STONE SOUP SUPPER

Well, it warmed up to 50 today and rained and got rid of a few inches of snow, there are bare spots in the farmers meadows where you can see plowed ground and some grass and corn stubble and huge little ponds of water but theres still lots of snow left and we will surely get more.

We went to the eye doctor for me today and monday its that long trip to the Central New York Spine Center for Anna's back and a talk with the surgeon to see what can be done.

Thursday morning we went to church and I cut and sliced and shaved 2 nice large Smithfield Hams, and we have 2 nice huge "Ham-Bones" for Pea Soup & Corn Bread later, Smithfield is a great ham!!!.

I soaked the potatoes in milk for a couple of hours, made the sause and onions put it all togeather and we cooked "Scalloped Potatoes and Ham" for 5 hours "slowly" at 250 degrees to serve with Beans or Corn and fresh Bread and desert. I made enough to serve over 100+ people, we had a line of church ladies show up with home-made cakes, cookies, pies, cup-cakes, etc. I put the coffee on and at 4:30PM they started to flock ito the church session room for the 5 o'clock start of dinner. I planned on serving 125 people because we told people there was special music after the dinner.

We started feeding the masses about quarter to 5 and they just "KEPT COMING", we went thru the first large broiler and served over 50 people, brought out the second batch and then served another 55 people and "WE RAN OUT" of scalloped potatoes, corn and beans---"ALL-GONE!!, sadly we turned away about 24 people, they said "Next time- we're coming earlier"!!! During dinner I made the announcement that after dinner in the church we were having a group getting togeather and they were invited to come in and enjoy some Country Gospel, Gospel and hymns and great music for those interested.

There was not even anything left to feed all the "HELP" who showed up to work so my honey made some Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwiches for us which was OK but I sure wished I had sneaked a plate of scalloped potaters & Ham before it was all gone because all we heard from people was how delicious it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went in starving and set up and started playing and sure enuff, in the came.

We figured over 60 people stayed to listen to me, Karl and Roger play for a couple hours. I know I was beat, and so were Roger and Karl cuz we ended up sitting down during the performance but nobody minded!!

The picture came out a little blurry cuz honey was dancing in the back of the church.

The guys got me this time -------- because they brought in an extra "MICROPHONE" and set it up in front of me, I usually try to stay soft and low in the background but it didn't work tonight, So I did a couple of bluegrass songs that they had not played before as sort of a pay-back !!! LoL ! Then as payback they did a couple of gospels that I had not played before then we were all singing and all in all it was what I call a great "Hoe-down"!!!!!!!!!!!! We sang our little hearts out to the Lord!!!!!!!

There was lots of hand clapping, foor tapping and singing along while we played. It was a good evening had by all!!!

As we start our week-end lets not forget those serving and those who have served us!!!

WHERE IS SPRING

Here in the Carthage area we have over 173 inches of snow so far, thankfully it melts and packs down and settles, our state, county and local DPW crews are living in their trucks and snow plows as it has snowed since Wednesday!!!!!

Other snow amounts in inches close by us are, Barnes Corners 247, Oswego 232, Highmarket 237, Redfield 318, Watertown 79.

The Town of Redfield in the Tug Hill Plateau gets their fair share of snow each winter, but they've already gotten more than their fair share this season they had 311 but its gone up!!!.

There is a car buried in this picture below!!!

They've already seen 318 inches, and their average is 300! Some Redfield residents say one more big snowfall, and they won't know what to do with the snow, there's no more room. Not only have they seen 25 FEET of snow in total, none of it is leaving, because there has only been about two days over the freezing mark in the past couple of months.

The folks in Oswego County like us are used to lake effect snow, but the DPW says Friday marked the most snow it has gotten in one storm -- the DPW estimates close to 30 inches in one day.

The record coldest temperature for northern NY is -52° below zero at Old Forge February 18, 1979. Some communities have recorded temperatures of -40° below zero or colder, most of them occurring in the northern half of the state and that’s where we are…records from 35 to 45 days with below zero temperatures in normal to severe winters, so far we have dropped to 29 below this year!!! As a boy I remember temps being 40 below for days and days!! You could say this is an “Old Fashioned Winter.

How do you start a car at 30 below zero??? When I was a young-un We burned wood and coal in a big old Kalamazoo # 58 wood and coal furnace in the basement of our house, my father would open the furnace door and take a small shovel full of red hot coals, walk down to the car(*1947 Plymouth, 4 door) and let one of us boys hold the shovel full of coals and move it back and forth and around in a circle under the Oil Pan to heat up the oil so it would not be so thick and then Dad would come in and get the old 6 vold battery that was warming up beside the big old wood stove we had in the basement and carry it down to the car and hook it up and presto, the car started!! The starter was a push button on the dash, the dimmer switch was on the floor, she was standard transmission, had rain gutters over all windows and a sun screen scoop over the front windshield which was in 2 pieces with a bar down the middle!!

WELL: it was a nice Birthday, lot of cards, calls, emails, and best wishes!!

We went to our friends Saturday, ate, snacked, talked, solved the world problems, played Euchre for about 5 hours, lost 4 to 1!!!

Then we grilled outside in the garage where it was cold and snowing outside but warm by the grill!!!!!

Standing outside it was very very cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We kept the girls in the kitchen busy cooking!!!!!

WE came in the had grilled bone-less Pork Steaks, salt potatoes, dressing, home-made bread and a tossed salad.

After Dinner I had a nice birthday cake and card from our best friends of many, many years!!!!!!! I'm a lucky man!!!

Today church was lacking a few due to the weather, sickness and "Spring-Break" here, schools closed, teachers and kids have flew the coop to florida, mexico and parts that are WARM!!!

Hope everyone starts out this week enjoying themselves and everyone stay healthy, !!!!

*************************************************************************

Lets not forget our men and women serving their country in far off places and here at home!!!

WINTER IS BORING

THE SNOWBANKS KEEP GETTING BIGGER!!!!!

If you ever wondered how they plow parking lots up here heres a picture of a couple of the ( "SNO-MOVERS),

Winter can be boring, We watched it snow yesterday when we made our trek up to Indian River to Eddie's Meat Market to stock up, filled the freezer so should be good for couple months!!! The drive included blowing snow, snow drifts, white outs and driving speeds of 25 to 30 as ya couldn't see.

Today it snowed all day, all evening, winds gusted to 30 MPH and is still snowing, blowing, drifting and white outs as we drove over to the "Stone Soup Supper" which even due to the terrible driving conditions was very well attended!!! The homemade "Lasagna" was delicious.

This is a picture taken about 9:30PM tonight outside our back door!!! It keeps snowing and snowing and snowing and snowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next Thursday's "Stone Soup Dinner" I am cooking Scalloped Potatoes and Smithfield Hams & a veggie for our turn at the plate and our group will be playing some Old Time Gospel music, and other favorites during and after dinner.

Tomorrow is my "Birthday"!! ( MADE IT TO ANOTHER ONE), Honey is taking me out to dinner tomorrow night DEPENDING ON THE STORM as their is a "NO TRAVEL" advisory posted and tomorrow we are supposed to get several more inches of snow, I quit counting after we reached 170 inches of snow for the season with more coming.

If we get snowed in which is not unusual in the "North Country" I finally got Jack's Book, "RAGS" and am reading when I can get it away from the wife!!!

The bright spot in all this is they are tapping the maple trees in the Sugar Bushes and sap should start running in a couple weeks then the Maple Fest in late march and then hopefully SPRING!!!

I see we are sending 17,000 more troops over seas, I think we're depleted of fresh troops here on the east coast and I see these brave souls are coming or going over from the West Coast. I know some of our local's who have been deployed 3, 4, and some going for their 5th deployment to Iraq.

I hope everyones week-end coming up is a great one.

Lets never forget our Military in our prayers and our show of support for our former Veterans!!!

BUSY FRIDAY

We packed a lot into today, Up for Coffee and a fresh white new snowfall and COLD, Anna Mae off to Church and I'm off to the Legion to end the week. Done and home for a quick lunch and Anna Mae worked on our TAXES, (YUCKY JOB). I was surprized because after the "Election" I thought I was going to be rich!!! OH Well, like the song says... Some Days are Diamonds and some days are Stone!!!!!!


At 1PM we had a "Surprize Birthday Party" for one of our tenants who turned 90 today, We gathered in the Community Room and had 48 People show up to help "Mae" celebrate her 90th Birthday, AND she was surprized.






We presented her with a Card from the Tenants Association with cash, The Housing Authority attended, Our Housing Complex celebrates its 25th year of being here and Mae is one of the original Tenants, We sang her "Happy Birthday" and one of our ladies made a Big "Delicious" Birthday Cake" served with Ice Creme and a good time was had by all!!!!





We have a few ladies in their 90's plus now. In the picture above Ethel is 96, Bea is 90, Mae turned 90 today, Bonnie is 90 and my Aunt Irene is 94.

We cleaned up and we cooked dinner, I took Salmon, eggs, crackers, milk, bay seasoning and some secret ingredients and made "Salmon Patties" deep fried on the stove and Anna Mae made Cheeze topped sliced potatoes and what a feast we enjoyed, we sure are blessed!!!!!!

Then it was off to the Community Room again as tonight I put on another "BINGO" game which was well attended and a lot of fun.

Tomorrow its up early and off to the Village park for "Winterfest", Our church has a "Soup Entry" to be judged and our Youth Group made a big cardboard and duct tape whale to enter in the sled races so we wanna go and cheer them on.

Anna Mae has gone to bed and I'm heading there shortly!!!!

Hope everyone has a "Great Weekend"!!

Let us never forget our Veterans and all of those brave men and women that have served and are still serving our country, God Bless them!!

CRAZY WEATHER

Well, all good things come to an end, we took Jonathan back to the airport on wednesday, wednesday it was wildly warm, it was 50, sunny and a beautiful day, We stopped off the interstate for lunch, it was FOGGY and instead of driving 70MPH we were down to 55 to 60 as couldn't see, got to the airport about 3PM for the 1 hour check in required for security, we left and about 45 minutes later our son called and said his flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems, BUT he did get a flight later to Detroit where he got delayed and got free hotel, free miles and vouchers as the plane didn't arive to make the transfer to Portland, Oregon, he had to catch a Red-Eye at 6am this morning and we finally got a call he was home safe and sound!!!!

It was a nice visit and a fun visit, we went out to eat, we went to my monthly American Legion meeting togeather Wednesday as he is also a member of the post and My Honey went to her Church meeting, after the meeting we set up and talked till way late.

My Son is just like his Dad, he can't move before that FIRST cup of JOE!!!! Got up and we sat around sipping coffee and shooting the breeze!! He got to see his sister, his neice and nephew and visit with some friends from around the area.

What a surprize I got, next friday the 20th is my birthday and for my Birthday my son gave me a "Telecaster" electric guitar!! *(WOW), been years since I played an electric, this is a nice piece of musical hardware, straight off the West Coast, AND he showed me how to reroute, replug and replay the guitar thru the computer, which I never would have never figured out. This young man is one of MANY TALENTS!!!!!!!!!

I get to try it out in 2 weeks as we are playing at our monthly free Stone Soup Supper as an added treat to those who show up for dinner, we are doing Old Country Gospel, country and some old favorites for music.

While here he adjusted the neck and tension on my "Old Flat Top"!!!!

I learned to play on an Old Flat top guitar must of been in the late 50's, I played guitar, my dad played at the fiddle, my son is a very good musician, all self taught.

SO we went from 50 plus degrees wednesday to thursday down to 38 and rain, then from rain to snow and now we have about 2 inches of fresh SNOW!!! Oh well, SPRING can not be far away!!!!!!

Lets never forget our Veterans and those currently proudly serving!!!

Never Forget, Remember the Vet!!!

HAPPY TIME

IT HAS BEEN COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!! "YES" you can freeze it off!!!!!

Well we been busy!! We packed up My Honeys MRI's, paperwork and left for the long drive down to the Central New York Spine Center where we thought we were going to get Honey's Surgery Appointment for her back BUT, after further exams and checking we are going to have to wait and some further testing needs to be done!!!

The weather has been up and down, I talked to my brother in FROSTPROOF Florida, it was 28 degrees and a nice white HEAVY FROST covered everything, the strawberries were sprayed all night with water to ice them up to try to save them!!!! HE WAS 28 ABOVE AND WE WERE 29 BELOW???????

On a VERY HAPPY NOTE!! My son is home from Portland, Oregon and it is sure good to see him, its been awhile, REALLY IT'S BEEN too long!!!, we caught up on the news and went out to eat and just had some good times and will have some more until he goes back in a few days.

I dragged out the Banjo, Tuned the guitar and we did a little pickin and grinnin WHICH WAS GREAT and lots of fun and a Memory Maker for the old rockin chair!!!!

He is NOT enjoying our weather, this morning is was 2 BELOW Zero and warmed all the way up to 38 Degrees today, It was a long way from the record setting 29 below zero which we had to dress for to go outside as you can see.

He's a good son!! I"M PROUD OF HIM!!! He's a Veteran ! Served his country in the Army, went where they told him and did what he had to do!! AND he has manners, He can build, program and fix computers, copiers, fax machines, phones, and do just about anything he puts his mind to, Hes a good Uncle to his neice and nephew and a good brother to his sister, can ya tell I'm Proud of Him??? Taught himself to play the guitar, which he is much better at than I am and has now taught himelf to play the piano, AND he tweaked my computer for me. We are gonna hate to see him go back across the country to Oregon but that's the way it is!!!

Right now it is about 38 degrees outside and its RAINING and WINDY with southern winds at 10 - 15 mph but we are assured it is going to drop down again and get some more snow.

Tomorrow is busy, we are serving Communion with the Minister, then putting on a lunch for our new members right after church, then its a busy week, we have another lady turning 90 this week, we are having our regular monthly birthday dinner on wednesday at 7PM and I am one of the lucky ones to have a Birthday this month on the 20th and then a surprize 90th birthday party on friday at 1PM and then at 7PM Honey and I are putting on our second BINGO night which everyone is looking forward to. We are doing our monthly Stone Soup Supper at the end of the month and are going to get togeather and do a little foot stomping and toe tapping music after the dinner for the people.

We have one lady leaving for Florida next week, she is moving in with her daughter due to vision and health problems and will be sadly missed and we had another lady admitted to a Skilled Nursing Facility who I do not think will be moving back here sadly to say!!! One thing about Senior Citizen Housing is after awhile you become "One Big Family" and some one leaving effects the whole building!!!!! LIFE MARCHES ON!!!!!!!!!

HOPE EVERYONE IS HAVING A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LETS NEVER FORGET OUR TROOPS!!!!

Hospital Fun!!!

WELL!! I sure am sore!!!, I spent superbowl Sunday drinking 9 gallons of prep for surgery on Monday, restless night, got to Hospital, got wired up, poked and prodded and injected, inspected, infected, detected and not rejected and hooked up to IV's and PV's, TV"s and everything but CD's!!, and finally it was my turn!! Hospitals are fun because you never know whats going on!! The Nurse's in the pre-Op room were great, gentle and knew their business in getting me ready!!!

SUDDENLY... Down the hallway we went, fun laying on your back and looking up at wires, lights going flashing by, exit signs, a cute nurse looking down at you and then you STOP!! MY HONEY gave me a kiss, said a little prayer, held my hand, and then "BANG" in thru the double doors to the Operating Room, COLD, Clean and Sterile and very quiet!!!!! met the Anathesiest, sic, GAS PASSER!! nice guy, made a few jokes with him, I asked him if he needed any advise on putting me under and he asked me if I wanted a sharp or dull needle so I shut-up??? As I have Heart Problems and had prior strokes I get the works, special wires, suction cups on the forehead, wires on the finger-tips, bamboo shoots under the finger-nails, THEN in comes the surgeon,, who has on a hat, mask, gloves, goggles, radiation protection, lucky for me he is a friend of mine for many years, he wants to know if I am here for a Vacetomy, gall bladder removal or Breast Enlargements, REAL FUNNY!!!! and then the MAJIC, he tells the gas passer to fart in the tube and put me out and I am counting down from 100, 99, 9.......!!

RECOVERY ROOM! This is the fun place following surgery, You have no idea what you are saying, your wife can ask questions because part of the stuff they give you is part truth serum and the other stuff is a chemical that lets you make the stupidest remarks allowed!!! You talk to the nurses and some of the things said are best left unsaid!!! After laying still forever, they let you up, make you walk, or in my case stumble, stagger and weave to the bath-room, Later they let you get dressed, wheel you out into 30 degree weather from 80 degree temps and send you home. This is where you immediately get into bed and spend the next day and a half , BUT I am up, eating lightly, other than being weak, sore, I'm GREAT!!! No Cancer, No Growths, No Polyps, No Perforations, Prostate in good shape and just have to watch the diet and be careful and get to the Doctors every 2 months for check-ups!

HAPPILY my son, Jonathan arrived from Portland Oregon safe and sound and I got to see him after surgery which was great and also the Grand-daughter, I was given the best care any man could ask for by MY HONEY!!

Catching up today is the 50th anniversary of the "Day the Music Died", I was a teen-ager, in school, had the D-A haircut, Brylcream, and Aqua Velva and Jimmy Dean Look!!! , I had the loafers with the pennies in the top, at the record hops I could jitter-bug, and when a slow-one was player I could belly-rub with the best of them!!!!! I also played Guitar with a group of younger guys and we played a couple of times in High School.

How Tragic, "THE BIG-BOPPER" , Jiles P. Richardson, "BUDDY HOLLEY" and RITCHIE VALENS", Richard Valenzuela and Roger A. Peterson, pilot of the plane were killed in the crash of a chartered airplane when it fell within minutes of takeoff from the Mason City Airport. The three passengers were members of a troupe of entertainers who appeared at the Surf Ballroom at Clear Lake, Iowa, the evening of February 2, 1959, bound for Fargo, N.D. and was headed northwest from the airport at the time of the crash in a stubble field, 51/2 miles north of Clear Lake, Iowa. The plane Crash was discovered about 9:00 A.M., February 3, 1959, Right now on the side channel I have the Best of Buddy Holly playing and it sure brings back some memories.

Oh well, I am tired, sore and am heading for bed after a few pain pills and hope everyone is doing great!!!!!!!! THANKS FOR ALL THE EMAILS AND PRAYERS!!!

Lets never forget those serving us !!!!! Our Veterans past and present!!!

SUPER BOWL

Well its Superbowl Sunday afternoon and finally it has quit snowing, we are loaded with snow banks, snow drifts and fields of snow. we have up to and over 175 inches of snow so far, Up on Tug Hill roads are narrow and snow banks are 15 to 20 feet tall in places. My "Superbowl Snack Tray" is gatorade, pop-cickles, Hot, Tea, Black Coffee, Water, Don't care who wins as long as its a good game!!






Not going to eat at this Picnic Table yet and tomorrow is "GROUND HOG DAY"

and "YES" there is a "Fire Hydrant" in that snow!!!!



Well it was a quiet weekend, we watched it snow all weekend and the Maintainence men sno-blow and plow all weekend.



I am pleased my Son is flying in from Portland Oregon tomorrow and hope to see him following surgery!!!











I pretty much rested up, took a few naps, and ate a lot of protien and have statred my PREP for surgery Monday, I am taking ducolax and Miralax and nowI will spend the next 4 -5 hours on the throne but this time I am ready as you can tell by the photo. I usually loose about 10 pounds following this procedure but as its water loss I gain it back fast.


I took my Honey to the Spine Center in Syracuse and we have to go back for some more MRI's and consultations to talk about back surgery for her. Why do doctors leave the room while you change?
They're going to see you naked anyway..



Mark in Texas is still going slow and steady!!!



Here are some thoughts to ponder!!!!!

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets ?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune? Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?


If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?


Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... But it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to? ? Well on a more serious note ......






























We have lost 4 more Soldiers from Fort Drum this week, all fine good young men, these men all had families, friends and I am sure plans for the future but it was not to be for they made sure they were there in harms way to follow orders and to give their all.

NEVER FORGET OUR VETERANS