Unnamed spotting

I agree... I am going with Ceanothus until proven otherwise. It was sweet smelling and crawling with bees. Tried to get a spotting of a bee but they wouldn't stand still ;)
I'm not sure of the species either... Maybe someone else can determine that. I will post the other pics I have.

I'm making a second vote for Ceanothus, There are tons of blue-flowered cultivars and hybrids of various Ceanothus species. Perhaps C. thyrsiflorus? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceanothus_t...

The leaves say Hydrangea

I think this is a Ceanothus but I am not sure of the species, possibly americanus. They really attract bees if it is a California lilac and have a wonderful fragrance.

I don't know but a picture of the bark and the full tree could be helpful.

Taller than me. I'd say about 8 ft tall. Some old guy said it was an arbutus. The clumps of flowers were smaller than any hydrangea I've seen.

How big of a tree? Some hydrangeas do get large.