Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Wednesday morning

It's Recyclables Day!

It's 62 degrees and wet!

No one will need to water plants or lawns - or trees! - today: that's been going on since before ten o'clock last night!

  • Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Otherwise, a mix of clouds and a little sun. More humid. High near 80.
  • Wednesday night: Partly cloudy with a few showers possible. Low in the mid 60s.
  • Thursday: Sun and clouds, warm and humid. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms likely. High: 81, Low: 61
*********

A small item on WKTV NewsChannel 2 re: roadwork in Utica:

Summer construction continues to "heat" up. Plant Street, Lafayette Street, Deveroux Street, and Genesee Street will be paved over the next few days.
Crews ask drivers to use alternative routes while the construction work is being done. There is no word on when it will be complete.

*******

The Borden Milk Plant

Thanks to three blog-readers, now we know when the Borden Company closed the milk plant.

Pauline Barnes was the first to answer:
"I cannot give you exact date the plant closed, but know it was operating in the early 40's. We bought the farm on White Street, Oct.1940. I remember getting very very sick from eating cold steamed clams at a cook out Stillman Dunster, the manager, put on for the farmers.
Roy Corbin was one of the employees. I think closed sometime early 40's.

Also, my husband, Ken worked at Bissell's store and delivered groceries to Sanger Mansion - occupied in the summer. Mrs. Sanger always tipped him $1.00. That looked good to us those days."

Hank Gardner, who lives in Virginia, wrote:
"My father, Henry D. Gardner, was the last superintendent. A fire destroyed the building in 1944 or 45. I am not sure of the year because I was overseas in the Navy.
The Borden company never rebuilt. There was another plant built on the site, but I don't know what company or cooperative ran that one.

I do not know when the Borden plant was constructed. I do know that at one time, prior to 1930, it was a processing plant. When we moved there in January 1933 the milk was brought in by farmers, visually checked, weighed, butterfat measured (I think weekly), cooled to a consistent temperature and then shipped, via rail, to near New York City for processing.
In the postcard picture the large section on the left side was one of two ice houses.
There were two artificial ponds behind the building. In the winter one was filled with water to provide for ice. Local men were employed to cut and store the ice. That process ended sometime during the late thirties when an ice making machine was installed. Later the icehouses were taken down and the wood sold.
That is according to my memory."

And Gary Tuttle added:

"I asked Lynn Williams at coffee break this morning when the plant closed. He said it burned down in 1945 or 1946. He also said that there was a log cabin where Marge Wilson lives that the plant manager used to stay in during the summer. Lynn said he has lived on Osborne Ave. all his life."

Writer's note: Mr. Williams is married to Mr. Gardner's sister!

And Thank You, All! This really is turning out to be a great way to collect and share history!

******

It's Butterfly Weed! (Asclepia tuberosa.)

Blooming in a hay field south of Waterville!


And another clump, west of the village!

Butterfly Weed isn't really that "rare," but it's very unusual to see it around this part of New York State. It grows in very sandy or gravelly soil and its roots go "all the way to China."

(Click for full pleasure!)

If you like it, you can purchase plants for your gardens at local garden centers or online.

*******

Equally bright "Trumpet Vine" blooming on Madison Street.

****

(Click to enlarge.)

From Brothertown Road, just a bit North of Route 20, this is the view to the West: a dozen new towers - part of the "Munnsville Wind Farm."


Everyone seems to be wondering what's going on atop Sanger Hill - I don't know!

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


-- and No: I don't know if this is acceptable or not, but it was noticed by several people, yesterday afternoon, who thought that the brick pavers weren't meant to be a parkinglot.

*******

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Tuesday morning

Green Waste Day

It's 53 degrees, and WKTV predicts:

  • Tuesday: A mix of sun and clouds. Slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm in the afternoon. High in the low 80s.
  • Tuesday night: Mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms late. Low near 60.
  • Wednesday: Sun and clouds with afternoon showers and thunderstorms. High: 80, Low: 62

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


******


It may not look like anything but a Summer Scene, right now, but if you stop and look closely at this area West of Beaver Creek Road next to Route 20 you'll see that there's been quite a little digging going on and that there are mounds of earth here and there and holes where the soil used to be. If I said "Golf Course" would that explain it? As soon as I can get in touch with property-owner Tim Bartlett I'll tell you more!


Second Cutting, on Osborn Avenue.


Hollyhocks and Friends at Spring Farm Cares, north of Paris.



On Route 12 B .........


....... North of Deansboro.

******

This picture postcard of the Borden Milk Plant on Osborn Avenue was purchased, recently, by a collector in Muncie, Indiana. He's written to ask the history of the plant and I've been sadly lacking in any firm dates. Are there any readers who can remember when the plant closed? Both he and I would appreciate knowing!

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


Monday, July 16, 2007

Monday morning

It's Garbage Day!

It's just about 50 degrees; good sleeping weather!

  • Monday: Partly/mostly sunny. High 78
  • Monday night: Mostly clear. Low 59
The 7-Day Outlook from WKTV.

***********


Village Board Meeting this evening at 7:00
at Municipal Hall.

(Will a date be set
for the demolition of the old mill?)

*****


"Seventeen members of Boy Scout Troop 108 just returned from another super week in Long Lake at the Cedarlands Scout Reservation. They even managed to win, for the second year in a row, the McRorie Honor Troop award! They are the only troop to win it twice in a row."

Photo and description sent in by Kristin Strohmeyer.

*****

Another piece of mail has alerted me to something NEW that's coming to Sangerfield! I'll take some photos of the site, today, and explain it to you!

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



Queen Anne's Lace

Everywhere, now, this beauty is blooming. Queen Anne's Lace is said to have been named for Queen Anne of England who, although an expert lace-maker, pricked her finger while doing so and left a tiny drop of blood on her handiwork.


Camomile

In low rows along roadways, dense borders of Camomile, the dried flowers of which have been used for centuries to treat all manner of ailments.

I just put them in little bouquets!

**********



Have as great day!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Sunday

It's 64 degrees - gray.

From WKTV:
  • Sunday: Morning showers, followed by afternoon and evening clearing. High 75 Low 54
  • Monday: Partly sunny. Slight chance of a storm. High 81 Low 59


From this morning's Observer-Dispatch:

"Physicians receive national honor for diabetes care"

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) announced that nine Adirondack Community Physicians (ACP) of Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare received national recognition from the Diabetes Physician Recognition Program for providing quality care to their patients. The physicians are Dr. Diane Cavallaro, ACP Washington Mills Medical Office; Dr. D. Christopher Clark, ACP New Hartford; Dr. Michael DeJesus, ACP Barneveld; Drs. James Frederick, William Ryan and Jianye Teng of the ACP Whitesboro Medical Office; Dr. William Parker, ACP Ilion Medical Office; Dr. Mangala Patil, ACP North Utica; and Dr. David Petrie, ACP Waterville."

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

Cole Street

My daughter Allison, her husband Rick and their son, Iain, and I went for a long ride in the country yesterday afternoon, exploring a sizable portion of the 3,500 acre Munnsville Wind Farm northwest of Solsville.

View from Trew Hill Road.


This advertisement for a Wind Technician seems to indicate that the installation is being undertaken by GE - of interest to my son-in-law who is an engineer at General Electric in Schenectady and, 'tho not a specialist in wind turbines, he certainly knows more about them than the average back-roads tourist and so our ride was as educational as it was entertaining!

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

It started as a rumor --- "Someone said they saw an ad on Ebay!" --- but I sort-of "poo-poohed" it, until Kathryn McLane confirmed it! I still don't know whether or not to take it really seriously: I hope I don't have to, but - in the meantime - it will certainly be interesting just to follow the bidding and see what happens!

******

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Saturday



and

from this morning's Observer-Dispatch:

Local company honored for sales

WATERVILLE — BusinessWare Consulting has been named a Top 5 partner selling Open Systems software products in the United States.

The Waterville-based company was honored for outstanding sales performance at the 2007 Open Systems Partners in Profit Conference last month in Minneapolis.

The Top 5 Partner award was presented to Bill Strohmeyer, president and owner of BusinessWare Consulting.

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

It's 48 degrees and clear.
  • Saturday: Party sunny. High 78
  • Saturday night: Showers likely with the possibility of a few thunderstorms. Low 59
  • Sunday: Morning rain, followed by afternoon showers. High 72 Low 54
*******


My down-the-street neighbor, Tom McNamara, stopped by the other evening to give me this (above.) He works for "Frontier," but has had occassion to be working over near the Canal Road Station of the Munnsville Wind Project when some of this CABLE was being laid. He knows that lots of folks are watching the construction of the giant wind turbines and, also, that I'd take a picture, right away, so that everyone could see just how power gets from the windmills to the Station, north of Bouckville! (Thanks Tom!)

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


Yesterday morning I saw Dan Maine outside the Post Office and he said, "Have you seen those hydrangeas out at my place?" (He meant his woodworking shop on Madison Street.) Yes: I had - four huge bunches of pink something, but I had thought that they were artificial.

Wrong!!!
They're real and they have the biggest blossoms I've ever seen.

(Click for actual size!)

Go see for yourselves!

**********


You can see some of the new planting at the Library just by swinging around the circle.....

but if you take time to walk out into the gardens you'll see more ......


.... and might even decide to sit down for a few minutes and enjoy the flowers!


Patrons at "Michael's" are enjoying this huge "tub" that has everything from petunias and daisies to tomatoes, peppers and sage!


Elsewhere along Main Street .........


......... the Garden Club planters are getting bigger and brighter!

******


I swung out to the Skate Park just to see what was going on. There were three fellows having a grand time on their bikes - swooping up and down, going round and round - but they either suspected me of nefarious intent or were just camera shy and their very entertaining performance came to an all-too-early end!

*****

Drive slowly on West Bacon Street and you'll see how the trim on this newly painted house really stands out!

***********



********

My grandson Iain and his parents are coming, today, so I don't know whether or not I'll have time to collect pictures for a Sunday morning post, but - if not - I'll be back on Monday morning, for sure!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Friday, July 13, 2007

Friday morning

DALE MESZLER

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

It's a delightful 54 degrees and sunny.


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

According to the National Weather Service in Binghamton, the weather generally will be nice, but it could be interrupted by occasional showers and thunderstorms.

Here's the weekend outlook:

  • Today: Partly cloudy, with a high near 74.
  • Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
  • Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
  • Saturday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
  • Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
  • Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.
********

But there'll be plenty to do, no matter what the weather's like:

The Madison County Fair in Brookfield opened yesterday.


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is showing at the Marquée Cinemas in New Hartford.

Glimmerglass Opera - Tickets are, apparently, still available for tomorrow evening's performance of Gluck's "Orphee et Euyridce."

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

A few days ago, my daughter Allison asked me to E-mail her some hop blossom drawings, saying that she was "noodling" an idea. I've known musicians who "noodled" with tunes and arrangements on an instrument, but Allison "noodles" images on her computer. Yesterday she sent me the results ----- the new Hop Blossom Header at the top of the "blog!"

Thank You, Allison!

******


Then I got to tinkering - or noodling - with an idea.
Now if only REAL quilting were this easy!

***



*****

Thanks to all of you who sent notes of appreciation for the photographs posted over the past few days. Readers who grew up in Waterville but now live either in cities or very far away really enjoy seeing pictures of fields and cows and - in general - our beautiful countryside!

Have a Super-good Day!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Add-on of Interest

Sarah Sexton just E-mailed me a link to the Writer's Almanac on NPR, which has this little bit about Waterville!

"It's the birthday of the man who gave us the Kodak camera, George Eastman, born in Waterville, New York. He was working at a bank when he got interested in photography around 1877. He took his first dry plate photograph the next year with the camera that he invented—a view of the building across the street from his window. He developed this little handheld camera, and he called it the Kodak because it was easy to remember, difficult to misspell, and it meant nothing, so it could only be associated with his product."


Thanks, Sarah!