Wednesday

Now it's Recyclables Day!

35 degrees; dark and rainy.

Barb McNamara sent these photos to brighten the day:

Art White in the sun and at sea ............

......... Mayan ruins, in Mexico.

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From WKTV: Most areas have switched over to plain rain as temperatures have warmed. Watch out for a few lingering icy patches on the roadways though through mid-morning on some of the higher hilltops and in the Adirondacks.

• Today: Any leftover sleet and freezing rain north and east becoming all rain and ending as rain or snow showers. Little, if any snow accumulation. Additional minor ice accumulation in the Adirondacks. Breezy. High in the mid 30s.
• Tonight: Flurries or a few snow showers. Low in the low 20s.
• Thursday: A few snow showers. Otherwise, partly sunny and mild. High: 40, Low: 25
• Friday: Snow developing. High: 36, Low: 23

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I'll be on the road 'til tomorrow evening. I'd appreciate it if those of you who make regular trips along Route 315 would make sure that nothing "odd" is happening, here in the Hollow!

I'll definitely be taking plenty of pictures and will post them - along with any news that you want me to relay - just as soon as I can!

Have a Great Day!

Richard Welsh - R.I.P.

I've just received this sad news from Bridgett Welsh:

her dad, Richard Welsh, passed away yesterday.

Calling hours will take place on Friday
from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8.

The funeral will be held at SouthGate Ministries
on Saturday morning
at a time to be announced.

Tuesday

That was yesterday
................

today will be something else!

It's
BIG TRASH DAY!!!

I think I'll use Mark's Florida Sky as a "desktop" for a day or two.

It was 35 degrees and raining, when I got up, but now the temperature has fallen to 32.5 degrees and it's snowing.

• Today: Rain changes to snow this morning. Snow will mix with and change to sleet and then freezing rain this afternoon. 2"-4" snow and sleet accumulation before the changeover. Temperatures falling to near 30.
• Tonight: Freezing rain. Ice will change to plain rain in most areas (except for the Adirondacks) by morning. Still quite icy on the roadways. Exercise caution. Temperatures rising to near 35 in town by morning.
• Wednesday: Rain, sleet and freezing rain ending as a mix of rain or snow showers late in the day. High: 38, Low: 22
• Thursday: A mix of sun and clouds with some snow showers. High: 37, Low: 25
• Friday: A chance of snow. High: 34, Low: 12

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America's Greatest Heart Run and Walk
will take place this Saturday.

I just received this E-note: "This year Team Tommy (in memory of Tommy Wilson) will be walking and running for the fifth time and we will be sporting new white hoodies with the Team Tommy logo and his picture on the front so we should be spotted in the crowd. We are still about 15 family and friends strong and we do this in his honor every year because we all loved him so much!!!!!"

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The AARP Driver Safety Course

will take place on Friday evening

6:00 - 10:00 P.M.

at the Waterville Public Library.

To register, call Kas Von-Matt at 841-4083.
Bring your driver’s license and
a check for $10.00 made out to AARP.

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There will be a

Spaghetti Dinner

at the United Methodist Church

on Saturday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

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Sap buckets are out at Keyes Brook Farm - the Rippey residence - on Route 12B north of Deansboro ...............

and tubing and tanks in place on Frog Park and Craig Foot Roads, south of Waterville.


Two deer, near Skip and Joan Kemp's home, were such a dark grayish color that I nearly missed seing them.

Some brush - or was there an old building here? - has been cleared opening a nice new view of Bridge's Hill from Route 20 in Sangerfield.

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Yes: it works! I picked a few springs from a forsythia bush just about a week ago and - voilà, Spring!

My "Paperwhites" are blooming, too, but I think I need an even bigger "flower fix" and - depending on the weather - I may take a three-day break to see the

annual Spring Flower Show at Mount Holyoke College
in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where I grew up, and visit some old friends, there, too.

These photos are from the show two or three years ago: I'll take new ones to post whenever I find internet access!

In the meantime - enjoy this Jamaican Sunset, courtesy of Mary and Joel Campbell.

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Drive Safely!!!

Monday

Garbage Day!

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BIG TRASH, tomorrow.

It's 31.8 degrees; breezy, but no precipitation.

• Today: A brief period of freezing rain or drizzle possible through mid-morning. Partial clearing and warming up late this morning and this afternoon. High: 49

• Tonight: Dry this evening. Wet snow and rain by late tonight with snow accumulations around one inch possible on hilltops by morning. Low: 34
• Tuesday: Wet snow and rain early tapering to just some scattered showers of rain and snow during the day. A more significant period of rain, sleet and freezing rain late in the day and at night. High: 38, Low: 30
• Wednesday: Rain changing to snow and then tapering to flurries. High: 34, Low: 22

VILLAGE BOARD MEETING
7:00 p.m. at Municipal Hall.

I just yesterday heard something that pleased me a great deal and would have made Dick cheer: the Village Fathers have met with a Mr. David Carlson from Cooperstown. He's a consultant and planner who develops "Comprehensive (formerly called Master) Plans" and who has also acquired a great number of "small cities" grants for communities like Little Falls and Herkimer. In one respect, there's limited need for a "master plan" for Waterville because there's a limited amount of area within the municipalty in need of planning! But ....... when it comes to applying for state or federal funding for things like facade grants or parks improvements, the first thing they ask you is: "Do you have an approved Comprehensive Plan in place?" A Master Plan was developed back in the 1960s, but it was never adopted and one of the reasons that it has never been updated or revised is that good consultants - like Mr. Carlson - are costly! But the payback, in terms of funding that will then be available to the Village, makes the price worth it. (When I began typing, I didn't intend using this space as a personal "soap box," but I feel so strongly about this subject that I seem to have done just that and, without apology, may even do so again!)

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Today is the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell - scientist and inventor - who lived between 1947 and 1922. What would he have thought if he could have been with two travelers, this weekend, as their day's routes were followed and mapped by satellites high in the sky!

Dave Bocko had parked his car at the end of White Street, clipped on his X-C skiis, turned on his handheld GPS unit and headed uphill.

I was in my car, parked at Nice 'n Easy in Sangerfield and enjoying a French Vanilla Cappucino when I noticed that my navigational screen showed not only my location but also a place I'd never heard of: Hobin Corners! I tapped where it said "Hobin Corners" and then "Go!" and a pleasant, feminine voice began to give me instructions to reach that location.

Ten minutes later, here we are!


I decided to follow Donley Road, passing a small gravestone, and continuing on for a few miles, to the crest of the ridgeline when a grand view o the East was spread before me.


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Meanwhile, Dave Bocko had reached the turn-off to the old reservoir and stopped to take pictures of the Westward view.


He followed the edge of the reservoir - now empty - and aimed to the northeast ......

......... zig-zagging back and forth across a steep hillside..


and through deep woods 'til he reached the summit.


(What - we both wonder - are these posts?)

View from the top.

I'd followed Donley Road all the way to Mapledale Road and then Route 8 into Bridgewater.
I can never go past this building without remembering the many times that we stopped there at "Carl's" for soft-serve ice cream!

And now I see "Sigby Corners" - I didn't know where that was, so decided to once again follow the blue line.

I was told to drive West - past the historic Pleasant Valley Grange which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 -

turn Southwest onto Center Road,


and then make a left-hand turn on to Quarterline Road....

.... and this is it? Sigby Corners? Mrs. Davis and I did some fine bottle-digging and apple-picking in this vicinity, once upon a time - courtesy of the Sigby family, perhaps!

I came home by way of Bailey Road, stopping to admire what I presume to have been the Bailey Homestead and wondering if they were related to Azubah Rogers Bailey and her son, Vine, who walked here from Connecticut in the late 1700s and built their home at "Bailey Lake," in Stockwell.

One last picture.

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And great thanks to Dave and Connie Bocko for sharing Dave's photos of his trek up Tassel Hill which, speaking of place names, is said to have been named for an early settler, a Dutchman by the name of VanTassell!

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Have a Great Day!

Sunday

It's 20 degrees with a little bit of sun and some cloudy splotches.

From WKTV: "....we'll see a few flurries and mostly cloudy conditions Sunday morning, skies will clear out by the end of the day. The warm March sun will help temperatures rise into the low to mid 30s. Our next weather maker will give us the chance for a bit of freezing drizzle on Monday, followed by a big but quick warmup. Temperatures will climb well into the 40s throughout the afternoon. If we see any sunshine later in the afternoon, there's a high chance we could hit or exceed 50."

THIS IS TOMORROW'S FORECAST!
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Connie Bocko sent me this picture of 142 (mostly) robins that flocked in trees on Sanger Hill Road!


The only things that I saw in any number, yesterday, were snowmobiles - either trailing in bright convoys across fields and into the woods or taking a break at Nice 'n Easy in Sangerfield.


Half-a-dozen or so turkeys were gnoshing next to Route 20 while, in the village, snowmen took shape!!

These - above - are on E. Bacon Street,

Stafford Avenue,

and Babbott Avenue.

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Have a Great Day!

(no: I didn't forget!)

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