Saturday

It's 44.5 degrees - a bit chilly! - but beautiful!

Bright; sunny - and it's

GRADUATION DAY at WCS!

*******

• Saturday: Mostly sunny and cool. High 73
• Saturday Night: Clear and cool. Low 50
• Sunday: Partly sunny with scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 79 Low 54

***********

We may grumble about the weather, but this corn, on Hanover Road, likes it: it appears to be "knee high" already!

The Showy Ladies' Slippers are in bloom.

Probably several blog-readers will remember that back when Highschool Graduations took place in the Eastman Auditorium of the Stafford Avenue School, the janitor - a Mr. Humphrey (or Humphries) - always picked two huge bouquets of them to put on either side of the stage!

And pink or white clusters of
Musk Mallow are blooming
in fields and along country
roadsides.

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

Because trees and flowerbeds here in Whiskey Hollow took such a beating, I drove around the countryside a little bit, yesterday, to see if crops had been flattened by Thursday's storm - they didn't seem to be, but Brian Staring, who had sent two photographs of the hail on Sanger Hill, also sent me this picture of one of his Pumpkin plants.

He always grows some of the largest pumpkins we've ever seen - he doesn't know what to expect of this year's crop!

*********

A new view on Hanover Road: the old gray barn on the Cornish property has a fine new coat of dark reddish-brown paint!

And - if you drive out Hanover as far as Shanley, you can admire Sally Zweifel's gardens at the crossroads! They've just been planted.

*********

It's going to be a great day. Enjoy it!

Remember that Wimbledon 2007 starts on Monday!

Wimbledon 2007!

Friday

That was one Hail of a Storm!


It could have sounded like rain except for the fact that my barn roof is metal and the effect was more like tons of dried peas being poured into a giant kettle - LOUD.


The hailstones weren't as large as those that fell on Brookfield, a week or so ago, but they turned the ground white!


Up on Sanger Hill, Brian Staring took this picture of his deck and then .......

..... the river that began to run through his back yard into the cornfield!

**********

Today is starting out at 54 degrees and gray.

The WKTV Forecast:

• Today: Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered afternoon showers possible. Much cooler. High 67
• Tonight: Mostly clear and cool. Low 45
• Saturday: Mostly sunny and pleasant. High 73 Low 50
• Sunday: Partly sunny. High 79 Low 54

******

You can read about WCS Senior Ryan Schreck in The Waterville Times, and you can also read about him - and his battle against cancer - in today's Observer-Dispatch.

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

Dave Fox has written with a suggestion about that "fossilized turtle" that I posted, yesterday:

"It looks like what is called a 'concretion'. Sometimes called a 'sand concretion' when there is a lot of sand present. These are often found in shalebeds and embankments. Often fossils are present, and these formed whenmud packed around a shell or some other object (and often formed mudballs without anything inside them, too). Over the years, these fossilized along
with everything else in the shalebed. Sometimes you can find a fossil inside if you break it open. More often than not, though, you won't find anything inside."

Thanks, Dave! I'll let you know if I find out anything more.

------ Around Town ------

The Belfield Building on West Main Street is looking good.

There are pretty decorations everywhere in the village. This grouping is on Elmwood Avenue ......

........ and Patty Louise has put an old bike to good use!

Another one of my "Kansas Views" - way out on Canning Factory Road.

*******

*****


Have a Great Weekend, Everyone!

Thursday Morning

It's Garbage Day!


42.8 degrees

From WKTV:

• Thursday: A mix of sun and clouds. Afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Any storm could contain gusty winds and small hair. Highs in the mid 70s.Thursday night: Scattered rain showers through midnight. Becoming partly cloudy. Low in the low 50s.
• Friday: Sunshine with fair weather clouds in the afternoon. A sprinkle possible in the Adirondacks. Cool. High: 69, Low: 45

**********

A new view on Main Street!

*******

Ms. Kim Kampf carries on a long tradition: for many, many years, School Bus Drivers have been taking "their kids" to Dairy Creme for an end-of-the-year treat!
These students were just leaving - heading back to their bus and then back to school for almost the last time - this year!

Do you remember when I posted this photo of Wild Strawberries back on May 18th and said I hoped I'd remember to go back in June? I did! They're ready! And they're a real treat!

Savicki's has their own cultivated berries for sale; Foodking offers those from Tasselberries.

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

Wild strawberries were mentioned in early Greek and Roman writings. The “Alpine berries,” as they were called, were first cultivated in Europe in the Middle Ages. When settlers arrived in North America, they found strawberries (Fragaria vesca) growing wild here, and they saw larger strawberries being cultivated by the Native Americans.

Strawberries are said to be “cooling.” Herbalist Gerard declared that the berries “quench thirst, cooleth heate of the stomicke and inflammation of the liver.” Strawberries are also reputed to calm the nerves, and aid in bowel disorders (even ridding the intestines of worms). Crushed berries soothe sunburn, and supposedly whiten the complexion and make freckles disappear.

Thomas Tusser advised in his 1573 book Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, “[Strawberries] wel chosen and picked, proove excellent good.”

*****

Waiting for your Passport? Don't Worry! WKTV tells why!

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

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

Can anyone tell me the "real" name of this rock formation? They're fairly uncommon. They look like fossilized turtles - but aren't, really. I don't know what else to call them! (Seems to me it starts with a "s", but ....... )

Wednesday

It's Recyclables Day!

It's 59 degrees and gray, but not raining.

We certainly did get some rain! It came in a deluge, at around 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, announced by authoritative thunder, plenty of lightning and blown sideways by fierce gusts of wind. A second storm passed through the area an hour or so later and, after that, a more gentle rain fell for several hours. The Waterville Women's Club annual Picnic and Auction at the Town Park in Deansboro was probably moved into the Town Hall; Can & Clams at the Legion may not have actually been served out on the deck, but - rather - inside, and - perhaps Joe Falk's new swimming pool is full!

Although the lights flickered a few times and the power went off just long enough to set microwave, coffeepot and clocks blinking, we didn't have the extended outage that the Observer-Dispatch refers to in this article: Power Restored to Most of the Mohawk Valley.

Our forecast for today, from WKTV:

• Wednesdsay: Morning clouds and scattered showers giving way to partly sunny skies by afternoon. Cooler and less humid. High 74
• Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy and cool. Low 53
• Thursday: Partly sunny with scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 74 Low 52

The Weather Channel.

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

Also in this morning's O-D, this article - of interest to all of us: County to Assist in Demolition Costs.
According to a blog reader who was at the Monday evening Village Board Meeting, there were about thirty people in attendance and a resolution was passed calling on the Municipality to to seek a low bidder to raze the structure and remove the debris. The cost is estimated to be around $160,000.

(Apparently the word "raze" is new to some people - and why shouldn't it be? It doesn't get used that often and, really, means the exact opposite of what it sounds like: "raise" or "lift." The definition of "to raze" is ---- "to tear down; to level to the ground" and that certainly is something else!)

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


Another word - or phrase - that's seldom-used, nowadays, is "laying up" --- and that's what Mr. Walt Stephenson has been doing: laying up a fine stone wall next to his residence on Osborn Avenue.

******

Throughout the village, "tubs" planted be members of the Waterville Garden Club are bright and the hanging baskets suspended from hooks on telephone poles are thriving! (The DPW must be giving them special attention!)

Catalpa trees are in bloom: there are three that I always watch: one on Route 20 West of the old Mayflower Motel; one on Gridley-Paige Road and one near California Road on Route 315.

*****

Main Dtreet, a year ago today!

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

To learn alot more about BASEBALL, be sure to attend this evening's meeting of the Waterville Historical Society. Mr. Don Brown will be the speaker!

Tuesday test

Dale and Lori Meszler!

*****

Yes - the clock is right and yes, I have been up for most of the night trying to figure out WHY some browsers are losing images and why some others are not.

I think - and HOPE! - that the problem's been resolved and that now everyone -- especially John and Ann in England! -- can view Kim Deetz' Willie Nelson Concert photos that I posted yesterday!

And if you wonder why your coffee's not ready or your microwave is blinking, there was a twenty-- or thirty-second power outage around 4:35 a.m.!

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

It's Green Waste Day!

WKTV predicts:

• Tuesday: Hazy sunshine, hot and humid with thunderstorms developing late in the day. High 92
• Tuesday Night: Cloudy with rain and thunderstorms. Low 63
• Wednesday: Morning clouds giving way to sun by afternoon. High 76 Low 54

From the Weather Channel

*******

The Waterville Women's Club will meet this afternoon at the Town Park in Deansboro for their Annual Picnic and Auction.

******

This evening at the Legion: Cans and Clams on the deck from 5:30 - 8:30!

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

Tomorrow:

FARMERS MARKET in the PARK

1:00 - 7:00

and then .........

Waterville Historical Society

7:30 PM - Don Brown will speak about the
great American pastime:

BASEBALL!

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

New flower pots at Roc's!

******

The Yankees didn't play at all, last night, and Boston didn't play much, either!

Willie Nelson Photos!

A Special "Thank You!

to Kim Deetz of Deansboro

who sent these pictures that she took at the Willie Nelson Concert
for all of us to enjoy!

The famous motor coach.

The crowd waits.

And here's Willie!

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

Monday morning

It's Garbage Day!

******

and remember that there will be a

Public Discussion

at Village Board Meeting

7:00 P.M. in the Municipal Hall

in re: the

DEMOLITION of the PUTNAM STREET MILL!

*******

It's 56 degrees and sunny!

WKTV predicts:

• Monday: Mostly sunny and hot. High 88
• Monday night: Clear with patchy fog. Mild & muggy. Low 64
• Tuesday: Hazy sunshine, hot and humid with the chance for afternoon thunderstorms. High 92 Low 63

the Weatherchannel

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

I drove up Crow Hill, yesterday, expecting to find at least two towering, new windmills. You can see them from Brothertown Road and also Route 12B North of Hamilton, but they weren't there! Well - they were there - just not towering, yet.

Sections of the towers and enormous propellers lie on the ground at half-a-dozen sites tucked between fields of crops and wooded areas. The view from Crow Hill is magnificent, and I've been going there for years just to enjoy the sky!

Back to Route 20 and another vantage point: Aha! The windmills that I've been seeing are really north of Sollsville, and so I headed in that direction.

I started along Cole Road.