Saturday, July 15, 2006

A Few Wildflowers


A "saved" collection of scores of wildflower photographs gets opened up, now and then, just for fun.

(Click to enlarge. Above: "Cornflower" Below: Purple Loosestrife, Milkweeds and a Waterlily at Baily Lake.)





More, from time to time.

E-mail: Homeinthehuddle@AOL.com

Saturday morning



It's 64.6 degrees F. and cloudy, this morning, and there's a swath of "Green" moving eastward across the weather map.

I've found no mention in this morning's news about last evening's power outage, although it must have effected hundreds of homes.

It was may have seemed equally dark in Boston, where the RedSox lost to Oakland 15 - 3. The Yankees, at the same time, beat the Chicago White Sox 6 - 5, bringing them to only 1.5 GB.



This detail of the AccuWeather Forecast may indicate some delays during activity during morning Softball Games on Firemen's Field.....



...........'tho things will dry off, later today, after an afternoon shower. Parade Time looks fine!

Friday, July 14, 2006

The Kids and the Crowds

Friday evening. A final ride up Route 12 from Sangerfield, and it's S-M-O-O-T-H all the way! We do a left-hand "zig" onto Park Place to check out the afternoon's paving; "zag" onto Madison Street and back out onto Sanger Avenue ---- just little bumps! Wonderful!

And then............


(Click to enlarge.)



.... with just as much excitement as every year for at least the last thirty-seven , the Kiddie Parade lead the crowd onto Firemen's Field at the opening of the Midway.

But at a few minutes past 7:00 P.M., just as I was preparing to post this addition to the blog, something totally unexpected happened: not only my computer but the entire village - EXCEPT for Firemen's Field and the Midway - went completely BLACK! (That they have their own power supply at Firemen's Field is a wonderful thing, otherwise there might have been some very nervous people swinging atop the Ferris Wheel or on other rides!) Foodking, CVS, Nice 'n Easy closed; stoplights in front of the Fire House and at the Junction of Routes 12 and 20 went dark. The explanation given was that a transformer in Bridgewater had exploded and first hopes for a return of electrical power sounded dire.

Attempts were made to read by candle-light; romantic thoughts of sitting on back porches and counting fireflies were dashed by swarms of hungry mosquitoes who got there first, and some people sat restlessly in humid darkness and listened to portable radios, hoping for baseball scores, or phoned friends and neighbors exclaiming over their lack of ingenuity and warning each other "Now don't open the refrigerator or freezer door: everything will keep a day or two!"

Well, it didn't have to. About two hours later, with blinkings of lights on every single piece of digital equipment in the house, the power came back on; fans whirred, refrigerator doors opened, internet access was restored, and the bit of drama ended.

How spoiled we are!

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Friday Afternoon Sweep

On the Highway - the only places that work was in progress at 4:00 were at the corner of Madison Street and Sanger Avenue and at Park Place and Sanger Avenue where paving operations were still taking place. Traffic slowed in both directions, but not for more than five minutes or so.

If anyone knows what's going on when, Mr. Jack Bennet sure does! We spoke with him at lunchtime at Roc's Dairy Creme and he said that the sidewalk crew "should be here on Tuesday" and was going to "start at the Presbyterian Church and go right through town!" The week after that, it'll be driveways.

In the center of the village, the Midway's ready - Just waiting for the people!





KIDDIE PARADE AT 6:30 forms at the Schoolhouse Apartments.

MIDWAY OPENS AT 6:30

Music by "Phat Alice" from 8:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING: "Pop Warner Football Bottle Drive"

Softball Tournament starts at 8:00

MIDWAY OPENS AT NOON.

FIREMEN'S PARADE AT 6:30 P.M.

Music by DNA from 6:00 - 9:00 P.M.



FIREWORKS at DUSK courtesy of Zielinski's Equipment Rentals

Music by "Stage Road" from 9:00 P.M. to 1:00 A.M.


E-mail: homeinthehuddle@AOL.com

Friday Morning Tour







First stop: Morgan's Hardware to find the rest of the Smiles!
Tom obliged! Helen, of course, always smiles at everyone, and
Richie Brennan did likewise!

















Over at the Library, all eyes and ears were on Amanda Briggs as she read to children at "Story Hour."




While, out in the Book Room, Travis and Paul manned the Desk....














and half-a-dozen happy vacationers toured the internet world.



E-mail: homeinthehuddle@AOL.com

FIELD DAYS BEGIN!

58 degrees at 6:00, with nice blue sky!
Last Evening's WKTV weather forecast read like this:

Friday Afternoon: Mostly sunny, hot and humid. High near 90.

Friday night: Mostly clear, muggy and areas of fog. Low in the mid 60s

Saturday: Mostly sunny, hazy, hot, and humid. High: 90, Low:" 69

Sunday: Hazy, hot and humid. High: 92, Low: 69

In other words: IT'S GOING TO BE HOT!

The Boston RedSox lost 5 - 4 to Oakland in extra innings, last night. The New York Yankees will take on the Chicago White Sox, tonight, at Yankee Stadium.

An article in today's Utica O-D is Good News to all of those in opposition to the Power Line Project.

Also in the "smile-maker" department: Mrs. Davis phoned from her car, yesterday afternoon, saying that she was at Chuckery Corners and that the most-waited-for Savicki sign had appeared, reading: OUR OWN SWEET CORN! (She brought some to us and it was just as crispy-sweet as we'd remembered.) Savicki's trick is that they start corn plants in a greenhouse and then move them to the fields. Labor-intensive - but worth it - because once the word's out, not an ear goes unsold.

The Morning Tour took us past New York Pizza and gave us the answer: the new facade is being painted the same colors as those on the Barton Medical Center and Merri-Rose Florist buildings. (And they, of course, were designed to sit alongside the 1930-ish building that houses H. &. R. Block, T.Karram's office and "Michael's Fine Food & Spirits.") Far from "Victorian," but not a totally unpleasant choice.

Heading Southward on Route 12, there were several crews at work: the men installing the brick pavers were sweeping and washing those areas along west Main Street - possibly to apply a sealer. Along Sanger Avenue (where traffic and bright sunlight made it difficult - and, probably, dangerous - to take pictures) the sidewalk preparation on the East side was continuing - and it does look nice! - and Power Line was installing yet more lamp post bases. On the Western side of Sanger Avenue, the sidewalk area was getting some attention, as well and, out near the Car Wash, the paving crew was applying the final layer of blacktop to the Northbound Lane, bringing it to exactly the same level as the surface from the Car Wash South.



Just for the fun of it, we drove Westward on Route 20 as far as S. Brothertown Road and were rewarded with this view: the Windmills stood out in the bright sun as if above a lake of fog in the valley!





Coming back into the village, we spotted Doris Stephan coming back from her early-morning walk and instantly felt guilty and lazy for riding!



Around the corner and onto Madison Street - something different! Mr. Woodman has had some trees removed and the difference is startling - and nice!


On the Babbott Field Basketball Court, Mr. David Koon, his son and his grandson and grandaughter are out, early, beating the heat.





On Babbott Avenue South, the bright sun shone on Pat's Trumpet Vine and - at the house next to Foodking - Poppies sparkled like rubies.












(We'll be going uptown, later, to find more "Smiles!" at Morgan's Hardware and at "story-hour" at the Library.)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Later on.....



There is a great deal of activity right in the center of the village: narrow grooves are being cut along all of those mysterious dotted lines and PowerLine crews are installing sensors that will control the traffic signal.





Buying a Rain Gauge at Morgan's Hardware was a cinch, but not a "snap!" Ron absolutely refused to smile and two male costomers dove behind displays.










Donna Morgan Green, being attached to the telephone cord next to the cash register and having no handy escape route, HAD to smile .....








........... and I cornered customer Laurie McMullen and got a great grin.

Tomorrow: Tommy and Helen! They won't give me any arguments, I'm sure!

Other Smile-makers: Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gale who have a new grandaughter. Her name is Elena Maria and she is a gift from their daughter Carolyn and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Darin D'Ascanio of Philadelphia!

Mr. Stanley Dziekonski brings smiles wherever he goes and he brought even more to "Whiskey Hollow" when he arrived with some perfectly ripe Georgia peaches, tomatoes that tasted fresh from the garden and a quart of freshly-picked blueberries: all from Savicki's! Thanks, Stan!

The words "Blueberries" and "Stan" also remind us that Mr. Sambora has probably begun visiting his "private" blueberry patch and, even, picked berries to have at hand for the Waterville Rotary Club's famous Blueberry Pancakes that are always a hit at the Bouckville Antique Show in August!

Thursday morning - Garbage Day

(Run cursor over text to find hyperlinks, then just click! Use "Back Arrow" to return to this site.)

68.5 degrees F. We've had enough rain, now - it can stop! (We definitely need to go shopping at Morgan's, today, and buy a real rain gauge!) Although the National Weather Service still warns of flooding throughout this entire area, there are early-morning patches of blue sky and the AccuWeather 15 day forecast predicts fine weather for Firemen's Field Days.

The Deansboro-Waterville Lions Club Annual Golf Tournament is scheduled to take place on Saturday at the Sulphur Springs Golf Course. No one has said that the rain has necessitated a postponement, but it would not be surprising: many area links have developed an unecessary number of ponds and lakes.

Going into the second half of the Major League Baseball season, the RedSox will play Oakland at the Fenway tonight at 7:05. The game will be carried by ESPN and will be watched, no doubt, by Mr. Leonard Hayes - a man brave enough to wear his RedSox cap to Waterville! (Happy Birthday!)

The Yankees have another day off, but will take on the White Sox tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium.

"Round Town Tour"

By 7 o'clock all of those patches of blue sky had been obscured by low-hanging gray and there was a steady drizzle.







Helen Olmstead's yellow slicker was a bright spot on Stafford Avenue.



Back on Sanger Avenue, there was more activity than we'd expected, and - now that we think we know so much about all phases of highway reconstruction activity - our highly uneducated guess would be that there will be a great deal of sidewalk pouring taking place next week!





Alex was controlling traffic at one end of a sidewalk-prep stretch on the East side of Sanger Avenue.











Turf was being peeled up for new sidewalk sections at the Eastern end of the Park. (And we noticed that the roots of the ornamental crabapple trees were NOT being disturbed as much as many had feared.)


At the junction of Routes 12 & 20, in Sangerfield, the right-hand strip of the South bound lane - originally intended as a "Right Turn Only" lane - is being blacktopped.

E-mail: homeinthehuddle@aol.com

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

It's not a Secret any more!

Everyone must know by now that tomorrow is CHARLOTTE PARK'S 75th BIRTHDAY!!!
Happy Day, Charlotte! And Best Birthday Wishes, too, to our "young" friend, Dale Meszler!

Making the Most of a Rainy Day


And then it really did begin to rain - hard. TIOGA, Powerline and Gary Hudson all left, and I decided to go grocerying. For the benefit of those who no longer live in Waterville but enjoy these daily visits, come along!

Everyone talks about going to Foodking; seeing so-and-so in Foodking; hearing such-and-such in Foodking, and making excuses to spouses and children just WHY it took an hour or more to get a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk!

It's simple!


Where else can you get your groceries and so many smiles! There are many more employees than the ones I saw this morning, but here are a few cheerful faces you may recognize. (Click photos to enlarge.)







Rick Garrett












Marge and Colleen














Jim and Doug












Jean and "Peewee"






And then there are all the smiling customers, too!


Adele and Helen,


and Mrs. Bushee and her friend Linda,

I'd have stayed and talked alot more, but had an early lunch date at "Michael's."





Marty's always there on Wednesdays;














and Dick Brown, too.








Elfie, Anne and Shirley were there, helping Helga celebrate her Birthday!


Faith and Shari are in charge out front, but.......


Chef Michael's in control in the kitchen!

Thursday evening specialties --- "Tex-Mex," with music from 7 - 10 by "Big D. and the Pickle."

Wednesday morning ride-around

Just a few sprinkles at 7:00. No sign of any of the road paving crew, but Sidewalk Prep was under way out at Olmstead's Garage and in front of the Hotel.









One "Powerline" crew was installing a lamp post base in front of the Cole residence, on Sanger Avenue, and another appeared to be marking the location of a base across from CVS.





Hotel owner Gary Hudson - who has spent the past several days painting the wooden trim on the front of the hotel but found TIOGA at work there, this morning - had moved his lift around to the Buell Avenue side of the building and, despite some rain, was just "taking off" for work.

A good reason to ride along South Babbott Avenue!