Friday

It's 48.9 degrees at 6:00 a.m.

• Today: Partly to mostly sunny. Much warmer. Slightly more humid. High in the upper 80s.
• Tonight: Partly cloudy and humid. Chance of a storm. Low in the mid 60s.
• Saturday: Sun/Clouds/Hot/Humid. Widespread afternoon t’storms. Some storms could produce locally heavy rain. High: 86, Low: 60
• Sunday: A mix of sun and clouds. Less humid and mild. High: 78, Low: 59

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Do you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia?

Today is Friday the 13th!

"The term paraskevidekatriaphobia was first coined in the early nineties by Dr. Donald E. Dossey, an American psychotherapist specialising in phobias and stress management, who reputedly claimed that when someone was able to pronounce the word they were cured! " MacMillan English Dictionary.

Colgate University actually celebrates the 13th, for the institution which was to evolve into Colgate University was chartered in 1819 as the "Baptist Society of the State of New York," founded by "13 men with 13 prayers, 13 dollars and 13 articles."

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Just in time for "Ladies Night," Mr. Hudson arranged benches and tables on the front porch of The Red Lion.

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Photographer Jody Hildreth visited again, yesterday afternoon, and sent me these two spectacular shots: above - just coming in to land on the nest, the humming bird's wings were beating so fast that they appeared to be transparent. (Click the image to enlarge.)

Who ever saw a hummingbird's chin, before? (Thank You, Jody!)

You can view many, many more of Jody's photographs on his website, "Kidwings," which is very impressive although he did tell me that the content is not really up-to-date!

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Also in "the Hollow," Virginia's back!!!!

(And I'm glad that I'd thought to warn her that if she saw a man with a camera and tripod creeping around in the brush between our homes she should NOT call the police!)

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On East Bacon Street.

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Tomorrow is Flag Day

Boy Scout Troop 108 will be in attendance at an 11:00 a.m. Flag Retirement Ceremony at the Clifford J. Fulmer Post of the American Legion on Route 20. Please take your tattered or faded flags out to Post 92 for proper disposal and replace them with bright, new, bold and proud "colors."

The Run for the Fallen will begin in California.

Missy Brouillette has explored the site and tells me that: "Under the website 'Run for the Fallen' click on SHOWS (above the video picture) and then click on SIGN CARDS and it shows a video of cards that students from Waterville made. It's really neat!"

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Cpl. John Sigsbee's aunt, Donna Weeks, has written to tell me that "The way to find John Sigsbee is to go to "Follow the Run" and pick "The Soldier." Then on his page, go to August 19 or Day 66. The last three soldiers of that day are John and the two comrades of his Platoon who were killed in action on the same day."

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Afternoon on Sanger Avenue.



Around Waterville, peonies are blooming.

At the Belouins' on West Bacon Street .....

....... at the Gibbons' on Babbott Avenue ...........


........... the Ingersolls' on Sanger Hill Road .....


.......... and, right next door, a wonderful hedge of
Rugosa (Beach) Roses in front of the Johnston residence.

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Just one small portion of the flower garden on Route 12B at the corner of Roberts Road.


At the top of West Hill, next to Green-Vedder Road -
tedding, I believe.

I know that there are four steps in the process of "making hay" -
1. cutting;
2. tedding - or turning and aerating;
3. raking;
4. baling.

Please let me know if I've misidentified the activity in progress.

Next to Skyline Drive, several fields appear to have been intentionally planted with nothing but bright yellow mustard! A wonderful sight!

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In re: the price of gasoline ........

Mark Masca wrote from The Keys: "Noticed gas in Waterville was 4.15...lucky you!!! I saw a Mobil station here in Big Pine Key that was $4.35!!! yesterday. Normal here is around 4.25."

John Nagy, in Albany: " $4.14 is a bargain, my friend. We're paying $4.29/gal in Albany for
regular. Perhaps its time for Americans to do what those in Europe have for years - drive smaller vehicles and live closer to work!"

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And, if you happen to be a Celtics fan, you probably already know it,
but they beat the Lakers 97-91 in game 4!

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DON'T FORGET!

Parick Zenon's Eagle Scout Project

BAKE SALE

from 4 - 7 at Foodking!

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GARDEN CLUB PLANT SALE

tomorrow, starting at 9:00

at the Methodist Church.

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Have a good weekend, everybody!

Thursday

It's Garbage Day!

And it's a wonderfully chilly 50 degrees!

WE'RE BACK TO NORMAL!

WKTV's forecast: "Thursday will start off and finish with sunshine. It should be a few degrees warmer than what we saw on Wednesday, but humidity will stay low. Highs will be in the low 80s. Things become more summer like on Friday and Saturday. More humidity will move in, along with warmer temperatures (although both will remain lower than what we saw earlier this week). Friday could again see a run toward 90 degrees. There is a chance of storms Friday afternoon, of the hit or miss variety. A better chance of storms will occur Saturday as another cold front moves through. In fact, storms could be widespread (but less severe than Tuesday) on Saturday afternoon."

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THANK YOU

Miss Helen Morgan

for a gift in memory of the
Frank and Mabel Morgan Family

*See list below.

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The heat wave finally "broke," yesterday, but on Tuesday - when the mercury was reaching for the 100 mark - I came upon Bill Vetter's painting crew at work on the corner of Stafford and W. Bacon. Right after that, I found Martha Smith, in Foodking, pushing a buggy filled with all sorts of cold drinks for the painters!

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Yesterday's weather was perfect!


The Farmer's Market will be taking place in the Park
EVERY WEDNESDAY
from 11:00 - 6:00

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Hummingbird status:
as of last evening, still sitting!


The Hop Vines at St. Bernard's seem to grow a foot a day!

I believe that all of the new replacement trees and shrubs along Sanger Avenue and Rt. 12 have now been planted.

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WATERVILLE GARDEN CLUB'S

SPRING PLANT SALE

Saturday morning from 9:00 - 1:00 (or until sold out!)

at the Methodist Church

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I've received an E-mail from Patrick Zenon. He is a Life Scout with Boy Scout Troop 108 and is working on his "Eagle" project - restoring and refurbishing two portable display units for the Waterville Historical Society. To raise funds necessary to make these improvements, Patrick is going to have a ...........

BAKE SALE

at Foodking on FRIDAY, JUNE 13,

from 4:00 - 7:00.

(All proceeds will go towards the Eagle Scout Project to benefit the Waterville Historical Society.)

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* Here is a list of families, organizations or individuals on whose behalf or by whom gifts of $500 or more have been given to The Memorial Bandstand Fund either "in memory of," "in honor of," or as sponsorship donations.

as of 06/12/08
in addition to
EASTMAN

DR. MILTON S. ALBERDING
THE ALSHEIMER FAMILY
MARJORIE AND WILLIS BARNES
NELLIE & WALTER T. BARTLETT, SR.
E. DELAND & FRANCES BATTLES

FREDERICK MAYER BIGELOW FAMILY
JANICE AND WARD BOHNER
RICHARD F. BROWN
R.F. AND P.S. BROWN
LEO H. BURBACK
LESLIE AND ZELDA BUSHEE
GARDNER AND JANET CALLANEN
MARTIN & MARY CLEARY FAMILY
DANIEL W. & ELIZABETH CONDON
GILBERT & ROSEMARY CONDON
DAN AND MARY CONGER
MARY DAVIS CONGER
WILLIAM & DOROTHY COWEN
DEANSBORO-WATERVILLE LIONS CLUB
THE DeVECCHIO FAMILY
THE HARDING FAMILY
LEROY L. AND MAY D. HARDING
JOHN H. “JACK” HULSER
ALAN & JOAN JAMIESON FAMILY
MARGARET & SHELBY JARMAN
STEVE AND MARY KARRAM
THE GEORGE & CONNIE KELLEY FAMILY
KLOSTER-NORTHROP & BENTZ FUNERAL HOME
THE LANGONE FAMILY
STUART AND ROSEMARY MARTIN
THELMA HINGRE & G.F. MCNAMARA
BORDEN AND WINNIE MILLS
FRANK & MABEL MORGAN FAMILY
THE O’DOWD FAMILY
PHILLIP AND SYLVIA PERSON
POST 92 LEGION RIDERS
STANLEY AND CAROL SAMBORA
FAMILY OF M. DOUGLAS SEXTON
MR. & MRS. W. HENRY SUTERS
ROGER & TERRY RICHMOND TANNER
ISAAC & HANNAH ABBY TERRY
GERTRUDE P. TESTER
ANNETTE & GEOFFREY TOWER
H.R. & ELIZABETH TYLER
WATERVILLE ROTARY CLUB
GEORGE E. WESTCOTT FAMILY

(Father's Day is Sunday. Consider honoring your dad!)

The Memorial Bandstand Fund has raised just about $70,000.00.
Our original goal was $90,000.00, but in view of increasing costs of
nearly everything, $100,000.00 might be more realistic.

Donations in any amount will be greatly appreciated!

For more information, please write to:
The Memorial Bandstand Fund, P.O. Box #45, Waterville, N.Y. 13480

Telephone: 315/841-4679
or
Click Here.

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A blog-reader in Florida writes: "WOW! We are still holding at $3.95 in 'downtown' Donnellon," (adding that "there is no 'uptown!' ")

Another reader reports $4.14 west of Boston.

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- and in MLB (Major League Baseball)

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Have a great day, everyone!

Tuesday

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Yesterday at around 2:00 outside the Waterville Library!

We had had a little bit of rain on Sunday night, but there's no sign of any moisture on the ground this morning and the little Grant Hill Pond is going ......... going ......

Here is WKTV's forecast: "Tuesday will start out similarly to Monday, with haze, heat and humidity. We expect temperatures to approach 90 or better by Noon. Then, as a cold front (the leading edge to the end of the heat) arrives tomorrow afternoon, things will begin to get unsettled. We expect a chance for a few strong storms between Noon and 3 PM tomorrow that may develop ahead of a line of severe storms to our west. After 3 PM and through 8 PM, that line of thunderstorms should progress across CNY from west to east. Within that line, we expect strong, gusty winds, isolated hail, heavy rain and frequent lightning. As of now, it looks like a traditional Upstate New York summer t'storm day.
Showers will end tomorrow night with clearing commencing after Midnight. "

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Could they have picked a worse time?

The D.O.T. landscaping contractor arrived in town yesterday morning with shrubbery and trees to replace all of those that didn't make it through the winter. It appears that quite a few of the plants at the point of Monument Park (including the nevergreen that our DPW removed before Memorial Day) will be replaced as well as many of the same varieties in plantings further south toward Sangerfield. In addition to those smaller plants, I counted nine fairly large trees waiting for planting on Sanger Avenue. I hope they have a very large water tank!

("Wegelia" or "Weigela": my grandmother called these pink-flowered shrubs "wegelia" - with a definite "ya!" at the end of the word. Somewhere along the line, in the last 70 years, both spelling and pronunciation have changed. Are they still the same bush? And - a few of us are wondering - if that variety died one winter, why would you expect them to live the next?)

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A member of the Brothertown Music Boosters has kindly sent the

WCS Placement in last weekend's Sherburne Pageant of Bands

Waterville (Class B)

Concert Band 2^nd Place

Jazz Band 1^st Place

Drum Line 2^nd Place

Marching Band 3^rd Place

This coming Saturday the Band will be in Dolgeville for the Annual Violet Festival
Parade which starts at 10:00 a.m.

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"Blue Flag" is blooming wherever it can find a watery ditch to grow in.


Field Daisies are everywhere!

One of the wildflowers that thrives in poor soil and dry, hot weather is the Scabiosa - "pincushion flower." There's a whole field of it between the new Townhouses and the Medical Building on Madison Street.

This is the color of the wild variety but
Scabiosa also comes in some wonderfully bright cultivars.

"Water Avens" is one of those small plants that has a much larger legend attached to it:

"It was called 'the Blessed Herb' (Herba benedicta), of which a common name still extant - Herb Bennet - is a corruption, because in former times it was believed that it had the power to ward off evil spirits and venomous beasts. It was worn as an amulet. The Ortus Sanitatis, printed in 1491, states: 'Where the root is in the house, Satan can do nothing and flies from it, wherefore it is blessed before all other herbs, and if a man carries the root about him no venomous beast can harm him.' Dr. Prior (Popular Names of English Plants) considers the original name to have probably been ' St . Benedict's Herb,' that name being assigned to such as were supposed to be antidotes, in allusion to a legend respecting the saint. It is said that on one occasion a monk presented him with a goblet of poisoned wine, but when the saint blessed it, the poison, being a sort of devil, flew out of it with such force that the glass was shivered to atoms, the crime of the monk being thus exposed. Hemlock is also known as Herb Bennet, probably for the same reason.

I simply like the colors of the Avens blossoms......

........ and those of the insignificant Barberry.

This flower is one that no one can miss: it's from a Tulip Tree growing on the front lawn of the Kaufmanns' on Route 12 south of CVS.

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FOR THE RECORD

Hummingbird status: still sitting.

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It's "Cans & Clams" day at the Legion!

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I had a nice E-letter from Tanya Arthur Lach, yesterday, asking me to forward her best wishes to June Richmond and saying how much she enjoys the blog.

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THIS IS AN ERROR!

POSTED EARLIER THIS MORNING -

"On Friday we'll be saying 'Happy Birthday' to our always dapper senior 'squire!
#96, I believe!

IT'S NOT UNTIL JUNE 29!

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Speaking of Birthdays .........

At Home in the Huddle

was first published on June 10, 2006!

(I'm going to take a couple of days off, just for a change of routine - OR I might post at different times of the day - and call it a mini-vacation!)

Have a great day, Everyone!

Monday

It's Garbage Day!

67.3 at 6 o'clock, and going to be another scorcher.

WKTV's forecast: "Monday will be the hottest day of this stretch with mostly sunny skies and, with temperatures surging past 90 degrees in many locations, and perhaps approaching the mid 90s in a few isolated spots. The heat will continue into Tuesday morning and afternoon as well.
The heat will begin to break down Tuesday night, as cold front moves in, with a return to more seasonable conditions by Wednesday."

Yesterday, with temperatures topping out close to 90 degrees and the humidity very high, the Waterville Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps visited the Schoolhouse Apartments to deliver plenty of cold water and popsicles. Please make sure to take care of yourselves and your friends!

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Donna Weeks brought to my attention the "Run for the Fallen" - a 71-day memorial event that will be carried out by a man from Clinton who intends to run 4,000 miles across the country. At each mile, a marker will be placed in memory of somone who has given their life for the country, and some of those markers were made by students at WCS. I'll give you more details in a day or two.

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Bunches of yellow marigolds and purple pansies border a new walkway at the Sigsbee residence on Madison Street.

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"Her Highness" held court and entertained quite a few visiting birders over the weekend, including photographer Jody Hildreth. I was kept fairly busy serving as her "receptionist" and, therefore, was not able to attend as many of the weekend's social functions as I'd have liked to. If anyone who WAS at the Women's Club Tea, the Sherburne Pageant of Bands, the Rotary Auction or the Music Boosters' Ice Cream Social has any pictures to share, I'll be glad to post them!

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WKTV reports that "The Governor is Ready" to start training for the Boilermaker!

How many runners from Waterville will be joining him?

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Noel Coward wrote, "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun."


Around noon, yesterday, East Main Street was still packed with cars belonging to parishioners of the First Baptist Church, Grace Episcopal Church and SouthGate Ministries.


On West Main Street, Morgan's sidewalk showroom drew plenty of customers.

Considering the temperature and humidity, I was a little bit surprised to see so many runners and walkers out as well as other villagers who were mowing lawns and otherwise actively - and productively - spending their time! The Zwahlens at the corner of Obsorn and Route 20 were clearing brush. Annette Gurdo was weeding. I saw Ted Harrington mowing, and a young lady who lives in the former Fraser residence on Sanger Avenue was doing the same.

Is this Jim Kloster?

Whoever this gentleman is, he'd already finished mowing and was sweeping up.


On White Street, porch-painting was in progress ........


.......... and across the street, the Wrights were "digging in" ....

.......... while this gentleman worked on a new fence on Sanger Avenue.

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No one was working at the new townhouses out on Madison Street. This is a view from the parking lot of the medical center. The pink flowers in the foreground are Scabiosa --- or "Pincushion flower!"

All sorts of wildflowers are blooming: photos tomorrow!

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For your Calendar:

THE WATERVILLE GARDEN CLUB

ANNUAL PLANT SALE

will take place next

SATURDAY MORNING

at the Methodist Church.

Doors open at 9:00.

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Have a good day, everyone.

Keep Cool!