Thanksgiving Blessings

Well, we did it, we had Thanksgiving dinner in our Old New House, We were worried it might be cramped but it worked out just right, could have even gotten in a half dozen more !!LoL !!

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 My Honey putting the last dish in the oven to Bake, the Green Bean Salad !!

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I am finishing up the Stuffing and ready for the Oven also !!! Working in this kitchen was easier than at the Old Apartment and both of us could be in here at the same time !

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1- 22 pound Shadowbrook Turkey, cooked, browned and ready to carve after resting for 1 hour !

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My Nephew Hunter, Sister in Law Cheryl and Brother in Law Matt !    Enjoying conversation, food and laughter and Blessings !

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Anna Mae and her Mother Irene enjoying some laughter and food, Irene is having her first Thanksgiving Dinner back in New York State after over 20 years living in Florida, she has moved back to New York !  She enjoyed her day !

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We passed the Camera so we got both ends of the Table, We had Turkey and all the trimmings !  We used a 6 foot folding table to seat us all for the meal ! 

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Group Hug and Photo in Living Room !   We had a Blessed Day of Family and Food !

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Meal, Dishes done, Family gone, time to relax with a full belly and many Blessings !  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving !

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Hope all our Vets got a square meal and were warm !  

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THANKSGIVING EVE

Well tomorrow is the Feast !!!    Thanksgiving,  Is there anything I have to be "Thankful For" ?

YOU BET I DO !!!

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I am Thankful that I am in love with and married to this Beautiful God Fearing Woman !  She is my Rock, My Support, My comfort !  I am truly Blessed to have her by my side !

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My Daughter, Sarbina who gave me 2 Beautiful Grand Children that I love Dearly !

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My Son in Law, Edmund Cummins, a hard working Construction Safety Inspector, He works mostly at Fort Drum, New York and Fort Lee, Virginia !

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My Son, Jonathan Alan Wood, Decorated Army Veteran and Computer Guru who lives out in Portland, Oregon and is a Musician !

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Jonathan with his Girl Friend Keri Fujimoto, a sweet, wonderful, beautiful young lady !

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The 4 of us together before they went back to Portland several years ago !

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Jonathan and Sabrina, My 2 beautiful Children I am so thankful for !

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. Grampa and the Granddaughter, Shannon Marie pregnant for the Great Grand Baby !

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 The Grandboy, Brent Julius Cummins !   Brent has my middle name !

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The Grandson and my Ex-Wife Donna, on the right My daughter Sabrina !

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My Grandson in Law, Aaron Naklick, who married our Granddaughter Shannon !    Aaron in an administrator at a large Hospital !   Really great young man !

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Aaron and Shannon AND the Great Grandson !!!!!

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The Great Grandson, Aiden Andrew Naklick, age 1 year and 2 months old now.

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These are some of the things I am so thankful for, Family !

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I am also thankful for another thing !

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Friends,  Our dearest and longest friends for over 30 years, Marty and Penny Grau !!!

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Above is 4 Generations of the "Wood Family" !  I am Thankful I am still here by Gods Grace to be part of this !

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I am also thankful that I have been Blessed by God to be able  to enjoy each and every day !!

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Enjoy your Thanksgiving, Don't forget to remember our Vets ! 

Well, the snow is almost gone, people have packed their cars and headed out for the Holidays !! The Turkey is Thawing in the fridge and we have purchased all the goodies for Turkey Day,  We have so much to be "Thankful For" as we have so many Blessings !
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I played the Music for the first Sunday in "Advent" and My Honey delivered the Sermon and Message as the Minister was gone, she did an awesome job on "Thanks & Blessings" !
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 Looking out the front window from the Bridge mostly left are the Snow Banks from the Plow !

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This was 1 of the 3 deer who came in the other morning to frolic around in the snow and feed, this is behind my Garden Shed.

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Same Garden Shed without the snow and deer,  I am putting up my Yard Stick and Ribbon, this way I monitor the amount of snow and the wind direction to see how close the Weather People are in their predictions !

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It might have been Sunny and clear but the Temperatures were only 27 degrees, thus I have to wear a mask to prevent any breathing issues with this COPD and other things !

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Jack and Sherry, *(Shipslog) are back in Florida where it is probably warmer that here !   Hopefully they can get outside and get to walking, My Honey walked Saturday for almost a mile to clear her head for Sundays Church Service in the cold !!    I watched her from the window !!!

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Sunday after Church we had a big "Turkey Meal" with all the trimmings !!!

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Don't forget our Veterans !!!

Memories, Watch Island

Today marks the 56 anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy.  I and almost anyone else alive remember where and what they were doing on that fateful day ! 

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About 12 years ago My wife and I flew out to Texas to visit a sick friend in the Hospital, he was dying from Pancreatic Cancer, he was in the last stages and we were rushing out to see him.  We flew out to Dallas, was picked up at the Airport by a Limo and we went like a Bat out of Hades rushing to the Hospital, we got to the Hospital, ran inside, took elevator to his floor BUT he passed away just a couple of minutes before my wife and I went thru his door and met his wife!!!  How sad but I guess that was the way it was supposed to be !  I went into the room and gave him the Blessings of the Departed of Saint Michael the Patron Saint of Police Officers !

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My Partner in Crime, Mark Fuhrken, (Fur can) who I worked with for years in the same Car, walked Beats with and we spent just about all our off duty time together, He went to school with my Honey !

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Mark on the left, me in the middle and Sgt Pastor on right with Pot, Pistols, cash and long guns confiscated in a raid on a house we completed while we were supposed to be talking to a neighbor, we smell Pot, knocked on the door and voice said come in so we did,  we pulled weapons after we realized there were 6 people in apartment all scrambling to their feet and we were the only way out ! We radioed in for Back Up ASAP,  Some force was used to subdue a fella who was holding the shotgun I am holding !  All in all we arrested 7,we found a guy hiding under a bed.

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The "Blizzard Of 1977", Mark and I in his Old Dodge Power Wagon pushing and Plowing out the entrance to my driveway,  look behind the Truck and you will see John Goslin my Neighbor shoveling 4 feet of snow off his roof !!!

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Mark and I at my house in Carthage, Mark flew in from Texas for Christmas Visit and we spent time enjoying ourselves !

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My Honey, Marie and Mark and me, we are on an "Watch Island" in the St. Lawrence, 1,000 Islands,  Marie is a retired CBS VP of Marketing from a Dallas Texas Television Station!  Big Island but great place to stay, we are having our Morning Coffee in the Staff Kitchen, The main Dining room is huge ! !

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The above is "Watch Island", Mark and Marie stayed here for 2 weeks, You can only access the Island by a boat !  fishing, cooking, relaxing ! Fishing, Eating, Fishingm cooking !  Did I mention we fished a lot here and had a lot of family visit  !   Nice Place !!! A little expensive but this was a last Hoorah for Mark as his cancer was progressing so fast his time on earth was limited. Sure miss him !

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Nice weather, 48 this morning and raining, Snow is almost gone except for the Snow Banks !

Don't forget, remember our Vets !

Staying Busy

Well, we are staying Busy, today got up to 41 degrees so, we put up some Christmas Lights on the back deck, tomorrow will do the front porch and eves hangers for lights !

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We won't look like this but we are enjoying being back in our Old New House for the Holidays and are a bit excited !

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In the apartment we decorated the only window in the living room with lights, garland and my Honey put the Manger, animals and Shepard's up on the Book Case,  The Tree was done also !

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My Honey in 2015 as she was decorating our "Tree" over in Buck Head Ridge RV Park outside Okeechobee !

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Tree decorated and enjoying the warmth of Florida and the sunshine in 2015.

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And this was Christmas when we Didn't go to Florida and what we had outside for Christmas Morning,  I think we left for Myrtle Beach right after Christmas for a month !!

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Hoping it is a calmer winter this year !,, Right now it is time for Tea and Toast as I have to Play at the Nursing Home tonight at 6PM !

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Don't forget our Veterans, Past and Present !!!

Winter Doldrums

Well, it will soon be time for the winter "Doldrums", a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression.  It is Normal for the North Country;  Right now after the first major snowfall we have Thanksgiving to prepare for in November after Veterans Day activities!
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This year We are having our Thanksgiving Dinner here in our "Old New Home", I think we will have My Honeys Mother and her Brother and sister in law and their son and maybe 2 Uncles !
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Right now on PBS we are watching Andy Williams on the first of many "Christmas Specials" ! 
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This was me last year in our Apartment in the Kitchen with the Turkey getting it ready for the oven ! Then I make the Stuffing for it !

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Bingo, One nicely browned and fully cooked Turkey,  My honey does the Squash, Potatoes and Veggie Tray !

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Last Thanksgiving, just the 2 of us but we enjoyed each others company and our "Feast" !

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I am excited a little more this year as we will be in our own House for Thanksgiving, Christmas and a "New Year" it is strange to say the year is going to be 2020, I remember when I thought that 1990 was like a hundred years away !!!!!!

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I have been asked already to play again for the Christmas Eve Service at Lowville Trinity Episcopal Church with my Friend Dan ! Looking forward to this service !

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Ushering with Marty and Penny !

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Ushering with Brent, our Grandson !

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  We are breaking a tradition as we have when we are here have ushered at United Community Church for just about 30 years at their Christmas Eve service usually with one of the Grand Children or our friends!!!

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Well, The Temp is 9 above zero, it is cold, and we have 4 -5 inches of snow so time to go make some hot tea and peppermint !

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Don't forget our Veterans ! 

Still Winter

 The weather forecast for Friday night and Saturday night has not improved: in fact it’s slightly worse, as of early Friday morning.  Look for it to be zero overnight  and Saturday night: 1 degree in Deferiet, Really, the cold weather is the story of the weekend. It’s unusual for mid-November.

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Right now we have a mix of clouds, rain and snow, with a high in the mid to upper 30s.
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Caught these Canadian Geese flying overhead, they were going South West, there was about 100 of them and still can see a lot of them in the corn fields and on the river !

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We went up and played at a small Senior Citizen Housing complex site, these people are not ones who would go out or attend musical events, nor really travel anywhere so it was our pleasure to "Make A Joyful Noise" for them, there was much laughter, applause and so many thanks after we played and sang for them !  We will be back we told them !

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We stopped for a "JRECK" sub on the way home and me and the Bride shared a Ham and cheese sub !

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Well, it's time for my afternoon restart so heading for the recliner !      My Honey has gone shopping with her Mother.

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I cleaned, boiled and cut up another nice Deer Heart to Pickle for the winter for my Honeys Brother, last year we canned 5 deer hearts !

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Don't forget our Veterans !!!!  

Holy Cold Batman !

WoW, It hit hard these cold temps, we dipped down to  - 5 below ZERO !!!!!    It was cold and on top of that we got hammered with our first winter storm !    We got 6 inches on the level and some drifts!  .
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Our Village of Deferiet has it's own Snow Plow w/ Sander and a Pickup truck with a Plow and Sander and a Trash Truck. 3 vehicles in our fleet !  This is the plow coming up the street at 8AM !!

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The plow coming back down the street and plugging our driveway !!!!

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My Honey went out and shoveled,  She enjoys the shoveling as it is good exercise for her lower back and hip where she had her back surgery !  I did housework which was a fair trade off as it hard for me to breathe outside with low temps!.

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It is against the Law not to shovel your sidewalk if you have one, usually there is a warning and then the Police come, give you a ticket and court date, some villages can fine you up to $250.00 for unshoveled walk and they do.  This Trooper was giving out a "Warning" !  Then he stopped here to say Hell'o and then next door as my neighbor is a State Trooper !

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My Honey checking in to see if the Dishes, Laundry and Dusting were done !!!!  LoL !!

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Metal Edging on the rood lets the accumulated snow and ice pop and slide off, the Panels are 2 X 2 foot, raised up about 4 inches in the center, after the snow and ice push them down they "PoP' up forcing the snow and ice off the edge of the roof!!

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If you can see it, I have several nice "Winter Roses", Roses are kept in a cooler at a Florist and up here if you have rose bushs you usually have a few winter roses to cut and give to your Honey and they usually are all gone by Christmas !

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The other Rose Bush with a few roses on them, My Dads Rose Bushs have dropped their leaves and gone dormant for the winter, these bushs were here and I trimmed and shaped them as they needed attention !

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Off into the East we get some Beautiful Sunsets, this was about 5:30PM and if I had a better camera you would see the reds and Orange,  "Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight" !

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Hope all our Veterans remembered 11/11/11, Never Forget !