Pretty and it smelled heavenly

See! Don't they look like Daisies? I've never seen a tree like it!

Daisy Tree???

I've never seen anything like this...I swear they looked like Daisies - The next post shows it better. The tree smelled so pretty.

The buds are budding!

I know it's an odd angle, but the way the sun was hitting the tree and the dark background with the evergreen and then the blue sky. I swear the buds have gone nuts in the past two days with the heat - it's awesome.

Update on the Cleanup!

I just spoke to Jim Z - who is meeting people at the corner of Sunset and the Arterial next to Carl's Furniture at 8:30am. There is a 'kick-off' at City Hall at 8:00am tomorrow and then people will head out to their areas to clean.
Anyway - I told Jim I was looking forward to getting the area up by Burrstone cleaned up - LOL - Wrong thing to say! I'll be heading down that way with a crew! So keep an eye out for me! I'm the one with the Toastmasters bumper sticker on my car! Plus I'll have tools for digging and trimming too!
I'm meeting Jim at Carl's Furniture then I'll head further south on the Arterial to get more of the area cleaned up. It's going to be a wonderful day and Utica deserves a clean up!

So much going on!

For those of you who don't live here - this is the rollercoaster in weather that is Upstate NY. Yesterday it was cold, wet and even a little snowy in the higher elevations. By cold, I mean in the 30's and low 40's. Not pleasant or comfortable.

Today - it was cold and a little frosty on the car when I got up, but I didn't care. I turned the heat down very low in my house and opened up all the windows a little bit. It's going to be in the 70's today and I am tired of the stale winter air.

Tomorrow and Sunday! We may break some records - supposed to be in the 80's! Woo Hooo!

Now that I've given you the weather rundown - here's the good stuff.

Utica and the surrounding areas are doing some spring cleaning. It's the day when over 2000 people in the local towns and cities are going to get together to clean up all of the YUCK! that has been plowed, blown and thrown from vehicles. The Utica Marsh is getting it's once a year cleanup - meet at the end of Barnes Ave off of Oriskany Blvd at 9:00 am. Bring gloves and bags...Not only will you help the Marsh get spiffied up, but you may meet some nice people and see some wildlife!

The other cleanup is taking place very close to my house (well one part of it). If you want information about it you can email The Genesis Group at info AT thegenesisgroup DOT org.
They are supplying latex gloves and garbage bags. From what I understand they are trying to clean up the North/South Arterial big time tomorrow. I'm very excited to be going to this cleanup and helping out.

I'll try and get some pictures posted of the before and after!

Forsythia - a true sign of spring.

I bought this Forsythia and planted it for my mom on Mothers Day about 5 years ago - it's grown so much and in fact I've had to chop it back every year at least twice - otherwise it would take over the whole yard.

Robins and Forsythia - I've always relied on both to let me know that spring has well and truly sprung!

Pink sky at night...

Sailor's delight, Pink sky in morning sailors take warning.

This is where it originated...

Matthew 16:1-3 - NIV
¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. ² He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' ³ and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.'

Sunset

I went for a walk starting with Mom tonight. She can only do about a mile - so we started out together and at 3/4 of a mile we went our separate ways. I worked my way down Genesee Street - things are starting to look more springlike every day - to Proctor Blvd. I wound my way around that area ending up on Douglas Crescent and noticing that the sunset was magnificent. As soon as I got to an area that I could take a picture. How gorgeous is this????!!!!

Utica is looking better, the roads are still hurting - but we did have a rough winter. Happy Easter!

Colgate Movie and Book Club

I saw an article in the paper about a book and movie club starting on April 30. There are 3 meetings - the 30th of April, May and June. The theme is Vampires and the books we are reading are Bram Stoker's "Dracula", Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" and John Ajvide Lindqvist's "Let The Right One In". As a full member (for $45.00) I received copies of all three books, on the night of our meeting we'll watch the movie then meet at the Colgate Bookstore for dinner and discussion. How cool is that for $45.00 - 3 books, 3 movies, 3 dinners!

The young lady that is running the club is Heather, she is very helpful and very enthusiastic. I hope that I will meet some great people from the area...it never hurts to meet more people!

I'll let you know how it goes....

April 7 != SNOW!

For those who don't do java, c++, PHP - != means not equal.

It's April 7 - it should be raining or sunshiny - not snowy. Of course my mom loves to remind me that it has been known to snow in May! Well - I am here now and now I want it to stop snowing. It's been going all day - but now (I just looked out the window) the bloody stuff is sticking.

Elden had a post last week showing a picture of snow out his window - wondering when he was ever going to get to ride his new bike.

And Ree was talking about the whopper storm that was heading their way last week ( I tried to find the exact post but couldn't). But check out her site! She is all around everything.

I know that spring is here - and winter is just trying to hang on a little more. It's just got me in a funk....

April Fools

I'm looking out my window (yeah - I'm at work, it's almost time to go and I'm waiting for a computer to stop complaining). It just finished pouring cats and dogs - the weather has been sunny/rainy/sunny/rainy all week. It's God's way of playing an April Fool's joke on us. Yesterday I was ready for a t-shirt - today I want my sweater back. But then I remember "April Showers bring May Flowers" - so it's all worth it. The sun was trying to peek through - and the wind was calmer but now it's starting to kick up again.

Tomorrow is the Walk for Autism in Utica. Actually there are a bunch of walks happening in the area. I'm walking for Team David! He's a special little guy who has won everyone's heart!

Have a good Friday night!