Friday - with Add-on

10:00 A.M. Add-on. I've just had a phone call from Dave Sullivan telling me that:

the new
Waterville Branch
of
Clinton Real Estate
will have a
Grand Opening on
Monday at 1:00
in the old "rope factory!"

(Yes! There will be coffee and doughnuts!)

Office hours will be 1:00 - 5:00 on weekdays
10:00 - 12:00 on Saturdays.

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It's 38 degrees

From WKTV: "For those living south of Route 20, expect a cloudy Friday with on and off rain showers throughout the day and temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. For the Mohawk Valley, we will be mostly cloudy with a couple of sprinkles and maybe a few peaks of sun. The North Country should remain dry tomorrow with mostly to partly sunny skies, allowing temperatures to approach 60 degrees.
High pressure will move in just in time for the weekend. Saturday looks fantastic with partly to mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 60s. Sunshine will continue for Mother's Day, with an increase in clouds late in the afternoon ahead of our next storm system. Any chance of rain won't occur until the evening hours. Temperatures will be in the mid 60s."

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Hanging planters are appearing. These are on White Street.


There will be many more after Sunday - Mother's Day - and the parking lot at Alcott's Greenhouses on Route 20 will be full between now and then!

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"Bleeding Heart," on White Street.

Flowering shrubs and trees are at their peak.


These are the blossoms of the quartet of Crabapple Trees at the point of the Park.

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Correction: the beautiful pink Crabapple tree in the Park that was planted in memory of Billie Woodman was done so not by the Garden Club, as I had stated, but by the Board of the George W. Tower Foundation.

Has anyone kept track of other memorial plantings in the Park? I believe that at least one of the lilac bushes - perhaps both - were planted in memory of Mrs. Marjorie Gates - 25 or 30 years ago.

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Apple trees everywhere are in bloom ........

........... even making puffy pink clouds in country woods.

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Last Sunday, Dick and Sandy Martin and Dan and Linda Rauscher walked the trail between the Deansboro Fire House and VanHyning Road. The white trillium were in full bloom and covered both sides of the trail. Since Dan is involved with the Chenango Canal Corridor Project, he continued to give Dick, Sandy and Linda a tour of the trail and the old locks along the way. The photograph above is of an old lock on Canal Road. (Thank you, Linda!)

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They're Ba-a-a-ck!

(Click for source.)

The Orioles, who love oranges,


........... the "Hummers," reminding me of this Emily Dickinson poem:

A Route of Evanescence
With a revolving Wheel --
A Resonance of Emerald --
A Rush of Cochineal --
And every Blossom on the Bush
Adjusts its tumbled Head --
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy Morning's Ride --

- inspired by, if not about, hummingbirds -

and also to see if the Library has
"A Summer of Hummingbirds"
(which is not specifically about hummers, either!) .....

(Click for source.)

and the Rosebreasted Grosbeaks.

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GASp!

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Have a lovely, safe Mother's Day Weekend, everyone!

******

I may be taking an extra day off, so if there's no blog posting on Monday morning it doesn't mean that there's anything wrong!!

Thursday

Garbage Day!

It's 56 degrees and drippy.

From WKTV: "The front that brought us overnight rain will move through (this) morning, giving us morning clouds and a sprinkle before clouds give away to some sunshine in the afternoon. Temperatures will rise into the mid 60s. Then, late on Thursday night and Friday will see a second storm approach from the south and west. This will pass far enough south to allow areas of Utica and points north to remain dry. But a period of perhaps some rain is possible south of Utica, especially south of Route 20."

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January 4, 1957

(Click!)

Today John Nagy, who was born in Hungary, will become an
American Citizen!

CONGRATULATIONS, JOHN!
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The ornamental pear trees on West Main Street are in bloom .....

......... and the flowering crabapple trees in the Park are just about ready to explode with color.

This little fir tree in Monument Park, however, appeared to be dead all of last Summer and shows no improvement for having remained in the ground throughout the Winter.

Nor does this tree on Sanger Avenue seem to have come to life.

It was just about a year ago that North Country Landscapers was in town planting many of our street trees: perhaps it's time for them to come back and replace a few!

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Something was going on down in Sangerfield at the site of the new Golf Course!

Last week it was daffodils: now it's tulips, in glorious rows, in front of Grace Episcopal Church.

Eeeeek!

WKTV has a story on the Gasoline Price Debate

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Have a good day, everyone!

Wednesday

Recyclables Day!

It's 37 degrees and clear.

WKTV predicts that "We'll start out great on Wednesday. At the same time, winds will shift into the south, and this will allow significant warmth to surge up at us. This will occur ahead of an approaching storm system from the west. Enough sunshine Wednesday should mean temperatures well into the 70s. We do expect cloud cover to roll in toward sunset, or maybe just a bit before. But much of Wednesday looks great. An isolated shower or storm is possible, mainly west of Utica.
Then a very unsettled pattern sets up. That storm will move through Wednesday night and Thursday, bringing a period of rain and perhaps some thunderstorms overnight and into Thursday morning. "

>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<

It's definitely Spring on West Main Street at Merri Rose Florist.

Today is also

NATIONAL NURSES' DAY!

Don't forget your favorite nurse!

Something's happening on East Main Sreet and
the old "Modern Electric" has an inviting new look!

(I've heard "consignment shop" but no details.)

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Something new on Tower Street:


the fields - potentially hundreds of acres - will become a
BLACK WALNUT TREE FARM!

(And there's rumor that additional land in Sangerfield has
been acquired for the same purpose.)

I found a fairly long - and informative - article in a 1981 issue of Mother Earth News.
"If you were ambitious and planted a full acre on ten-foot centers, you will have set out 400-plus black walnuts. By maturity, there will be room for a maximum of only 50 trees."

(The little pink flags seem awfully close together. We'll find out more!)

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There is a USED INKJET CARTRIDGE collection box in Foodking.
If you are connected with a college or company that uses cartridges in great number, please consider asking for donations to this cause!

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A blog-reader writes: "The Waterville Garden Club met at the Village Hall. Brad Alcott introduced a number of new perennial plants which can be used in container gardening. Members were then able to draw lots and take these new and flourishing plants home."

The date of the Garden Club's annual
Plant Sale
at Methodist Church Hall
has been changed to
Saturday 14th June.

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The flowering crabapple tree that was planted in the Park by the Garden Club a few years ago in memory of "Billie" Woodman is blooming beautifully.


This tree on Babbott Avenue was very small when it was planted about thirty years ago in memory of John Zweifel, a long-time sexton at Grace Episcopal Church.

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Yesterday I went on my annual trek to the Rome Sand Plains to find the "rare and elusive" Trailing Arbutus. Sometimes called "Mayflower," it's tiny but has an enormously sweet scent. It was a favorite of both my mother and mother-in-law - in western Massachusetts - and it also reminded me of Lorena Raker who had known it as a child in Pennsylvania. Of the scores of pictures that I've taken, over the years, this is the best ever!

And then I drove down to York Road, south of N. Brookfield, just to make sure that the Painted Trillium (also "rare and elusive") were still there - they were!

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Have a Great Day, Everyone!

Tuesday

(Click!)

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IT'S BIG TRASH DAY!

37.9 degrees.

WKTV predicts that: "Sunshine will start Tuesday. As a weak cold front pushes through during the late morning and afternoon, there is the off chance of a shower or sprinkle or even a few thunderstorms. This front is very moisture starved, so the likelihood of any one location seeing rain is slim. Still, hilltops south and northeast of Utica do stand a slight chance for a storm.
Skies rapidly clear tomorrow night and lows will generally be in the 30s. We'll start out great on Wednesday."

Last month's "April Showers" have brought "May Flowers" to Dan Maine's woodworking shop on Madison Street ..............


................ and there's a bright new May Basket on Suzette's front door!

The Flowering Quince at the Pesto residence on Babbott Avenue is an eye-catcher!

It's time to be looking for MORELS!

I havn't seen any, yet, but it's not for lack of searching!
If you find some and don't know for sure what they are or don't know what to do with them, either Lou Langone, Connie Bocko or I will be happy to help out!

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WELCOME HOME

Sylvia and Phill!

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From Radio & Records magazine:
Ryno Resurfaces In The Keys

By Mike Boyle

"Last seen at Beasley Broadcasting classic rock WRXK (96.1 K-Rock)/Ft. Myers in afternoon drive in February, Ryno has resurfaced in the Florida Keys as operations manager at Vox Communications classic hits WWUS (US-1 - 104.1) and WCNK (Conch Country 98.7)."

(Click the link, above, to see Mark's new home, check out the fantastic views and meet his new neighbor!)

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While looking for something else, yesterday, I found this
in the N. Brookfield News.

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Have a Great Day, Everyone!

Monday

It's Garbage Day!

32.5 degrees

"But.." according to WKTV, "by the afternoon the strong May sunshine will help temperatures quickly jump into the 60s by lunchtime and eventually upper 60s by the afternoon. Skies will average mostly sunny with light winds. Monday night, temperatures will get chilly once again with continued quiet conditions. The weather continues to average partly to mostly sunny on Tuesday, with highs near 70! A weak cold front may spark a thunderstorm late in the day.

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VILLAGE BOARD MEETING

7:00 P.M. at the Municipal Hall

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*****

In the E-mail box: "Leslie Bohner Risley is recoup-ing nicely from a new knee operation in the hospital in Ocala Fl. Her home address is 8941 Sw 204 Cir, Dunnellon, Fl. 34431 for any that might want to send her a card... Respectfully, Gil Condon."

From John Peterson. "Dan is at Al Asad now. Do not know any more, will hear from him after he settles in and figgers out how to get on line or phone. He had a party at his place last Sat. and had a surprise visitor, seems Andy Ferrucci was in Myrtle Beach, and went up and crashed the party at about 10:00 p.m. Stayed the nite and a great time was had by all!!!"

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It was a gray day outdoors, yesterday, but at the Methodist Church everything was bright!

As the line of hungry people grew and grew, Kent Cole kept reaching into the big garbage cans and coming up with more and more and even more beautifully barbecued chicken - a WFD specialty!

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Even on dark days - or, perhaps, especially on dark days - The Root Glen at Hamilton College is a beautiful place to visit.

Clumps of Hellebore are bright ........

.....the raised beds are filled with color ....

........... and the first azaleas and Forget-me-nots are blooming in the borders of the "Hemlock Enclosure."


Then there are the "Bluebells!"
(The "watermark" is intentional!)



Here's how to find The Glen.

Drive up College Hill 'til you're almost at the top and you can see the Hamilton College gates on your right.

• On your left, look for the Elihu Root house (building 69 on the map) and turn into the driveway.
• Make another quick turn - right - into a parkinglot.
• You'll be able to see a small white gazebo. That's where you'll find maps of The Glen and a Guest Book - be sure to sign it when you leave!

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New additions to the Gridley-Paige Waterfall! A tiny foot bridge and a bright American Flag!

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More reason to stay close to home!

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Have a Good Day, Everyone!