birthday…work

People do urge me to take my birthday off, but it falls at such a busy time of year that I do not get the day off unless nature cooperated with rain.  Yesterday was the day off.  Today, I would rather have worked in my own garden, and did linger a bit to admire my new garden present from my gardening near-neighbour, Judy:

Maddy with my new garden pig

After considerable procrastination (including a stop at The Planter Box for more poppy seeds), we worked at Andersen’s RV Park all afternoon.

I had thought it would be miserably cold, but by the time we finally got there, we were able to work comfortably for hours.

The beach is just over the dunes at the end of the RV parking sites.

Our main project this month is to get the west side garden looking better, ridding them of the Bad Aster and most of the goldenrod, and the too enthusiastic cranesbill geranium ‘A.T. Johnson’.

westernmost area with a mat of the Bad Aster, noon.

considerable improved, 5 PM

Owner Lorna wants more small ornamental grasses, so there they are.  We still have much weeding right around the driftwood; the area is rampant with couch grass, which my grandma called Witch Grass.

Allan worked on this area along the restroom/clam cleaning building…a hideously weedy spot that is almost always the last one we get to.

horrible area

Worse yet, it was in the cold shade!

horrendous corner at noon

and at 5 PM

It is very clear what still needs to be weeded and mulched in this area.

still to do

We will go back there on the next workeable day, even though other clients want us.  It is becoming increasingly clear to me (with age?) that life is not satisfactory when we hare madly back and forth from garden to garden, never getting a project completely done.  I am determined that we shall finish this, and get poppy seeds planted, before we go anywhere else, and Allan is in full agreement.

Along with poppy seeds in the west side garden, I also must plant sweet peas next time all along the white picket fence.  Happily, it is all weeded, mulched and ready from earlier this month.

picket fence garden

The mulch was fairly easy to move onto this garden area a couple of weeks ago, because it is in the woods behind that fifth wheel. Not so today, when Allan had to go behind the house from the west,  and over a rough lawn….

rough lawn

to the far, far away mulch pile.

far distant mulch pile over uneven ground

He told me he established some sort of a path.  Maybe he went this way:

into the woods and around to the back of the pile?

But I doubt it.  Either way, it was a trek, and I was most grateful that he also dumped some of my wheelbarrows full of weed grass and bad-aster.

Meanwhile, I was astounded to see a crew working on the Payson Hall windows and taking exquisite care of the garden.  They had screwed two by fours onto the planter beds and were standing ON the boards rather than the planter soil, something I have requested at various places to no avail.  I had not even had to mention it.  They just did it!

how to not hurt the planter boxes

solid boards to stand on

I complimented the crew boss, who responded “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.”  Bless them!  They are champs.  The agile crew never let a foot slip into the garden.

I planted some special primroses for Lorna:  the peachy one I got yesterday at Back Alley Gardens and two of the Zebra primroses that Allan brought back from Seattle.

primrose

Primrose ‘Zebra’

Then…more birthday:

a flowered Polish pottery bowl from Mary and Denny of Klipsan Beach Cottages, with truffles, all most surely from Sweet Williams on Bay gift shop in Ocean Park.

bowl and truffles

a beautiful handmade shawl from my most longtime friend, Mary:

…perfect for comfort after a long cold day.  The shawl was accompanied by Hello Kitty themed presents (and some cookies):

Mary and I, whose birthdays are but days apart, know better than to send each other birthday boxes without chocolate in them.

On the porch, I found a very fancy gold box with purple crown from Queen La De Da:

Allan placed by the new water feature a comfortable chair that he made from an old bench (old metal bench ends, new wood):

birthday chair from which to view my river of Geranium ‘Rozanne’

And even though my first thought had been to collapse in exhaustion at home, we did go out for Shepherd’s Pie at our favourite local restaurant, The Depot:

a very Irish shepherd’s pie

The parsnips were divine, by the way.