Merry Christmas

I hope everybody has a very Merry Christmas.

We were supposed to be up to Brenda’s for Christmas but Wednesday night she called and said that their was a storm coming through with a lot of snow so we decided to stay here for Christmas. Dulse was disappointed so we are going up Monday after the holiday traffic is over. We will stay for a couple of days.

We stayed here and Jerry is busy sheetrocking. He has started on the taping now. We will have a quite dinner with the two of us. His brother Bob that was here went back up to NY for the holidays. His sister Joan and husband are going to some friends so we will be by ourselves.

The weather has been quite cold at night but during the days it gets up into the high 60’s. I’d like to see some more warmer weather. I shouldn’t complain because up home there are getting a lot colder weather.

Well, stay warm and enjoy the holidays.

In Florida AT Last

Well, we finally made it back to Florida. We got here on the 14th. I haven’t had a chance to post a blog since my birthday on the 7th of Dec.

On the 10th of Dec was our 50th wedding Anniversary. Well, we didn’t plan to do anything special. We went out to dinner for our usually Friday night fish fry with Terry, Jackie, Charlie and Ann.

On Saturday we planned to go up to Turning Stone with Terry and Jackie for a couple of hours and then stop somewhere for dinner. Well, on the way home they took us to the VFW hall in Richfield Springs. When we got there we were surprised with a party put on by all the kids. JJ, Eric with son Dolan, Pam with her two daughters Arica and Amber, Brenda with Dulce, Tracy, Jeff and Donna were all there. We were really surprised because that is the first time they have been all together in a couple of years.

JJ, Jeff, Eric, Brenda,Tracy, Pam,Jerry And Flo

Amber, Dolan, Arica, Jerry, Dulce, and Flo

Florence & Jerry

We had all of our friends there. After we went home all the kids came to the house. Lois also spent the night.

Pam, Arica, Amber, Eric and Dolan had an early flight out the next morning so they left that night to stay in motel in town. Tracy, JJ and Lois left the next day. JJ was getting a flight from Rochester so he stayed Sunday night at Tracy’s. We left Sunday morning with Brenda and Dulce and spent the night at Brenda’s. We left the next morning for Florida. We stayed in Stark, Florida Monday night and got to Belleview around 10:00 on Tuesday. Since then we have been quite busy cleaning and getting things organized. Jerry started sheetrocking this week. He has only the bedroom wall left to do.

Tomorrow we leave to spend Christmas with Brenda and Dulce in Richmond. We will be back Monday night.

 

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday (Flo). I was born on Pearl Harbor Day. Dec 7th 1941. My mother had me at home. She said that the doctor was more interested in listening to the radio than what was happening to her. Jerry says that it is an easy date for him to remember because they usually have something on TV or in the papers about it.

Well, I hope everybody has a good day.

We Have Snow!!

Haven’t been doing much lately. Just getting stuff ready for Florida. We will have a truck load. We plan on leaving this next Sunday.

This morning when I got up it was snowing out. It has been snowing off and on all day. I took this picture about 4:00.

I just hope we don’t get to much more.

Jerry went up to Dolgeville to visit his brother Bruce. He had surgery last Friday on some limp nodes that he had removed. Don’t know yet how much chemo he will have to have. Right now he doesn’t plan on going to Florida this year. Jerry’s brother Bob hasn’t left for Florida yet either. I don’t know yet when he plans on leaving. He usually is down there by the middle of Nov. Jerry’s brother Mac is doing pretty good. He has to go back in hospital to have more surgery on tendons on his knee.

Yesterday we went to a party for the town of Stark to celebrate the retirement of a friend that worked on the town council. There were a lot of our friends there. It was nice to see everybody before we leave for Florida.

RAIN, RAIN and More RAIN

Well, we have been having our share of rain. I would rather have all this rain than snow.

On the way up to Rochester Thursday morning we stopped for about 45 minutes at Turning Stone Casino at Vernon, NY. Here are some pictures of their Christmas decorations.

We had a nice small Thanksgiving with daughter Tracy. There was just the three of us with plenty of food.

In the afternoon we went over to her friends home that we have known for years. Mary Ellen and Steve with their two sons Cameron and Jared, plus her parents Flo and Ken.

We went out to breakfast with Tracy the next morning. We left about 11:00 to come back home. When we got here Lois was here so we went out to dinner at Lombardo’s. We were joined by Terry and Jackie for the fish fry.

Saturday Lois, Jerry and I went to Arlene and Gary’s to pick them up for the trip to Barry and Sally’s so we could talk over plans for our cruise in Jan. Jerry went for the day but he isn’t going on cruise with us. Lois and I will share a cabin. There was Barry's’ brother and wife and Gary’s cousin and wife also there. We discussed plans for the cruise and then had a light lunch.

We went out to dinner that night with Lois and the next morning she drove home.

Tuesday, I went to Albany airport to pick up Jerry’s niece Donna. She flew in from Colorado to see how here house in coming along. She stayed here for the night and the rest of week she will stay at her brothers.

It’s getting closer to Florida.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. I hope everybody will have a nice day with good food and enjoy it with their family and friends.

We are going up to Rochester to have Thanksgiving with daughter Tracy. All I need to do is make a pumpkin pie. After I get there in the morning I will help her get the meal together.

In the afternoon we plan visiting her friend Mary Ellen and family. We will stay at Tracy’s apartment and go home Friday. We usually take Tracy out for breakfast in the morning before we leave.

We have been busy since my last posting but not doing anything worth writing about. Jerry is done working on the farm because he has to much to do around here that has to be done before we leave for Florida.

Lois is coming down Friday afternoon. We will probably go out for dinner Friday with her. Then on Saturday we are going with Lois, Arlene and Gary to visit some friends from Florida that we will be going on a cruise with in Jan. We have to get our fun passes taken care of. Lois will probably leave for home on Sunday.

Jerry’s niece Donna is coming here on Tuesday. I have to go to Albany to pick her up. She plans on staying here Tuesday night then at her brother Tony’s house the rest of week.

So far we plan on leaving for Florida about the 12th or 13th of Dec. I just hope we don’t get any snow before that.

Indian Summer

Not much has been happing here. Last week it was cold and nasty. But this week it has turned nice out. Yesterday it got up into the high 60’s and today it was into the 70’s. I’ll take this kind of weather any day. I try to get in about 3 miles a day. Monday it rained all day so I didn’t walk. Yesterday and today I did the three miles. Today I went a little farther. I ended up walking around the cemetery up the road from us. I checked out some of the monument there. The newer ones are quite pretty.  People put scenes of trees, lakes and even houses on them. But I like the older monuments that are quite tall. I recognized quite a few of the names of a lot of families that live in this area. Some people don’t like going to cemeteries but I think it is ok in the day time. My sister Lois was telling me about some of the people that live in her complex went to a cemetery at night around Halloween to see if they could see any ghosts. Well I guess they didn’t see any. It reminded Lois and I of the time when her husband, Don, took our mother to the cemetery to put flowers on Dad’s grave. While walking around the area he stepped in a hole. My mother said that his face turned white as a sheet. I guess he though for a moment that somebody was pulling him into a grave.

The next couple of days if it stays nice like this I want to do some fall cleaning. I have to wash the windows. The screens are so dusty that when the sun shines in they look terrible. I want to get it looking nice so when Jerry’s niece Donna comes it looks nice. She is flying in from Colorado on the 30th. I have to pick her up at the airport in Albany. She is staying here the first night. After that I guess she is staying at some of her other relatives and friends homes.

We will be staying here until after Donna leaves on the ninth of Dec. Then we will be headed south.

Catching Up

I can’t believe its been soon long since I wrote in my blog. We really haven’t been doing much.

Oct 16th we went with Arlene & Gary to another Colgate game at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. It was about a two hour drive. It was nice that day but cold. Colgate won.

Oct 17th we went up to Carthage to see Lois. We had a nice visit then went out to dinner and had a nice drive around the area. Here are some pictures of the windmills in Lowville.

They have quite a few up there.

On the 20th Jerry’s brother Mac had an accident while working and did quite a bit of damage on his knee. It bent backwards and went out of socket but luckily when he got to the hospital they got it back in socket. But he had to have surgery because blood clots were forming in his leg. They left the wounds open and let them drain. He had two of them stitched up on Friday and the rest will be worked on Monday. We went to visit a couple of time. He is in pretty good spirits.

Oct 23rd we went to a 50th wedding anniversary for Ann and Charlie. All of our friends were there and had a good time.

Oct 24th Jerry worked around the house and in the afternoon we went for a ride south. Every fall we like to go south along the Schoharie River to all the vegetable stands. We like to stop at the Carrot Barn in Middleburgh. We got some cider doughnuts and coffee. I remember when all the kids were home when they were small we would buy a fifty pound bag of carrots here for about $6.00. Then after the kids got home from school they peeled them and when I got home from work I would freeze them.

Then we went to the Apple Barn in Schoharie.

The leaves were pretty down that way. Up north here they are pretty much gone.

The camera doesn’t do a good job of showing all the colors.

This week we haven’t done much except work. Jerry is still busy on the farm house. Today Jerry is helping Jeff burn some sumac on his land.

If has been on the cold side most of the week. I wouldn’t be surprised that it snowed pretty soon.

Last Rose Of Summer

Well, I pick the last of my roses for this year. Don’t they look pretty. Today I was cleaning out my flower garden. I decided to pick these before the frost got them.

I still don’t feel tip-top but better than last week. I have been working around yard getting things put away for winter. I still  have more flower gardens to do.

Jerry has been busy working on his niece’s farm house. Wednesday we went out to dinner with Bvy, John,  Arlene and Gary. We went up to the East End Steak House in Little Falls. It was Bvy birthday on the 5th and Jerry’s birthday on the 7th. Arlene and Gary’s anniversary on the 9th. So we all were celebrating. Although Jerry said he doesn’t celebrate his birthday anymore because who wants to celebrate getting older. He was only 71 so he has a long way to go. LOL.

 

Flo & Jerry

 

Arlene & Gary

Bvy & John

Friday we went out with Terry and Jackie to Lombardo’s for fish.

This weekend we didn’t do anything. Jerry worked and I worked around house.

Not Feeling Well

This past week I haven’t been feeling well. I got up Tuesday morning feeling faint. I felt like the room was spinning. I couldn’t do nothing without feeling like I was spinning so I went back to bed. I slept most of the day. Wednesday I felt a little better. I did go get my hair cut. That was about all I did all day. Thursday, I felt pretty good but a little weak. Friday morning I got up and felt a little dizzy again so I decided to go to the doctors. My doctor didn’t have any opening so they said to go to urgent care. The closest one is in Amsterdam. The doctor said that I had fluid on the ear so he gave me prescription for some amoxicillin. I still have times when I get a little dizzy. Saturday we were supposed to go to the Colgate game with Arlene and Gary. I stayed home because I didn’t feel that great, Jerry went. I knew that if I went out in the colder weather all afternoon I would get worse.

Yesterday I felt pretty good so we went for ride up north to see the leaves. We had dinner out and then came home.

We crossed the lower part of Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga into Vermont by ferry.

Small town of Brandon, VT.

Some of the country side. I took through window so I have a reflection.

The pretty colors of the leaves didn’t come out in picture.

Fall is Here

Well, I got through the garage sale finally. Most of what was left I took to Salvation Army. I took a couple of boxes to my sister-in-law to sell at her garage sale. She has nice spot for it on Route 20. So only a few things came back into house. Maybe the kids will want it.

We didn’t do to much all week. Joan and George are up from Florida. They stopped in on Monday afternoon and invited us over for dinner Wednesday night. We took Bob with us to Kathy and Jay’s camp where Joan and George are staying. We had a pleasant evening visiting with Jerry’s sister Chipper, Joan, George, Joan's’ daughter Kathy and her husband Jay, Bob and us.

Friday, we went to the Eastern States Fair in Springfield, Mass with Terry and Jackie.

Jackie, Terry and Jerry trying to see were we are.

The mounted police of the Eastern states.

Jackie and I did some shopping in the village venders booths there while the guys rested on the church steps.

On the way home it was early so we stopped at the Prime Outlets in Lee, Mass to do a little shopping. Again the guys found a spot to sit and visit while Jackie and I did some shopping.

Saturday, Jerry worked on farm while I did some yard work.

Sunday, we went up to Lois’ to close up her camper. That took an hour or so. We then went up to Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario just west of Watertown. We had dinner at the Boathouse Restaurant. Sunday was the last day of the season for them.

The leaves are starting to change fast. Today is not so nice. We had a little rain earlier this morning and looks like it will rain again. There is a little wind and the leaves are starting to fall pretty fast. So most of this week I will be raking up leaves.

Garage Sale Again

Well, we didn’t do to much this week. Jerry worked on farm house all week.

All I did was get ready for my garage sale this weekend. This is it. What doesn’t sell go to Sally Ann’s or thrown out. Some of the stuff I will put on Freecycle to see who might want it.

Yesterday, Friday I did pretty good. This morning has been pretty slow. I have had a couple of Amish stop. They all bought something. This morning an Amish older gentleman bought a pair of my hiking boots that I don’t use anymore. There was quite a bit of wear left in them. He said that his grandson will fit into them.

I don’t have high prices on things. I would rather sell something for a few coins than end up throwing it away.

Tonight we are going to go out to eat with Terry and Jackie. We will be going to Lambardo. If we go there on Friday I usually get the fish fry but tonight I’ll try something else. Last night Jerry and I went to the Winner’s Circle so I had my fish last night. The Winner’s Circle has the best broiled fish around. I don’t know what they put on it but it is always good.

 Well, wish me luck on the garage sale because everybody is probably sick of hearing about it. This is my last one!!!

Never Forget 9-11

Well, when you think back to that terrible day I am sure everybody remembers what they were doing when you first heard about it. We had just come back from a trip to Michigan. We went to a wedding of the son of our friends Bob and Kathy. It was in Saugatuck which is on Lake Michigan. Saugatuck is a small artsy town very upscale. The parents of the bride had a home right on the Lake. There was a long stairway down to the beach where they had a big tent set up for the wedding. The caterers had to carry everything up and down the stairs. It was a very lovely wedding. You would think that a beach wedding would be informal but this one wasn’t. Did you ever try to dance in heels in the sand? Everyone had a good time though. We drove out and back but some of our friends flew out. We got back Monday and everything was back to normal. Well, Tuesday, my mother called all hysterical trying to tell me something about the market falling. (I though she meant the stock market). Then she said to turn the TV on. Then all was history. The bride and groom flew to Grease for honeymoon and had a hard time coming home.

It was a great weekend but the days following we didn’t know if we would be traveling anywhere's for awhile.

We were all thankful that it happened after we were home and not before.

Well, back to this Friday, we went golfing with Russ, Lynn, Terry and Jackie. The golf coarse was up in Ilion behind Russ and Lynn's house. Everybody did pretty good except me. I think I get worse the more I play.

After the golfing we went to Vernon Downs to the buffet that they have there. It was very good. We stayed for about 5 races and then came home. 

Today, Jerry went to work on the farm (Donnas' place). I mowed the lawn all afternoon. Hope to finish it tomorrow.

Labor Day

I hope everybody had a great Labor Day. We had a great day. Jerry worked at his niece Donnas' place. She lives in Colorado but she bought the old farm that her family lived on when she was young. She wants to do it over into a place where she can come to when she is out this way. Her brothers Tony and Peter are working with Jerry to get it done. Tony has the out side work to do, plus cleaning up the barn. He is clearing the brush from around house so Jerry and Peter can do some foundation work. There are some other nephews and friends working on the cleanup. They will be gutting the house of all plaster and tearing out walls that she wants done. She plans to add decks and a gazebo off the decks where they come together. It is a major redo. It will take awhile to do all of this work. Jerry will work as long as we are up north. When we go to Florida, Peter and Tony will continue to do what ever they can this winter.

Yesterday, Wednesday, it started out nice. I went for walk in the morning but then it turned out rainy and cold. It didn’t rain hard but enough to make it miserable. Last night we went to dinner over to Bvy & Johns’ house. Arlene and Gary came over later for dessert.

Today, it is rainy, dark and cold. I can’t do anything outside so I’m working on my computer. Reading blogs and looking up stuff.

Well, I hope it clears up tomorrow, because we are supposed to go golfing with Russ, Lynn, Terry and Jackie. Then we plan on going to Vernon Downs to the races and have dinner there.

Hot Weather to Cold Weather

Well, our hot weather didn’t last long. Friday was half way decent. It was in the middle 70s. I got some rose bushes from Jerry’s niece, so I started to plant them. We made another flower bed. This one is along the drive way going into our place. Jerry tilled up the dirt and we planted the rose bushes plus some lilies. I have no idea what they will look like until they come back next year. We got the black plastic down but we had to get more mulch.

We went out to dinner Friday night at the Olympic Diner in Amsterdam. Jerry had macaroni & cheese and I had their broiled haddock. We both enjoyed our meal, although I like Winner’s Circle’s broiled haddock better.

Saturday morning we went back to Amsterdam to get more mulch. After we put it down we decided to get some edging blocks to put around it. I would work a little on it and it would start to rain. Then I’d put everything away and the sun would come out. I did that twice and the last time I called it quits for the day.

After that we left to go to a football game at Colgate College with Arlene and Gary. Last year we went to all their home games and so this year we plan to go to some of them. Colgate played  Monmouth. Colgate won 30 to 29. It was a good game put Colgate almost lost it. They were ahead quite a bit in first half and then Monmouth started playing better. But Colgate ended up the winner.  It looked like it was going to rain all night. It held off but it was cold.

Sunday, we went to the races at Saratoga for the last time this year. I won the first race but then I went downhill from there. Jerry had some winner. Terry and Jackie didn’t do so good. It was supposed to be in the high 60 but I dough if it got into the high 50’s. We were all dressed in several sweaters and jackets. But we had fun.

Porch & Deck

Awhile ago I mentioned that Jerry finished the porch railings and the deck railings. Well, this morning I took a couple of pictures of them.

The front porch.

The Deck.

The stairs to go down. I think he did a good job.

Having warm weather again

Well, not much happening here. Mornings, I go for walk before it gets to hot. Monday, I went to visit Nancy. While I was there Mary and Craig stopped in for a visit. Nancy and I both worked for Mary in her Ceramics Shop years ago. Mary and Craig live in Florida year around in Top of The World community. They are up here to visit family. We had a lot of reminiscing to do. Nancy is doing good. She lost her husband 2 years ago and she hasn’t gotten used to it yet.

Tuesday all I did was go for my walk and washed the car. Its just to hot to do anything else. Jerry has been working at Russ and Lynn’s house the last couple of days. Today I’ll probably do the same. I don’t know were Jerry gets all his energy. He keep busy all the time.

Home

Well, Friday I came home. Terry’s sister Kathy and husband Paul are up from Florida, so we all went to Lombardo’s for dinner. Jerry, Jackie and I had the fish fry. Paul, Kathy and Terry all had some pizza. We won’t see Paul and Kathy again until we go back to Florida.

Saturday we just took it easy working around house. Jerry has been staining the barn and I did some mowing. After Jerry got done on barn he helped me finish up the mowing. He gets the old mower.

Today we went to Saratoga races with Terry and Jackie. Jerry had a big winner in the first race but didn’t have anything after that. I didn’t have anything all day. Terry and Jackie didn’t do much better. Rachel Alexandra was supposed to be the big winner in the 10th race, but she came in second. We leave after about the 8th race. We don’t usually bet on a horse that is hyped up that much so we didn’t miss much. Her odds were very low. Everyone said that she was a sure winner. Well, there is only one more week of racing so next Sunday will be the last for us until next year.

State Fair

Thursday we went to the state fair at Syracuse. We got there about 10:30. I think we went into all the buildings and saw all the exhibits. Since it was opening day there were quite a few people at most of the booths. They were still judging a lot of the entrants.

Some of the Indian Dancers in the Indian Village.

Some of the young entrants modeled their own creations.

Lois in front of some living statues.

The little boy had his picture taken with them and the girl statue knelt down and the boy jumped. When he left he waved to her and she waved back. It was very cute.

Model train building.

Sand sculpture that they are working on. By the end of fair it will be completed. They are working on a boat.

Picnic

Lois lives in senior housing, so Wednesday they had a picnic at the Whetstone Gulf State Park. Lois's birthday is today the 25 of August. So we had that to celebrate also.

We went to the park by a school bus with driver that donated their time.

Lois and I waiting for bus in front of her apartment.

The pavilion were they had the picnic.

Some people playing a ladder game (I don’t know the real name) and polish horseshoes. It was cloudy and cool most of the day. After we got home Lois wanted to go shopping so we went to Watertown to Best Bye. Then we had dinner at Bob Evans.