April 11, 2013-This And That

We had our first thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. I loved it! but I was worried about all the baby squirrels in their nests right now. I'm just writing a few lines. I never feel like posting anything these days.
As far as my health goes, I'm about the same. Minor pains now and then in the tumor area. But I'm still doing the same. getting around with my walker etc.
Nina is still getting my groceries. I give her a list through e-mail and she picks up the stuff on Sat. or Sun. She usually does it on Sundays and gets here about 8 pm with it. The girls and Jason help carry it in.
Nina has had a few people looking at her home. She's trying to sell it now, instead of renting. She will rent a place down near Albany if she can't find one to buy down there. She likes her job. Just not the long drive.
I haven't heard from Jeanne in a couple months now. Nor Debby. Jane did call last week, to catch up on things. Some of them went out to dinner to celebrate Jim and Patty's 40th anniversary, that was the 7th. Jim and patty went to Florida for a week and their son, Matt and his fiance, were meeting them there. They'll be back on the 13th.
Carol bought herself a brand new car. She's thrilled. She has a few health issues and I'm hoping she will get them taken care of and live a happy life.
I haven't heard anything about Mike. Last I heard, he still didn't have a job and his girlfriend moved back to Vermont and is working there. Mike plans on moving there also.
Haven't heard anything about Steve lately either but his daughter, Alysha, is moving out of the place she has been in, next to her sister. She's moving to Dr. Mike's place in the mountains but only temporarily, till she finds her own place. I don't know what happened but I'm presuming it's her sister.
One of the guys that got shot is still in the hospital and still has more surgery to go through in a couple weeks. He's fighting hard and we are all praying that he heals and will be able to leave there soon. The other guy is home now and healing. That's all I'll say about that. It's been rough for all the families involved.

I'm not seeing the deer as much now. And my black squirrel is still around. I haven't spotted him today though. hope he's okay after that storm.
And life goes on, one day at a  time. Be back someday. Take care everyone.

This was Easter evening. Just Jessi and Nina came over with a couple Easter plants for me. Jessi is getting so big! It wasn't a good hair day for me..LOL

Memorials-For The Shooting Victims Here On March 13th

 These are the four men that got shot and killed.

 I made this for Mike's family. Click on these to see them larger.

 This is the FBI K9 dog that got shot and killed the next morning. He was only two years old. He had just started working in February. This was his second mission.

I made all these for everyone in the valley.

 This shows how close Mohawk and Herkimer are. The shooter killed two and wounded two,  in Mohawk, then drove over the bridge to Herkimer and killed two more.
There's a community benefit for all the victims in this incident. Including the people that lost their apartments in Mohawk when Kurt Myers set his on fire. It will be held at the Mohawk American Legion on Sunday, March 24, 2013, from 1 pm till 8 pm.  And also there will be a Chinese Auction held at Francesca's in Ilion. Drawings at 5 or 6 pm. They are overwhelmed with donations. It's wonderful.

March 14, 2013-Tidbits And A Tragedy In The Area.

Here it is, March 14th and it's been another month since I've written anything. I get tired of writing sometimes. Not much new to report, as far as family is concerned. It's been a quiet month.
My tumor is getting larger and now and then I feel some pain in my lower right side. Other than that, I'm doing about the same. at least I can still eat anything, so my digestive tract is working okay.
I do have one good bit of news. The twin to my fawn, Milly, has come back, after being gone for four months. I thought she had gotten killed that last day of hunting season, because I never saw her after that. She looks good and has the same pretty face as her sister, Tilly. She is not with her mom. I do think maybe her mom did get shot ans maybe she ran scared and joined another group of deer. She's with strangers that I have never seen before. My regular group, that Tilly hangs with, is not that friendly with them. They chase them away. So I don't see Milly much. Just glad to know she's still alive and well. Here's a picture of Milly and Tilly. Milly still has the same burdock thistle stuck to her tail. poor thing. No one ever took it off for her. Tilly's tail is nice and clean and fluffy. I hope to see her again to get a better facial view.

Alysha's baby, Benny, is growing so fast. he is so adorable. I'm adding some newer photos of him also. Spencer, the dog, watches over Benny all the time.

Jimmy still hasn't rented his apartment in Ilion. I hope he does soon. I keep advertising it for him but he doesn't get any calls. maybe when the snow goes away.

Gavin and his wife have split up. I didn't know. He said a month ago. So he's living out near Syracuse and it's closer to his work. That's all I know.

Now to the sad news that has happened here in the valley. Yesterday morning, the 13th, a guy from Mohawk set his apartment on fire, then drove down the street to a barber shop here in Mohawk. walked in and asked the owner, John Seymour, if he remembered him. John said, "yes, I remember you. Good morning Kurt." Then this guy, Kurt Meyer, proceeded to pull out a shotgun and shot John and three other customers. Two of them died. John and another guy, who I went to school with, were rushed to the hospital. John is going to be okay. He had bullet wounds to his hip and wrist and had surgery. The other guy, Dan Haslauer is in critical condition. The two that died were Harry Montgomery, 68, and Michael Ransear.
This Kurt Meyer left the barber shop, got in his vehicle and drove a mile and a half into Herkimer, the next town over, and stopped at Gaffey's Fast Lube. Got out and went in there and shot and killed two more men. Mike Renshaw and Thomas Stefka. Mike was my daughter's old boyfriend and a fun guy. I only have one picture of him with my daughter when they were at my bar in 1994. I'll add that here. Mike was a 23 year Veteran of the State Correctional Office and worked at Marcy State.

He also grew up a couple houses away from my younger sister, Pam, over in Herkimer. They are all good friends. So Pam called me yesterday because she was so sad about it. Then Nina sent me a message also. She was shocked.
After the guy shot the two men at Gaffey's, he proceeded to drive up Main Street in Herkimer, parking his car behind the old General Herkimer Hotel, and went inside that great big old abandoned building. That's where he was all day yesterday, the 13th and all night. At one time yesterday, around 2 pm, he did shoot out of the window at the officers.
The officers waited till this morning and then went in, sending their K-9 dog in first. The guy shot and killed the dog and the officers killed Kurt Meyer. It's over. No one seems to know why he would do such a thing. He was a loner and kept to himself and hardly ever talked. He lived in the apartment behind my cousin, Angie, for a few years, till she moved. he had been there since 2005. Angie said he was always a little strange, in the fact he never talked. He walked a lot at night an did go in a few bars around the area. But he was quiet in the bars also. They never even knew his name. No relatives of his have come forward yet. But guess he hasn't had any contact with them in years either.
The Herkimer schools were all closed today. They were all on lockdown yesterday, in Mohawk and Herkimer. Scary for the young ones.
I feel bad for all the families involved. It will be a very long time before they can start healing.
Mike was due to get married next month and has a young son from a previous marriage. So sad.
So that is what I have to report for this month. Don't expect me back too often.
Take care everyone.
Wanted to add this one last photo.

February 15, 2013-I'm Still Here..Ha!

I know I haven't been here in a long time. In fact, it's been a month now! I'm getting bored with writing lately. Sorry.
Nothing much has changed. Everyone is doing okay. It was Jordan's 15th birthday on the 13th but it was also a sad day for him. His best friend from school got killed in an automobile accident on his way to school on the 12th. The roads were bad and his brother was driving. Their car slid and a cattle truck crashed into the passenger side where Anusha Yagey was sitting.  It's a hard thing for kids that age to go through if they've never experienced a young one dying before. It's hard enough with older relatives passing away. Jordan lost his other Grandmother a few years ago. I couldn't put anything funny on his Facebook page for his birthday. Just wasn't the right time. So I made him a memorial picture for his friend. I guess they all liked to walk in the woods and that is where Jordan and his friends are going tonight. Where it's peaceful and they can laugh about the good times.

We've had quite a bit of snow this past month. It has been warm the past couple days though. But that's not going to last. We might have a little snow by morning and it's going to be colder again. But at least not the below zero weather we had in the past few weeks.

The deer are still coming over every day. I even saw some turkeys. And an Opossum is visiting! I haven't seen one in a couple years.
The black squirrel is still here also. I love watching him. he's been a busy boy, building nests and chasing the girls. I sure hope I see a baby black one this year.
Jeanne was over a couple weeks ago. I haven't heard a word from Debby. But Jane told me that they've cut all her overtime off. So her money will be a bit tighter now.
Jane is busy working at Savey's office. He's so busy that he's not going to take the four days to go south with the guys like he usually does. I guess another accountant in the area closed up his business and now Savey is swamped with some of those people.
Matthew and his fiance were home for a week to visit Jim and Patty. It was a very cold week but Patty said they stayed home most of the time and just enjoyed being together.
Jane said that Steve has decided to let his house go. He wants to move south. So he's just going to let it go back to the bank. He's had no luck trying to sell it and he owes way too much on it anyway.
Mike is still looking for a job. Guess he plans on moving back to Vermont. His girlfriend has already gone. She has a job there.
A few of my Aunts are getting worse. Aunt Sarah is in the hospital. They have found a lot of tumors. She's 82 so don't think she will be doing anything about it. I hope not. I think the treatments would kill her.
Aunt Betty was in because she was dehydrated. She's getting the worse, as far as her Alzheimers goes. I think Aunt Shirley is doing the best but she also took a fall but is on the mend. I don't think her mind is as bad as Betty's I didn't know Aunt Sarah was in the first stages of it either. Their youngest sister is worried she might get it.... Don't worry Aunt Bev. You will be okay... You've always been more active. By the way, Diana never did find that old picture but jimmy sent me a bigger copy of the one you gave him and I fixed it up so it looks clearer.
Since I gave up my car, I can't get to the store any more to get my groceries and am now waiting for Nina to get them. I hope she gets them soon. My cupboards are bare.  The kid that picked me up a few things now and then won't be around any more because his mother is in the hospital and she might be staying in a nursing home. He was over here almost every day to visit her, so it was handy to have him pick me up a couple items now and then. I paid him for gas.
I haven't called the Office Of The Aging yet, to get help. I called once and they never called me back. But I have to pay for an aide to come in a couple hours a week they said. So I might as well just hire someone to go to the store once in a while for me. I do know a girl from Ilion that does that. My family is always too busy. And I hate to ask.
I finally sent Alysha her book that I had made of her baby and a DVD of the slide show I made. I'm adding that here so my relatives can see it also. As soon as I go get it..LOL That's all for now. Here's a few pics of Alysha's little boy, Benny. He's so cute!

January 16, 2013-Well It's A New Year And I'm Still Behind-Ha Ha

I can't believe it's the middle of January already and I have never been back here to let you know I'm still alive. Ha! Well, I am! Not sure if I will be here for another year though. My liver area is getting more aches and the tumor is enlarging. But I can't say that I have any real pain yet. So I'm plugging along.
Winter was upon us at the beginning of the month, then we had our January thaw, which ended today. We got a couple inches of new snow today. Everything was looking dirty and muddy so I'm happy to see it covered up with snow again.
Let's see.  I'll try to catch up on a few things. Jimmy had the flu and was bedridden for a week. Then Patty's mom died and they had to go through that, with company staying at their home for a few days. And they came sick! Luckily, Patty has not gotten sick yet.
Jim called me the other day because his apartment is empty in Ilion and he wanted to me to list it on Craigslist. I did that right away.
Debby got sick while at work and Jane had to go get her. They wouldn't let Deb drive herself home. I guess it was more the stomach and a cold. Not the Flu. But I haven't talked to Deb since before Christmas. I haven't talked to Jeanne since before Christmas either. Jane did call me last week to tell me about Debby. Jane will be very busy now for the next few months, working at Savey's office. She always helps him during tax season.
I never heard how Steve's visit went down in NC. Alysha only had that one picture of him with the baby. I'm not sure why there were not any other pictures while he was down there. I hope he didn't get drunk and make an ass out of himself.
I think I mentioned that my car was not starting very well since I went out on Dec. 20th. I was happy to make it back home that night. I went out a week ago to try it and all it did was click, click. The lights were bright. So I knew at that time it was the starter and not the battery.  If I had gotten a new starter, then I'd need a new battery. Then I'd need work done where the noise was underneath the front, which I think was a hole in my manifold. The cloth on the ceiling was falling down and I had to tack that up. It was very damp inside the car because the rubber seal was coming off the back window. I was having a harder and harder time trying to get up out of that car because of my very weak legs.
I decided to give up having a car. It's time. I advertised it on Craigslist and sold it to a guy right here in the Mohawk area. He bought it for the demolition derby this summer at the county fair. If he didn't buy it, then Vince's U-Pull-IT was going to come down and take it away. The guy came Sunday with his flatbed trailer and took it. I gave him all the paint and oil products that I had bought. I had bought the exact paint to match that car but never got around to fixing it after I broke my wrist and was sick. I just couldn't do things like that any more. The car had gotten so rusty. But it was a good car for me for the past thirteen years. I had my brother, Rick and sister, carol tot hank for that. It was their dad's car. After he died they had to get rid of it. So my old boyfriend, Don, took me to PA to get it. The kids sold it to me for $500. It had to be cleaned. It was the dirtiest car I had ever seen inside. I scrubbed and scrubbed that thing, till it looked like new again. He had even bled on the seat. And he smoked like crazy. But it was a good running car. I'm sticking a picture of it being towed away Sunday.

There goes my old 1993 Olds Cutlass Ciera SL. It only had 68,000 miles on it. I wasn't even putting 300 miles a year on it. That's not good either. So why have a car?
Yesterday (Tuesday), Christina and Chris Hoover, my cousins, came over and got the plates and took them back to the DMV for me. Then they dropped off my receipt to the insurance office in Ilion for me. That was so nice of them.
I won't have to worry any more about that car. Especially now when it snows. I always worried about them wanting to move it o plow and I paid the guy upstairs to shovel and clean it off all the time. But he's going in for an operation and wouldn't have been able to do it any more.
I woke up today and still had that worry, till I realized that it's gone now. No more stress about that!
So now all I have to get rid of is the shovel and snow brush. I'll give that to the maintenance man or if someone needs it here.
Nina took me out Saturday evening to get all my groceries for the month. She has a mini van, so it was easy getting in and out. But I was still so tired when I got all done. It sure was nice that she could help get everything inside for me. It would have taken me three trips to my car.
Nina won't have her mini van for long though. It was costing her $800 a month to drive to Albany and back every day. She's trading it in on a smaller car that will only cost her $350 instead. She's still looking all the time for a home down there to rent.
I'll just have to find someone to get my groceries for me. I did call the Office For The Aging to see about getting a home aide but they never called me back and they said I'd have to pay for one  and they only come once every two weeks. I've got to look into that more. The women here have them twice a week and they do the grocery shopping and laundry etc. for them. I might have to go through my doctor first. So I'll be checking into that soon.
I'm starting to go through my closets again. Got to get rid of more stuff. The more pains I get in my side, the more I realize that I better get more done. I guess I'll be having someone take a lot of stuff to the Salvation Army. Or maybe Goodwill. I haven't had any luck trying to sell any more things on Craigslist. I have all those record albums but no one seems to have a record player any more. I've got winter coats and blazers also to get rid of. I got all winter to clean stuff out. I can't do too much at a time. I get so weak.
The deer come over now and then. Tilly comes with the two other adult Does. The girl on the hill next door is seeing a bunch of Turkeys lately. They must stay over there because I haven't seen any.
The pretty bird that was hanging around hasn't been seen since we had a heavy wind on the 9th. It was a Varied Thrush and it was so pretty. And one of the squirrel's nests got blown down. A female was living in it too. She is okay. I saw her checking it out the next day. But there's only a few leaves up there now. Too much of a job for her to try and rebuild. She's pregnant. I'm glad it didn't happen after she had babies.
The black squirrel is still here and I watched him build a nest. He's doing real good. He's so pretty.
I have never seen a fox since late September. I miss them.
So.....all and all, I guess things are still going okay.  Sorry it's taken me so long to write. I just received my Blog To Book, that I order every year from here. It's the past twelve months that I wrote in here. I have one printed out at the end of each year. it's just like a journal. The kids will enjoy reading them someday. I keep it all in black and white so it's cheaper. All the pictures that I have in this blog through the year are in it also but in black and white. With shipping and everything it runs me about $25. If I kept it in color it would be about $45. I like them. The cover and back can have a colored picture on it though.
Got to go now. Take care everyone. Hope you all have an easy winter.