister, and their 3 sons and daughter.

Well, life goes on, I am trying to read Sgar but too many interuptions, Anna Mae is trying to walk to help her leg and back but is still having problems even after having surgery.

Nobody said life was going to be easy, BUT it is good, Hope everyone is doing OK.

Don't forget our men and women serving at home and abroad and our past Veterans who have served us so well!!

New TOYS

2010-03-04T20:52:00.006-05:00

Well, it was time to move on up with some new toys, I remember my first Guitar I had, it was a "F" hole, 6 string, I paid $5.00 for it and pounded on that thing for a few years back in the early 60's, I played with a few guys in high school and even did several shows on stage.

My second Guitar I ordered from a Sears and Roebuck catalog, it was black and white with double pick-ups, an amplifier and I was sent to the cellar to play it, I had this guitar until my senior year in high school when I sold it to a young man who went on and became a very good guitar player.

I always thought I would go to Nashville and become a "Star", but this was not to be!

This picture above is my 3rd guitar, I got it by trading a set of Gold Clubs and a Pistol for it, it sure was pretty and very easy to play and had a huge amplifier with it, I only played it a little as at this time work came first.

I purchased a fourth Guitar, I bought it off a "Cowboy" passing thru town who was down on his luck and needed some cash to get out of town, I kept this guitar for years and ended up passing it on to my son.

This picture above is of my 5th guitar, it was a Gibson 12 string, It was a present from my honey a long time ago, I played it a lot. BUT as age crept in on this left hand it became to hard to play with 12 strings so I went to six major strings for a while.

The picture above is me and my son Jonathan, I am holding the 2nd Banjo I ever owned, It was an Old Timer, had a good tune but it was a 5 string, short neck. The First Banjo I had was a long neck, 5 string and I sold it to a fellow in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and have no idea of what ever happened to it. Jonathan is playing my old Gibson 12 string.

Well I took my old Banjo and 12 string and cleaned them up, went into the "Big City" to the Guitar Shop and talked to young man about a new guitar and he looked over my equipment.

WELL, as things would go, my old aged instruments were interesting to him SO, I browsed the shop, found a nice tone, slick neck 6 string 'Fender" Guitar I liked but needed some customising done on it, AND we reached a deal on the Guitar.

The "Old Banjo" he enjoyed picking and told me to find one I wanted, SO I picked out a nice 5-string " Fender" Banjo, so yours truly made some wheeling and dealing and did some dickering and I ordered me a "New Guitar" that had never been played by ANYONE and also ordered a new 5 string "Banjo" never played.

Pictured above are my new toys, the "Fender" acoustic 6 string which also has the ability to used as an "electric guitar" also, and a brand new, never played 5 string "Fender" banjo, beside them is my Electric Guitar that was a gift from my son Jonathan.

I am truly a lucky man!!!! This Sunday I get to play them for the first time in public in Church and then at 2PM at the Country Manor Nursing Home.

Let us not forget our service men and women and our Veterans.

Staying Busy

2010-02-25T19:57:00.011-05:00

Well, we still have WINTER, it is all around us, but mostly to the south of us, We have had cold weather but lately we have had some rain, temps up in the 40's and can say we are on the "DOWNHILL" side of Winter! If you hear about all the snow and bad weather the Northeast and New York State is getting, it isn't us, we are lucky to have 4 to 5 inches of snow in the big meadows around here, there is lots of snow up in the higher elevations.

This year has been a very mild winter so far, so we took a road trip!

This is a picture of our "Grandson" Brent, this is an "Ice Castle", it is built every year up in the Adirondack Mountains in a village called Saranac Lake, this is the second Castle build this year as the first one fell down after it was built because it was too "Warm"!!

I am standing out on "Saranac Lake", behind me is the "Ice Castle", it is built from the Ice taken out of the lake, behind me is the large blocks of ice from the first castle that fell down and the left over blocks of ice, the blocks are about 2 feet wide, 2 feet thick and 3 feet long, they have a nice green tint to some of them and a blue tint to others.

There were hundreds and hundreds of people here for the Week-end!

Grandma and the Grandson playing "King of the Mountain"!

Enjoyed seeing several ski-planes come into the Lake, this Old "Navy Pilot" fly up from Cooperstown, said it took him 3 stops but he made it, stayed long enough to go "P" and grab a coffee and chat a minute and he was off again back to Cooperstown.

The picture above is my Birthday Picture, My Honey took me to "Red Lobster" where we met my son Jonathan for dinner.

The above picture is ME, the lady holding me is my Great Grandmother, Sarah Ellen Hall, I quite young in this picture!

This picture above in also me, I would have fit right in with "Spanky and Our Gang"!

The shirt came from my older brother along with the jeans and the suspenders were to keep the pants up until I grew into them.

Another year older, Me and My Honey!

The "Group" I play in, "The Friends of God" played in the big city of Watertown and I joined them, it was an open mike night and we had a great time.

We opened up with a Medely of songs which everyone knew and sang to and enjoyed.!

This young Lady could sing and she did several songs which everyone enjoyed.

This group was enjoyable and did one song which goes way back called "This Old House" and I surprised them as I also knew all the words, the "guitar" he is playing on the left is an "OLD GUILD" which had a nice deep rich tone.

This young lady belted out several songs which pleased everyone and Karl helper her with some backup.

As it got near the end everyone came up and we gave a good closing round of song, it was a nice nite and we "Made a Joyful Noise" .

DON"T FORGET OUR MILITARY!!!

My Valentine

2010-02-15T15:04:00.004-05:00

Sunday was a nice day, it didn't snow, temps were about 30 and no wind, the SNOW was all south of us, it said that ALL of 49 States got some snow, glad us Northern New Yorkers could share some of our weather with everyone as our gift to you for "Valentine's Day!!

We went to church and had a nice service and Coffee Hour, my friend Karl and I played the Guitars for our Praise songs for service with a Violin played by Megan and Mike played the Piano and we sounded pretty good, We made a "Joyful Noise unto the Lord" and heard a good sermon, lots of folks in church and lots of hand shakes and "Hugs" from all the ladies during "Passing of the Peace".

In the afternoon I made dinner for my Sweet Valentine and even bought her a mushy card and she got me a beautiful card.

I started out with a kettle of Boiling water, added some Bay Seasoning, garlic, butter, and Olive oil and boiled some pasta, In another bowl I combined fresh cut pineapple and mango, I put 4 fresh water slipper lobster tails in with the pasta and pushed them down to the bottom of the pot, then I filled a metal strained with large peeled shrimp and set this in the middle of the pot and let- er- boil!!

In a sauce pan I put in some more butter, minced garlic, onion salt, lemon juice, dash of Bay seasoning and brought it to a simmer and placed in small dipping bowls for the lobster.

Dinner was served to my Sweet Valentine! This was NOT a fat free, low cholesterol, low calorie meal, and it was delicious!!

To top off the pasta, Lobster, Shrimp and fruit we opened a bottle of Homemade Wine from my Old Marine Corp friend "Wild Bill Schrader to make the meal complete. Every man should be as lucky as I am to have such a Honey to share Valentine's Day with and also all the other 364 days that go with it.

Don't forget our service men and women and keepthem in your prayers!!!

PARTY TIME

2010-02-10T20:36:00.007-05:00

Friday night we had Bingo, we had a large turn out and enjoyed a Friday Night Bingo Night here while watching the Cold Weather outside.

We talked a lot about the fact all of "OUR SNOW" and "WINTER" was hitting well SOUTH of us, It was nice to SHARE our typical North Country storm with others who usually don't get much snow so we all up here hope everyone down there enjoy the Beautiful "WHITE STUFF" and the cooler temps that go with it!

Sunday we enjoyed our Superbowl Party, We had dinner at 5PM, we had Scalloped Potatoes, Clam Chowder, Baker Beans, Pasta Salad, Chicken Wings, Meat Loaf, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Chex Mix, chips, finished eating and cleaning up and then settled down with some refreshments and out came some more "SNACKS" for Super Bowl, We had lots of food and enjoyed watching the game, a good time was had by all.

Well tonight (Wednesday) was our monthly Birthday Party here at West Side, We celebrated 3 birthdays tonight. One of them was MINE! I was born on February 20, We had a nice time tonight with a Pizza Party, Everyone who signed up paid $3.00 for Pizza and Soda and we had almost all the residents here except sad to say we had 4 of our residents go in the Hospital in the last 2 days.

Senior Citizen Housing is nice, the bad part as that it is hard to watch some of our friends have to be taken out and taken to the Hospital as they are part of our Family here.

The Pizza came from the local "Nice & Easy Store" and was good and there was plenty of it.

There was plenty of Soda and we also had a nice big "Tossed Salad" to enjoy with the Pizza.

Everyone enjoyed sitting around and for a treat we were having "Music" after dinner.

Karl, Me, and Roger got together after Pizza, Karl and Roger set up the equipment and we played for the folks, The Group is called "The Friends of God" and they let me play with them and there are different people who also play when someone is not available.

The Tenants enjoyed themselves sitting and standing around listening to us sing and play.

Tonight we played not only Gospel and Praise music but also some country.

Even if they look serious in the pictures we did get them to sing and clap and enjoy themselves.

When My Honey takes the camera out all of a sudden everyone stops and takes on that serious look!!

Everyone had a good time and we enjoyed playing!!

Don't forget to Remember our current Service men and women serving our country and don't forget to thank a Vet for their service!!

FREEZING

2010-01-30T20:39:00.002-05:00

Man is it COLD, 24 BELOW ZERO this morning and a bit nippy out, Today was a day of rest and relaxation, we went to Marty and Penny Graus for Cards and a Cook-out! YES we cook out in the winter, We went up to Eddie's Meat Market and got some Country Spare Ribs with the bone in, these things weigh about 2 to 3 pounds a piece.

We sat around and played Euchre and snacked and talked, watched the temperature drop to below ZERO, played more Euchre where Penny and I lost to Marty and Anna 4 to 1!!!

At 6PM Marty and I went to the Garage an fired up the gas grill, by now it was only 7 BELOW ZERO and the temp was dropping and it was getting dark.

We huddled above and around the Gas Grill trying to keep warm while we cooked and smothered the Spare Ribs in the "Secret Reciept", Meanwhile back in the WARM house Anna Mae and Penny whipped up a huge Macaroni Salads, pork dressing and fresh toasted oven bread.

It is cold, a nasty very bitter cold, this is the kind of cold that will freeze your lips to a beer can !! Usually we don't get this kind of weather till mid February but its hjere now!!! I thought we were in a "Global Warming" trend!!!

It is interesting as we heard word from Sunny Warm Florida that during the "Cold Spell" Lake Okeechobee lost some fish due to the severe drop in water temps, My mother in law who lives in Okeechobee on a canal said there were dead fish floating in the canal behind her house. I guess it smelled pretty bad.

One nice thing about living here in Northern New York as you do not smell much when you go out side when it's below Zero because anything liquid in your nose freezes solid there by blocking any smell!!!!!

We had a good day of R & R, home and watching the thermometer keep dropping because at 9PM it is now 10 below Zero and falling!!!

As I close don't forget to remember and say a prayer for our Veterans, past and present who have and are currently serving our country!!!

Staying BUSY

2010-01-28T19:16:00.009-05:00

Well, we have been staying busy, Tonight was our Church's turn for the Thursday "Stone Soup Supper" and Dan and Ginny and Anna Mae and I whipped up a nice meal of Scalloped Potato's and Ham, corn, green beans, fresh made bread and plenty of deserts. We started out setting up and had a couple come and help this morning and the rest of the day it was just the 4 of us working, our committee has shrunk down to mainly the 4 of us. BUT "We-got-er-done!!!!!!!

We cooked the potato's and cut up the ham and then mixed them together with some Onion powder, whole milk and let them cook for 5 hours adding just enough milk and butter to keep them so they were not soupy but not like paste. We started feeding at 5PM and fed 86 people and there was just enough left so the 4 of us could eat and NO LEFT OVERS!!!!!

We got many compliments and also a lot of phone calls during the afternoon because were were getting SNOW and lots of WIND and it was bitter COLD but we cooked it and they came out in the storm to eat it. It snowed and blowed all day but they were a lot of happy people coming in all bundled up to enjoy the meal and thank us for having it during the storm.

Hey Jack, *(Shipslog) Dan Durant was on the USS Independence, 59 -63, Gunners Mate. Also Glen Sweeny who was an "Airdale"!!!

Wednesday night, our group, "The Friend's of God" played at the Country Manor, Nursing home, we got enough together to play and had a good time, Karl who usually plays got called into work again, Karl drives the big "SNOW-PLOW" to keep the roads open so us dummies could get out in the storm and get to where we just had to be. I didn't know the guitar player on the far left in white or the Bass player behind Roger in the hat but 2 quick phone calls and they showed up to help play.

Sitting in the crowd, listening to us play was my Cousin Barb, and many people of the community who I have watched age old over the past 20 some years I have lived here, sad to see where ones life line takes them but we all get there to "Old Age" sooner or later!

This "Young Lady" above came in with her "Walker" and sat until the music started, we did a Hank Williams song, "I Saw The Light" and up she got, pushed her walker out of the way and man oh man could she ever do a mean "JIG" ! Her name is Minnie and she sure did love the music which makes it all worthwhile.

There are several of this group above who are friends from church, they were once up and about, helping do Chicken Bar-B-Q's at church, singing in the choir, sitting in pews around where we sat and now they live at the Nursing home, We stopped in and visited with my wife's cousin, we call him Uncle Jim and he is suffering from Pancreatic Cancer, I asked him if he needed any thing and he said "Yes", he said Gary, "I would like to get real drunk", "then I would have a good reason for feeling so sick"!!!

We even got one Young Lady up to do a little singing and Dancing, the lady on the right in the yellow shirt is Rogers wife Peggy who is kind of the Boss of the outfit, she keeps track of where the Band plays, the dates they play and helps her husband and others carry in all the equipment and shes a great gal!!!

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On a sad note I close this entry, we attended calling hours on Sunday from 2 to 6PM after Church for my Wife's last surviving Uncle, Abe Astafan, Then we attended Mass at 11AM on Monday for his funeral.
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All my uncles passed on my mothers side and I adopted her Uncles as if they were mine, Uncle Abe was the last of 5 brothers, to pass away, Abe's parent's, Shahieen Jacob Astafan married Anna Nojiem and came here from Lebanon as Immigrants, they had; Shahieen Jacob Astafan, Abraham Shahieen Astafan, My wife's father, Libnan Shahieen Astafan, Jacob Shahieen Astafan and Romeo Frederick Astafan and a girl, Bernadette Astafan who married "Big" John Tanoury, also a WWII Veteran.

NEVER FORGET, REMEMBER OUR VETS!!!

Moving on.

2010-01-21T21:26:00.007-05:00

Well its time to move on and get back into life, Mourning is a slow process, Death is not the end, Memories, fond thoughts and and a long friendship cannot just end. So, Mark Fuhrken, "Sleep in eternal restful sleep Brother, You will always be in my thoughts, True friendship lasts a lifetime and you my friend will always still be a part of my life.

January is a rough month, Mark was called home on January 8th, 2010, I lost one of my other Great friends "Ziggy" on January 9th, 2008 and another friend Clarence Keddy on January 19, 2008. Hopefully January is almost over.

"Thanks" to everyone out their for their Prayers for Mark, thank you for the emails of comfort and support you all sent. They helped me a lot.

I give credit to My Honey, Anna Mae has been my Rock and support in these tough times of loss of current and past friends and also two of my friends for helping lift me up and get back on track.

This is Karl and Roger, they both have many great qualities, a firm belief in God, accepting that Jesus Christ is part of their life and these 2 are also a big part of my life and also their wives are great ladies, Karl and Roger have an extensive Ministry are are involved in many things in and out of their churches, it was Karl and Roger that got me back into singing and playing guitar with them and they call themselves "The Friend's of God" and I thank them for their friendship.

Tonight we played at the Natural Bridge Seventh Day Adventist Church at the weekly "Stone Soup Supper" hosted by their church which is Karl's Church.

The meal of Lasagna & Tossed Salad was delicious and plentiful. After the meal we were joined by some of the girls from the church to help us "Make a Joyful Noise To The Lord" as the good book says and we did. We did a great Praise Service of Music and as always had a lot of fun.

In the above picture is me and Armando Hernandez, I met Armando way back in the late 60's, he can sure play the Guitar, in fact back in the 60's he gave me some lessons and taught me a few things on the Guitar. I had not seen him in about 25 years and it is funny how the good Lord brings people back into your life.

We played to a nice group tonight, and we have a lot of dates scheduled to play.

Let us not forget our Veterans, those serving and those who have served.

Loss of a Friend

2010-01-16T19:54:00.009-05:00

Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep, I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am the sun on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain, when you awake in the morning's hush, I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the soft stars that shine at night, do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die.

I am saddened to tell you that my friend that I have been asking you to pray for for the past several years has passed on, Mark S. Fuhrken left this earth from the ravages of Pancreatic Cancer at the age of 56, he fought a good fight to the bitter end, fighting this disease for several years.

Thank you for all your Prayers and now we have to keep Mark's Family in our Prayers for comfort and guidence in these sad times.

I met Mark in 1974 and we both quickly became fast friends on and off the job.

The picture above was one of our big "Drug Bust's" Mark, myself and shift supervisor looking over the drugs, money and I am holding one of the weapons we confiscated, Mark and I worked the same shift, had the same days off and worked together a lot either walking a "Beat" or working in a Patrol Car.

Mark worked as a Police Diver, and other jobs on the Police Department and received numerous "Awards" from Life Saving, Canine Participation, fire rescue of people to name a few.

Mark during one of his better days when not fighting the disease, After retiring from the Police Department Mark worked for several Television Stations as a Cameraman and Technician.

This is Mark and his "Sunshine", his wife Marie took fantastic and loving care of Mark before, during and even after the toll of this awful disease.

A "Smile" a "Laugh" and a good memory!!!

In between the bouts of cancer Mark's attitude was good and he always managed a smile.

Above is Mark in an earlier visit back to New York, Mark loved to visit during the winter to enjoy the snow.

Making some memories when fishing.

Mark and Marie and their oldest son Lee on the river.

Me and Mark trying to solve the worlds problems and talking about the future. Mark knew that things were not good but this never stopped his smile or caring attitude for his wife an family and friends.
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We made a fast plane trip to Texas, to be with Mark and Marie during Marks last hours here on earth, His wife kept telling Mark of our progress, we landed, she told him we were en route, she told him we were on the elevator on our way to his room and to hang on, BUT Mark passed away quietly alone in the room with his loving wife just before we entered the room, I think God wanted Mark and Marie to have their last loving, living moments together. Anna Mae and Marie left the room and I offered prayed for Mark while I held his hand. Whenever Mark and I ended a phone call we ended it with, "I love you, Man"! and that is how I left it, I kissed him on the forehead and said, "I love you, Man"!!!

Some time ago and again recently Mark had asked me to do his funeral and we discussed it at length, It was tough going for me but in Honor of my friendship with Mark, I did it, I made it thru his Eulogy, prayers and Marks son Lee read the 23rd Psalm. It was rough going and hard to see thru the tears but I made it a Celebration of Marks Life.

I read Paul's letter to Timothy, 2nd Timothy, 4: vs 6 - 8 which Mark liked. There were many people at Marks wake and also a lot of Marks Police Friends.

Mark leaves behind many friends and a lot of family.

No man was ever prouder of his family than Mark.

This family picture is of Marks oldest Son Lee, His Wife Marie, Mark and daughter Venus and Lee.

Marks son Matt is currently in the Army and stationed in Germany.

Let us remember our Veterans, those serving and those who have served us so well..

New Years Party

2010-01-02T15:12:00.008-05:00

Well its a New Year, and hopefully it's gonna be a great one, Last year for 2008 - 2009 we had a "New Years Eve" party here, we had about 25 people show up, we had some chips & Dip, a few snacks, played some cards, the party was from 7PM to 9PM, we cleaned up and left after everyone left and went back to their apartments, I think anna mae and I were the last to leave at 10PM. It was a pretty dull welcome to 2009 so this year we felt a "Party" was in order for 2010.

I started out Dec. 31st about 9 AM and de-boned a "Beautiful" 25 pound Prime Rib Roast with 14 ribs, I cut the roast off the ribs. 1 of our Tenant's "DONATED" this 25 pound beauty for all to enjoy!!!!

The "Roast" was then tied up and retied to the ribs, I used soy sauce, crushed pepper, minced garlic and onion powder for the "RUB" and put it in the oven at 550 degrees for 20 minutes until it browned up and then opened the oven door and turned the heat down to 200 degrees and let the roast just cook along at 200, I checked it only twice, when the ends were at 155 degrees and the inside was at 130 degrees I took it out of the oven to let it "Rest" for awhile. Prime Rib continues to cook even after you take it out of the oven so the temperature was perfect.

Above is a "Perfect" delicious Prime Rib cooked to perfection!

The Prime Rib is Ready, and the "Au-Jus" for gravy or dipping came out delicious, the roast did not have a lot of fat on it and cooked nice, we peeled and cooked 20 pounds of potatoes, we had people bring a dish to pass which was stuffed Cabbage, fried potatoes, Potatoes au gratin, cabbage salad, corn casserole, chocolate bunt cake and chocolate cake. We ate at 4PM and everyone enjoyed a hot juicy fresh slab of prime rib either well done all the way up to my favorite cut which is bloody rare.

I said a Prayer and "Grace" and we were ready to eat!!!!!!!!!!!

There was plenty of food and a lot of people came back for "seconds"!! We had 35 residents come for dinner!

We finished our "Prime Rib Dinner and got the dishes and tables cleaned up about 5:30PM so everyone could go rest because at 7PM we were going to have BINGO!!!!! Anna Mae and I went to the Dollar Store and bought Hats, Noise Makers, beads, and 15 door prizes so we could have some drawings up till midnight! Everyone who showed up got a ticket and I drew numbers until 5 minutes to midnight !

Above is My Honey setting up the Snack Table for Bingo and New Years Eve, at BINGO we had we had 16 winners!!!

We finished up Bingo, put on some music, and people started playing cards, eating, and we opened a few bottles of wine, had some beer, and sparkling grape juice and everyone was having a "GOOD TIME"

Some of the men all got together for a picture!!!!

AND the Ladies then got together for a group photo!!

This young lady who is 95 has celebrated 25 New years here at West Side Terrace! She is also my "Aunt Irene"!!!!!

There was a lot of remembering of the past year and believe it or not even some thoughts that 2010 was going to be a better year!!!!

A "Sailor" and a "Marine" had to share a few stories, of course mine were all the truth!!!

We talked, we played cards, we sipped wine and Sparkling Grape Juice and enjoyed the evening to end 2009!!!

My Honey got out the "Pokeno" game which was enjoyed a lot!!!!!!

Card games and conversation were popular!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone donated a couple bottles of Champagne and some Sparkling Red Grape Juice for celebrating and OK, its now less than 1 minute till 2010 and we all have juice or champagne and are counting down!!!!!!!!!

Good-bye 2009 and "Welcome" 2010, Happy New Year!!!!!!!

We are now into 2010 and a lot of people are still up, a lot of Tenant's said what a wonderful way to bring in the New Year, it was a lot of fun and better than sitting all alone in their apartment staring at the walls and wishing they were somewhere having fun !!!!!

We are pleased that we could join our neighbors and friends here at West Side Terrace and help everyone who came enjoy them selves!!!! As for the year 2010, It's gonna be a "Good-Un"!!!

Don't forget our Past and Current Veterans as we start the New Year!

A New Year

2009-12-27T17:49:00.013-05:00

We hope everyone had a "Great Christmas" and wishing you all a "Fantastic "New Year"!!!!

Christmas Eve we ushered and served for the 7PM and 11PM Church Service and at Midnight I played "Silent Night" on the Guitar joined by my son Jonathan as those attending left by Candle light, it was a very nice service with Communion and song. We got home tired and went nite-nite!

Christmas Day started out early, and quietly with just the 2 of us.

We left the house and headed up to Church as the family was having dinner together, there is not enough room here to seat everyone so we used the church kitchen, I cooked a 15 pound turkey, a 8 pound "Smithfield Ham", Anna Mae and I did sweet and white potatoes, squash, stuffing and my daughter Sabrina brought desert.

Our Son Jonathan and the Granddaughter Shannon were in charge of opening the "Homemade" Christmas Wine which was a nice aged White Zinfandel made for me by an Old Marine from the Legion.

It is not every husband who goes out of his way to buy his wife and sweety a "Brand New Frying Pan" for Christmas!!!

My son-in-law Ed, grandson Brent, me and Son Jonathan resting after a full bellyfull of "Christmas" food!!! Brent is 8 years old, 103 pounds and wears a 7 1/2 sneaker, I think he takes after Grampa!!!

Santa was good to me as he left me a new "Norelco"

The "Grand-Children, Brent and Shannon relaxing after the meal!

When coming back from Florida we stayed at a Motel and my Honey loved the Comforter on the bed so she made a note of the make and brand and company and when we got home she ordered it, Its nice on the bed when its below zero outside.

We cooked the Christmas Feast early Christmas Day and had everything ready for when the family came!

We all enjoyed our meal and good time togeather Christmas Day!

Don't forget our Veterans!

It is sad to report the Passing of the following this holiday period:

Richard Odette, USN 12/22/09
Vietnam Veteran Cady Buckley, 12/24/09
WWII Veteran and Former POW Andy Miles, 12/25/09

Andy was captured during the fighting of the Battle of the Buldge.