EARLY CHRISTMAS

we celebrated christmas early due to work schedules so our christmas was on tues...started the day off with breakfast of course then i took care of the turkey and got it ready for the oven put it in with the timer so that was all set...i had my last visit to the PT and then a dr's appt after so i gave some cooking assignments to the gang that were still at home...lar went with me as he wanted to hear what the dr had to say about my right knee...pt went well  and i was at 124 as far as range of motion goes and she was happy so if she was happy i was also...off to the dr's to see the NP which we like...talked about the knee and she says it looks great again if they are happy so am i..but we then discussed the other knee which has not been doing so good lately...got a shot of cortizone in it to get me thru the winter  as of right now the left one is on the books for replacement when we return back home...

all the kids we anxious for us to get back home  as we had said presents could be opened up then...not sure who was more anxious the old g/kids or lisa...so that done with much fun and laughter it was time for dinner...everything was done and i must say delicious but then i cooked it...

carl-tricia-belle-mellissa left on wed about 8am and lisa and andy stayed thru till thurs and they were on their way by 3ish...so now the house is quiet and we are beginning to think about packing up the rig to get ut of town...we are looking at say jan 3rd unless the weather tells us different then we may change our plans a wee bit...but that's ok we leave ourselves some lea-way time..

hoping you all had a very merry christmas and you will enjoy the winter as we hope too....

 grand parents and great grandparents

 lisa decided to top off the wood rack a job just "loved" doing as a child hahahahaha...she sure surprised us by doing to chore...we almost fainted.....

ADVENTURE TIME

we had family arrive on sunday before christmas to start celebrating the holiday...due to working schedules and having to get a 4 year old back to her fathers we celebrated christmas early..so on monday while i was making pies lar took them to the firehouse..then a lunch and then a ride around town..to see the sights of town..not that they haven't seen them before but we like to check the sights out ourselves...off the the falls----sapsucker woods---more falls and back home...

lisa and andy arrived later in the day...with a big pan of lasagne so it was a good day

THANKSGIVING 2014

 this year we did something different for thanksgiving...our granddaughter now works as a cook/chef for the salvation army in watertown and we decided in order to have a family holiday together it made sense for us to go to watertown and help out serving dinner there...so we did exactly that...

arrived on wed and of course it was late in the day so all the prep work had already been done but we needed to report at 8 the next morning to get our assignments...arrived on time and was told we had to put on those beautiful hats (next time we will wear baseball caps)..off to the kitchen we went first to help make a fruit salad when that was done lar started doing dishes and i started to help cut up the turkey that had been cooked the day before..between 25 and 30 had beeen cooked...lots of hands making mashed potatoes--gravy---squash--cutting pies and  cakes...lots of stuff needing to be done in time to start serving at 11...

as most of you know when preparing a big dinner the worry is that will it all be ready on time...and of course it always is...not sure how many were served  but last year it was 500...we thought that the ones who came to eat were to go thru a buffet line but no they sat done and were asked by servers what they wanted just like in a restaurant....i think there must have been over 50 or more people who came to help and it worked well...they also do take out dinners and deliver to those who can't get out and at time there were close to 100 of those dinners that were delivered with the phone still ringing so not sure how many were delivered..

the salvation had also gotten alot of donated food that those who wanted could take...bread--produce--pies--etc...so it was a good day..

on friday prisoners from the local jail come to finish the cleaning up mopping floors--taking the tables and chairs down so all in all it is a community event..

we were glad we were part of it..

but guess what NO LEFTOVERS FOR US SO NO TURKEY SANDWICH...oh well that is ok..

life is good..

hope you all had an enjoyable holiday..

OPENING DAY 2014

as some of you know this is the opening day of 2014 deer season with the gun...lar has been out for 2 weeks with his new crossbow and shot on one the last day yesterday but did not connect...

so today he was up bright and early or i should really say it was still dark at 3:30 but he had things to do to get ready not sure what but man things....our friends from the north country are here so it was time to make breakfast and prepare for the morning hunt and discuss where everyone wanted to be in their lucky spots...lar went out back to where there is an old manure spreader..

around 7:20 he shot and got a nice 6 pt...so back to the house he came to get me to take me for a ride in the bulldog to get back to the house....ellie and willis saw several deer but did not get any shots at any...they also saw the big buck that roams around in our mile square...but just watched to old boy..

as  you can tell we have snow on the ground but it isn't gong to last unless we get some more tonight...so tonight  it will be off to the butcher to have it cut up then in a couple of days we will wrap it..

so it appears we won't go hungry this winter and life is good..

24 OUT THIS MORNING

This wa this morning activities at 464..first at 8 nurse eileen arrived then at 9 pt cindy also arrive to put me thru my paces...the first thing to do waas to take out the stitches which wasn't too bad a couple of them might have pulled a wee bit but not unbearable...

all is goi

ng ok...nurse and pt are pleased with my progress so again if they are pleased so am i...lar even got to keep the tool that was used to take them out

SUNDAY MORNING

this morning lar woke up and rolled over to give me my morning kiss and he said just stay put cause i.m going to make you breakfast in bed...of course I didn't want to fight it so I just rolled over for a few more minutes of shut eye...oh I could hear him our in "his" kitchen makes some sort of noise and of course not sure what he was doing I expected just maybe a bowl of cheerios and a cup of coffee...he was taking much longer than I thought he ought to be making cheerios and coffee but I just waited and watch more of the today program...


when the kids were little ne of his most famous breakfasts was an oreo cookie omeette which the girls just loved and ate...I never thought that maybe he was doing that as I KNEW that there were NO  oreo's  in the house but to my surprise this is what he brought me to eat....


now I think he is watching way too much of the food channel mainly chopped...it was very good and he sure did surprise me with breakfast..


now I have graduated to a cane except at night when I get up to go to the bathroom the pt says for safety reason and I must say I agree...now is the swelling would go c=down I'd be much happier...and I do feel/see progress each and every day..


so life is good and getting better

god bless

look close they are decorated different

FIRST ATTEMPT

while we were away this september as at bill and sandy's ---bill did some smoking of fish which got us to thinking about something we had talked about before and that was to buy a smoker....so we did...many many years ago lar made a smoker out of an old fridge which we used for a couple of years but it wasn't all that great..so away that went...we did some looking on line and went into a gander mountian and low and behold there was one just calling us to take it home...so we asked a whole bunch of questions but at the time we were in virginia and it would need to ride in the back of the truck for several hundred miles and who knew what the weather might be like so we knew that there was one outside williamsport , pa and we were going to go that way .so we waited till we got there...of course they had just the one we had been looking at and this one sure was calling take us to take it home

last night was a neighborhood bon-fire which we have often during the summer and that gave us a thought why not try out the smoker and take some smoked vension and wild turkey for  our snack to share..

of course it took a couple of days to pre-plan as the meat had to have a rub and had to sit for at least 24 hrs...so i made one up by dumping this and that in a jar then rubbing it all over the vension and for the wild turkey i marinated it in a secret sauce for 24 hrs....

we figured that it would take at least 2 hrs of smoke and we had planned 2/1/2 hrs and it was perfect...so our first attempt at smoking meat turned out just fine if you ask us...

we sure have  hade some perfect fall days..trees are beginning to turn and some leaves have already fallen...this is my favorite time of the year nice days and cool night for sleeping..all's well here in ithaca and life is still good ..god bless

HOME

arrive home yesterday mon sept 22 around 2 or so after being gone 3 weeks...it was good to get away for a wee bit...visiting frineds --eatingcarbs--fishing--visiting--going to more battlefields--checking lar bucket list  and visiting a battlefield that he has wanted to every time we have gone down I-81 on our way south in jamuary..so now he can say been ther done that when we pass this coming winter..

then we got to meet ot new great grand baby..jeyden who is 2 mths and is cute as a button...had a good visit with the grand kids ..they came to where we were camped and we had a picnic..it worked out fine as carl was off on sunday and john could get the day off...good visit..

so now to get caught up around here befoe the snow flies and the guns come out..

BEEN BUSY

we have been busy since my last blog...we have vsited some habitat friends in lousia, va for a few days and helped to do some catch up work for them as they have been gone for the last 4 mths and made a trip to alaska....had a  great visit with them and good seeing them ..

then we headed to harpers ferry another national park ..we had visited it several yrs ago but we both thought it might be a place we would like to visit again and  this time work on a ranger badge..it was one that was more challenging than some of the other one...we learnt more than before now to remember  it all...sat in on a rangeer presentation which was about the history of the forming of harpers ferry...of course the most famous thing that happened there was the capture of john brown..

trains run thru on a regular schedule ...

then on the pa to visit and meeet grandkids and the new great grand baby..

no pictures included as this is a very slow wi-fi..

NEWMARKET BATTLE FIELD

 this is a civil war battlefield along route I-81 that we go by heading south..it is one lar has said for many years i would like to stop at that but in january it is not the time to do so...so guess where we spent today at the battlefield....we were there probally 3 hrs or more..visited the museum and of course watched the movie " THE FIELD OF LOST SHOES"..it told about the battle and the cadets that went to VMI (virginia military academy)...it gave  a good story of what had happened during that time...but the union didn't happen to win this battle..of course they did go on the win the over all civil war..


lots to see ..lar read abut everything there was to read..so i just found a chair and took a nap hahahaha  not really but i did sit down once in awhile as i knew lar would be along soon..

tomorrow heading to lousia to visit some of our southern friends (habitat )...

weather is sure turning more fall like..much cooler at night and days maybe only 70 if we are lucky..

FIRST FIGHT

 manassas was the first battle of the civil war and everyone thought it was going to be the first and last...but as we know in history that isn't true..there were 2 battles here  in manassas and the union lost them both...as we know it continued for several more years....
it was kinda a rainy misty day so we didn;t do a lot of walking around besides not sure how much my knees could have taken...


much cooler temps the lst couple of days and haven't even need the a/c...


moving on today..

ANOTHER NATIONAL PARK

ok today we went of to another national park..one we had been to before as a matter in 1976 on our way to atlanta...lar needed to go to school in atlanta for 6 weeks when he worked for western union..we thought school was out so why not take the girls and head for atlanta and kinda have a family vacation out of it so we did...we remember the year and also the day cause it was july 4  1976 the 200th anniversary of our country...we had planned on doing the whole skyline drive but after getting on it we decided not to as it was slow and very windy...but all that  matters we were on it and remembered why..

we were not getting stamps at the time so we decided we needed to get one on this trip..so we did also a junior ranger  badge  and patch along with a sticker..can you believe that they have a book to sign first time for that..asking for name-date-age-city- state..so we just gave them all they wanted..it looked like i was the oldest that had signed the book on the page we signed.so it was a successful day ..lar has a few more day till he can signed/say he is 72..

aswe drove on some of it the scenery was not much to look at as it was socked in fog and i mean heavy fog dropped our miles down to maybe 20 if we were  lucky..

but a good day was had and we earned another badge and patch...

so go junior rangers whoever you are out there

SUNDAY'S ADVENTURE

today we got out of here around 10am and off the the marine base museum in quantico...we have a very good friend  back home who was and still is a marine and has mentioned about the museum so we thought why not we are in the area.....

very interesting museum some things we have seen before it started with the war with the"BRITS" back you know when and went on to the present war in iraq...

the wars we knew the most about was world war 2--korean --veit nam--and the present.....read lots more but will i remember it all probally not...but it is history and i am glad i can go and see this stuff..

life is still great...to,morrow off to the civil war battlefield in manassas..

EASTERN SHORE

this is what we've been doing since we left town..we headed to woolford, md on the eastern shore of the cheaspeake bay to visit some friends we hadn't seen in several years..bill and sandy sharpe ..bill and lar worked at xerox  for many years..

first thing we did ws eat blue crabs that bill caught out in front of their house,,,mmmmm..then off to go do some blue fish fishing..caught only 5 but had fun chasing the birds,,,now that is how you fish for them watch the sea gulls and when yu see a bunch of them diving you know they are after fish..so off you go in their directin with the hopes of catching some......

that was on wed afternoon  then on thurs we took off again in the boat to go to lunch..great lunch..then back out on the bay to do some more fishing...no luck but as sandy said it was like sitting on the back porch watching the world go by..it was a tad rolly polly and next thing you know lar looses his lunch over board...still no luck catching fish...

friday was spent just hanging  out waiting for some old friends that used to live in spencer or she did...and lar and bill went to black water refuge to put up a deer stand for bill..

norm and dorrie arrived and we ate crab cakes mmm then out on the boat to try some fishing again..no luck..

left sat morning and we are now in the city of haymarket and today we plan on visiting the marine museum at quantico..

so life is good and we are being a tourist again..

CLOUDS

lat night was thursday and lar goes to the fire house for meetings and training..he called around 8 or so and said go outside and look at the clouds and also take some pictures...so out i went and this is what i saw..funny the clouds that were bright were in the east and not the west where the sun sets..not non the less that were different..

on wed we recieved over 2 inches of rain in about a hr and helf...things in the area were sure flooded and our lawn is still very wet in spots...

way too much in a short time didn't have time to soak in ...but this is what the weather has been like all over..

PHEASANT FAMILY

some of you know that for the last several years we have had a male pheasant come to our bird feeder..he also has brought a couple of hens along with him...this spring he had only one with him most of the time...he appeared that they were falling in love and carrying on right in front of our eyes..

then for some reason  they weren't coming around..i could hear him once in awhile so i knew he was still around..

yesterday around 10 give or take a minute or two lar said come look  '"PHILPOT" (that's what we called him) and 'PHILAMENIA"  are out in the back year near the pear tree..so i went to look then they started coming up from the hedge row...by the time they were in the yard there must have been a dozen or more little pheasant's running around...

so now we know the rest of the story they have been busy raising their family...

it is fun watching them and are glad they made an appearance...

SUMMER TIME

so what do people do in the summer ..go to family renuions and this is what we did this past weekend..the 'TRACY FAMILY..it is held local as most of the family still live in the homer/Cortland area ..oh there are some thru the USA but most still live in Cortland county..


this year it was probally the smallest group that gathered but we all know how summer goes..lots of plans and it is hard to fit everything into them..it was fun and good seeing the cousins and siblings..


so far our summer has been uneventful just trying to get things done before  we go away in sept...heading to the eastern shore of the cheaspeake for a fews days visiting some old Xerox friends and lar hopes to eat crabs one of the seafood he can...then we plan on heading to the newmarket battle field ..somethings lar has wanted to do every time we pass it on I-81 heading south but January is not the time to visit a battle field ..who knows about the weather...so what better time than sept...we also have other stops we would like to make along the way..we have several friends along the way we hope to see/visit but no real plan yet..just put that together as we go along..


then  it will be back home to start getting ready for hunting season and next January southern trip..not sure exactly what we will be dong after January we have a 2 week build scheduled in dade city then 2 weeks in Alabama near gulf shores but those 2 week will be R&R from there no really plans except to go to round rock and meet the new great grand nephew/niece then to hopefully meet up with some friends near Houston, tx not sure of date -place-where -ect


way tooooo much to do and see but life is good

CATSKILLS RUNAWAY

here we are in the town of catskill and have been there for a  couple of days..

left home on tues and headed to verona, ny where we knew we could get into the turning stone resort for the night.(yep it is a casino and NO we did not go to it)...the first night  a storm came thru that caused alot of damage and has been confirmed that it was a tornado...the campground was on the lower edge of the storm we had lots of branches down and a tree..we even brought in the slides and of course the awing and we noticed the next morning that a couple of rigs lost their awings...there was also 4 deaths in the area...t

then on wed coming across NY we heard that the albany area had also had one of the damaging storms go thru..so the god lord is watching out for us and keeping us out of the p

ath of the storms

we have visited the NY fireman's museum and very interesting museum and the price was right as lar is a volunteer and i am a member of the aux so we got in for free...there is also a nursing home for firemen...

yesterday we went to the martin van buren historical site took a tour and had a great guide she sure knows about martin..and YEP we got another junior ranger badge..

today we move on  to moreau state park where we will be going to the carlson family renuion (lar's mothers family)..this family does parades and you'd have to attend to see this parade not like you've ever seen before..who knows what ever else might be planned for th day..

life is good

VISITORS

last week we had visitors from wisconsin--florida...why you might asked 2 states..well they have a home in florida and a rig in wisconsin and were passing thru on their way to maine where they are going to be working at the KOA in bar harbour  for the summer...they arrived tues  but had had a problem in the way called a flat tire on the rig after getting that fixed and another new tire they decided not to push on the enfield but found a KOA enroute to sit back and unwind...can't blame them been there done that..

then lar and i met them on the outskirts of ithaca and tom and lar went to a tire store to get 2 more new tires and christine and i headed to enfield....then on the way up one of our hills the truck started to over heat and both tom and lar looked at each other and said that's not good...after getting to 464 and they had callled the local chevy dealer  they unhooked and took the truck over to trumansburg where it was diagnosed with a radiator problem...so it stayed there for a couple more days while they flushed it out and fixed the problem...but in the mean time we also had other habitat friends coming for dinner tues afternoon..good seeing them all...

so we just kinda hung out around ithaca  for the next 2 days waiting for the truck ;to get fixed...so off we went to the ithaca beer company--(of course we had a had a beer)...then to the famous "QUILT STORE" which is one of the top 10 in the northeast...and NO christine didn't buy 1 thing ..oh she found lots she would have liked but sat on her pocketbook ahhahahaah..

a trip to the falls especaily since we had had a hard heavy rain the night before so the fall were just a rolling which make it more interesting to see...finally they got the truck back and were on their way by thursday and are now in maine..

so we had a great visit with them and also therese-jon-and don...

life in good in the country

BACKYARD WILDLIFE

 4 years ago we first started seeing a male pheasant come  to our bird feeder and we think it has been the same one each year this year he has brought a female along with him and we have watched them all spring ..for the last couple of weeks we have only seen her once or twice so we are hoping she is sitting on a nest..he comes the the tree almost everyday by 5am and  crows and cackles of course to wake us up and he does a good job..

last night we got over 2 inches of rain so today was a day for inside jobs like clean house hahaha...finally i got a chance to sit down at the computer and lar was at the dinning room table looking at the mail..all of a sudden he says tracy  come quickly and quietly so i tried ...there under the tree was a fawn and it's  mama...by the time lar got his camera out and ready to take a picture they had decided to walk to the woods..lar's first for the spring but my second fawn to see..oh it is always exciting to see the wee little ones...

so a quiet day in the country has turned out to be rather exciting..

what better way to spend a rainy day inside..watching wildlife in the back yard..

liffe in good in the country