Thursday morning

It's Garbage Day!

32.5 degrees, and - according to WKTV - we're looking at several days of "April Showers."

• Today: Morning fog, followed by mostly cloudy skies with showers possible late in the day. High 60
• Tonight: Cloudy with rain, possibly a thunderstorm. Low 48
• Friday: Cloudy with morning rain, tapering off to showers. Showers and a few storms possible during the day. High 63 Low 48
• Saturday: Mostly cloudy with rain showers. High 58 low 43
• Sunday: Mostly cloudy with rain showers. High 59 low 44

It was a gray day, yesterday, but this Forsythia bush on Berrill Avenue made a nice bright spot!

It must have been a good day for fishing, for there were several cars parked next to Big Creek. I was going to take a picture of a couple but then thought, "No! That would give away someone's favorite place, and that would not be good!"


At the corner of Barton Avenue and White Street - watch for new siding .....

and a new planting on Main Street!

Tonight at Hamilton College: "Former Vice-president Al Gore will speak about Global Warming."

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The Yankees-Toronto game was postponed due to heavy rain, but..

Have a good day!

Wednesday morning

It's Recyclables Day!

A chilly 34.2 degrees, but warming up later on.

From WKTV:

• Today: Partly sunny with a brief shower possible this afternoon...especially along and south of the NYS Thruway. High 58
• Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 35
• Thursday: Mix of sun & clouds. High 63 low 43
• Friday: Cloudy with rain likely. High 59 Low 44
• Saturday: Partly sunny with scattered showers. High 58 Low 43
• Sunday: Partly sunny. High 62 low 41

Also on the WKTV website, Lee Center Damage Caused by Microburst. If you've lived in Waterville for more than nine years you know what those are like!

And, more than likely, if you live in the countryside, you'll share this concern:WKTV NEWS: Farmers concerned about losing local farms.

It was another fine day for Spring Cleaning, yesterday.
The DPW was out, sweeping the streets...

and picking up and raking the Park!

Shirley Kellogg said that she heard "Peepers" for the first time on Sunday, and the first bunch of Pulmonaria - or "lungwort" - bloomed yesterday.

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I had a telephone call, yesterday, from Sharry Whitney of Mohawk Valley Living - the weekly television series that visited Waterville twice, a year-and-a-half ago, and who plan on coming back here in the next few weeks! They'll be writing to the owners of "Sanger Hill" - which was in great disrepair when they last saw it - to try and arrange a visit. I'm sure they'll want to look at our new Library and, perhaps, climb back up to the bell tower to hear the bells - silenced by a blue tarp, back then. I'll make sure that they have a photo of one of the new "Welcome to Waterville" signs and ALSO make sure that they know that the WCS Marching Band will be representing New York State in Washington, D.C., on the Fourth of July! Any other "must-see" suggestions?

This coming Sunday "Mohawk Valley Living" will be in Deansboro! Watch the show at 7:30 A.M. on WKTV; at 10:00 A.M. on CW (Channel 11) or at 12:05 A.M., again, on WKTV.

Tuesday afternoon

Guess who's been listening to his very own Singing Balloon!

BOB TREEN!

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If you stop in at the Home Shoppe he'll
probably let you sing a chorus or two, too!

Tuesday morning

It's 46 degrees and gray. We did have some rain, last night, and I heard the wind blowing a little, but according to this morning's O-D, we were lucky!


"Storm Knocks out Power for Thousands"

I was going to ask, "I wonder who will be the first to mow their lawn?" but that question's already been answered by the sight of the straight green swaths on the lawn at Municipal
Hall!

(photo from Google images.)

As soon as hepaticas bloom in the Fuess-Cleary Road woods, the tiny little Spring Beauties follow.

In his classic culinary field guide, "Stalking the Wild Asparagus," Euell Gibbons wrote a charming chapter on the edible tubers of this plant, which measure anywhere from half-an-inch to an inch or more in diameter. He remarked that the "spuds" don't really taste like potatoes at all but rather are sweeter in flavor, like boiled chestnuts, though with a softer, smoother texture.

However, even back in 1970, Gibbons sounded a note of caution and restraint. He warned against overharvesting the tubers in the wild and diminishing the plants' flowering display. "The tubers are good food for the body," he wrote, "but after a long winter, the pale-rose flowers in early spring are food for the soul."

(I did try digging and cooking a very small amount, once: and once was enough!)

I found Diane and Kevin Bancroft putting a new sign on the Bulletin Board in the Park:

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

the

MUSIC BOOSTERS

will sponsor a

BOTTLE DRIVE
from 9:00 'til noon

and a

SPAGHETTI SUPPER
at the High School

from 4:30 to 7:00


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I really missed the boat and forgot to promote EARTH DAY, which, of course, took place on Sunday.

At least a couple of people were willing to do their part: Dick and Sandy Martin, down in Sangerfield started at the underpass on Route 12 and worked to the corner of 12 and 20. Sandy wrote, "Just on our side of the street we picked up a wheelbarrow full of cardboard, a large garbage bag full of garbage and a smaller bag full of cans and bottles. Right now it looks good but it probably won't stay that way for long. It was nice to be out in the sun and we enjoyed ourselves but wish it was something that didn't have to be done."

Thank You both!

Fortunately, there's no law that says that this sort of thing can ONLY take place on "Earth Day!" and "It's better late than never!"

Monday morning

It's Garbage Day!

50.9 degrees, aiming for 80+!!!

******* From WKTV *******

Monday: Mostly sunny, very warm with the chance of
a shower or thunderstorm late. High 82.
Monday night: Showers, with thunder possible. Low 48
Tuesday: Partly sunny. Cooler. High 59 Low 44

It's Spring on Madison Street!

Out on Fuess-Cleary Road, there are more and more clumps of Hepaticas showing up and the Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is starting to bloom.

The blood-like juice that can be extracted from this plant's root was used by Native Americans as body paint. Native Americans and early settlers also used Bloodroot to treat medical conditions such as soar throats, skin cancers, and treatment of ringworm, worts, or polyps.

*****

Redwinged Blackbirds are fussing over their puddly, wetland territories.

The Boston Redsox did it again, adding a few pages to the history books with Sunday's 7-6 win, sweeping the Yankees at Fenway Park for the first time since 1990 and tying a Major League record with homers in four straight at-bats.

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And it's a red-letter day for DBH.

Later Sunday morning

At ten o'clock, the temperature just topped 60 degrees!

Just in ..........



Another cellphone photo; this one from Bloomfield, New York, and I think it's safe to assume that one of these racers is Patrick Meszler!


Just on ...........



A new sticker on my car - courtesy of the Waterville Historical Society! You can get yours either at the Historical Society on Wednesdays from 10:00 'til 4:00 or at the WHS Satellite Store in the front office of The Waterville Times, during Times' office hours! (Lots of other good WHS stuff there, too!)

Sunny Sunday!

It's about 34 degrees.

The sky is blue; the sun is shining;
WKTV predicts:
Sunday: Sunny and warm. High 75
Sunday night: Clear. Low 42
Monday: Mostly sunny, very warm with the chance of a shower or thunderstorm after sunset. High 77 Low 48

(And I promise that I won't complain of the heat!)

Remember what it looked like on Osborn Avenue last Monday and Tuesday?
Jeff Reynolds took this picture ......

.......... and, without knowing that he'd be sending me that view, I took this photograph yesterday morning - just to celebrate the joy of being able to see a reflection of blue sky in open water for the first time in a long, long time.

There is something special about seeing familiar things in a new light!

If we had all been in New York City yesterday with Lori and Dale Meszler, this is what we'd have seen in Central Park, but we weren't, and so Dale sent this photograph by cellphone!

In our Park, two residents of The Brunswick brought chairs instead of blankets.

Tank tops and "flip-flops" were in style. Sharon Stiles can wear her "flip-flops" now, too !

The Car Wash was busy and it looked as if all of our Fire Engines were being washed and polished, too.

Out in the countryside, there were coltsfoot, corn stubble and a "castle"
all on Bogan Road South,

and at the Kanes' - the first big, bright patch of daffodils.

And, finally -



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Have a wonderful day!